The main EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament) are organised into a number of distinct departments, known as “Directorates-General” (DGs), each of which is responsible for specific tasks or policy areas.

In the light of enlargement, solutions have been put forward for maintaining the current balance between "large" and "small" countries in decision-making in the Council of Ministers. Maintaining the present system of weighting of votes in the Council after enlargement could produce a qualified majority representing only a minority of the population of the European Union. For this reason, the Member States with the highest populations wanted to see a reweighing or double majority system which would ensure that a majority in the Council represented a majority not only of Member States but also of the population of the Union.