English for Tax Administration Study 3

1. English for Tax Administration Study 3 Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević e-mail: miljen.matijasevic@gmail.com G10, room 6, Tue 15:30-16:30 Session 4, 28 Oct 2014

2. Today’s session • Revision of the previous session • Institutionsof the European Union

3. REVISION OF THE PREVIOUS SESSION

4. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS • What was the situation in Europe after WW2?What two ideas were proposed at the Hague Congress 1948? • How many member states are there in the EU / COE? • What do the European Communities include? • What year was the European Union established? • What are the three pillars of the EU? • What do you know about EU language policy? • What isprimarylegislationofthe EU? • Whataboutsecondarylegislation?

5. translate the following terms into CROATIAN • single market • common agricultural policy • economic and monetary union • EU citizenship • transeuropean traffic networks • environmental protection • social policy • common defense policy • human trafficking • bribe and corruption

6. translate the following terms into CROATIAN • jedinstveno tržište • zajednička poljoprivredna politika • gospodarska i monetarna unija • državljanstvo EU • transeuropske prometne mreže • zaštita okoliša • socijalna politika • zajednička obrambena politika • trgovanje ljudima • mito i korupcija

7. InstitutionsoftheEuropean Union

8. Institutions of the EU European Commission Council of the European Union European Parliament European Council Court of Justice of the European Union European Court of Auditors

9. Some Other EU Bodies • European Economic and Social Committee  • Committee of the Regions • European Investment Bank • European Central Bank • European Ombudsman • Office for Official Publications of the European Communities • European Personnel Selection Office • European Administrative School

10. Council of the European Union • a.k.a. Council of Ministers • represents the interests of the Member States • SEAT: Bruxelles • members: 27 national government ministers • sits in 9 configurations, depending on the topic of discussion • presidency of the Council – each MS chairs for 6 months – rotation (current: Italy)

11. Council of the European Union THE NINE CONFIGURATIONS: • General Affairs and External Relations • Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) • Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) • Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs • Competitiveness • Transport, Telecommunications and Energy • Agriculture and Fisheries • Environment • Education, Youth and Culture

12. Council of the European Union • tasks of the Council: • passes European legislation (co-decision with the EP) – proposals of the EC • co-ordinates national policies of MS • concludes international agreements • approves EU budget (shared with EP) • common foreign and security policy • freedom, security and justice • decisions made by a qualified majority vote (55% of MS representing 65% of EU population)

13. European Parliament • represents the interests of EU citizens • SEAT: Strasbourg, Bruxelles and Luxemburg • members: 751 Members of the EuropeanParliament (MEPs) • chosen by EU citizens in elections for the EP • elections held every 5 years • representation by political groups, not by MS

14. EuropeanParliament

15. European Parliament • tasks of the European Parliament: • passes European legislation (co-decision with the Council) • approves EU budget (shared with Council) • supervision of other EU institutions • approval of the members of the European Commission • receive reports by the Commission and the Council and can ask them questions

16. European Commission • represents the interests of the EU • SEAT: Bruxelles • members: 27 members of the European Commission; (informally ‘commissioners’) • a ‘government’ for the EU – the executive • EC: 27 Directorates-General (glavne uprave) • members proposed by national governments, approved by the Council and the EP

17. European Commission • tasks of the European Commission: • drafts proposals of EU legislation • implements EU policies • enforces European law (‘guardian of the Treaties’) • controls EU budget

18. European Council • defines general directions and priorities of the EU • SEAT: Bruxelles • members: Heads of States or Governments of EU Member States • headed by the President of the European Council (Herman Van Rompuy); a.k.a. President of the EU • meets every six months

19. The Court of Justice of the EU • supervises the interpretation of EU law, enforces EU law • SEAT: Luxemburg (working language: French) • members: 28 judges • comprises: • The European Court of Justice • The General Court • Civil Service Tribunal

20. The Court of Justice of the EU • jurisdiction: • supervises interpretation and application of EU law by national courts • enforces EU law • settles disputes between Member States, EU institutions, businesses and individuals

21. European Court of Auditors • not an actual court • one member from each Member State • tasks: • checks EU income and expenditure (EU budget) • checks the collection of EU taxes from citizens and whether they are spent economically, legally and for the intended purpose • investigates the financial statements of any person or organisation handling EU funds • carries out a yearly audit and report to the EP and the Council

22. Vocabularypractice

23. TranslateintoCroatian • Council of Europe • European Council • Council of the European Union • European Communities • co-decision • Directorate-General

24. Answers • Council of Europe – Vijeće Europe • European Council – Europsko vijeće • Council of the European Union – Vijeće Europske unije • European Communities – Europske zajednice • co-decision – suodlučivanje • Directorate-General – glavna uprava

25. Thank you for your attention!