Executive and Legislative Relationship in the European Union

Essay by dslslaveCollege, UndergraduateA+, March 2007

download word file, 8 pages 5.0

Making incredible strides toward progress and development, the European Union has evolved and has advanced significantly since the European Coal and Steel Community. The legislature of the EU is composed of both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, each working together while at the same time maintaining their specific arenas. Executive in the European Union refers to the European Commission. The legislative and executive branches of the European Union offer unique characteristics that differ from the traditional tasks, powers, and duties of an executive or legislative branch.

Historically, legislative and executive branches of government have varied from those currently in place in the European Union. A legislature is traditionally defined as “an institution that has the power to make or change laws” (“Glossary”). Parliamentary systems generally feature an executive appointed by the legislature, while governments with a president have a legislative branch independent of the executive with them having an equal share of power.

The legislature of the European Union has dissimilar characteristics in that it does not draft legislation nor produce stipulations, rather this is the work of the European Commission, an executive institution. It is the job of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pass the laws that the European Commission proposes (“Cooperation Procedure”).

The European Commission also differs from a traditional executive, which has generally been responsible for everyday processes of the region. As exemplified in the United States constitution, an executive must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," (“U.S. Const. Article II”) similar to the European Commission adopting measures to put into operation the legislation from the Council and the European Parliament. However, when the situation arises where an executive must be removed, in the United States a President can be put up for impeachment...