The Eu Decision Making Process

Compare the decision making process in the EU to that of other European Nations

I am going to talk today about the processes of decision making in the EU and how it compares to that of the European nations, focusing

mainly on western European nations such as France and Britain.

I will firstly outline the processes undertaken by the EU when decision need to be made.

Decisions made in the EU have a great effect on all member states, as such it is important that all the nations involved have a fair and equal share in the decision making process. In an attempt to achieve this end, the method of decision making involves several European institutions. These institutions have representatives from all involved nations, in order that said nations can put their views forward, to, hopefully, influence the decisions, laws and restrictions passed.

Europe is a liberal democracy, meaning that the system of political government entails a responsibility for the nominated candidates to the citizens of their county. This ensures that the public have ultimate control over their way their governmental affairs are run, as they retain the ability to replace the government.

Decisions begin with the European Council. This is mainly a consultative and deliberative body, it is composed of the heads of government and foreign ministers of the member states and includes the president and vice-president of the commission.

Their role is to control the political course of the EU, i.e. prioritising political matter. The Council does not, however, however, posses the required authority to pass legislations. Their decisions must be ratified by the European Commision to become legitimate.

Once the council have reached a decision amongst themselves, they present it to the European Commision. This contains 20 members appointed by their respective governments. A president is then appointed to serve a 5 year term.

The commission is responsible for the initiation of policies, they do this by preparing proposals for new laws and policies then submitting them to the Council of Ministers. Should these proposals be approved by the Council of Ministers the Council then have to power to put the laws into effect.

The Council of Ministers is the EU's primary legislative body. It is made up of appointed ministers from the member states. When the Ministers approve new policies and laws they become national law.

The European Parliament is the fourth stage of the decision making process. Each member has been directly elected by citizens of it's member state. The number