ears for ratification either
by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it is scheduled
to take effect on 1 November 2006

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose DURAO
BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)
election results: European Parliament approved the European
Commission by an approval vote of 449-149 with 82 abstentions
elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by
member governments; the president-designate then chooses the other
Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire
Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004
(next to be held 2009)
cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each
member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy
areas)
note: the European Council brings together heads of state and
government and the president of the European Commission and meets at
least twice a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major
political issues relating to European integration and to issue
general policy guidelines

Legislative branch:
Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321
votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states'
population); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of
the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member
states by proportion to population); members elected by direct
universal suffrage for a five-year term
election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED
268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN
27, independents 28
elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)

Judicial branch:
European Court of Justice (ensures that the treaties are
interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 Justices (one from each
member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of
efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand
Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a
six-year term

Political parties and leaders:
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE
[Graham R. WATSON]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM
[Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Group of Greens/European Free
Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Dan