The Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is one of the EU's three legislative bodies.  It is also known as the Council or as the Council of Ministers, but the Council of the European Union isn't the same thing as the European Council.  And it's definitely not the same thing Council of Europe. 

The job of the Council of the European Union is to work with the European Parliament to amend, approve, or reject legislation proposed by the European Commission.  

So the European Parliament represents the EU citizens are are directly elected by people in each country.

The Council of the European Union represents the governments and national interests of each EU country while the European Commission represents the interests of the EU as a whole.

The Council of the European Union has 10 different configurations and the national ministers from each member country participate.  For example, the environmental ministers from each of the EU countries get together and sort out things in Environment configuration.  The ten configurations are:

• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Competitiveness (which covers the internal EU market, industry, research & innovation, and space policy)
• Economic and Financial Affairs
• Education, Youth, Culture and Sport
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
• Environment
• Foreign Affairs
• General Affairs (cross-cutting policy areas like EU enlargement, the EU 7 year budget plan, and COVID-19)
• Justice and Home Affairs
• Transport, Telecommunications and Energy

The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months.  On 1 July, Germany took over the presidency from Croatia.  In January 2021 the presidency moves to Portugal, followed by Slovenia and France.  In July 2022, Czechland gets the presidency again.  

The last time Czech Republic held the presidency was in 2009.

Here's a 5-minute video I found on YouTube that gives more information about the Council.

©Ciceroni

Update:  December 2020, the Czech Republic has a countdown clock until they take over the EU Presidency. 

Update 2025:  Here's a short video I found on YouTube about the EU Council.

©EU Made Simple

The European Parliament

The European Parliament is one of the EU's three legislative branches.   Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts the laws proposed by the European Commission.  So the European Parliament can vote on legislation but it can not propose new legislation.

The European Parliament, after India, is the world's second-largest democratically elected body. 

There are 705 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) as determined by each country's population.  The minimum number of MEPs is six per country.  Germany has the Most MEPs with 96, followed by France with 79, Italy with 76, Spain with 59, and Poland with 52.  

Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, and Sweden, all have 21 MEPs each.

MEPs serve five-year terms and there are no term limits.

Here's a short 5,5 minute video I found out on YouTube that provides more information about the European Parliament.

©Ciceroni

Update 2025:  Here's another short video I found on YouTube about the EU Parliament.

©EU Made Simple

The European Commission

The European Commission, the EC, is the executive branch of the European Union.  The EC sits in Brussels and it is responsible for the day-to-day running of the EU.  The EC initiates new legislation as it alone has the power to propose laws for debate.  Another responsibility of the EC is to maintain that treaties are running efficiently and to police them.  Basically, the EC acts as the cabinet government for the EU.  The working languages of the EC are English, French, and German.

The commissioners are to think European as each must pledge to be independent of their home countries while acting in the general interest of the EU and not be subservient to their home countries.  There are 27 commissioners, one from each of the EU member countries.  It was 28 until the UK left the EU following Brexit.  

The path to become a commissioner seems kind of complicated.  Candidates are proposed by the Council of the European Union, based on suggestions coming from the various national governments.  Once approved by the European Parliament then they are appointed by the European Council, which isn't the same thing as the Council of the European Union. 

Here's a five minute video I found on YouTube that explains the how the European Commission works.

©Ciceroni

In December 2019, Ursula von der Leyen became the first woman to hold the presidency of the EC.  She used to be the German Defence Minister and her term is for five years.  Here's a bit about her.

                                   ©France 24

The Czech member of the European Commission is Věra Jourová.  

She is one of seven vice-presidents and she is responsible for Values and Transparency.

Update 2025:  Here's short video I found on YouTube about the European Commission.

©EU Made Simple