is the directly-elected democratic expression of the political will of the peoples of the European Union, the largest multinational Parliament in the world.
is usually known as the Council of Ministers. Here, the Member States legislate for the Union, set its political objectives, coordinate their national policies and resolve differences between themselves and with other institutions.
identifies three distinct functions: initiating proposals for legislation, guardian of the Treaties, and the manager and executor of Union policies and of international trade relationships.
provides the judicial safeguards necessary to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties and, generally in all of the activities of the Union.
is the taxpayers' representative, responsible for checking that the European Union spends its money according to its budgetary rules and regulations and for the purposes for which it is intended.
is the European Union's financing institution, it provides loans for capital investment promoting the Union's balanced economic development and integration.
follows a purely consultative role, but its opinions derive their authority from a membership which is drawn from a broad cross-section of the Union's social and economic life.
is the European Union's youngest institution whose birth reflects Member States' strong desire not only to respect regional and local identities and prerogatives but also to involve them in the development and implementation of EU policies.
Every citizen of each Member State is both a national and a European citizen. One of his/her rights as a European citizen is to apply to the European Ombudsman if he/she is a victim of an act of "maladministration" by the EU institutions or bodies.
The function of the EMI is to make possible the monetary unification. EMI is not the European Central Bank; this will not be established until the end of the monetary union process.
This is not an EU institution, but considering the importance that EMU plays in the operations of the EU, I thought it would be a good idea to put this link here. This site is the official Commission site dedicated to the Euro.
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