Term Paper on "European Commission"

Term Paper 6 pages (1987 words) Sources: 6 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union (EU). It is a supranational body that works independently from the control of individual national governments, and is responsible for proposing legislation to the European Parliament and Council, managing and implementing the decisions and policies of the EU as well as its budget, enforcing the European law, and representing the EU on the international stage. This research paper presents an overview of the European Commission including its early history, its composition, how it is organized, its functions and powers, besides taking a brief look at some of the controversies related to the Commission.

Early History and Composition

The historical origins of the 'European Commission' can be traced to the aftermath of the Second World War when six Western European countries decided to run their coal and steel industries under a common management -- the intention being that no one country should be able to make weapons of war on its own to use against the other, as they had done in the past ("A Peaceful Europe" -- Europa). As a result, a Treaty was signed in Paris on 18 April 1951 establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and a supranational 'High Authority' was created to manage the Community. This was followed by the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) in the Rome Treaty signed on 25 March 1957 and the creation of corresponding 'Commissions' to manage the two Communities ("European Commission" -- the European Navigator)

Initially, the two Communities and the High Authority functioned separately. The High Authority of the ECSC and the ECC Commission had nine members each with Germany, France and Italy having two members each while the other three countries -- Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg contributing one member to the Commission. On the other hand, the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) was composed of five members only. The three institutions were eventually merged into a Single Commission of the European Communities, under the 'Merger Treaty' that was signed on April 8, 1965 and came into force on July 1, 1967. From that date onwards, the Single Commission was authorized to exercise the powers and responsibilities previously conferred upon the ECSC High Authority, the EEC Commission and the Euratom Commission (Ibid.).

Article 32 of the Merger Treaty (1965) specified that until the establishment of a Single European Community, or until three years after the appointment of the members of the Single Commission, whichever was the earlier, the Commission would consist of 14 members. Article 10 of the Treaty further provided that the members of the Commission (called Commissioners) would then be reduced to nine; and subsequently, their numbers would increase as new member countries joined the EU by taking one Commissioner from each new member country.

With the increasing number of EU member countries, concern arose that too large a Commission would become unwieldy; hence Treaty of Nice (February 26, 2001) introduced a Protocol which provides that, when the Union consists of 27 Member States, the Commission members shall be less than the number of Member States and shall be chosen in accordance with a rotation system based on the principle of equality. This figure of 27 was reached when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007. Therefore, after the end of the current Commission's term in November 2009, the number of Commissioners would be reduced to two-thirds of the total member states as per the Lisbon Treaty signed in 2007 ("The European Commission" -- Para on "Limiting the Size of the Commission").

The Organization and its Working

The Commission's main office is located in the Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium. It also has several other offices in Brussels and Luxembourg as well as other locations in Europe. There are Commission representative offices in all 27 countries of the European Union and over 120 delegations in most other countries of the world and in international organizations such as the UN, WTO, and the OECD, dealing with such matters as trade, development and humanitarian aid ("Where we work").

The Commission currently consists of 27 Commissioners (including its President) who can be considered the equivalent of national ministers. The President of the Commission allocates the portfolio of the Commissioners. Each Commissioner is assisted by his 'cabinet' consisting of half a dozen advisers, whose main task is to keep the Commissioner informed about a particular policy area ("Cabinet"). The Commission is further divided into departments called the Directorates-General (DGs) and service departments such as the Legal Sevices. The Directorates-General are further divided into four groups: Policy DGs, External relations DGs, General Service DGs and Internal Service DGs. Each 'Directorate' of the Commission covers a specific policy area or service such as External relations or Translation and is headed by a Director-General who is answerable to a Commissioner. Overall coordination of the Directorates-General is provided by the Secretariat-General headed by the Secretary-General, who directly reports to the President.

The Commission works in the following manner: The DGs devise and draft legislative proposals related to their department after extensive consultations with all the stakeholders such as European industry and farmers and ministries in the member states. After discussion with other Commission departments, the proposal is checked by the Legal Service and the Secretariat-General; it is then put on the agenda of the Commission's weekly meeting that is usually held every Wednesday in the Commission's office in Brussels. If a majority of the Commissioners approve the proposal, it is 'adopted' and sent to the Council and European Parliament for approval.

Functions of the Commission

Proposing new legislation:

One of the key functions of the Commission is its sole right to propose legislation to the European parliament and the Council. The objectives of the proposals must be to protect the interests of the Union and its citizens, rather than of specific countries and/or industries. While initiating its proposals, the Commission follows the 'subsidiarity principle' -- i.e., makes sure that a problem cannot be solved more efficiently at lower level such as the national, regional or local levels. It also holds preliminary meetings with government representatives, members of parliament, professional and trade union organizations, specific interest groups, and independent experts before drafting the legislation in order to incorporate the widest possible range of interests and to deal with the problem in the most effective manner ("The European Commission" -- para on "What does the Commission do?").

Implementation of Policies and Monitoring the Budget

As the executive arm of the European Union, the Commission is responsible for implementing the EU policies and managing its budget. The Commission implements the policies adopted by European Parliament and the Council through the member states of the Union or through one of its agencies. Examples of Policies implemented by the Commission include the Common Agricultural Policy or the Competition Policy of the EU (whereby the EU can prohibit member countries from subsidizing certain industries) or the implementation of programs such as the EU's student exchange program or its 'Urban' program that is aimed at creating cross-border partnerships between regions and helping to regenerate declining urban areas (Ibid.) as far as the managing of the budget is concerned, the Commission's role is of a monitoring nature since most of the actual spending is done by national and local authorities. The Commission monitors the spending of the budget with the Court of Auditors in order to ensure efficient financial management.

3. Enforcing European law

Another important function of the Commission is to act as guardian of the EU Treaties and to ensure the European law is properly enforced in all the member states. The Commission performs this function with the help of the Court of Justice. Whenever a member country fails to apply an EU law, the Commission is expected to take action. It does so by setting in motion a procedure known as the 'infringement procedure.' It consists of sending the government found violating an official letter setting out the 'charge sheet' and demanding an explanation for the infringement of the law(s) within a given deadline. If the procedure fails to solve the issue, the Commission sends the matter to the Court of Justice, which has powers to impose penalties and its judgments are binding on the member states as well as the Commission (Ibid).

4. Representing the EU on the international stage

The European Commission represents the European Union on the international stage, providing with a single visible face and a single audible voice on the world scene; thus enabling the member states to speak 'with one voice' in international forums such as the World Trade Organization. The Commission is also responsible for negotiating international agreements on behalf of the EU (Bermann 7-8)

Controversies Related to the Commission

Like most bureaucracies in the world, the Commission has been accused of being over-staffed, corrupt and undemocratic. The Commission has a total staff of approximately 32,000 people including an "external staff" (e.g. Contractual agents, detached… READ MORE

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