European Commission

The Commission is the third part of the institutional triangle that manages and runs the European Union.

Confusingly, the Commission refers both to the civil service function of the directorates that cover a range of policy areas plus the "college" of Commissioners, which is the body that proposes EU legislation.

The Commission is made up of 27 Commissioners, one from each member state, each with a responsibility for a policy area. They are appointed by the member states and are usually senior politicians. They serve a five year term of office. The president of the Commission is proposed by the European Council and must be approved by the European Parliament. The current president of the European Commission is Jose Manuel Barroso who began his second term of office in February 2010. The president elect then chooses the Commissioners from the list of candidates put forward by the EU countries and this list must be approved by both the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

As an institution though, it is independent of EU governments. The Commission’s role is to uphold the common interest of the EU to all the EU countries, so the Commissioners should not be acting in the interests of their own individual countries. A phrase that is often used is that they are the "guardians of the treaties" and it means that they ensure that member states respect the treaties and community law and that they implement adopted legislation.

The Commission has an important role in European legislation in that it is the only body that can propose legislation. This is called the "right of initiative" and it means that the Commission can propose new laws to protect the interest of the EU and its citizens. It does this though, only on issues that cannot be dealt with effectively at national, regional, or local level. When the Commission proposes a law, it tries to satisfy the widest possible range of interests. It consults experts through various committees and groups and also holds public consultations. The process of decision-making must then take place jointly between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Click here for more information on this "co-decision" process.