Bodies of the European Union

European Union

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the European Union

Executive Juncker Commission President Juncker (EPP) Vice Presidents College Civil Service Secretary-General Day

Legislative Parliament President Schulz (S&D) Largest groups; EPP (Manfred Weber) S&D (Gianni Pittella) 8th session (2014-19) 751 MEPs Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure Council of the EU Luxembourgish Presidency Configurations General Foreign Justice and Home Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius Directorates-general COREPER

Judiciary Court of Justice Members Rulings General Court Civil Service Tribunal

Central Bank President Draghi ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone

Court of Auditors Budget OLAF

Other bodies Agencies Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman National parliaments

Policies and issues Foreign relations High Representative Federica Mogherini Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Customs Union Enlargement Budget Four Freedoms Economic Area Area of FS&J Schengen Area Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism United States of Europe Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 2014 (last election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership

European Council President Tusk (EPP) Parties List of meetings

The main bodies of the European Union are:

• the seven institutions of the European Union
• the agencies of the European Union

Apart from them there exist several other bodies.

Institutions

The Treaty on European Union in Article 13 lists seven institutions of the European Union.

Agencies

There are a number of specialised and decentralised agencies of the European Union operated by the Commission, or sometimes the Council. They are set up by legislation or a treaty to deal with specific problems or areas. These include the European Environment Agency and Europol.^[1]

Other bodies

There are a number of other bodies and agencies of note that are not formal institutions. There are two consultative committees to the EU institutions: the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) advises on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers) being made up of representatives of various industries and work sectors. Its 344 members (with an additional nine members joining following the accession of Croatia to the EU), appointed by the Council for four-year terms, are organised into three fairly equal groups representing employers, employees and other various interests;^[2] while the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is composed of representative of regional and local authorities who hold an electoral mandate. It advises on regional issues. It has 344 members, organised in political groups, appointed every four years by the Council.^[3] The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution. The EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially boosting sustainable growth and job creation.^[4]

There are also three inter-institutional bodies: the Publications Office, the oldest one, which publishes and distributes official publications from the European Union bodies;^[5] and the two relatively new: the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), a recruitment body which organises competitions for posts within Union institutions;^[6] and the European Administrative School, which provides specific training for the staff of Union institutions.^[7] Another body is the anti-fraud office OLAF whose mission is to protect the financial interests of the European Union.^[8] Two further posts are: the European Ombudsman deals with citizens grievances against the Union's institutions and is elected for five-year terms by the Parliament;^[9] the European Data Protection Supervisor ensures the institutions respect citizens' privacy rights in relation to data processing.^[10]

References

See also

• Glossary of European Union concepts, acronyms, & jargon
• List of bodies of the European Union
• List of the names of bodies of the European Union in its official languages