The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. The Commission is headed by a President (since 1999, Romano Prodi of Italy). Its primary roles are to propose legislation and to carry it out.
The Commission is fully independent, and not permitted to take instructions from the government of their member state.
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The Commission represents the general interest of the Union as a whole. It has sole authority to initiate legislation in the first pillar (most policy areas), though it can be mandated to do so by the European Parliament, and it shares the power of initiative with the member states in the second pillar (foreign policy and defence) and third pillar (criminal law).
The Commission is the guardian of the treaties, and is responsible as such for initiating infringement proceedings against member states and others who violate the treaties and other community law.
The Commission negotiates international trade agreements (in the World Trade Organization) and other international agreements on behalf of the Community. It closely co-operates in this with the Council of the European Union.
The Commission is responsible for adopting technical implementing measures to implement legislation adopted by the Council and, in most cases, the Parliament. This legislation is subject to the approval of committees of the member states, through the procedure known as comitology.
The Commission functions as competition regulator for the Union, vetting all mergers with Community-wide effects, and initiating proceedings against companies which violate competition laws.
At present, the Commission consists of 30 Commissioners: one from each member state, plus an additional Commissioner from each of the five largest member states: France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain. Each Commissioner holds a policy portfolio.
The President of the Commission is chosen by the European Council, a choice which must be approved by the European Parliament. The remaining Commissioners are appointed by the member states in agreement with the President. Finally, the new Commission as a whole must be approved by the Parliament.
The European Parliament has the power to force the entire Commission to resign by a vote of no confidence (requiring a vote of two-thirds of those voting and of a majority of the total membership). While it has never used this power, it threatened to use it against the Santer Commission in 1999 whereupon the whole Commission resigned of its own accord.
The 30 Commissioners are:
The enlargement of the Union on 1 May 2004 increased the number of member states from 15 to 25. Prior to this date, there were 20 Commissioners. Although the size of the Commission has now been increased to 30 members - the 20 prior Commissioners plus one from each of the 10 acceding member states - this is intended as a temporary measure. The number will be reduced on 1 November 2004 to 25, with one Commissioner from each member state. The following proposed list of portfolio holders was announced on August 12 by President-designate José Durão Barroso:
The Commission originated in the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, which was established in 1952 under the terms of the Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Later in 1958 the Commission of the European Economic Community and the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community were established under the terms of the Treaties of Rome. Finally, in 1967, these three bodies merged to form the Commission of the European Communities, established under the terms of the Merger Treaty. This is the body that continues to exist to this day.
see: President of the European Commission