The European Commission
As the institution charged with promoting the general interest of the EU, the Commission holds a quasi-exclusive right of legislative initiative and acts as the EU’s principal executive body. It proposes legislation, enforces EU laws as the guardian of the Treaties, manages policies and the budget, negotiates international agreements, exercises sanctioning powers in areas such as competition and oversees day-to-day operations.
Legal basis
Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), Articles 234, 244 to 250, 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the Treaty Establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities (‘Merger Treaty’).
History
Initially, each Community had its own executive body: the High Authority for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951) and a Commission for each of the two communities set up by the Treaty of Rome in 1957: the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom. By means of the Merger Treaty of 8 April 1965, both the executive structures of the ECSC, EEC and Euratom and the budgets of those institutions (with the most important being the Commission) were merged into a single Commission of the European Communities (for more information see Parliament’s fact sheet on developments up to the Single European Act). When the ECSC Treaty expired in 2002, 50 years after its establishment, the ECSC assets reverted to the Commission (in accordance with Article 1 of the Protocol to the Treaty of Nice on the financial consequences of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty and on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel). The Commission is responsible for winding up outstanding operations, managing the ECSC’s assets and ensuring the financing of research activities in sectors related to the coal and steel industry.
Composition and legal status
A. Number of members
For a long time, the number of Commissioners per Member State had to be no less than one and no more than two. While the Treaty of Lisbon allows the European Council to determine the number of Commissioners (Article 17(5) TEU), it was decided in 2009 that the Commission would continue to consist of a number of members equal to the number of Member States. The current Commission (2024-2029) consists of 27 members, comprising the President, five Executive Vice-Presidents, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and 20 Commissioners.
B. Method of appointment
The Treaty of Lisbon stipulates that the results of the European elections have to be taken into account when the European Council, which consists of the Heads of State or Government of the EU’s Member States, after appropriate consultations (as set out in Declaration 11 on Article 17(6) and (7) TEU as an annex to the Treaty) and acting by a qualified majority, proposes a candidate for President of the Commission to Parliament. This candidate is elected by Parliament by a majority of its component members (Article 17(7) TEU).
The Council of the European Union (hereafter ‘the Council’), which consists of government ministers from each EU country, adopts the list of the other persons whom it proposes for appointment as members of the Commission, acting by a qualified majority and by common accord with the President-elect, on the basis of the suggestions made by Member States.
The President and the other members of the Commission, including the VP/HR, are chosen on the basis of their general competence, European commitment and independence (Article 17(3) TEU). They are subject to a vote of consent, as a body, by Parliament and are then appointed by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority. The current Commission was approved by Parliament on 27 November 2024 and took office on 1 December 2024.
Since the Treaty of Maastricht, Commissioners’ terms of office have matched Parliament’s five-year term and are renewable.
C. Accountability
1. Personal accountability (Article 245 TFEU)
Members of the Commission are required:
- To be completely independent in the performance of their duties, in the general interest of the Union; in particular, they may neither seek nor take instructions from any government or other external body;
- Not to engage in any other occupation, whether gainful or not.
Commissioners may be compulsorily retired by the Court of Justice of the EU, at the request of the Council or of the Commission itself, if they breach any of the above obligations or have been found guilty of serious misconduct (Article 247 TFEU).
2. Collective accountability
The Commission is collectively accountable to Parliament under Article 234 TFEU. If Parliament adopts a motion of censure against the Commission, all of its members are required to resign, including the VP/HR as far as their duties in the Commission are concerned. Since 1972, 16 motions of censure have been tabled, none of which has been adopted.
Organisation and operation
The Commission works under the political guidance of its President, who decides on its internal organisation. The President allocates the sectors of its activity among the members. This gives each Commissioner responsibility for a specific policy sector and authority over the administrative departments concerned. After obtaining the approval of the College, the President appoints the Vice-Presidents from among its members. The High Representative is automatically a Vice-President of the Commission. A member of the Commission must resign if the President so requests, subject to the approval of the College.
The Commission comprises 41 directorates-general (DGs), including the Secretariat-General, which develop, manage and implement EU policy, law and funding. Recent structural changes include the creation of DG MENA (Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf) and DG ENEST (Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood) on 1 February 2025, resulting from splitting in two former DG NEAR (Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations). There are also six executive agencies which perform tasks delegated to them by the Commission but have their own legal personality: the Research Executive Agency, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency, the European Research Council Executive Agency, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency.
