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                 EU Basics FAQ: Other EU institutions
                              [EU Flag]
   
                   OTHER IMPORTANT EU INSTITUTIONS
                                       
What is the European Court of Justice?

   The following text was kindly provided by Frangois Thunus[1].
   
       +The European Court of Justice can be compared to the supreme
     court of the European Union. It has the task of interpreting the
     Treaties or secondary EU legislation when disputes arise. [Note:
     This is a very important task, since final compromises reached
     within the Council are often deliberately fuzzy to reach any
     agreement at all.] Its rulings are binding for all Courts of the
     Member States, which have to set aside national law if it does
     conflict with European law [1][2]  The case law of the Court can
     also be relied upon in National CourT.[2][3] If a Member State
     hasn't applied correctly the Treaty, it may be liable for
     damages. [3][4] Since the Maastricht Treaty, the Court also has
     the possibility to impose fines on Member States that don't
     comply with its ruling.
     
  COMPOSITION
  
       The European Court of Justice consists of fifteen Judges (one
     from each Member State) and nine Advocates-General who assist
     the Court by making an independent preliminary assessment of the
     case. The Court may or may not follow them. The Court's rulings
     are directly applicable in all Member States.
     
       The judges and the advocate General are appointed by the
     Council for 6 years. This term can be renewed. According to the
     Treaty, Judges are choosen amongst people that could exercise
     the highest juridical functions in their home countries. There
     is no provision in the Treaty as to the nationality of the said
     judges, so technically, the Court could be composed of 15 Scots,
     or 15 Danes. In practice however, [note: for some reason], there
     is one judge for each country. The judges then elect the
     President amongst themselves.
     
  COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
  
       Since 1988, the Court has become a two-headed jurisdiction.
     The burden of cases was too heavy for the Court alone, and a
     decision of the Council created the Court of First Instance. The
     CFI started working in 1989. The Court of First Instance, as the
     name doesn't suggest at all, isn't a first degree of
     jurisdiction. It has a different jurisdiction: it is concerned
     with European staff cases, competition cases, conflicts arising
     from the application of the ECSC Treaty, etc. After the IGC of
     1996, it is most likely that all the competences of the Court
     will be transferred to the CFI, exception made for one:
     preliminary rulings (art 177).
     
       The CFI has 15 judges as well, but there is no Advocate-
     General. The CFI may however decide to appoint one on an ad hoc
     basis, if it believes the case requires it: it will then be one
     of the judges not appointed to the case. For the rest, the rules
     of procedures are broadly the same as for the Court. For the
     purpose of this document, anything said about the Court means
     both the Court and the CFI. There is a very limited possibility
     to +appeal; against a ruling of the CFI to the Court. +Appeal;
     is quoted because it is not an +appeal; properly speaking. The
     possibility is as I said very limited, to points of law and to
     very specific instances. It is closer to the French concept of
     +Cassation;: findings of facts will not be rediscussed. It is
     not used widely, and when used, the Court has usually confirmed
     the judgement of the CFI.
     
  PROCEDURES
  
       The procedure of a case is more or less the following:
     
      The complaint is lodged at the registry by A, parties are notified.
      (parties are: the institutions, the member states, and the actual parties
      to the case, here let's say B)
      
      The defence (from B) comes in, as well as any comment by the institution
      or member states
      
      B adds anything to what was said above (end of the written procedure).
      
      The judge-rapporteur makes a report for the hearing, which sums up the
      facts of the case and the legal arguments. The report is sent to the
      parties as well.
      
      Oral hearing: the parties present their case briefly (most was said in
      writing) and answer all questions of the Court.
      
      At a later stage, the advocate general assigned to the case delivers his
      opinion in a public hearing [if there is any, in the case of CFI].
      
      The judge rapporteur then makes a preliminary draft of the judgement
      which is then discussed by the court in deliberation.
      
      Judgement is given in a oral hearing and sent to the parties
      
  LENGHT OF PROCEEDINGS
  
       The average lenght of proceedings is about 18 months. The Court
     however is not responsible for this. There are several factors
     that explain the length of procedure: when a reference is
     received, it has to be translated in all official languages
     before it can be sent to each government. Then the Institutions
     and Governments have, as per the Treaties, a certain amount of
     time to present their observations. The Court may not continue
     the proceedings until it has received the said observations and
     the official delay is passed by.
     
