Main heading

Europe

The European Team within the External Funding & European Unit offer support to the Council's services and partners in:

• European policy and legislative developments
• Developing partnerships for co-operation and the exchange of good practice
• Funding Opportunities
• Lobbying and representing Cheshire's interests

For further information you may want to download our European Newsletter.

Contact our European Officers.

European Institutions

The European Union is built on a unique institutional system. The Member States delegate sovereignty on certain issues to the European institutions.

The most important are the European Commission; the Council of Ministers; and the European Parliament. The other two are the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors.

How the EU works.

European Commission

The European Commission upholds the general interests of the Union. The President and another 24 Commissioners are appointed by the Member States, on the basis of one per state after approval by the European Parliament. Its main role is to draft proposals for new European laws, which it presents to the European Parliament and the Council.

The European Commission is also the EU's executive arm - in other words, it is responsible for implementing the decisions of Parliament and the Council. That means managing the day to day business of the European Union: implementing its policies, running its programmes and spending its funds.

More details on the European Commission.

European Commission Representation

Council of the European Union

The Council is the EU's main decision-making body. It is made up of representatives from each Member State's government, who meet together regularly at ministerial level.

The Council of Ministers consists of several parallel councils with different areas of responsibility. The most important Council, the European Council, is made up of the heads of state who meet at Summits, usually six-monthly.

More information on the Council of the EU.

Presidency

The Council is presided over for a period of six months by each Member State in turn, in accordance with a pre-established rota. The main job for the Presidency is to take charge of the Council agenda and chair all the meetings for a six-month period, promoting legislative and political decisions and brokering compromises between the member states.

More information on the Presidency and the current President.

The European Council

The European Council brings together the Heads of State or Government of the 25 Member States of the European Union and the President of the European Commission. The European Council 'summit' meetings take place up to four times a year in Brussels and set the overall EU policy agenda and resolve any outstanding issues.

Further details on the European Council.

European Parliament

Elections for the European Parliament are held every five years and every EU citizen who is registered as a voter is entitled to vote. Currently there are 732 MEPs. This includes 78 seats for the Uk with 9 MEPs representing the North West.

Parliament has 3 essential functions:

• Legislation
• Budgets
• Watchdog

For more information on the European Parliament

MEP Representation for Cheshire & North West