European Commission

Georgescu Petru Bogdan

Group 964, C series
European Union Law Class
European Union Institutions
Due to the expansion of the European Union's power, the EU's institutions are able to legislate
and enjoy jurisdiction over all the Member States that are a part of the EU. This shift in
sovereignty from national to international sovereignty has caused great unease with those
Member States and in particular with regards to the democracy of the EU's institutions.

Due to the sui generis nature of EU law, the EU's institutions do not fall into the typical national
categories of legislature, executive and judiciary as such. Therefore, a formal separation of
power is not applicable when dealing with EU law. There is much overlap between the functions
of each institution. There are five institutions in total: the European Commission; the Council of
Ministers; the European Parliament; the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
Concentrating on the first one only, we shall now look at its respective functions, composition
and structure.

European Commission
Short overview:

Promotes the general interest of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation as well as
by implementing policies and the EU budget
 Members: A team or 'College' of Commissioners, 1 from each EU country

President: Jean-Claude Juncker

Year established: 1958

Website: http://ec.europa.eu

The Commission's main roles are to:

propose legislation which is then adopted by the co-legislators, the European Parliament
and the Council of Ministers

enforce European law (where necessary with the help of the Court of Justice of the EU)

set a objectives and priorities for action, outlined yearly in the Commission Work
Programme and work towards delivering them

manage and implement EU policies and the budget

represent the Union outside Europe (negotiating trade agreements between the EU and
other countries, for example.).

The European Commission has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and some services also in
Luxembourg. The Commission has Representations in all EU Member States and 139
Delegations across the globe.

Early history
Established in 1958, the European Commission now comprises 28 Commissioners including its
President. It acts in the EU's general interest with complete independence from national
governments and is accountable to the European Parliament.

It has the right of initiative to propose laws in a wide range of policy areas. In the fields of justice
and home affairs, it shares a right of initiative with EU countries. Like the European Parliament
and the Council, EU citizens may also call on the Commission to propose laws by means of the
European Citizens' Initiative.

The Commission has the right to adopt non-legislative acts, in particular delegated and
implementing acts, and has important powers to ensure fair conditions of competition between
EU businesses.
The Commission oversees the implementation of EU law. It executes the EU's budget and
manages funding programmes. It also exercises coordinating, executive and management
functions, as laid down in the Treaties. It represents the EU around the world in areas not
covered by the common foreign and security policy, for example in trade policy and
humanitarian aid.

The Commission comprises Directorates-General (departments) and Services which are mainly
located in Brussels and Luxembourg.

The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is alone
responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the
decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

What does the Commission do?

The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union responsible for
proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-
to-day business of the EU. Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in
Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out
their duties during their mandate.

Proposes new laws

The Commission is the sole EU institution tabling laws for adoption by the Parliament and the
Council that:

protect the interests of the EU and its citizens on issues that can't be dealt with effectively
at national level;

get technical details right by consulting experts and the public.

Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding

Sets EU spending priorities, together with the Council and Parliament.

Draws up annual budgets for approval by the Parliament and Council.

Supervises how the money is spent, under scrutiny by the Court of Auditors.

Enforces EU law
 Together with the Court of Justice, ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the
member countries.

Represents the EU internationally

Speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade

policy and humanitarian aid.

Negotiates international agreements for the EU.

Composition

Political leadership is provided by a team of 28 Commissioners (one from each EU country)

led by the Commission President, who decides who is responsible for which policy area.

The College of Commissioners, includes the President of the Commission, his seven Vice-
Presidents, including the First Vice-President, and the High-Representative of the Union for
Foreign Policy and Security Policy and 20 Commissioners in charge of portfolios.

The day-to-day running of Commission business is performed by its staff (lawyers, economists,
etc.), organised into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs), each responsible for a
specific policy area.

Appointing the President

The candidate is put forward by national leaders in the European Council, taking account of the
results of the European Parliament elections. He or she needs the support of a majority of
members of the European Parliament in order to be elected.

The President of the Commission is first proposed by the European Council taking into account
the latest Parliamentary elections; that candidate can then be elected by the European Parliament
or not. If not, the European Council shall propose another candidate within one month. The
candidate has often been a leading national politician, but this is not a requirement. In 2009, the
Lisbon Treaty was not in force and Barroso was not "elected" by the Parliament, but rather
nominated by the European Council; in any case, the centre-right parties of the EU pressured for
a candidate from their own ranks. In the end, a centre-right candidate was chosen: Jos Manuel
Barroso of the European People's Party.

