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I have spent the last two weeks learning about the European Union (EU), and how EU policy is developed. This week I wanted to have a look at some specific EU policy. I decided to see if there was any EU policy on computer energy consumption.

Houses by the river, Strasbourg

I started on the Europa Policy Areas page, and went to the Energy section. The overview on the Energy Policy page suggests that EU energy policy primarily focuses on where energy comes from. Energy efficiency is mentioned, but seems to be a smaller area of the overall EU energy policy.

Under the Legislation tab, I found a link about Energy Efficiency, and from there a link to Energy Efficiency of Office Equipment. This took me to a page about the Energy Star programme.

You have probably seen the Energy Star stickers around. From a user’s perspective, Energy Star is a labelling programme. If office equipment meets certain specifications for energy use, they can display the Energy Star label.

I followed the link to the EU Energy Star page for more information. I had a look around, but did not come away with much. The content felt mostly like marketing, with some notable statistics thrown in.

Here are a few facts from the Consumers page and the Statistics page:

• The annual energy usage for a new home computer and printer can range from 40kWh-400kWh.
• An energy efficient computer and printer can save 150-200 Euros in electricity costs over its lifetime (5-6 years).
• Home office equipment accounts for approximately 9% of the average household electricity bill.
• Office equipment accounts for approximately 11% of electricity usage in the tertiary sector.

I am not quite sure what the tertiary sector is. The statistics are separated into residential, tertiary, and industry. So, I think the tertiary sector means office-based businesses.

I get the impression that there must be more to EU policy on computer energy consumption than the Energy Star programme. I went back to the Europa Energy Efficiency page to see if there were any other links that looked promising, but none stood out. Perhaps it is tucked away in another area of the broader EU energy policy.

Last week, while finding out where European Union (EU) policy comes from, I noticed the European Commission was described as representing the common EU interest.

What do they mean by the common EU interest?

I initially assumed the common EU interest referred to foreign affairs and trade outside the EU. But, as I discovered last week, foreign policy is handled by the Council of the European Union, not the European Commission.

Sign post, Strasbourg

I went back to the Europa web site and their section on the European Commission, to see if there was anything I had missed that might shed some light on the common EU interest. It described the European Commission as representing and upholding the interests of Europe as a whole. That doesn’t seem unique to the European Commission to me. Don’t the other EU institutions also represent and uphold the interests of Europe?

I moved to the European Commission’s own dedicated web site to see if I could discover more about the common EU interest. Nothing immediately stood out, but a link to the Commission At Work seemed most promising. I ended up at a Basic Facts section, where I found a better explanation of the European Commission and the common EU interest.

The description of the European Commission as representing the common EU interest seems to refer to the Commission’s role in proposing legislation. It sounds obvious, but the European Commission can not favour particular countries or interest groups; its focus is on the benefit of the EU as a whole.

As an aside, when the Commission proposes new legislation, it seeks input from groups affected by the legislation, and makes an assessment of the economic, social, and environmental impact of the legislation.

It seems that the European Commission represents the the common EU interest by proposing legislation that benefits all of the EU, not just a particular part of it.

I’m not sure why this description is reserved for the European Commission. I thought that all the EU institutions ultimately existed to benefit the EU as a whole.

In my journey to learn more about the European Union (EU), I wanted to find out where EU policy comes from and how it is put into practice in the EU countries.

I decided to start with the Europa website. Europa, I discovered, is the official EU website. It took a lot of clicking around, but I found what I wanted eventually, and I know a lot more about the EU than I did yesterday.

The European Union's main web site - europa.eu

The Europa front page has links to all sorts of interesting information. There are links to policy areas, consumer information, media, and official documents and legislation. Right at the top there is a Basic Information section. That looked like the place for me to start.

The Basic Information page was not what I was expecting. I expected the usual ‘about us’ page which would give me a bit of an overview and point me in the right direction for more information about how EU policies are created.

Instead, the Basic Information page had links to charts and graphs, slide presentations, and lessons. There was a link to EU fact sheets, which seemed like the best option. Sadly, the link took me to a notice saying the page no longer existed before redirecting me to a different web site, the European Parliament site.

On the European Parliament page, I noticed a section on the EU and its Institutions, which I though might help answer my questions. It turned out to be a list of recent articles and news items.

Having hit a dead end, I went back to the Europa Basic Information page. I clicked on the Panorama of the EU question and answer guide. I had avoided this link the first time because I generally don’t like the question and answer format.

The Panorama page was not your usual question and answer page. It read more like a corporate mission statement. Not particularly helpful. By this stage I was wondering, in frustration, why they didn’t have a summary that tells me what the EU actually does?

However, I did find my first useful snippet of information. There are 3 main EU institutions:

1. European Parliament, which represents the people of Europe;
2. Council of the European Union, which represents national governments;
3. European Commission, which represents the common EU interest.

I wondered what they meant by the common EU interest. I assumed it was most likely their foreign affairs and trade section. I was soon to find out this assumption was wrong.

As I was about the leave the Panorama page, I noticed some more links off to the side. One of them was What do we do? Maybe that would have the information I was looking for.

The What do we do? page seemed to cover the EU’s key policy areas, but nothing about where the policy originates.

As an aside, I was interested to notice that environment and climate change each seem to be separate policy areas. I’ll keep them in mind to explore another day.

I was still no closer to answering my questions about where EU policies come from. There was another link off to the side titled How are we organised? It seemed worth a try, and I was rewarded with a first page that actually looked promising.

The How are we organised? page had a summary of nine EU institutions, including the three important ones I found earlier. And, finally, there were the answers to my questions about where EU policy comes from and how it is implemented.

The European Parliament has shared responsibility for passing European laws, based on proposals put forward by the European Commission. The European Parliament is elected by the people every five years.

The European Parliament shares responsibility for passing EU laws with the Council of the European Union. The Council of the European Union is comprised of ministers from the national governments of EU countries. They are responsible for EU foreign policy, security policy, defence policy, and justice and freedom issues.

Within the Council of the European Union, overall EU policy is set by the prime ministers and presidents of the EU countries.

The European Commission is responsible for drafting proposed EU laws, which are presented to the European Parliament and Council to be passed. They are also responsible for implementing EU policies, using EU funds, and enforcing EU laws.

It appears that EU policy originates in the Council of the European Union. The laws then need to be passed by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

This process is roughly similar to the process in Australia, where new laws have to be passed by both houses of parliament.

Finally, EU policy and laws are all administered, implemented, and enforced by the European Commission, effectively the EU’s civil service.

I want to learn more about the European Union (EU). Even from the other side of the world the EU and its policies are influential. What happens in Europe appears to influence what happens in the rest of the world.

European Parliament, Strasbourg

I was born in Australia and Graham was born in the United Kingdom. Over the last few years we have noticed a common trend with policy decisions and focus from our home countries. When a topic appears in one parliament, it soon appears in its foreign counterpart. Neither country mentions the other, but the overlap is uncanny.

DssW is an English limited company. The company is subject to English company law, and ultimately EU law. So EU legislation has a direct effect on our business and customers.

Coming from Australia, I know little about the EU and how it works. Australia can feel a long way from the rest of the world.

The EU seems to lead the way in many areas, including energy and environment policy, which is where my particular interest lies. I would like to find out where these policies come from. Specifically, who and what creates EU policy? And once created, how do the policies get put into practice within EU countries?

These are broad questions, and I don’t expect to find answers immediately. I will start by seeing what Europa has to offer. Europa appears to be the EU’s main web site. I’ve stumbled upon Europa in the past, and it seems to be a good starting point.