How the EU makes decisions

I am getting a bit weary of hearing the European Union derided as undemocratic or as an unaccountable bureaucracy. These claims do not square with my own experience of the EU, whose affairs I have followed since I first joined the Irish diplomatic service in 1978. They seem to me to be based on a lack of understanding, wilful or otherwise, of the necessarily complex ways in which the EU operates.

It is often claimed that the European Commission is an unelected body and that this is somehow a fatal flaw in the EU's make-up, but this misses the point. The EU Commission is essentially the civil service of the European Union, and no country that I know of elects its civil servants. Commission officials are recruited from the 28 EU member States, usually by means of competitive examinations.

The Commission is headed by 28 commissioners, one from each member State, who are appointed by their governments and whose appointments are approved by the democratically-elected European Parliament. The Commissioners are answerable to the European Parliament and regularly appear before the parliament to answer questions and account for their activities. The Commission's most important powers are in the fields of competition and trade policy, where it negotiates trade agreements with third countries on behalf of the EU's member States

The Commission's role is to make proposals and to monitor the implementation of European regulations. The reason the Commission has been given this responsibility is that it is a neutral body and is therefore not controlled by any of the member States. It acts as a kind of referee, trying to ensure a level playing field between the EU's member countries, large and small. Proposals can also be made on the back of a citizens' initiative provided it enjoys the support of at least 1 million EU citizens.

Once the Commission makes a proposal, it is discussed by representatives of the 28 member States who are experts in the particular field and, when it is ripe for agreement, it goes to the Council of Ministers for decision, either unanimously or by a qualified majority vote. This means that Commission proposals go through an elaborate screening process in which all EU countries have an input. The aim of these deliberations is to achieve the maximum degree of agreement on policies to be pursued at European level.

Legislative proposals are also put before the democratically-elected European Parliament which has the power to propose changes. It is only when the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers (representing the democratically-elected governments of the EU member States) agree on a proposal that it can become an EU law.

National parliaments also have a role in vetting Commission proposals and they can object to them if they believe they are unnecessary or inappropriate.

I should add that the European Commission can only make proposals in policy areas where the member States have agreed that the EU can have a role to play. For example, the Commission has no right to make proposals in such areas as health, education, the social welfare system, personal taxation or national security because the Treaties do not give the EU authority in these fields. Each country runs its own hospitals, schools, police services, courts, prisons, defence forces and Embassies.

It is true that the decision-making within the EU is a more complex affair than in the case of a national administration. But that is because the EU is not a state, but a collection of separate, proudly-sovereign States which have decided to work together in certain, defined areas in order to advance their peoples' interests where concerted action at EU level can be more effective than separate national efforts.

This means that the decision-making arrangements need to reconcile the interests of the EU's 28 members which is why many decisions require the support of 55% of its member countries and these must comprise 65% of the EU's population. This ensures that no single country or small group of countries can dominate the EU. It is a unique partnership between democratic nations, controlled by Treaties freely entered into by each of the 28 EU countries.

Far from being undemocratic, the EU has democratic oversight at various points in its decision-making. Ultimately, all key decisions are taken by elected politicians - Prime Ministers in the European Council, Government Ministers in the Council of Ministers, elected MEPs in the European Parliament and members of national parliaments.

Daniel Mulhall is Ireland's Ambassador in London