5.3 - European integration: institutions and enlargement
European integration has created shared institutions while retaining an important role for national governments. This is the first of two lessons on official section 5.3: it explains the EU's purposes, the powers of its key institutions and how states join. The next lesson examines treaties, monetary union and the debate over integration's direction.
The EU's purposes and origins
The European Union is a political and economic union whose members cooperate through powers established by treaties.
European integration
The process through which European states develop shared rules, institutions and policies, making their political and economic relationships closer.
Peace was a central motive after the Second World War. France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg pooled coal and steel through the European Coal and Steel Community, operating from 1952. Sharing industries essential to military production aimed to make renewed conflict harder and rebuild trust. The Treaties of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom in 1958, extending cooperation into a broader common market and atomic energy. EU history, 1945–59.
Economic motives reinforced this security purpose. A larger market could expand opportunities for production and exchange. Shared rules reduced the risk that each government would protect its own businesses through incompatible requirements. Later, democratisation and the end of the Cold War created opportunities for further enlargement. Integration therefore has several causes: security, economic advantage, political commitments and the desire for collective influence.
The EU's stated aims include peace, rights, sustainable development, an internal market and economic, social and territorial cohesion. Cohesion means reducing disparities among places and groups within the Union. These aims help explain why its activity extends beyond trade into areas such as environmental rules and regional funding. They are purposes to assess against outcomes, not proof that every EU policy achieves them. EU aims and values.
If you sit in 2027: Issue 3 explicitly includes EU formation and development and the establishment of its institutions. Retain the ECSC–EEC–EU background here, and the institutional development below. Issue 4 refocuses the first two bullets on role, objectives, institutional powers and enlargement; it does not make historical context unhelpful.
The official EU membership list, checked on 2 October 2026, contains 27 states. If you sit in 2027: Issue 3's glossary refers to 28 members in 2015. That is a historical count: the UK left on 31 January 2020. Use an accurate date when discussing membership, rather than treating 28 as today's total. EU countries, Council account of UK withdrawal.
Commission, Parliament and Council
Most EU legislation requires cooperation between an executive proposing measures and two institutions representing citizens and governments.
| Institution | Representation and main powers | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| European Commission | Promotes the EU's general interest; normally proposes legislation, implements policies and the budget, and pursues breaches of EU law | A proposal does not become law merely because the Commission supports it |
| European Parliament | Directly elected by EU citizens every five years; co-legislates, shares budgetary power and scrutinises the Commission | It normally works on Commission proposals and must agree legislation with the Council |
| Council of the European Union | National ministers meet according to the policy area; co-legislates, adopts the budget with Parliament and coordinates policies | The treaty determines whether majority voting or unanimity applies |
The Commission contains one Commissioner from each member state, but Commissioners are meant to serve the Union's interests rather than act as national delegates. Parliament's first direct elections took place in 1979; its antecedent was the ECSC's Common Assembly. The EEC Commission began in 1958, and the Merger Treaty provided a single Commission and Council for the three Communities from 1967. Institutions developed over time; they were not all created together when the name EU appeared. Commission powers, Parliament's development and powers, Merger Treaty history.
Under the ordinary legislative procedure, the Commission normally submits a proposal and Parliament and Council must agree the text. Each can examine amendments or reject a position; negotiation produces a text both can accept. For example, in a hypothetical environmental measure, Parliament might seek stricter protection while some national ministers seek more implementation time. Neither institution's preference alone settles the law. Council's legislative role.
Council qualified majority voting normally requires support from at least 55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population, for a Commission proposal when all members participate. A government can lose a vote and still be bound. The citizen and government channels therefore coexist with supranational effects; government participation does not mean each government retains a veto. Qualified majority rules.
European Council and accountability
National leaders set the EU's broad direction, while executive institutions operate within political and legal checks.
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