Institutions and bodies of the European Union

EU institutions
European Council
Sets the general political direction and priorities of the European Union
European Parliament
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU voters
every five years
Council of the European Union
National ministers meet to discuss and together with Parliament adopt EU
laws
European Commission
Appointed Commissioners and the EUs civil service. The Commission
proposes EU legislation and checks it is properly applied across the EU. Works
in the interests of the EU as a whole.
Court of Justice of the European Union
EU law courts
European Court of Auditors
Reviews the financing of the EUs activities
European Central Bank
Responsible for European monetary policy
European Ombudsman
Investigates complaints about maladministration by EU institutions and bodies
European Data Protection Supervisor
Supervises data protection in EU institutions and bodies and advises on data
protection legislation
Financial bodies
European Investment Bank
Arranges financing for EU investment projects
European Investment Fund
Help for small businesses
Advisory bodies
European Economic and Social Committee
Represents civil society, employers and employees
Committee of the Regions
Representation for regional and local authorities
Interinstitutional bodies
European External Action service
Publications Office of the European Union
Publishes EU documentation

A job with the EU - EPSO

Recruitment of staff for the EU institutions and other bodies
Eurostat
Official EU statistics homepage
European Administrative School
Core training for EU staff
EU agencies
Common foreign and security policy
Agencies set up to carry out specific technical, scientific and management tasks
Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
Helps EU member countries co-operate in the fight against organised
international crime
Other policy areas
'Community agencies
Executive agencies
Set up to manage EU programmes
EURATOM agencies and bodies
Created to support the aims of the European Atomic Energy Community
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)
Pools the best scientific, business and education resources to boost the Union's
innovation capacity

The European Union a growing family

The EU began life in the 1950s as the European Economic Community with six
founding members Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands. They created a new way of coming together to manage their joint
interests, based essentially on economic integration. They were joined by
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1973, Greece in 1981, and Spain and
Portugal in 1986. Unification of Germany in 1990 brought in the Lnder from
eastern Germany.
In 1992, a new treaty gave more responsibilities to the Community institutions and
introduced new forms of cooperation between national governments, thus creating
the European Union as such. The EU was enlarged in 1995 to include Austria,
Finland and Sweden.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia joined in 2004, followed in 2007 by Bulgaria and Romania.