Institutions
The primary institutions of the European Union are the European Commission, the European Council, the Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament.
The ordinary legislative procedure, applies to nearly all EU policy areas. Under the procedure, the Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the Council. They then send amendments to the Council which can either adopt the text with those amendments or send back a "common position". That proposal may either be approved or further amendments may be tabled by the Parliament. If the Council does not approve those, then a "Conciliation Committee" is formed. The Committee is composed of the Council members plus an equal number of MEPs who seek to agree a common position. Once a position is agreed, it has to be approved by Parliament again by an absolute majority. There are other special procedures used in sensitive areas which reduce the power of Parliament.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of The European Union
Famous quotes containing the word institutions:
“Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of man, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Men may die, but the fabric of our free institutions remains unshaken.”
—Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)
“This, our respectable daily life, on which the man of common sense, the Englishman of the world, stands so squarely, and on which our institutions are founded, is in fact the veriest illusion, and will vanish like the baseless fabric of a vision; but that faint glimmer of reality which sometimes illuminates the darkness of daylight for all men, reveals something more solid and enduring than adamant, which is in fact the cornerstone of the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)