LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Summary/Abstract: The definition of the classic version of state powers, established by Locke and Montesquieu, is well known: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. The European Union is not yet a state entity and does not have a constitution, in which the problem of realization of these powers to be quite complex. The literature states that the fundamental institutions of the European Union would build on the three powers: the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union would provide the legislative, the European Commission would apply to the executive and the Court of Justice of the European Union would be the judiciary. The Lisbon Treaty, however, avoid driving to highlight these powers of European leadership and administration and its texts states that there are "functions" of these institutions and not "powers." For instance, in the content of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have a "legislative function" in European institutional leadership and do not represent a „legislative power”. This article tries to show that the "legislative function" of the Council of the European Union is, in fact, a true "legislative power", because in this institution there are organizational structures, procedures and legal instruments for implementing this legislative power.

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