The principal institutions of th eu

The European Union (EU) is a union of twenty seven independent states based on the European Communities and founded to enhance political, economic and social cooperation.

The EU institutions are: the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the Court of Justice.

The Commission consists of members appointed by the member states for 5 years. They must be nationals of a member state. However, they do not represent their own countries: they are independent, and represent the interests of the EU overall.

The Commission has three distinct functions:

- initiator of proposals for legislation;

- guardian of the Treaties;

- executor of Union policies.

The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council of Ministers represents the interests of individual member states. It does not have a permanent membership – in each meeting, the members are chosen according to the subject under discussion (for example, if a discussion is on farming the Minister of Agriculture of each country will attend).

(The Council of the European Union should not be confused with the European Council which is formed by Heads of State or Government who meet twice a year in the form of summit meetings to discuss important Union matters.)

The European Parliament is composed of members (MEPs) who are elected in their own countries. The individual member countries are represented according to population.

The most important powers of the European Parliament are:

- legislative power;

- power over the budget;

- supervision over the executive.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is composed of 25(7) judges and 9 advocates general.

The Court decides cases brought by the member states, by the Union institutions and by individuals and companies. It guarantees uniform interpretation of the Union law.

In 1989 a Court of First Instance was attached to the Court of Justice to improve the judicial protection of individual interests.

The Court of First Instance now deals with all cases of individuals and companies against the Union institutions. Its decisions may be appealed to the Court of Justice.

As the European Union has enlarged, the institutions have grown larger and more numerous. The European Court of Auditors plays an important role of financial control; the European Investment Bank is a major source of finance for economic development; the Committee of Regions represents the regional interests in the Union; the Ombudsman deals with ensuring good practice in the administration of the Community institutions; and European Central Bank has the main aim of price stability.

Family law

Family law deals with legal rights and obligations within the family: marriage, annulment, divorce, premarital agreement, child support and custody, property division, visitation rights, living together, and more.

Getting Married. Under the US family law both the man and the woman must be at least 18 years old to marry without parental consent. And there is no upper age limitation on marriages. Your spouse must be of the opposite sex and you can’t marry certain close relatives (marriages between a parent and a child, grandparent and grandchild, brother and sister, uncle and niece, and aunt and nephew are prohibited). And finally, you can have only one spouse at a time. If you remarry before divorcing your current spouse, you are guilty of bigamy. The second marriage is void from the very beginning.

Annulment and Divorce. In Anglo-American law, some marriages may be annulled. In other cases a couple may seek a divorce. The difference between a divorce and annulment is this: in a divorce, a valid marriage is legally ended, while an annulment means that the “marriage” never existed.

The major grounds for an annulment are: an underage party, an incestuous marriage, and bigamy.

The major grounds for a divorce are: adultery, unreasonable behavior, living apart for a set period of time.

A very important issue when people divorce is Protection of Children. This includes child custody, visitation rights and child support.

Child custody can be awarded to the mother or the father. If neither parent is fit to take care of the child, the judge may award custody to grandparents, other relatives or place the child in a public institution or a foster home.

Visitation rights are awarded to the parent who doesn’t have custody of the children.

The parent who has no custody of the children must pay monthly payment called child support. The amount of child support depends on: the needs of the children and the parent’s ability to pay. The obligation to support a child ends only when the child reaches the age of majority or becomes emancipated.

When issuing a divorce the judge has to decide on Division of Property. There are 2 kinds of marital property: community property and separate property. Community property is everything earned or acquired by a couple during marriage; separate property is everything a person owned before marriage, as well as gifts and inheritances received during marriage. The judge can divide only the community property, separate property remains the property of the spouse who owns it.

Rights of succession. The property of a dead relative is mostly dealt with in Anglo-American law under the law of probate. This is distinct from family law.

Many people make a will before their death. In English law, the maker of a will is called a testator.

If there is no will the laws of succession lay down who has the right to the property of a dead relative and in what order. Under Anglo-American law a surviving spouse is at the top of this order, followed by children, parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents and uncles, aunts and cousins. If there are no relatives at all the properly passes to the State.