European urban directives
Introduction
The policy of the European Union is outlined in an essentially different way from that of other governmental entities, due to the unique nature of the Union. It is a fundamental premise for the historical, legal and political basis on which said entity is based. Given that the Union is in no way a sovereign State,[1] according to the parameters of international law or contemporary political philosophy, the factors that determine the exercise of community power cannot be assimilated, nor the mechanisms through which it is deployed, nor the vectors in which it is formed and channeled, nor the agents that hold or apply it. The system of government by which the Union is governed and that orders and frames the legal exercise of its powers and competencies is of the community type, but its particularities and the degree of development that this political union has experienced make it especially complex and sophisticated.
Community power is exercised through a common institutional framework made up of the institutions, bodies and agencies of the Union.[2] The European Parliament and the Council exercise legislative power, while the European Commission is responsible for proposing and applying laws, managing common policies and executing the budget; The Court of Justice is the supreme interpreter of Community law and the ultimate guarantor of its application through judicial means. The European Council, with its president at the head, performs the functions of political impulse and institutional moderation that guide community action as a whole.[3] Currently, the president of the European Council is the Portuguese politician António Costa, who assumed his mandate on December 1, 2024. While the current Commission has been chaired by Ursula von der Leyen since December 1, 2024, within the framework of the 10th legislature.
One of the differentiating features of the European Union compared to other international organizations is the high degree of development and integration of its government institutions.[4] The government of the European Union has always oscillated between the intergovernmental conference model, where the States retain all of their prerogatives and the supranational model where a part of the sovereignty of the States is delegated to the administration of the Union. In the first case, community decisions between States must be adopted by consensus, qualified majority or unanimity. This model, close to the principle of classic intergovernmental organizations, is defended by the Eurosceptic current. According to them, it is the heads of state or government who have the democratic legitimacy to represent the citizens and it is then the nations who must control the institutions of the Union.[5] The second case is that of the Europhile current, which believes that the institutions must directly represent the citizens through a model of federalism and direct elections. For them, a federal European Union would solve numerous problems related to sovereignty, democratic legitimation, the division of community powers, the distribution of powers, taxation and the aspiration for a common welfare model.[6].