Europe is home to three major councils with very important functions: the European Council, the Council of the European Union and the Council of Europe. While their names sound similar, their roles are very different. Find out more about each of these councils and how to distinguish them from one another in this podcast.

What is the Court of Justice of the EU, and why does it matter to your daily life? In this episode, we explore how the CJEU ensures that EU law is applied fairly and equally across all Member States — from landmark rulings to its role in defending citizens’ rights.

Irish, Maltese, Estonian, Latvian, Slovenian, and Lithuanian are the official EU languages spoken by fewer than six million people each. Yet, true to its motto, ‘United in Diversity’, the European Union is committed to helping these languages thrive. From education programmes to cultural initiatives, the EU has many innovative tools up its sleeve to support and celebrate its less spoken languages.

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates among the EU Member States every six months. Therefore, each country takes a turn leading the Council and shaping the EU’s agenda for that period. But what does holding the presidency mean and why does it rotate?

A directive is a legal act that sets a goal that EU countries must achieve. However, it is up to the individual countries to adapt their own laws in order to reach that goal. In this podcast, we explore what directives are and how they make their way into national law.

An EU treaty is a legally binding agreement between all EU countries. These treaties set out the rules of the EU – how it works, what it can and cannot do and how decisions are made. The first major milestone came in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome. The Treaty established the European Economic Community, which aimed to forge closer ties between European economies and remove barriers to trade. It did not yet create the EU as we know it, but it laid the foundations for it. In 2007, came the Lisbon Treaty, the EU’s most recent update.

Are you familiar with the European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank? Do you know what their missions are? What about their similarities and differences? In this podcast, we explore the EU’s two main financial institutions and look at their shared goals and distinct features.

Article 7 is a legal tool designed to protect the European Union’s founding values. This article, enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, allows the EU to take action when a Member State seriously violates or is at risk of seriously violating these core values.

Europe is now treating foreign interference as a systemic threat. Therefore, the European Parliament is responding by putting in place new committee structures, laws and strategies to ensure that the democratic voice of Europeans remains strong, clear and authentic.

Once they are elected, MEPs can take on various roles. They can serve as the President of the European Parliament, join committees, or even become an observer, which, despite being a less discussed position, is still an equally important role within Parliament.

In this episode, we will take a closer look at what it means to be an observer in order to better understand who can become one, what their duties are and how they operate.

Have you ever heard of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament?

From their job title, it’s clear that they play a crucial role in Parliament and must be important political figures.

But do you know what the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament really do, who they are and how they are elected?