WHAT IS THE EU AND HOW DOES IT WORK? 27 How does the European Union work?
Proposes legislaon
European Parliament Adopt legislaon by co-decision
Council of the European Union
Source: European Parliament
There are 28 member states of the EU (Brexit, when finalised, would make 27). The European Union makes decisions and laws that affect citizens of all of those countries. It does this mainly through three institutions, which all work together but have different jobs and ways of working. They are:
• the European Commission • the Council of the European Union • the European Parliament.
The European Commission
• The European Commission is the part of the EU responsible for proposing new laws or rules, or changes to existing ones.
• It is also responsible for making sure member states are keeping to the EU’s laws, rules and guidelines.
• Each member state’s government nominates one commissioner each.
• Each commissioner has responsibility for a different area of EU policy, such as agriculture, defence, the environment or education. In this way, they are a bit like a cabinet of ministers for the EU.
• The European Council chooses a Commission President, who then assigns each commissioner their role.
