The European Union is governed by seven institutions. Article 13 of Treaty on European Union lists them in the following order: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union (the Council); the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the Court of Auditors.

European Council	Council of the European Union	European Parliament
Provides impetus and direction	Legislative	Legislative
Based in Brussels,  Belgium.	Based in Brussels,  Belgium. Meets in Luxembourg,  Luxembourg for the months of April, June and October.	Meets in Strasbourg,  France and Brussels,  Belgium. Secretariat based in Luxembourg,  Luxembourg.
summit of the Heads of state or government, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. gives the necessary political impetus for the development of the Union and sets its general objectives and priorities does not legislate	composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state) formally known as "the Council"; informally known as the "Council of Ministers" acts together with the Parliament as a legislature shares with the Parliament the budgetary power ensures coordination of the broad economic and social policy and sets out guidelines for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) concludes international agreements	acts together with the Council (of the European Union) as a legislature shares with the Council (of the European Union) the budgetary power exerts the democratic control over the institutions including the European Commission and approves the Commission members

European Commission	Court of Justice of the European Union	European Central Bank
Executive	Judicial	Central bank
Based in Brussels,  Belgium. Various departments and services hosted in Luxembourg,  Luxembourg.	Based in Luxembourg,  Luxembourg.	Based in Frankfurt,  Germany.
is the executive submits proposals for new legislation to the Parliament and Council (of the European Union) implements policies administers the budget ensures compliance with European law ("guardian of the treaties") negotiates international agreements	ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European law has the power to decide legal disputes between member states, the institutions, businesses and individuals	is the only among the 7 institutions, which also is an international entity with treaty capability in its own right forms together with the national central banks the European System of Central Banks and thereby determines the monetary policy of the eurozone ensures price stability in the eurozone by controlling the money supply

European Court of Auditors
Auditory
Based in Luxembourg,  Luxembourg.
checks the proper implementation of the budget

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