How the EU works

Learn how the European Commission, Parliament, and Council turn a proposal into EU law, from committee work and readings to final publication.

Understand how the elected European Parliament represents citizens, passes EU laws, oversees institutions, and works through political groups and committees.

Learn how to interpret an MEP voting record, including attendance, roll-call votes, political-group patterns, and the limits of the public data.

See how the EU Transparency Register records lobbying groups, policy interests, budgets, meetings, and information citizens can use to examine influence.

Learn how national ministers work in the Council of the EU, vote on legislation, rotate the presidency, and negotiate shared laws with the Parliament.

Understand trilogues: informal negotiations among Parliament, Council, and Commission representatives that often settle EU legislation before formal votes.

Learn how EU regulations apply directly, how directives require national transposition, and what happens when countries miss legal implementation deadlines.

Explore EU citizenship rights, including free movement, voting, petitions, consumer protections, data privacy, and ways citizens can shape European policy.

Follow practical steps for tracking EU legislation: read procedure stages, monitor votes and topics, set alerts, and use official sources alongside GovLens.

Understand how European Parliament committees examine legislation, appoint rapporteurs, negotiate amendments, and prepare positions for plenary votes.