The “institutional triangle” of the European Union ─ the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament ─ needs internal cooperation to function properly. The treaties define the competences of the European Union (European Community) as a whole and assign the roles to the players, but much of their interaction is left unregulated at this level. The institutions have therefore ...

According to the second paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission. Under the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, the first paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) would shorten this to: The Commission m...

The European Union has some of the trappings of a parliamentary system. The hurdle is high, but by a motion of censure the European Parliament can force the Commission to resign (and the EP plays a role in the process to appoint the President of the Commission and its members). *** Current treaty Article 201 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) regulates a motion of censure agai...

Are the “second order” elections to the European Parliament in June 2009 going to have any higher order meaning for the citizens of the European Union? The first question is if the Europarties, officially the political parties at European level, launch credible candidates for the Commission Presidency and campaign on engaging European platforms. The second issue is how the President of...

Some great news has come in from Greenpeace lobbyists at the European Parliament, where the EU environment committee have given the thumbs up to reducing CO2 emissions produced by cars. The group of MEPs resisted efforts by German car manufacturers to weaken down the proposals and have recommended that by 2012 all new cars should emit no more than 130g of CO2 per km (the current EU average is 158g...

The next European Parliament elections will take place in June 2009. Direct elections for the European Parliament were introduced in 1979 in an attempt to increase the European Union’s democratic credentials - after all it is difficult for an appointed authority to lecture the developing world about the moral superiority and practical advantages of democracy (the European Commission and Coun...

The European Parliament is giving EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton a hard time, as political group leaders yesterday (10 June) delivered a clear message that they disliked her proposals for the European Union's new diplomatic service. They insisted that it must be attached to the European Commission, otherwise the Parliament will veto its financing.

Neil Craig writes: About 11,000 workers from the steel industry in European countries gathered on Tuesday in Brussels to protest the European Union's climate change policy which they fear might make them lose their jobs. The European Parliament and the French Presidency of the European Union agreed Monday on details of future targets on emissions from cars, setting the target for 2020 at 95 g CO2 ...

Brussels 05th May: Today Members of the European Parliament must go to a vote to prevent the European Commission from limiting public access to EU documents which it is required to do under its own laws.

From EUPravda: "Today around twenty high-level representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Europe gathered at the Commission headquarters at the invitation of the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, for an informal dialogue with the EU. The meeting was co-chaired by Commission President Barroso and the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöt...