The European Commission is the EU's executive arm. It makes decisions on the Union's political and strategic direction. It also proposes legislation to the Parliament and the Council of the EU.

The Commission is divided into 53 units of three types: Directorates-General; Service Departments; and Executive Agencies.

Archived documents and websites from the European Commission. Includes documents from conferences, the Bulletin of the EU and more.

Directly elected by EU citizens, the Parliament acts as a co-legislator, sharing with the Council of the EU the power to adopt and amend legislative proposals and to decide on the EU budget. It also supervises the work of the Commission and other EU bodies and cooperates with national parliaments of EU countries to get their input.

Members of Parliament are divided up amongst 20 topic-based standing committees. A committee consists of between 25 and 73 full members and an equivalent number of substitutes.

Archives of Parliamentary documents for previous terms.

The Legislative Observatory database was set up in 1994 as a tool to monitor the EU’s institutional decision-making process. Its particular focus is on the European Parliament's role.

The European Council is made up of the leaders of each EU member country. It defines the EU's overall political direction and priorities. It is not one of the EU's legislating institutions, so does not negotiate or adopt EU laws. Instead it sets the EU's policy agenda, traditionally by adopting 'conclusions' during European Council meetings which identify issues of concern and actions to take. Not to be confused with the Council of the European Union.

Includes all non-sensitive documents submitted to the European Council or to one of its preparatory bodies.

Body of 350 representatives of regional and local governments working to increase participation of European regions in the EU community.

Non-political body that gives representatives of Europe's civil society groups a platform to express opinions on EU issues.

Sometimes called the Council of Ministers or just the Council, it negotiates and adopts legislative acts, in most cases together with the European Parliament. It also coordinates EU economic and security policies. Not to be confused with the European Council.

Database of EU agreements with other countries as well as international organisations.

Ensures that EU legislation is interpreted and applied consistently across EU countries. National courts refer to the Court of Justice to clarify a point concerning the interpretation of EU law. The Court of Justice is composed of 28 Judges and 11 Advocates General.

Hears actions brought by natural or legal persons against acts of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union and against regulatory acts or against a failure to act on the part of those institutions, bodies, offices or agencies. The General Court is made up of at least one judge from each Member State.