List of bodies of the European Union
Table:
Name	TEU	Seat	Members	Chairman

The European Parliament	1	Brussels & Strasbourg	785 MPs	Martin Schulz

The European Council	2	Brussels	28 Heads of State or Government of the Member States and the President of the Commission	Donald Tusk

The Council of European Union	3	Brussels	28 ministers	Biannual rotation

The European Commission	4	Brussels	28 commissioners	Jean-Claude Juncker

The European Court of Justice	5	Luxembourg	27 judges , 8 Advocate-Generals	Koen Lenaerts

The European Central Bank	6	Frankfurt am Main	Mario Draghi

The Court of Auditors	7	Brussels & Luxembourg	24 members , 1 president	Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira

The European Investment Bank	Luxembourg	Owned by the EU member states	Werner Hoyer

The Economic and Social Committee	Brussels	222 members	Georges Dassis

The European Ombudsman	Strasbourg	Ombudsman & Secretary	Emily O'Reilly

The European Committee of the Regions	Brussels	344 members	Markku Markkula

Looking at the given table as well as the article excerpts provided at the end.

State the answer to the question: Which consultative body is composed of social partners and had a seat in a region that comprises over 2.5 million people ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

The European Parliament ( EP ) is the legislative branch of the European Union and one of its seven institutions . Together with the Council of the European Union , it adopts European legislation , normally on a proposal from the European Commission . The Parliament is composed of 705 members ( MEPs ) . The Parliament represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world ( after the Parliament of India ) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world ( 375 million eligible voters in 2009 ) . Since 1979 , it has been directly elected every five years by European Union citizens , using universal suffrage . Voter turnout for parliamentary elections has decreased at each election after 1979 until 2019 , when the voter turnout increased by 8 percentage points and went above 50% for the first time since 1994 . Voting age is 18 in all member states except Malta and Austria , where it is 16 , and Greece , where it is 17 . Although the European Parliament has legislative power , as does the Council , it does not formally possess legislative initiative ( which is the prerogative of the European Commission ) , as most national parliaments of European Union member states do . The Parliament is the first institution of the EU ( mentioned first in the treaties , having ceremonial precedence over all authority at the European level ) , and shares equal legislative and budgetary powers with the Council ( except in a few areas where the special legislative procedures apply ) . It likewise has equal control over the EU budget . Finally , the European Commission , the executive body of the EU ( it exercises executive powers , but no legislative ones other than legislative initiative ) , is accountable to Parliament . In particular , Parliament can decide whether or not to approve the European Council 's nominee for the President of the Commission , and it is further tasked with approving ( or rejecting ) the appointment of the Commission as a whole .
Brussels ( French : Bruxelles [ bʁysɛl ] ( listen ) or [ bʁyksɛl ] ; Dutch : Brussel [ ˈbrʏsəl ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Brussels-Capital Region ( French : Région de Bruxelles-Capitale ; [ a ] Dutch : Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest ) , [ b ] is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities , including the City of Brussels , which is the capital of Belgium . The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community , but is separate from the Flemish Region ( which forms an enclave ) and the Walloon Region . Brussels is the most densely populated and the richest region in Belgium in terms of GDP per capita . It covers 162 km2 ( 63 sq mi ) , a relatively small area compared to the two other regions , and has a population of over 1.2 million . The metropolitan area of Brussels comprises over 2.5 million people , which makes it the largest in Belgium . It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards Ghent , Antwerp , Leuven and Walloon Brabant , home to over 5 million people . Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe . Since the end of the Second World War , it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations , politicians , diplomats and civil servants . Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union , as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions , including its administrative-legislative , executive-political , and legislative branches ( though the judicial branch is located in Luxembourg , and the European Parliament meets for a minority of the year in Strasbourg ) [ c ] . Its name is sometimes used metonymically to describe the EU and its institutions . The secretariat of the Benelux and headquarters of NATO are also located in Brussels . As the economic capital of Belgium and one of the top financial centres of Western Europe with Euronext Brussels , it is classified as an Alpha global city .