      They have 2 months to react to the first complaint, starting on
     the day they have received the translation
      
      2 months to react to the defence, starting on the day they have received
      the translation
      
      2 months to react to the reply, starting on the day they have received
      the translation
      
      2 months to react to the reply to the reply, starting on the day they
      have received the translation
      
       All together you already have 8 months here, not to mention transla
     tion delays, etc.
     
  MISCELLANEA
  
      The Court maintains its own staff of legal translators and interpretors,
      but it receives also about 450 cases/year... Proceedings are usually a
      bit faster in the CFI, but staff cases help maintain the average low :
      The staff of the Court (including CFI) is currently around 1000 permanent
      people.
      
      Anybody can come directly before the Court, but the easiest way is
      usually to use the art 177 procedure (preliminary ruling), whereby the
      case is presented in a local Court which then refers the case to the
      Court.
      
      The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, is not to be confused
      with the European Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg, which is
      only competent for issues arising from the European Convention for the
      Protection of Human Rights and Personal Freedoms, and is recognised by
      all member states of the Council of Europe[5].
      
  REFERENCES
  
      See Costa/ENEL [case 6/64, ECR 64 p 1141], and more recently Simmenthal
      [case 106/77, ECR 78 p. 629] or Factortame [c-221/89, ECR 1990 p.I-2433]
      
      See case Van Gend en Loos, 26/62, ECR 63 p. 1
      
      Case Francovitch [joint cases C-6/90 and C-9/90, ECR 91 p.I-5357].;
      
What is the Court of Auditors?

   The Court of Auditors checks whether the accounts of all EU institutions are
   in accordance with legislation and jurisdiction, and it can comment on EU
   institutions' financial management. It is intended as a safeguard against
   abuse of the financial arrangements involved in EU policies, including
   questions of improper expenditure, fraud, as well as waste and value for
   money. It has fifteen members (one from each member state), supported by a
   permanent professional staff of some 335. Its resources are generally
   considered inadequate to carry out its important functions.
   
What is the Economic and Social Committee?

   The Economic and Social Committee consists of representatives of the major
   interest groups from different sectors of economic and social life, notably
   of industry, trade unions, farmers, transporters and other sectors affected
   directly by the EU's economic and social policies. They must be consulted
   for policies in several areas defined in the treaties; they can be consulted
   by the Council or the Commission in other areas as well. There is little
   evidence of the ESC playing a significant role in the policy process.
   
   The ESC comprises 222 members (MESCs):
   
      24 each from Germany, France, Italy and the UK
      
      21 MESCs from Spain
      
      12 each from Austria, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and
      Sweden
      
      9 each from Denmark, Finland and the Republic of Ireland
      
      6 from Luxembourg
      
What is the Committee of Regions?

   The Committee of Regions is a new advisory body established by the
   Maastricht Treaty, to take into account the views of regional and local
   government in European decision making. The advisory Committee of Regions is
   a compromise between the aspirations of powerful regions in federally
   organised member states (such as Germany, Spain and Belgium), which have
   long asked for direct influence on EU decision making, and the views of much
   more centralised member states (such as the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands)
   whose regional governments have only derived powers from a strong central
   government.
   
   The CoR has the same numeric composition as the ESC: totalling 222 members
   (MCoRs)[6]. It is important to note that the MCoRs are appointed by their
   national governments, not directly by any regional authority.
   
What is the European Monetary Institute?

   The Maastricht Treaty inlcudes provisions for the establishment of a
   Economic and Monetary Union by the end of this century. This was not the
   first try: attempts (to codify the objective) failed in 1962, 1970 and 1978.
   
   The European Monetary Institute (based in Frankfurt) has the task of
   co-ordinating monetary policy of the central banks of the member states
   within the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), and to prepare the
   so-called third stage of Economic and Monetary Union, in which a single
   European currency will be introduced. This stage is intended to start in
   1999. At the start of the third stage, the EMI will be renamed to European
   Central Bank (ECB). The director of the EMI is Mr Alexandre Lamfalussy
   (Belgium).
   ___________________________________
   
                                Edited by Roland Siebelink & Bart Schelfhout[7]
                                           corrections and suggestions welcome.
                                                                               
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