> At least the countries in the EU should have separation of powers, and the judicial (the courts) are independent from the government

In the US "government" generally refers to all three branches; is that not the case in Europe?

I don’t know about the whole of Europe but generally, no. The government is the executive branch or a subset of it.

Interesting -- is there any term referring to the executive, legislative, and judicial functions collectively?

	▲	kergonath 12 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I am not sure. In French that would be the state (L’État). It’s more complicated in the U.K., with its layers of national, devolved country, and local governance. Then, it would be different again in federations like Germany.