Strasbourg ( UK : /ˈstræzbɜːrɡ/ , US : /ˈstræs- , ˈstrɑːsbʊərɡ , ˈstrɑːzbʊərɡ , -bɜːrɡ , strɑːzˈbʊər/ , French : [ stʁazbuʁ , stʁasbuʁ ] ( listen ) ; Bas Rhin Alsatian : Strossburi [ ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁi ] ( listen ) , Haut Rhin Alsatian : Strossburig [ ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁiɡ̊ ] ( listen ) ; German : Straßburg [ ˈʃtʁaːsbʊʁk ] ( listen ) ) is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament . Located at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace , it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin department . In 2017 , the city proper had 280,966 inhabitants and both the Eurométropole de Strasbourg ( Greater Strasbourg ) and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg had 494,089 inhabitants . Strasbourg 's metropolitan area had a population of 785,839 in 2016 ( not counting the section across the border in Germany ) , making it the ninth-largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est region 's inhabitants . The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 958,421 inhabitants . Strasbourg is one of the de facto three main capitals of the European Union ( alongside Brussels and Luxembourg ) , as it is the seat of several European institutions , such as the Council of Europe ( with its European Court of Human Rights , its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines most commonly known in French as Pharmacopée Européenne its European Audiovisual Observatory ) , the Eurocorps , as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union . Together with Basel ( Bank for International Settlements ) , Geneva ( United Nations headquarters in Europe ) and New York City ( United Nations world headquarters ) , Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world not being a state capital and hosting international organisations of the first order . The city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights . It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia , after Paris . Strasbourg 's historic city centre , the Grande Île ( Grand Island ) , was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988 , the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre . Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history , has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries , especially through the University of Strasbourg , currently the second-largest in France , and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture . It is also home to the largest Islamic place of worship in France , the Strasbourg Grand Mosque .
Martin Schulz ( born 20 December 1955 ) is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party 2017 to 2018 , and has served as a Member of the Bundestag ( MdB ) since 2017 . Previously he was President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017 , Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2004 to 2012 and a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) from Germany from 1994 to 2017 . In November 2016 , Schulz announced he would not seek a third term as President of the European Parliament , but instead would stand in 2017 as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship . In January 2017 , Sigmar Gabriel announced he would not stand for re-election as party leader and as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship , Gabriel recommended Schulz as his replacement . After the elections of 2017 , which resulted in a postwar low for the SPD , Schulz declared the end of the Grand coalition under Angela Merkel and explicitly refused to serve in a Merkel government . On 7 February 2018 , coalition talks concluded and Schulz announced he would succeed Sigmar Gabriel as Foreign minister and leave his party chairmanship to Andrea Nahles . After heavy public and internal criticism , Schulz decided not to enter the new cabinet . On 13 February 2018 Schulz stepped down as party chair .
The European Council ( informally EUCO ) is a collective body that defines the European Union 's overall political direction and priorities . It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states , along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission . The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings . Established as an informal summit in 1975 , the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon . Its current president is Charles Michel , former Prime Minister of Belgium .
Donald Franciszek Tusk ( /tʊsk/ ; Polish : [ ˈdɔnalt franˈt͡ɕiʂɛk ˈtusk ] ( listen ) ; born 22 April 1957 ) is a Polish politician , who was the president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019 . He served as the prime minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and chairman of the Civic Platform ( Platforma Obywatelska ) political party . On 20 November 2019 , Tusk was elected as the president of the European People 's Party ( EPP ) , Europe 's largest transnational political party . Tusk has been involved in Polish politics since the early 1990s , having founded several political parties and held elected office almost continuously since 1991 . Tusk was one of the co-founders of the free-market-oriented Liberal Democratic Congress party . He entered the Sejm ( lower chamber of Poland 's parliament ) in 1991 , but lost his seat in the 1993 election which went badly for the Congress . In 1994 , the Congress merged with the Democratic Union to form the Freedom Union . In 1997 , Tusk was elected to the Senate , and became its deputy speaker . In 2001 , he co-founded another centre-right liberal conservative party , Civic Platform ( PO ) , and he was again elected to the Sejm , and became its deputy speaker . He was elected prime minister in 2007 and with his party 's victory in the 2011 Polish parliamentary election , he became the first prime minister to be re-elected since the fall of Communism in Poland . In 2014 , he became president of the European Council and was re-elected to this position in 2017 . He resigned as Polish prime minister to take the role , having been the longest-serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic .
The Council of the European Union , often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council [ a ] and informally known as Council of Ministers , is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union ( EU ) as listed in the Treaty on European Union . It is one of two legislative bodies and together with the European Parliament serves to amend and approve the proposals of the European Commission . The Council of the European Union and the European Council are the only EU institutions that are explicitly intergovernmental , that is forums whose attendees express and represent the position of their member state 's executive , be they ambassadors , ministers or heads of state/government . The Council meets in 10 different configurations of 27 national ministers ( one per state ) . The precise membership of these configurations varies according to the topic under consideration ; for example , when discussing agricultural policy the Council is formed by the 27 national ministers whose portfolio includes this policy area ( with the related European Commissioners contributing but not voting ) .
The European Commission ( EC ) is the executive branch of the European Union , responsible for proposing legislation , implementing decisions , upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU . Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg City , pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate . The Commissioners are proposed by the Council of the European Union , on the basis of suggestions made by the national governments , and then appointed by the European Council after the approval of the European Parliament . It is common , although not a formal requirement , that the commissioners have previously held senior political positions , such as being a member of the European Parliament or a government minister . This EU institution operates as a cabinet government , with 27 members of the Commission ( informally known as commissioners ) . There is one member per member state , but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state . One of the 27 is the Commission President ( currently Ursula von der Leyen ) proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament . The Council of the European Union then nominates the other members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President , and the 27 members as a single body are then subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament . The current Commission is the Von der Leyen Commission , which took office in December 2019 , following the European Parliament elections in May of the same year . The term Commission is variously used , either in the narrow sense of the 27-member College of Commissioners ( or College ) or to also include the administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants who are split into departments called directorates-general and services . The procedural languages of the Commission are English , French and German . The Members of the Commission and their cabinets ( immediate teams ) are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels .
Jean-Claude Juncker ( Luxembourgish : [ ʒɑ̃ːkloːt ˈjuŋkɐ ] ; born 9 December 1954 ) is a Luxembourg politician , who served as President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019 and as the 23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 . He was also the Minister for Finances from 1989 to 2009 . By the time Juncker left office , he was the longest-serving head of any national government in the EU and one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world , with his tenure encompassing the height of the European financial and sovereign debt crisis . From 2005 to 2013 , he served as the first permanent President of the Eurogroup . In 2014 , the European People 's Party ( EPP ) had Juncker as its lead candidate , or Spitzenkandidat , for the presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections . This marked the first time that the Spitzenkandidat process was employed . Juncker is the first president to have campaigned as a candidate for the position prior to the election , a process introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon . The EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the Parliament . On 27 June 2014 , the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position , and the European Parliament elected him on 15 July 2014 with 422 votes out of the 729 cast . He succeeded José Manuel Barroso as President on 1 November 2014 . Juncker has stated that his priorities would be the creation of a digital single market , the development of an EU Energy Union , the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade Agreement , the continued reform of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union - with the social dimension in mind , a targeted fiscal capacity for the Eurozone , and the 2015-16 British EU membership renegotiations .
The Court of Justice , informally known as the European Court of Justice , is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law . As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states . The Court was established in 1952 and is based in Luxembourg . It is composed of one judge per member state - currently 27 - although it normally hears cases in panels of three , five or 15 judges . The court has been led by president Koen Lenaerts since 2015 .