Barring a few exceptions, the Commission acts collegially by a majority of its members (Article 250 TFEU). The Commission meets every week to discuss politically sensitive issues and adopt the proposals that need to be agreed by oral procedure, while less sensitive matters are adopted by written procedure. Measures relating to management or administration can be adopted through a system of empowerment, whereby the College gives one of its members the authority to take decisions on its behalf (this is particularly relevant in areas such as agricultural aid or anti-dumping measures), or through sub-delegation, where decisions are delegated to an administrative level, usually to Directors-General.
Powers
A. Power of initiative
As a rule, the Commission is responsible for proposing legislation (Article 17(2) TEU). It draws up proposed acts to be adopted by the two decision-making institutions: Parliament and the Council.
1. Full initiative: the power of proposal
a. Legislative initiative
The power of proposal is the complete form of the power of initiative, as it is generally exclusive and constrains the decision-making authority to the extent that it cannot take a decision unless there is a proposal and its decision has to be based on the proposal as presented.
The Commission draws up and submits to the Council and Parliament any legislative proposals (for regulations or directives) needed to implement the Treaties for more information see Parliament’s fact sheet on supranational decision-making procedures).
b. Budgetary initiative
The Commission draws up the draft budget, which it proposes to the Council and Parliament under Article 314 TFEU (for more information see Parliament’s fact sheet on the budgetary procedure). Every year, each institution other than the Commission draws up estimates, including all its revenue and expenditure, which it sends to the Commission before 1 July (Article 39(1) of the Financial Regulation). In addition, each body which is set up under the Treaties, which has legal personality and receives a contribution charged to the budget sends estimates to the Commission by 31 January each year. The Commission then sends the EU agencies’ statement of estimates to Parliament and the Council and proposes the amount of the contribution for every EU body and the number of staff it considers necessary for the following financial year.
With regard to the EU’s system of own resources, the basic Own Resources Decision must be adopted unanimously by the Council, upon a proposal from the Commission (Article 17 TEU) and after consulting Parliament, in accordance with a special legislative procedure (Article 311(3) TFEU). It is possible to establish new categories of own resources and abolish existing ones at any time, but such decisions can only be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal (Article 17(2) TEU). In addition, acting on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting Parliament and the Court of Auditors, the Council determines the methods and procedure whereby the budget revenue provided under the arrangements relating to the Union’s own resources is made available to the Commission (Article 322(2) TFEU).
c. Relations with non-member countries
Where the Council has given a mandate, the Commission is responsible for negotiating international agreements under Articles 207 and 218 TFEU, which are then submitted to the Council with a view to their conclusion. This includes negotiations for accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Article 6(2) TEU). As regards foreign and security policy, it is the High Representative who negotiates agreements. Under Article 50 TEU and Article 218(3) TFEU, the Commission also submits recommendations on the opening of negotiations on withdrawal from the EU.
2. Limited initiative: the power of recommendation or opinion
a. In the context of Economic and Monetary Union (for more information see Parliament’s fact sheet on the institutions of the Economic and Monetary Union).
The Commission has a role in managing Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It submits to the Council:
- Recommendations for the draft broad guidelines for the Member States’ economic policies, and warnings if those policies are likely to be incompatible with the guidelines (Article 121(4) TFEU);
- Assessment proposals to enable the Council to determine whether a Member State has an excessive deficit (Article 126(6) TFEU);
- Recommendations on measures to be taken if a non-euro area Member State is in difficulties as regards its balance of payments, as provided for in Article 143 TFEU;
- Recommendations for the exchange rate between the single currency and other currencies and for general orientations for exchange-rate policy, as provided for in Article 219 TFEU;
- An assessment of national policy plans and presentation of country-specific draft recommendations falling under the European Semester.
b. Under the common foreign and security policy
In this area, many powers have been transferred from the Commission to the VP/HR and the European External Action Service. However, the Commission may support the VP/HR in submitting any decision to the Council concerning the common foreign and security policy (Article 30 TEU).
B. Power to monitor the implementation of Union law
The Commission is required under the Treaties to ensure that the Treaties themselves, and any decisions taken to implement them (secondary legislation), are properly enforced. Therein lies its role as guardian of the Treaties. This role is exercised mainly through the infringement procedure applied to Member States where they have failed to fulfil an obligation under the Treaties, as set out in Article 258 TFEU.
C. Delegated and implementing powers
The former comitology procedure has been replaced by new legal instruments, namely delegated and implementing acts.
1. Implementing powers
As conferred by the Treaties, the main powers vested in the Commission are as follows:
- Implementing the budget (Article 17(1) TEU, Article 317 TFEU). Once the budget has been adopted, from 1 January of the following financial year each Member State makes the payments due to the EU through monthly contributions to the EU budget which are deposited in a bank account in the name of the European Commission at the national ministry of finance or central bank;
- Authorising the Member States to take safeguard measures laid down in the Treaties, particularly during transitional periods (e.g. Article 201 TFEU);
- Enforcing competition rules, not least by keeping State aid under review, in accordance with Article 108 TFEU.
