How does the EU work?

The European Union is a political, economic and legislative body which enables its member states to work together in the areas where working together is beneficial for all states. Co-ordinating the Common European Market, for example, expands the scope for business transactions and increases economic prosperity in Europe. Working together on the environment ensures high standards throughout the continent and safeguards the future for all countries and all of Europe. At the end of the second world war the states of Europe were in political, economic and social ruins. In order to rebuild the continent and as a means to end conflict in Europe, it was acknowledged that the states of Europe would have to work together. This integration process was started in the 1950s by the six founder members: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg who signed three treaties: 1951 - the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) 1957 - the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) 1958 - the European Economic Community (ECC - The Treaty of Rome) The success of integration was widely acknowledged and gradually more and more states signed up to the Treaties and more Treaties were written to cover more policy areas. All new Treaties require the unanimous support of the governments of each member state and new Treaties must be ratified by the parliaments in each state.

The European Union (EU) Consists of 27 member states with a total population of around 496 million citizens: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and from January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania  Working in Brussels and Strasbourg, the European Parliament has 785 democratically elected members. Britain has 78 MEPs, of which 19 are Labour members who belong to the Party of European Socialists - the second largest political group in the Parliament. The European Parliament has an office in the UK and can be contacted at 2 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1H 9AA.

How Laws are Made

The three main European Institutions - the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council - share responsibility for making European laws. The European Council, which brings together the heads of government from each of the member states, sets out the strategic direction of the Union. The European Commission then proposes draft laws and other initiatives to implement the strategy.

The draft laws are subject to "co-decision", or joint decision-making by MEPs in the European Parliament and Ministers from the different EU countries meeting in the Council of Ministers. The Parliament and the Council participate in the legislative procedure as co-legislators, on an equal footing. An European proposal requires the agreement of both Ministers and MEPs before it can become law - a double democratic check.

Advice and Resources

A wealth of information is available for Citizens of the EU covering a wide variety of topics:

	Citizens Signpost Service: A comprehensive signposting resource for EU Citizens covering living, working and studying in Europe; buying goods and services and supporting equal opportunities and job seeking.
	Europe Direct: Information about European Union laws and procedures on request. If you live locally, you may also wish to contact the Europe Direct Centre at Leeds Library.
	Access to EU documents: An extensive, indexed and searchable library of official European Parliament documents.
	Foreign Office website on the European Union
	UK European Movement
	Labour Movement for Europe