Luxembourg ( /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/ ( listen ) LUK-səm-burg ; Luxembourgish : Lëtzebuerg [ ˈlətsəbuə̯ɕ ] ( listen ) ; French : Luxembourg ; German : Luxemburg ) , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , [ c ] is a landlocked country in western Europe . It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north , Germany to the east , and France to the south . Its capital , Luxembourg City , is one of the four official capitals of the European Union ( together with Brussels , Frankfurt , and Strasbourg ) and the seat of the European Court of Justice , the highest judicial authority in the EU . Its culture , people , and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours , making it essentially a mixture of French and German cultures , as evident by the nation 's three official languages : French , German , and the national language of Luxembourgish . The repeated invasions by Germany , especially in World War II , resulted in the country 's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and , among other things , led to the foundation of the European Union . With an area of 2,586 square kilometres ( 998 sq mi ) , it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe . In 2019 , Luxembourg had a population of 613,894 , which makes it one of the least-populous countries in Europe , but by far the one with the highest population growth rate . Foreigners account for nearly half of Luxembourg 's population . As a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch , it is headed by Grand Duke Henri and is the world 's only remaining sovereign grand duchy . Luxembourg is a developed country , with an advanced economy and one of the world 's highest GDP ( PPP ) per capita . The City of Luxembourg with its old quarters and fortifications was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and the old city . The history of Luxembourg is considered to begin in 963 , when count Siegfried acquired a rocky promontory and its Roman-era fortifications known as Lucilinburhuc , little castle , and the surrounding area from the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in nearby Trier .
Koen Lenaerts , Baron Lenaerts ( Dutch : [ kun ˈleːnaːrts ] ; born 20 December 1954 in Mortsel ) is the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union . He is also a Professor of European Law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and was a member of the Coudenberg group , a Belgian federalist think tank .
The European Central Bank ( ECB ) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy within the Eurozone , which comprises 19 member states of the European Union and is one of the largest monetary areas in the world . Established by the Treaty of Amsterdam , the ECB is one of the world 's most important central banks and serves as one of seven institutions of the European Union , being enshrined in the Treaty on European Union ( TEU ) . The bank 's capital stock is owned by all 27 central banks of each EU member state . The current President of the ECB is Christine Lagarde . Headquartered in Frankfurt , Germany , the bank formerly occupied the Eurotower prior to the construction of its new seat . The primary objective of the ECB , mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB , is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone . Its basic tasks , set out in Article 3 of the Statute , are to set and implement the monetary policy for the Eurozone , to conduct foreign exchange operations , to take care of the foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks and operation of the financial market infrastructure under the TARGET2 payments system and the technical platform ( currently being developed ) for settlement of securities in Europe ( TARGET2 Securities ) . The ECB has , under Article 16 of its Statute , the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes . Member states can issue euro coins , but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand . The ECB is governed by European law directly , but its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital . Its capital is €11 billion held by the national central banks of the member states as shareholders . The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states ' population and GDP , but the capital key has been adjusted .
Frankfurt ( officially : Frankfurt am Main ( German : [ ˈfʁaŋkfʊʁt ʔam ˈmaɪn ] ( listen ) ; Hessian : Frangford am Maa ; lit . Frank ford on the [ a ] Main ) ) is a metropolis and the largest city of the German federal state of Hesse , and its 746,878 ( 2017 ) inhabitants make it the fifth-largest city in Germany . On the River Main ( a tributary of the Rhine ) , it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring city of Offenbach am Main , and its urban area has a population of 2.3 million . The city is at the centre of the larger Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region , which has a population of 5.5 million and is Germany 's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr Region . Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013 , the geographic centre of the EU is about 40 km ( 25 mi ) to the east of Frankfurt 's central business district . Like France and Franconia , the city is named after the Franks . Frankfurt is the largest city in the Rhine Franconian dialect area ( Franconian dialects ) , Frankfurt was one of the host cities of the official tournaments of the 1974 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup . Frankfurt was a city state , the Free City of Frankfurt , for nearly five centuries , and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire , as a site of imperial coronations ; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806 and then permanently in 1866 , when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia . It has been part of the federal state of Hesse since 1945 . Frankfurt is culturally , ethnically , and religiously diverse , with half of its population , and a majority of young people , having a migration background . A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals , including many expatriates . Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce , culture , education , tourism and transportation .
