The institutional arrangement of the European Union is unique and its decision-making system is constantly evolving. There are seven European institutions, seven EU bodies and over 30 decentralized agencies located throughout the EU. They work together to take into account the common interests of the EU and European citizens.

In terms of administration, there are another 20 EU agencies and organizations that perform specific legal functions and four inter-institutional services that support the institutions.

All these organizations have specific roles – from making EU law and policies to implementing policies and working in specialist areas such as health, medicine, transport and the environment.

The EU administration is governed by four main decision-making institutions. Together, these institutions give the EU political direction and play different roles in the law-making process:

• European Parliament (Brussels/Strasbourg/Luxembourg)
• European Council (Brussels)
• Council of the European Union (Brussels/Luxembourg)
• European Commission (Brussels/Luxemburg/representations across the EU)

Their work is complemented by other institutions and bodies, which include:

• Court of Justice of the European Union (Luxembourg)
• European Central Bank (Frankfurt)
• European Court of Auditors (Luxembourg)

EU institutions and bodies cooperate to a large extent with the network of EU agencies and organizations across the European Union. The main function of these bodies and agencies is to translate policies into practice.

Around 60,000 civil and other employees work for 450 million Europeans (and countless others around the world). This is actually a relatively small number – the French Ministry of Finance has approximately 140,000 employees for 67 million citizens. (More on european-union.europa.eu)