In the financial rescue packages dealing with the debt crises of some Member States, the Commission is responsible for the management of the funds raised through and guaranteed by the EU budget. It also has the power to alter the voting procedure in the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), enabling the Board of Governors to act by a special qualified majority (85%) instead of acting unanimously if it decides (in agreement with the European Central Bank) that a failure to adopt a decision to grant financial assistance would threaten the economic and financial sustainability of the euro area (Article 4(4) of the ESM Treaty) (for more information see Parliament’s fact sheet on financial assistance to EU Member States).
2. Delegated by Parliament and the Council
In accordance with Article 291 TFEU, the Commission exercises the powers conferred on it for the implementation of the legislative acts adopted by Parliament and the Council.
The Treaty of Lisbon introduced new ‘rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers’ (Article 291(3) TFEU and Regulation (EU) No 182/2011). They replace the previous comitology mechanisms with two new arrangements, namely the advisory procedure and the examination procedure. The right of scrutiny accorded to Parliament and the Council is formally included, as is a provision for an appeal procedure in cases of conflict.
3. Delegated acts
The Treaty of Lisbon also introduced a new category of acts, ranking between legislative and implementing acts. These ‘delegated non-legislative acts’ (Article 290 TFEU) are ‘acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act’ (also called the ‘basic act’). In principle, Parliament enjoys the same rights of oversight as the Council.
D. Regulatory and consultative powers
The Treaties seldom give the Commission full regulatory powers. One exception to that rule is Article 106 TFEU, which empowers the Commission to enforce Union rules on public undertakings and undertakings operating services of general economic interest and, where necessary, to address appropriate directives or decisions to Member States.
The Treaties provide the Commission with the power to make recommendations or deliver reports and opinions in many instances. They also provide for it to be consulted on certain decisions, such as on the admission of new Member States to the Union (Article 49 TEU). The Commission is also consulted, in particular, about changes in the statutes of other institutions and bodies, such as the Statute for Members of the European Parliament, of the European Ombudsman and of the Court of Justice.
Role of the European Parliament
The Commission is the principal interlocutor of Parliament in legislative and budgetary matters. Parliamentary scrutiny of the Commission’s work programme and its execution is increasingly important for ensuring better democratic legitimacy in EU governance. Together with the Council, Parliament receives the draft annual budget for approval from the Commission. In addition, the Commission draws up its own statement of estimates, which it also sends separately to Parliament and the Council for approval. In accordance with Article 319 TFEU, Parliament has the right to grant discharge to the Commission.
Parliament is consulted on the basic Own Resources Decision, in accordance with a special legislative procedure (Article 289(2) TFEU), upon a proposal from the Commission (Article 311(2) TFEU). The corresponding implementing measures are adopted by the Council (in accordance with Article 291(2) TFEU) after obtaining the consent of Parliament, on the basis of a Commission proposal (Article 311(3) TFEU).
The Commission should maintain continuous dialogue with Parliament throughout its entire term, starting with the hearings of Commissioners-designate and continuing with the specific commitments undertaken during these hearings, the mid-term tracking of those commitments and systematic structured dialogue with specific parliamentary committees.
Under the Treaty of Maastricht, enhanced by the Treaty of Lisbon (Article 225 TFEU), Parliament has a right of legislative initiative that allows it to request the Commission to submit a proposal. Parliament may also introduce reporting requirements in its legislation, obliging the Commission to present implementation reports.
The Commission sometimes fails to comply with Parliament’s requests for proposals (as in the case of Parliament’s recommendation of 15 June 2023 in relation to the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware) or delays the presentation of important implementation reports (e.g. the first report on the application and functioning of the Law Enforcement Directive).
The protection of personal data in transatlantic data exchanges is another example. The judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU in the ‘Schrems II’ case in July 2020 led to the invalidation of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement on exchange of data, owing to concerns that EU citizens were not protected in transatlantic data exchanges. Parliament criticised the fact, in its resolution, that the Commission had put relations with the United States ahead of the interests of EU citizens, and that the Commission had thereby left the task of defending EU law to individual citizens. Despite this criticism, and a further Parliament resolution concluding that the EU-US Data Privacy Framework fails to create essential equivalence in the level of protection, on 10 July 2023 the Commission adopted its third decision on the adequate level of protection of personal data under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
This fact sheet was prepared by Parliament’s Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs.
Joanna APAP / Christophe BEAUDOUIN