European Union: The European Commission - Part 1 of 2

The European Commission can be largely described as the EU’s executive arm in the sense that it is very similar to a government administration that one would expect in any country. At an EU level, the Commission reflects a lot of the features found in Governments across countries. As the executive arm of the EU, the Commission represents the interests of the EU as a whole, meaning the general interest in the EU. This is important as whereas the Council pushes forwards the interest of individual states, the European Commission seeks the benefit of the EU as a whole. The EC (European Commission) is the best defender of the smaller member states. It guarantees that all member states are treated equally. When the Commission considers legislations, one of the primary functions is to ensure that all member states generally benefit from the legislation being proposed.

At the top level of the Commission, there are Commissioners. There are 27 member states so there are 27 Commissioners. The duration of Commissioners is 5 years. Each member state nominates one Commissioner. Commissioners are deemed to have ministerial status. When Commissioners represent the EU in international organizations, they are deemed to have the powers of ministers representing the EU. The present situation is that you have 27 Commissioners who are led by a President, currently Barroso from Portugal, and he is assisted by 5 vice-presidents who assist him in different areas. The Commissioners, having ministerial status, as in any government, have responsibilities for various areas, known as ‘portfolios’ [responsibility to take care of a particular area]. 

An interesting feature of the Commission, as it has been changed as a result of the Lisbon Treaty (came into effect in December 2009), among one of the changes adopted, is that one of the vice-presidents of the Commission is also known as the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy. This person is at the moment Catherine Ashton, and she is also a member of the Council of Ministers, and chairs the Foreign Affairs Council. This person features in both the Commission and the Council, and it is the person which represents the EU externally, as it was felt that a face to represent the EU was needed. There has been a lot of improvement by reducing confusion of third-countries by creating this post. Ashton is an interlocutor for the EU vis-à-vis third countries.

How can the Commission represent the general interest of the EU when it is made up of 27 nationals from each member state? Wouldn’t each commissioner pull to the interests of his own country? The requirements for Commissioner are why these represent the general interest of the EU.

The appointment of Commissioner happens every 5 years. In the first instance is that the European Council (Summit of the EU – heads of governments) has to agree as to whom to propose for President of the Commission for the next 5 years. One of the considerations is the political affiliation. Many times, the President reflects the current trend within the 27 member states. For example if in many countries there is a Socialist government, it is expected that the President would have Socialist leanings. Barroso was not the first choice and was the compromise candidate as the member states could not agree on another two candidates. This haggling can take weeks. Once the President is chosen (by consensus), the European Council proposes the name to the European Parliament. This is also an innovation after the Lisbon Treaty. The European Parliament will have to approve the candidate which the European Council would have nominated. The European Parliament would have to vote in favour of the member by a majority of its members.

To choose the other 26 Commissioners, if the Parliament decides in favour of the President, you would have a President who is in a designate position (not actually President as he still needs to choose his team). The Commission President, together with the other 26 member states choose the members of the Commission. The President must ensure that they also represent the political situation in the EU. They must be competent in the areas which the Commission President will put them in charge of. Once the process is over, one of the considerations is also the gender issue. The Commission is increasingly aware that there must be gender balance. Once this list in finally decided upon, the Council formally approves the list of nominees. The Council is saying essentially that the member states agree that the team should be considered as the next Commission. As soon as it decides on the nominees, it forwards the list to the EU Parliament. So the Parliament is involved twice (president and Commission members).

The nominees are assigned by the Commission President the areas they will be in charge of. The European Parliament interviews the nominees. This is known as ‘grilling’ as the Commissioner faces at least two sessions whereby he faces the members of the European Parliament in the Committee and they scrutinize him on his abilities and plans for the future. There have been times where Commissioners designated for various portfolios have done very badly in this grilling. The President notices that this is not going to work, so he invites the country concerned to nominate somebody else. Their integrity is also questioned in these sessions. The point of this exercise is that at the end of the process, the European Parliament has to vote on the whole Commission (the whole team) and they cannot vote on one member (accept/reject), so it is in the interest of the Commission President that as soon as he has indications that a member would not be acceptable to the European Parliament, he is to rectify the issue or the concerned country must be asked to nominate someone else. The European Parliament has the right to object to the whole Commission, and the President would have to go back to the beginning and start again the process in selecting another Commission. It is a very dynamic stage.

At this point, the Commission, assuming that everything goes well, is approved by the European Parliament and start their term on the 1^st January of the year concerned. The Commissioners take a note of allegiance to the Commission. This is where they make the shift from being representatives of their country government to representing the EU Government. They cannot engage with their national government. If minister is chosen for Commission, he must resign from his position in Government and cannot receive instructions from the national government. Receiving instructions would render him unsuitable for office. Commissioners undertake not to have any contact with members of the Government of their country, and must maintain integrity, and not indulge in activities with private companies. They must be free of anything which creates conflict of interest.