Page 105 - SEVEN STEPS for COMPREHENDING the EUROPEAN UNION

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By exploring the work of EU institutions, we may disclose many
examples of how the notions of supranationalism and nationalism
may co-exist and work together. In the EU decision-making process,
EU institutions demonstrate both a supranational as well as a national
character. The EU decision-making procedures also clearly show
the unique division of competences between EU institutions and EU
member states.
The European Commission is considered to be an explicitly
supranational EU institution. Therefore, EU Commission staff members,
who are citizens of various EU member states, work for achieving the
common objectives of the Union instead of acting in accordance with
the national agendas of their states. To a certain extent, the European
Commission also incorporates elements of nationalism because
candidates for the positions of commissioners are nominated by the
74
national governments of the EU members .
Contrary to the European Commission, the European Parliament
evidently incorporates both supranational and national elements.
In particular, the parliamentary seats in the European Parliament
are allocated in accordance with the size of the population in the
member states: Germany, with more than 80 million citizens, secures
96 parliamentary seats, while, for example, the Netherlands (almost 18
million) is represented by 31 parliamentary sits, and Luxembourg, with
a population of only 600,000 - by six parliamentarians only. However,
EU member states are not represented by national delegations in the
European Parliament and parliamentarians from different member
states jointly form European political groups. These European political
groups eventually shape the final decisions in the European Parliament.
The Council of the European Union is an EU institution of a clearly
national character. It is composed of governmental representatives of
the EU member states. Although, to a certain extent, the Council also
incorporates supranational elements. For example, a relevant sectorial

74 European Parliament, How are the Commission President and Commissioners
appointed?
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/8/how-are-the-commission-president-
and-commissioners-appointed