2. The European Commission

The word 'Commission' can refer to both, the institution as a whole (the commissioners and the 22,000 officials of the Commission and its organisational structure) and the college of Commissioners, the leading body of the commissioners. The Commission is a collective institution. The commissioners work together, however every commissioner has his own portfolio, and policy areas for which he is responsible. There is one commisioner from each Member State.

The President of the Commission, Members of the Commission

The Commission is headed by the President who is the political and strategic leader of the Commission. The President shapes the working style and sets the daily agenda of the Commission. The commissioners are appointed for a renewable period of five years by common accord of the Member States (in practice by the European Council, by the heads of states and governments) and with the assent of the Parliament. Under the current system, the European Council first nominates the President of the Commission by Qualified majority which must be approved by the Parliament. If the proposed candidate does not receive the majority of votes, the European Council must, within one month, nominate another candidate. When the President is adopted by the Council the Member States nominate the candidates for commissioner with the common accord of the President. The Parliament votes on the approval of the entire Commission. This means that it can not disapprove of an individual Member of the Commission, but of the entire Commission.

The President of the Commission allocates the portfolios to the Members. The portfolios vary in their significance, therefore the task of allocating them is a serious decision. Generally, the Member State appoint for commissioner are given to politicians who have high position in their country. The Commission has several Vice Presidents. The number of Vice Presidents are decided by the Member States.

From the Autumn of 2004, the President of the European Commission has been Jose Manuel Barroso. Currently the Commission has 5 Vice-Presidents.

The Role of the Commission

The European Commission was created to represent the European interest common to all Member States of the Union. So that it can play its role as guardian of the Treaties and defender of the general interest, the Commission has been given the right of initiative in the legislative process, proposing the legislation on which the European Parliament and the Council decide.

The Commission is also responsible for implementing common policies of the Union, administering the budget, and managing Union programmes.

Although the Commission has the right to take any initiative it considers appropriate to attain the objectives of the Treaties, most proposals are a response to initiative obligations arising from other legal norms, technical requirements or to a specific request for action from another institution, a Member State or from the interested parties.

A Commission proposal must have the European interest at heart, it must respect the principles of Subsidiarity (whenever there is no exclusive Community competence) and proportionality. This means that the Commission works for the good of the EU as a whole and not for the benefit of any Member State or interest group. The Commission extensively consults about the legislative proposals with the concerned parties in order to give a voice in the preparation phase. An assessment of the economic, environmental and social impacts of the proposed legislative initiative is often drawn up and made available to the public together with the proposal. Finally, the principles of Subsidiarity and proportionality mean that the Commission shall only propose legislation if it is more effective to do so on the EU level and with the intensity necessary to achieve the desired objectives. If it would be more effective if done on a national, regional or local level, the Commission shall not propose the piece of legislation.

The structure of the Commission

The European Commission is divided into directorates-general (DGs) and services, which are in turn divided into directorates and directorates into units. The list of DGs and Services of the European Commission can be found at: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htm.