Seven institutions, nine bodies and over thirty agencies: how the European Union is built

Background

The European Union's institutional set-up consists of 7 European institutions, 9 EU bodies and over 30 decentralised agencies, together with 4 interinstitutional services that support the institutions.
There are 4 main decision-making institutions which lead the EU's administration: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.
Their work is complemented by 3 further institutions: the Court of Justice of the European Union at Luxembourg, the European Central Bank at Frankfurt and the European Court of Auditors at Luxembourg.
The European Parliament represents the citizens of EU countries and is directly elected by them; it takes decisions on European laws jointly with the Council of the European Union and approves the EU budget.
The European Council is chaired by a president who is elected for a 2.5-year term, renewable once, and it does not adopt laws except for possible EU Treaty amendments.
The European Commission uses its right of initiative to put forward proposals for new laws, which the Parliament and the Council adopt.
The powers, responsibilities and procedures of the institutions are laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (1957) and the Treaty on European Union (1992), with amendments introduced by the Lisbon Treaty (2007).
Around 60,000 EU civil servants and other staff serve the 450 million Europeans.