Test 2

Question 1

Herman Van Rompuy

Answer 1

Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy is a Belgian noble and European politician, who formerly served as Prime Minister of Belgium and then as the first President of the European Council.

Question 2

Donald Tusk

Answer 2

President of the European Council

Question 3

Jean-Claude Junker

Answer 3

Jean-Claude Juncker is a Luxembourgish politician serving as President of the European Commission since 2014. From 1995 to 2013 he was the 23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and from 1989 to 2009 he was the Minister for Finances

Question 4

Federica Mogherini

Answer 4

Federica Maria Mogherini is an Italian politician who has served as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since November 2014.

Question 5

Antonio Tajani

Answer 5

Antonio Tajani is an Italian politician who has served as President of the European Parliament since January 2017.

Question 6

Koen Lenarts

Answer 6

President of the European Court of Justice

Question 7

European Summits

Answer 7

When the European Council meets.

Question 8

Council of Ministers Presidency trios

Answer 8

Three countries take turns as President of the Council over the course of a year.

Question 9

Double Majority Voting

Answer 9

16 Countries, 65% of the population

Question 10

Coreper

Answer 10

Its defined role is to prepare the agenda for the ministerial Council of the European Union meetings; it may also take some procedural decisions. It oversees and coordinates the work of some 250 committees and working parties made up of civil servants from the member states who work on issues at the technical level to be discussed later by COREPER and the Council. It is chaired by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Question 11

Directorates-General

Answer 11

Within the European Union, a directorate-general is a branch of an administration dedicated to a specific field of expertise. They are part of the Commission

Question 12

European political groups

Answer 12

Groupings or coalitions of national political parties along broad ideological lines. The national parties that make up the groups are strictly forbidden from campaigning which in turn results in low turnout. European Peoples Party, Socialist Democratic Party are the two largest parties.

Question 13

Parliamentary schedule

Answer 13

Each year the activities of the Parliament cycle between committee weeks where reports are discussed in committees and interparliamentary delegations meet

political group weeks for members to discuss work within their political groups

session weeks where members spend 3½ days in Strasbourg for part-sessions. In addition six 2-day part-sessions are organised in Brussels throughout the year.

Four weeks are allocated as constituency week to allow members to do exclusively constituency work.

Finally there are no meetings planned during the summer weeks.

Question 14

The European Court of Justice

Answer 14

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions.

It can also, in certain circumstances, be used by individuals, companies or organisations to take action against an EU institution, if they feel it has somehow infringed their rights.

Question 15

The General Court

Answer 15

rules on actions for annulment brought by individuals, companies and, in some cases, EU governments. In practice, this means that this court deals mainly with competition law, State aid, trade, agriculture, trade marks. There are no Advocates General in the General Court

Question 16

Types of cases tried in the ECJ

Answer 16

interpreting the law
enforcing the law
annulling EU legal acts
ensuring the EU takes action
sanctioning EU institutions

Question 17

How are justices and advocates-general chosen in the ECJ?

Answer 17

Each judge (one for each country) and advocate general (only 9) is appointed for a renewable 6-year term, jointly by national governments. In each Court, the judges select a President who serves a renewable term of 3 years.

Question 18

The Court of Auditors- major roles

Answer 18

Audits EU revenue & expenditure

Checks any person or organisation handling EU funds

Writes up findings and recommendations in audit reports

Reports suspected fraud, corruption or other illegal activity

Produces an annual report for the European Parliament and Council of the EU, which the Parliament examines before deciding whether to approve the Commission’s handling of the EU budget.

Question 19

types of audits in the Court of Auditors

Answer 19

Financial audits – checking that accounts accurately present the financial position, results and cash flow for the year.

Compliance audits – checking that financial transactions follow the rules.

Performance audits – checking that the EU funds achieve its goals with the fewest possible resources and in the most economical manner.

Question 20

The role of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

Answer 20

ex-officio Vice-President of the European Commission

participant in the meetings of the European Council

responsible of the European Union Special Representatives

head of the External Action Service and the delegations

President of the Foreign Affairs Council

Head of the European Defence Agency

Question 21

The European Council

Answer 21

The European Council brings together EU leaders to set the EU’s political agenda. It represents the highest level of political cooperation between EU countries.

One of the EU’s 7 official institutions, the Council takes the form of (usually quarterly) summit meetings between EU leaders, chaired by a permanent president.

It is convened and chaired by its President, who is elected by the European Council itself for a once-renewable two-and-a-half-year term. The President represents the EU to the outside world.

Question 22

The Council of the European Union

Answer 22

In the Council, government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. The ministers have the authority to commit their governments to the actions agreed on in the meetings.

Together with the European Parliament, the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU.

There are no fixed members of the EU Council. Instead, the Council meets in 10 different configurations, each corresponding to the policy area being discussed. Depending on the configuration, each country sends their minister responsible for that policy area.

Question 23

The European Commission

Answer 23

The European Commission is the EU’s politically independent executive arm. It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

Proposes new laws

Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding

Enforces EU law

Represents the EU internationally

Question 24

The European Parliament

Answer 24

Legislative

Supervisory

Budgetary

Question 25

Commission makeup

Answer 25

The candidate is put forward by national leaders in the European Council, taking account of the results of the European Parliament elections. He or she needs the support of a majority of members of the European Parliament in order to be elected.

The Presidential candidate selects potential Vice-Presidents and Commissioners based on suggestions from the EU countries. The list of nominees has to be approved by national leaders in the European Council.

Each nominee appears before the European Parliament to explain their vision and answer questions. Parliament then votes on whether to accept the nominees as a team. Finally, they are appointed by the European Council, by a qualified majority.