EU Institutional framework

1. EU Institutional framework • European Commission • The European Commission is the main common body of the European Union, responsible for representing the interests of the Union on the whole, and in its work, it is independent from the interests of particular member countries. The founding treaty guarantees the full independence of the EC, so pressures of national governments and also other institutions of the EU on the work of the Commission members are forbidden. • The Commission, as the main pillar of the EU institutional pyramid has the following functions: • Legislative- initiative, as it has the exclusive right of proposing, drafting and presenting proposals of new laws to the Council of Ministers and the Parliament • Executive –it is responsible for the implementation of common European policies and European legislation in practice. So, the Commission is the executive body which needs to ensure the implementation of regulations and directives adopted by the Council and the EU Parliament, but it needs to be stressed that successful implementation of common regulations depends on the member states themselves. Together with the Court of European Union, EC ensures that EU laws are applied properly, so in case it evaluates that a member has infringed some of the provisions of the founding treaties, it is authorized to begin the legal process against the relevant country before the Court • The budget and the external policy function