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Commissioner

Vice-President of the Commission, Margot Wallström (Photo: EU Commission)

Informally, the appointed Members of the Commission are known as ‘commissioners’. The Commission is currently made up of 27 commissioners, one national of each member state. Hhowever they are bound to act independently.

They are led by the President of the Commission (presently José Manuel Barroso). The commissioners were previously appointed by the member states. According to the Lisboin Treaty member states may come with suggestioons instead of proposals. 

They are chosen for their general competence and European commitment, and should all guarantee their independence. They have all previously held political positions in their countries of origin, often as ministers.  

Procedure

The Commission is reappointed every five years within six months of the elections to the European Parliament. From 2014 the member state governments appoint the new Commission President by support from at least 72% of the Prime Ministers representing 65% of all EU citizens. 

The Commission President-designate is then approved by Parliament. The Commission President-designate, in discussion with the member state governments and the political groups in the European Parliament, chooses the other Members of the Commission after "suggestions" from the  member states.

The Council adopts the list of nominees by super qualified majority and communicates it to the European Parliament for approval. The Parliament then interviews each nominee and votes its judgement of the whole team. The Parliament may use this procedure to veto one or more commisisoners.

Following 'the Parliaments vote of approval, the new Commission is formally appointed by the Council, acting by super qualified majority.  

The Lisbon Treaty proposed a Commission consisting of a member from 2/3 of the member states from 2014, but this proposal was given up after the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by referendum 12 June 2008. The text will be amended in the next Treaty of accession.

According to the Lisbon Treaty - from 2014 - all members must be appointed by a super qualified majority of 72 % of the heads of state or government. This qualified majority must also represent 65% of the population in the EU.

The President-elect of the Commission establishes the list of Commissioners together with the Prime Ministers. The Commission is then elected by the European Parliament by an absolute majority of their members and appointed by the European Council according to the above-mentioned procedure. See Art. 17.7 TEU.

Under the Nice Treaty every member state could make a "proposal" of  their candidate. Under the Lisbon Treaty member states can only present "suggestions" for the incoming Commission President to decide.  

Links

European Commission website: http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/comm/index_en.htm

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