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During a temporary period that extended to 1 November 2004, the old pre-Nice voting system was kept, but adapted to the new number of member states. [22] From 1 November 2004, a new voting system based on the Nice system entered into force. The voting weights of the member states according to that voting system are shown in the table on the right.
The primary institutions of the European Union are the European Commission, the Council of the European Union (Council), the European Council and the European Parliament. The ordinary legislative procedure, applies to nearly all EU policy areas. Under the procedure, the Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the council.
This will normally be at the end of a European Council meeting and according to the same format (chaired by the President of the European Council and including the President of the Commission), but usually restricted to the (currently 20) heads of state or government of the member states of the eurozone. [citation needed]
There are three types of government systems in European politics: in a presidential system, the president is the head of state and the head of government; in a semi-presidential system, the president and the prime minister share a number of competences; finally, in a parliamentary republic, the president is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences.
The European Council deals with the major issues such as the appointment of the President of the European Commission who takes part in the body's meetings. [58] Ecofin's Eurozone component, the Euro group, is also a formal group with its own President. [51] Its European Council counterpart is the Euro summit formalized in 2011 [59] and the TSCG.
A semi-presidential republic is a government system with power divided between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government, used in countries like France, Portugal, and Egypt. The president, elected by the people, symbolizes national unity and foreign policy while the prime minister is appointed by the president or ...
Parliamentary democracy is the dominant form of government in the European Union, Oceania, and throughout the former British Empire, with other users scattered throughout Africa and Asia. A similar system, called a council–manager government, is used by many local governments in the United States.
The European Parliament (EP) shares the legislative and budgetary authority of the Union with the Council of the European Union (of relevant national government ministers). Its 705 [ 16 ] members are elected every five years by universal suffrage and sit according to political allegiance .