Doing business in the EU In 1957, the Treaty of Rome established a common market. The European Commission is the EU staff. They are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Contributions of 120 billion euros a year from member states fund the EU. Currency The Council's main job is to create and propose new policies and legislation for the European Union; it operates under a different EU president every six months. The Council provides the mandate to the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the EU agreements between the EU and non-EU countries and international organisations. Three bodies run the EU. Work for and with the EU European law is still established by international treaties. the Council of the European Union, another EU institution also called ‘the Council’ or ‘the Council of Ministers’, which brings together ministers and officials from the member states, and which with the European Parliament is the EU’s lawmaker ... What does the European Council do?

Together with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council ensures the unity, consistency and effectiveness of the EU's external action.

Residents and visitors can cross borders without getting visas or showing their passports. Give feedback about this website or report a problem Legislation and case-law The EU Council represents national governments. It is usually adopted in December and starts running on 1 January the following year.Enter your email address and we will send you a link to your subscriptionYour request will be handled by the Press Office of the General Secretariat of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.Your data will be stored in the database until you unsubscribe from the service.Certain data (name, e-mail address, preferred language, media name, media type) may be disclosed to the press offices of the European institutions, the Permanent Representations of the Member States and to European Union agencies, under the conditions laid down in Articles 7 and 8 of Regulation 45/2001.If there is data which you would not like to be stored, please let us know at: Instead, the Council meets in 10 different configurations, each corresponding to the policy area being discussed. A. In these cases, the Council legislates on the basis of proposals submitted by the European Commission. This video is gives a short yet comprehensive introduction of the Council of the European Union. The Council adopts the EU budget together with the Parliament.The budget period covers a calendar year. The EU's purpose is to be more competitive in the global marketplace.

This also includes the EU's development and humanitarian aid, defence and trade. It abandoned the idea of a European Constitution. 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.

It increased EU powers, border control, immigration, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and police cooperation. In 1993, the Treaty of Maastricht established the European Union common market.