The European Union (EU) is an alliance of 27 European states. Finland is one of its member states. EU membership means that a large part of the decision-making concerning Finland takes place in EU bodies.
On some matters, all EU member states have delegated their decision-making powers to the EU. In practice, the EU has exclusive competence (power) in the following EU-related matters:
In addition, EU countries make joint decisions on such matters as agricultural support as well as the conditions under which people, services, goods and money flow within the EU. For example, in the labelling of consumer products, each EU country must comply with the regulations they have jointly made.
Social security legislation falls partially under EU competence, while some of the laws are passed separately in each country. Many decisions concerning traffic and the environment are jointly made. Finland can influence EU bodies by sending its own representatives to prepare and make decisions.
Matters that fall within the competence of each country include
There are different types of provisions in the EU legislation. The strongest of them is the regulation. It is binding on all EU countries. If an EU regulation conflicts with national legislation, the regulation overrides and must be complied with.
A directive is a legislative guideline. It obliges EU countries to change their own legislation in accordance with the directive. However, EU countries can use their own discretion when deciding how to implement the directive.
The EU may also make decisions binding on one or more member countries. For example, the European Commission has decided on anti-terrorism cooperation between the authorities. The EU may also issue recommendations and opinions, which EU countries may choose to follow.