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Treaty and institution guides

The EU knowledge test does not ask you to summarise a treaty. It asks a question whose answer is a single article, and surrounds it with four options that are true statements about neighbouring articles. That is why "I have read the TFEU" and "I can answer TFEU questions" are different skills.

Each guide here takes one article and does three things: quotes what it actually says, names the article it is most often confused with, and shows the family of exam questions it answers. The judicial triangle — 258, 263, 267 — is covered as a set, because the whole difficulty is telling them apart. So is the institutional one: Articles 15, 16 and 17 TEU.

Alongside the articles sit the comparisons candidates lose marks on: Council of the EU against European Council against Council of Europe, TEU against TFEU, and internal against external competitions. The wording is taken from the consolidated texts in the Official Journal, not paraphrased.

15 articles

Candidate planning an EPSO preparation schedule
Guides

EPSO Preparation Platforms Compared (2026): What Each One Publishes, and What It Actually Costs

A dated, source-linked comparison of the main EPSO preparation platforms — EU Training, Pass EPSO, ORSEU, Prepari, Yepso, JobTestPrep and EU-now. Every figure is what the platform itself publishes, checked on 27 August 2026.

Internal vs external EPSO competitions 2026 comparison
Guides

Internal vs External EPSO Competitions 2026: Don't Prepare the Wrong Test

Internal vs external EPSO competitions in 2026 use different tests and platforms. What changes in format, eligibility and calendar — so you prep the right one.

SHL Verify Interactive G+ cognitive test format (image: SHL)
Guides

What Is SHL Verify Interactive G+? The Cognitive Test in the 2026 EU Commission Internal Competitions

SHL Verify Interactive G+ is the adaptive cognitive test in the 2026 EU Commission internal competitions: 24 questions, 36 minutes, 60th-percentile cut-off.

EUgenio explains Article 17 TEU — the European Commission
Guides

Article 17 TEU Explained: The European Commission

What the Commission actually does under Article 17 TEU — guardian of the Treaties, right of initiative, budget execution — and the exam traps around it.

EUgenio explains Article 263 TFEU — the action for annulment
Guides

Article 263 TFEU Explained: The Action for Annulment

How EU acts get struck down: reviewable acts, the four grounds, privileged vs individual applicants and the two-month limit — Article 263 for EPSO candidates.

EUgenio explains Article 314 TFEU — the EU annual budget procedure
Guides

Article 314 TFEU Explained: The EU Budget Procedure

How the EU's annual budget is adopted — the special legislative procedure of Article 314, its calendar, and the budget-vs-MFF distinction EPSO loves.

EUgenio explains Article 50 TEU — the withdrawal clause
Guides

Article 50 TEU Explained: The Withdrawal Clause

How a Member State leaves the EU: notification, negotiation, the two-year clock and what Brexit proved — with the exam traps EPSO builds from Article 50.

EUgenio explains Articles 101 and 102 TFEU — EU competition rules
Guides

Articles 101 & 102 TFEU Explained: EU Competition Rules

Cartels under Article 101, abuse of dominance under Article 102 — the two pillars of EU competition law and the distinctions the EPSO EU Knowledge test probes.

EUgenio explains Article 258 TFEU — the infringement procedure
Guides

Article 258 TFEU Explained: The Infringement Procedure

How the Commission pursues Member States that break EU law — the reasoned opinion, the referral to the Court, and the 258/259/260 distinctions EPSO tests.

EUgenio explains Article 267 TFEU — the preliminary ruling procedure
Guides

Article 267 TFEU Explained: Preliminary Rulings

How the preliminary ruling procedure really works — who may refer, who must refer, and the 'it is not an appeal' trap EPSO builds EU Knowledge questions from.

EUgenio explains Article 288 TFEU — the EU legal acts
Guides

Article 288 TFEU Explained: Regulations, Directives, Decisions

The five EU legal acts and exactly how they bind — the single most tested article in the EPSO EU Knowledge syllabus, with the trap matrix.

EUgenio explains Article 294 TFEU — the ordinary legislative procedure
Guides

Article 294 TFEU Explained: The Ordinary Legislative Procedure

How an EU law is actually made — Commission proposal, two readings, conciliation — and the who-does-what traps the EPSO EU Knowledge test builds from the OLP.

EUgenio explains Article 45 TFEU — free movement of workers
Guides

Article 45 TFEU Explained: Free Movement of Workers

What Article 45 TFEU actually guarantees, the public-service exception, and how EPSO tests it — with the traps the EU Knowledge test loves.

EUgenio explains the three Councils — Council of the EU, European Council, Council of Europe
Guides

Council of the EU vs European Council vs Council of Europe

Three 'Councils', three different things — the single most tested confusion in the EPSO EU Knowledge test, settled with the treaty articles.

EUgenio explains the difference between the TEU and the TFEU
Guides

TEU vs TFEU: Which Treaty Does What?

The two founding treaties of the EU, told apart in five minutes — same legal value, different jobs, and the mapping every EPSO EU Knowledge candidate needs.