The Banking Executive Magazine - August Issue 2022

Where is The EU Standing Today? ployment, social security and tax. The EU’s main economic engine is the single market. It enables most goods, services, money and people to move freely. The EU aims to de- velop this huge resource to other areas like energy, knowledge and capital markets to ensure that Euro- peans can draw the maximum bene- fit from it. The EU remains focused on making its governing institutions more trans- parent and democratic. Decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen. More powers have been given to the directly elected European Parlia- ment, while national parliaments play a greater role, working along- side the European institutions. The EU is governed by the principle of representative democracy, with citizens directly represented at EU level in the European Parliament and Member States represented in the Eu- ropean Council and the Council of the EU. European citizens are encouraged to contribute to the democratic life of the EU by giving their views on EU policies or by suggesting improve- ments to existing laws and policies. The European Citizens’ Initiative em- powers citizens to have a greater say on EU policies that affect their lives. Citizens can also submit complaints and enquiries concerning the appli- cation of EU law. The European Union is founded on the values of respect for human dig- nity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society which pluralism, non-discrimination, toler- ance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. These values are an integral part of the European way of life. Human dignity must be respected, protected and constitutes the real basis of fundamental rights. Being a European citizen also means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU citizen has the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in elections to the European Parliament, whether in their country of residence or country of origin. The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything the EU does is founded on treaties, which are voluntarily and democratically agreed by its member countries. Law and justice are up- held by an independent judiciary. Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These cover the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or be- lief, disability, age or sexual orienta- tion, the right to the protection of personal data, and the right to get ac- cess to justice. EU STRUCTURE AND INSTITUTIONS The institutions of the European Union are the principal decision- making bodies of the European Union (EU). They are, as listed in Ar- ticle 13 of the Treaty on European Union. These include: • The European Parliament, which represents the EU’s citizens and is directly elected by them; • The European Council, which con- sists of the Heads of State or Gov- ernment of the EU Member States; • The Council, (also called the Council of the European Union) which represents the governments of the EU Member States; and • The European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU as a whole. • The national parliaments of the Member States also play a role in taking decisions and making laws. Generally it is the European Com- mission that proposes new laws and the European Parliament and the Council that adopt them. • The advisory bodies (the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions) as well as the national parliaments are involved in the process by providing their opinions on the proposals, mainly from the perspective of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Subsidiarity means that, except in the areas where it has exclusive powers, the EU only acts where ac- tion will be more effective at EU level than at national level. Under the principle of proportionality, the EU’s action must be limited to what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the EU treaties. ISSUE 164 AUGUST 2022 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 9