There are further criteria influencing the choice of the candidate, including: which area of
Europe the candidate comes from, favored as Southern Europe in 2004; the candidate's political
influence, credible yet not overpowering members; language, proficiency in French considered
necessary by France; and degree of integration, their state being a member of both the Eurozone
and the Schengen Agreement. In 2004, this system produced a number of candidates and was
thus criticised by some MEPs: following the drawn-out selection, the ALDE group leader
Graham Watson described the procedure as a "Justus Lipsius carpet market" producing only the
"lowest common denominator"; while Green-EFA co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit asked Barroso
after his first speech "If you are the best candidate, why were you not the first?"

Selecting the team

The Presidential candidate selects potential Vice-Presidents and Commissioners based on

suggestions from the EU countries. The list of nominees has to be approved by national leaders
in the European Council (except for those states who provided the President and High
Representative).

Each nominee appears before the European Parliament to explain their vision and answer
questions. Parliament then votes on whether to accept the nominees as a team. Finally, they are
appointed by the European Council, by a qualified majority.

The current Commission's term of office runs until 31 October 2019.

Dismissal

The European Parliament can dissolve the Commission as a whole following a vote of no-
confidence but only the President can request the resignation of an individual Commissioner.
However, individual Commissioners, by request of the Council or Commission, can be
compelled to retire on account of a breach of obligation(s) and if so ruled by the European Court
of Justice (Art. 245 and 247, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

How does the Commission work?

Strategic planning

The President defines the policy direction for the Commission, which enables the
Commissioners together to decide strategic objectives, and produce the annual work programme.

Collective decision making

Decisions are taken based on collective responsibility. All Commissioners are equal in the
decision-making process and equally accountable for these decisions. They do not have any
individual decision-making powers, except when authorized in certain situations.
The Vice-Presidents act on behalf of the President and coordinate work in their area of
responsibility, together with several Commissioners. Priority projects are defined to help ensure
that the College works together in a close and flexible manner.

Commissioners support Vice-Presidents in submitting proposals to the College. In general,

decisions are made by consensus, but votes can also take place. In this case, decisions are taken
by simple majority, where every Commissioner has one vote.

The relevant Directorate-General (headed by a Director-General, answerable to the relevant

Commissioner) then takes up the subject. This is usually done in the form of draft legislative
proposals.

These are then resubmitted to the Commissioners for adoption at their weekly meeting, after
which they become official, and are sent to the Council and the Parliament for the next stage in
the EU legislative process.

European Union Law:

EU law is divided into 'primary' and 'secondary' legislation. The treaties (primary legislation) are
the basis or ground rules for all EU action.

Secondary legislation which includes regulations, directives and decisions are derived from
the principles and objectives set out in the treaties.

How EU decisions are made

The EUs standard decision-making procedure is known as 'Ordinary Legislative Procedure (ex
"codecision"). This means that the directly elected European Parliament has to approve EU
legislation together with the Council (the governments of the 28 EU countries). The Commission
drafts and implements EU legislation.

EU treaties

The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that every action taken by the EU is
founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU member
countries.

The Treaty of Lisbon increased the number of policy areas where 'Ordinary Legislative
Procedure' is used. The European Parliament also has more power to block a proposal if it
disagrees with the Council.

Regulations, Directives and other acts

The aims set out in the EU treaties are achieved by several types of legal act. These legislative
acts include regulations, directives, recommendations and opinions. Some are binding, others are
not. Some apply to all EU countries, others to just a few.

Application of EU law

EU law - which has equal force with national law - confers rights and obligations on the
authorities in each member country, as well as individuals and businesses. The authorities in each
member country are responsible for implementing EU legislation in national law and enforcing it
correctly, and they must guarantee citizens rights under these laws.

EU legislation takes the form of:

Treaties establishing the European Union and governing the way it works

EU regulations, directives and decisions - with a direct or indirect effect on EU member

states.

EU case-law is made up of judgments from the European Union's Court of Justice, which
interprets EU legislation.

Bibliography:

http://www.lawteacher.net/european%20law
http://europa.eu/eu-law/index_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/about/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/european-
commission/index_en.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_commission.html