$Unique_ID{COW01475} $Pretitle{287} $Title{Greece Appendix B. The European Communities} $Subtitle{} $Author{} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{council european ec commission members community court communities institutions parliament} $Date{1986} $Log{Figure A.*0147501.scf } Country: Greece Book: Greece, A Country Study Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1986 Appendix B. The European Communities The complex and ever changing institutions that make up the European Communities (EC-also commonly called the European Community) form more than a framework for free trade and economic cooperation. The signatories to the treaties governing the community have agreed in principle to integrate their economies and ultimately to form a political union. Frequent strong opposition from both the public and concerned politicians does not detract from the founders' intentions, born in the aftermath of World War II, to create a peaceful union of formerly hostile states. The EC is actually a merger of three separate communities. The first, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), was established by a treaty signed in Paris on April 18, 1951. After several false starts to expand the community, the original members agreed to form the European Economic Community (EEC, or Common Market) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) by treaties signed in Rome on March 25, 1957. The EEC and EURATOM modeled their governing institutions on those of the ECSC. Another treaty, signed in Brussels on April 8, 1965, planned the merger of the institutions governing all three communities, which was achieved about two years later. The governing bodies of the EC act under guidelines from any of the community treaties as necessary. The provisions of the EEC treaty are the broadest of the three treaties: the elimination of all barriers to trade and to the movement of persons, services, and capital; the development of common policies on trade, agriculture, and transportation; the regulation of fair business practices; the harmonization of economic policies and laws; the creation of social development funds and investment banks; and the allocation of special assistance to an association of former colonies and dependencies affiliated with the member states. Those of the ECSC and EURATOM treaties are similar but limited to their respective industries. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) are original members of the community. Britain, Denmark, and Ireland joined on January 1, 1973; Greece became a member on January 1, 1981. Portugal and Spain applied for membership in 1977, and after years of tortuous negotiations regarding their accession, treaties were signed in June 1985 to allow their entry on January 1, 1986. The leading institutions of the EC are the Council of Ministers of the European Communities and the Commission of the European Communities, which are both headquartered in Brussels (see fig. A, this Appendix). The council tends to represent the interests of the individual member states; the commission represents those of the EC as a body. In theory, the fields of competence for each organization are separate; in practice, they overlap and blur. Generally, the council makes all the major decisions, acting on advice from the commission, which proposes and implements policy. The council makes decisions by qualified majority or unanimous vote. For a qualified majority the votes are weighted roughly by population: Britain, France, Italy, and West Germany receive 10 votes each; Belgium, Greece, and the Netherlands, five each; Denmark and Ireland, three each; and Luxembourg, two. Unless the council acts on a proposal from the commission, it must have the approval of no fewer than six members for a qualified majority. An agreement reached in 1966 known as the Luxembourg Compromise requires unanimity, however, when any one country declares a decision to be of vital importance. Although the agreement is not part of an EC treaty document, it has been breached only rarely, as, for example, in May 1982, when Britain tried to veto a vote on agricultural policy to gain leverage in other budgetary negotiations. Unanimity is preferred for all major decisions. Several initiatives have been taken to make qualified majority voting the norm for all council actions. Each member appoints a permanent representative to the council to act as ambassador. The actual representative at meetings varies, however, but is usually a cabinet minister familiar with the issues under discussion. The presidency of the council rotates every six months. The council is assisted by a secretariat, which had some 1,800 staff members in 1984. The commission has two representatives each from Britain, Italy, and West Germany and one representative from each of the other member states. They are appointed for four-year terms. In 1984 some 12,600 permanent and 650 temporary staff members, organized into 20 specialized directorates-general, aided the commission in performing its duties. [See Figure A.: The European Communities' Decisionmaking Process, 1985 Source: Based on information from Emile Noel, Working Together: The Institutions of the European Community, Luxembourg, 1985, 6.] Since 1974 it has become customary for the heads of state or government of the members of the EC to meet three times a year in a summit conference called the European Council. Although there is no mention of this organization in any EC treaty document, some legal experts believe it to be the supreme manifestation of the Council of Ministers of the European Communities. The European Council has become an important forum for developing common approaches to foreign policy as well as economic issues. West Germany and Italy have proposed that its role be formalized. The European Parliament, located in Strasbourg, France, has only advisory powers over the council and the commission, although it may remove the officers of the commission by a three-fourths vote of censure. It does not legislate but responds to actions or queries from the council and the commission and must approve the budget. If parliament rejects the budget, a complex procedure of month-to-month accounting ensues, which gives parliament some bargaining power. Parliament represents the European citizenry, who directly elect their representatives every five years according to local electoral laws. (There was an election in June 1984.) Britain, France, Italy, and West Germany elect 81 members each; the Netherlands, 25; Belgium and Greece, 24 each; Denmark, 16; Ireland 15; and Luxembourg, 6, for a total of 434 representatives. Parliament had a support staff of 2,950 people in 1984. The Court of Justice has the final say in interpreting and applying EC "laws," i.e., the policies of the council and the commission, and may judge any document or action except nonbinding opinions of the council. Individuals, corporations, governments, or EC institutions may bring suit to the court. The court may also render preliminary opinions on cases brought to it by other courts within the national judicial systems of the EC members. The court has 11 judges and five advocates-general who serve for renewable six-year terms. All members of the court must be chosen by unanimous decision of the council. In 1984 the court had 480 support staff members. The Court of Auditors controls and monitors all budgetary revenues and expenditures of the EC. The court consists of 10 members selected by the council for six-year terms. In 1984 the court had a staff of 300 people. From time to time, proposals from the council or the commission are discussed with the Economic and Social Committee, which is made up of about 150 representatives from employers' groups, trade unions, and other interest groups. Other important EC institutions include the European Investment Bank, agricultural advisory committees set up for individual commodities and markets, the European Social Fund, the European Agricultural Fund, and various other funds. The plethora of organizations dealing with agricultural problems demonstrates the central importance of this sector to the EC. Most of the EC budget is geared toward applying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which has stirred considerable debate in the 1980s. The CAP was initially successful in supporting the prices of farm products but by the early 1980s ad become a drain on the EC budget. Britain, whose agricultural work force numbers less than one-third of the EC average, has been especially vigorous in demanding a reduction in both its budgetary contribution and CAP subsidies. Another set of issues facing the EC concerned institutional reform. In June 1984 and ad hoc committee on institutional affairs was created to consider, among other proposals, the strengthening of the commission's powers, the more frequent use of the qualified majority in the council, and the expansion of parliament's responsibilities. Parliament has drafted the Treaty of European Union, which would broaden cooperation between the EC states and require the council to share its legislative powers with parliament. In 1985 it was trying to raise support for the treaty in the national parliaments of the member states. It was doubtful whether these efforts could persuade the council to relinquish any of its powers.