European Commission

The glossary is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.

The European Commission is a politically independent collegial institution which embodies and defends the general interests of the European Union. Its virtually exclusive right of initiative in the field of legislation makes it the driving force of European integration. It prepares and then implements the legislative instruments adopted by the Council and the European Parliament in connection with Community policies.

The Commission also has powers of implementation, management and control. It is responsible for planning and implementing common policies, executing the budget and managing Community programmes. As "guardian of the Treaties", it also ensures that European law is applied.

The Commission is appointed for a five-year term by the Council acting by qualified majority in agreement with the Member States. It is subject to a vote of appointment by the European Parliament, to which it is answerable. The Commissioners are assisted by an administration made up of Directorates-General and specialised departments whose staff are divided mainly between Brussels and Luxembourg.

Since its inception the Commission has always been made up of two nationals from each of the Member States with larger populations and one national from each of the others. However, the Treaty of Nice limited the number of Members of the Commission to one per Member State. The Constitution, which is in the process of ratification, provides for a Commission in which only two thirds of the Member States would be represented after 2014. The Members will then be selected in accordance with a rotation system based on the principle of equality.

See:

• Composition of the European Commission
• Confirmation of the European Commission
• European Institutions
• Monitoring the application of Community law
• President of the European Commission
• Right of initiative