Reproduced, with permission, from: Haigh, N., and K. von Moltke. 1990. The
European Community: An environmental force. EPA Journal 16 (4): 58-60.
The six original EC parties were France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland joined in 1973; Greece acceded in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. Thus the EC presently consists of 12 member nations. Several other nations have applied to join.
The EC has four main institutions:
* The European Parliament is a directly elected body with a given number of seats for each member nation, depending on the size of its population. The Parliament is not primarily a legislative body. However, proposed legislation cannot be adopted by the Council (see below) unless the Parliament has given an opinion on the proposal .
* The Commission consists of 17 individuals appointed by the governments of member states (one or two from each member state). Together with the Council. the Commission comprises the EC's legislature. The power to propose legislation lies solely with the Commission, but only the Council may adopt it.
* The Council, which is composed of one minister from each member state, is empowered to enact legislation for the EC. (Once legislation is adopted, member states are responsible for implementing the law.)
* The Court of Justice is the judicial body of the EC. The Court decides cases referred to it by the Commission. For example, such cases would include instances in which the Commission believes member states have not fully implemented EC legislation.
The principle task of the EC, as defined in the Treaty of Rome. is to create closer relations among the member states b~ establishing a common market. The Single European Act of 1987 refined this mandate to require. by the end of 1992, the creation of an internal market comprising an "area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, person, services, and capital is ensured." The 1987 treaty also delineated various common policies in areas including transport, agriculture. and the environment.