Commission President
- José Manuel Barroso, Commission President (Photo: European Commission)
The European Commission is led by a President appointed by 18 of 27 prime ministers representing 255 of 345 possible weighted votes in the Council.
Since 1958, eleven political figures succeeded in this role. Currently, the President of the European Commission is José Manuel Barroso, a former Portuguese Prime Minister.
According to the Treaty of Nice the President was appointed by a super qualified majority of at least 18 of the 27 prime ministers in the European Council and approved by a simple majority in the European Parliament.
His full team in the Barroso II Commission from 2009/2010 must be approved by an absolute majority of MEPs.
France and Germany have proposed that the Commission President should be appointed by the European Parliament.
The Lisbon Treaty provides for that a super qualified majority in the Council (72% of member states which together comprise 65% of the EU population) shall appoint a candidate to be approved (elected) by the European Parliament by an absolute majority of its members - from 2014.
If the European Parliament rejects the candidate the process starts over again. See Article 17.7 TEU.
The President of the Commission lays down the broad policy lines to be followed by the Commission in its work. He decides on the allocation of responsibilities among the Commissioners and may reshuffle the portfolios during the Commission's term of office.
He also appoints the Vice-Presidents, the number of which is not specified in the Treaty. He may further require a member of the Commission to resign.
The Commission can be censured only by a 2/3 majority of the European Parliament.
President Barroso has nominated German Johannes Laitenberger to head his cabinet from1 November 2009 instead of Irish Catherine Day. His new leading spokesperson is a Dane, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen.
Links
See also Commission and Censure.
Website of Mr. Barroso http://ec.europa.eu/commission......barroso/president/index_en.htm
