The institutions of the European Union in light of the Amsterdam European Council

Abstract

The European Union as established by the Treaty of Maastricht, is a very important stage in the creation of a closer union among the peoples of Europe and aiming towards an ever improving European integration plan. At Maastricht the twelve Member States incorporated into one treaty the fields of activity of all the other Communities established in the preceding years; namely the European Coal and Steel Community (1952), European Atomic Energy Community or Euratom (1958), and the European Economic Community (1957). The institutions of these three bodies played a very important role towards the European integration achievement. However, the institutional set-up has been simplified by the Merger Treat which established, or rather condensed the former institutions into one European Council, one European Commission, one European Court and one European Parliament, for the three Communities. This setup was maintained also after the Treaty on the European Union with the inclusion of the Court Auditors. This paper will deal with the new provisions and amendments regarding these institutions as proposed in the Amsterdam European Council Draft Treaty. However, although it is an important institution the European Court of Justice will not be included in this study as it is the subject of another paper.