ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the EU political system in a broader context, by taking into account all the organs established by the treaties or by EU legislative norms. It addresses the growing role played by national Parliaments in the EU policy making. If their involvement has been very limited for a very long time, despite treaty reforms, they are now much more mobilized. The chapter deals with the numerous non-institutional actors that surround the EU institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg. It also presents the two main and most institutionalized ones: the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The European Investment Bank finances long-term, large-scale projects such as trans-European transport and telecommunications networks. The European Central Bank is the central bank for the euro and is in charge of the monetary policy of the Member States which constitute the eurozone. The multiplication of agencies at the European level is one of the major institutional innovations.