Mario Draghi OMRI GColIH BVO ( Italian pronunciation : [ ˈmaːrjo ˈdraːɡi ] ; born 3 September 1947 ) is an Italian economist who served as President of the European Central Bank between 2011 and 2019 . Prior to that , he served as the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board from 2009 to 2011 and Governor of the Bank of Italy from 2005 to 2011 . Draghi previously worked at Goldman Sachs from 2002 until 2005 . In 2014 , Draghi was listed as the 8th most powerful person in the world by Forbes . In 2015 , Fortune magazine ranked him as the world 's second greatest leader . In May 2019 , Paul Krugman described him as [ arguably ] the greatest central banker of modern times .
The European Court of Auditors ( ECA ) ( French : Cour des comptes européenne ) is the fifth institution of the European Union ( EU ) . It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management .
Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira ( born 1960 ) is the President of the Portuguese Court of Auditors and former President of the European Court of Auditors . He was born in Campo Maior , Portugal . He has a degree in Law from the University of Lisbon and a postgraduate degree in European Studies from the European Institute of the Faculty of Law at that university . He was an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law of Lisbon University from 1983 to 1984 , and he worked at the Inspectorate General of Finance at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance from 1984 to 2000 . From 1996 to 1999 he was an assistant professor at the Higher Institute of the New Professions . Caldeira was elected President of the European Court of Auditors for a term of three years from 16 January 2008 . His mandate was renewed on 12 January 2011 for a second term , and on 23 January 2014 for a third term .
The European Investment Bank ( EIB ) is a publicly owned international financial institution whose shareholders are the EU member states . It was established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome as a policy-driven bank using financing operations to further EU policy goals such as European integration and social cohesion . It should not be confused with the European Central Bank , which is based in Frankfurt ( Germany ) or with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD ) which is based in London ( United Kingdom ) . The member states set the bank 's broad policy goals and oversee the decision-making bodies of the bank : its board of governors and board of directors . It is the world 's largest international public lending institution .
Werner Hoyer ( born 17 November 1951 in Wuppertal ) is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party of Germany ( FDP ) , currently serving as the President of the European Investment Bank .
The European Economic and Social Committee ( EESC ) is a consultative body of the European Union ( EU ) established in 1958 . It is an advisory assembly composed of social partners , namely : employers ( employers ' organisations ) , employees ( trade unions ) and representatives of various other interests . Its seat , which it shares with the Committee of the Regions , is the Jacques Delors building on Belliardstraat / Rue Belliard 99 in Brussels . Once known by the acronym EcoSoc , the body is now referred to as the EESC , to avoid confusions with the United Nations ECOSOC .
The European Ombudsman ( or sometimes Euro-Ombudsman ) is an ombudsman for the European Union , based in the Václav Havel building in Strasbourg .
Emily O'Reilly is an author and former journalist and broadcaster who became Ireland 's first female Ombudsman in 2003 , succeeding Kevin Murphy . On 3 July 2013 , she was voted European Ombudsman by the European Parliament . She was re-elected in 2014 and in 2019 , in each case for a mandate of five more years . She was educated at University College Dublin , Trinity College Dublin , and Harvard University , where she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism .
The European Committee of the Regions ( CoR ) is the European Union 's ( EU ) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities ( i.e . regions , counties , provinces , municipalities and cities ) with a direct voice within the EU 's institutional framework . Established in 1994 , the CoR was set up to address two main issues . First , about three quarters of EU legislation is implemented at local or regional level , so local and regional representatives needed to have a say in the development of new EU laws . Second , there were concerns about a widening gap between the public and the process of European integration ; involving the elected level of government closest to the citizens was one way of closing the gap . There have been legal cases launched against the CoR by staff who have been subject to gender pay gaps , sexual harassment , blackmail and a whistleblower who was fired . Women and minority groups continue to be hugely underrepresented in positions of leadership .
Markku Antero Markkula ( born July 15 , 1950 in Kolari , Finland ) is a Finnish politician and the First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions . A member of Finland 's Espoo City Council since 1980 - where he was President from 1990-1992 and again in 2010 - Markkula is a member of the Board of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and has been Chairman of the Espoo City Planning Board since 2004 .