The
EU's own statement at http://europa.eu.int/inst-en.htm#commission:
"The role and responsibilities of the European Commission place it firmly at the heart of the European Union's policy-making process. In some respects, it acts as the heart of Europe, from which the other institutions derive much of their energy and purpose."
Members
The EC does have 20 members: two from the larger countries
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Spain and the
United Kingdom and one from each of the other (smaller) Member States. The Member State government appoints a commisioner and the
European Parliament (EP) votes for approval. Each
member "is obliged to be completely
independent of their national governments and to act only in the interests of the European Union". But
completely independent isn't possible in reality: often the appointed commissioner served some time for a specific government, and especially their
political party (I'd be surprised when e.g. a
liberal government would prefer to send a delegate who was an active member of the
Green Party). Further, the ones who appointed the commissioner(s) certainly would
appreciate a sign that the commissioner thanks them for appointing him/her.
The Commission is supported by 23 Directorates-General and 9 administrative services (on another EU-site (http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htm) I've counted 35 of those groups though), all together more than 16000 staff members (of which about one fifth for
translations and
interpretations)
Activities
- Initiate proposals for legislation; with their proposal they have to judge in accordance what is best for the Union and its citizens as a whole. They better do! However, it is easier said than done in situations that can
be beneficiary for a few countries, but with detrimental] effects for others, and where the few countries that gain from it do have the majority of the votes. (Or vice versa of course.) On almost all topics the EC does have the exclusive right on initiative, except the fields of common foreign and security policy and cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs; but in that case, the EC participates in discussions at all levels.
- Guardian of the Treaties and execute EU policies and actions; making sure that the legislation is allpied correctly (also for each case defining what "correctly" means in the specific context). If individuals, firms
or organisations violate the regulations, they can be fined or brought to the Court of Justice (extreme scenario), for example in cases of illegal price-fixing and market-rigging cartels. In most of the cases a "serious
warning" with a deadline to solve the situation is enough, because those warnings concerning cartels do get a lot of media attention in the EU Member States and/or the specific country.
- Besides the above-mentioned responsibilities, they're allowed to do even more: the EC manages the EU budget (in cooperation with the European Court of Auditors). They think that the "EU’s effectiveness in the world is
enhanced by the Commission’s role as negotiator of trade and cooperation agreements with other countries or groups of countries". An example of this is their involvement during the GATT negotiations.
There are plans to
modernize the EC and the surrounding structure, but the
statements made are quite vague, with lots of openings for your own
interpretation. It seems that their aim is to narrow (or even close?) the increasing gap between the EP and the Member States and
streamline their
civil service apparatus. Further, the amount of commissioners may change due to expansion of the EU (which may be
postponed to 2005) and/or the
representatives of the smaller countries may take seat on a rotational basis. Time will tell.
If you want to read more on the EC and their "hot news" etc. check the home page at http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm
See also
European Union and
European Parliament