Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

On 18 April 1951 Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy and West Germany sign the Treaty of Paris. This Treaty sets up the European Coal and Steel Community. A supranational body, the High Authority, now decides on the production and price-fixing for coal and steel. The High Authority functions independently from the member states.

The European Coal and Steel Community is a success. The signatories of the Treaty of Paris wish to expand the collaboration to other sectors. On 25 March 1957 they sign the Treaty of Rome. The European Economic Community and Euratom are created. Two more Commissions are set up: the Commission of the European Economic Community and the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community. Through the Merger Treaty of 1965, these three Commissions merge to become a single institution in 1967: The Commission of the European Communities.

Role

The European Commission fulfils the following tasks:

• submission of new legislative proposals
  The Commission draws up legislative proposals that it presents to the Parliament and the Council. These proposals must protect the interests of the EU as a whole. This implies that the Commission can only propose measures on a European level if the objective cannot be achieved more effectively at national, regional or local level. This is called the subsidiarity principle.
• implementation of the policy and management of programmes
  The European Commission is responsible for the implementation of European Union policies such as the common agricultural policy and the strategy for growth and employment. It also manages the EU programmes.
• management and implementation of the budget
  As the executive body of the European Union, the Commission is responsible for the management and implementation of the EU budget. In practice it is the national and local governments who account for the bulk of expenses. However the European Commission, under the watchful eye of the Court of Auditors, is responsible for supervising this. Both institutions strive for good financial management.
• compliance with EU legislation
  The Commission ensures that the member states convert or apply the European legislative acts correctly. If not, they can call in the services of the Court of Justice. The Court of Justice then delivers a judgement. This judgement is binding. If member states do not comply with their treaty obligations, the Court of Justice can also impose financial sanctions.
• international representation of the EU
  The European Commission is an important international spokesperson for the European Union. It negotiates and speaks in the name of the European Union, except on matters concerning the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Commission fulfils an important role for example in the discussions about trade liberalization in the framework of the World Trade Organisation.

Appointment

The members of the Commission are chosen on the basis of their general competence and European input. Their appointment takes place in various phases:

1. The European Council nominates a candidate Commission chairperson. The European Council takes the elections for the European Parliament into account here.
2. The European Parliament accepts or rejects the chairperson proposed by the European Council.
3. The chairperson approved by the European Parliament puts together their future team in consultation with the Council. This takes place on the basis of the nominations from the member states.
4. After interviewing each member individually, the European Parliament accepts or rejects the nominated Commission in its totality.
5. The European Council formally appoints the Commission approved by the European Parliament.

Composition

Current composition:

The Commission is comprised of 27 members. Each member state therefore nominates one member. These members must act in the general interest of the EU. The Commission exercises its responsibilities wholly independently. The Commissioners may therefore not accept or request any instructions from their own administration.

Each commissioner is responsible for one or more policy areas. It is the chairperson who decides which commissioner is allocated which policy area and who should be the vice-chairpersons. If necessary the Commission chairperson can reshuffle the authorities during the Commission’s term of office.

Process

The College of Commissioners meets every week on Wednesday morning in Brussels. In these meetings they discuss each point on the agenda and then make a collective decision.

Term of office

The term of office for the European Commission is five years. On 16 September 2009 the European Parliament approved José Manuel Barroso's appointment as Commission chairperson. On 9 February 2010 the nominated Commission was approved by the European Parliament and then appointed by the European Council. The Barroso II Commission started on 10 February 2010.

Seat

The Commission sits in Brussels but also has offices in Luxembourg. It also has representatives in all European Union member states. Furthermore, it has 130 delegations all over the world. These have become Union delegations since the Treaty of Lisbon came into effect.

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