European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Commissioner within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent of national ministers.
Appointment
The Commissioners are appointed by the member-states together with the President, who decides upon their portfolio. The Commission in its entirety then seeks the approval of the Parliament and the Council of Ministers (by qualified majority).
It should be noted however that although Commissioners are allocated between member-states they do not represent their states; instead they are to act in European interests. Normally a member-state will nominate someone of the same political party as that which forms the government of the day. There are exceptions such as Commissioner Burke (of Fine Gael) was nominated by Taoiseach Haughey (of Fianna Fáil), or where larger states had two seats, they often went to the two major parties such as in the United Kingdom.
Partly due to the member-state selection procedure, only 8 of the current 27 Commissioners are women and no ethnic minorities have ever served on a Commission to date. Peter Mandelson (2004 to October 2008)[1] was the first openly homosexual Commissioner. The first female Commissioners were Christiane Scrivener and Vasso Papandreou in the 1989 Delors Commission (more on the makeup of the current commission).
Commissioner's oath
Each Commissioner is required to take an oath, officially before the Court of Justice of the European Communities, officially the Solemn undertaking before the Court of Justice by the President and the new members of the European Commission. The oath taken by the members of the current Barroso Commission is below[2];
Having been appointed as a member of the Commission of the European Communities by the Council of the European Union, after the vote of approval by the European Parliament, I do solemnly undertake: to be completely independent in the performance of my duties, in the general interest of the Communities; in the performance of these duties, neither to seek nor to take instructions from any government or from any other body; to refrain from any action incompatible with my duties.
I formally note the undertaking of each Member State to respect this principle and not to seek to influence members of the Commission in the performance of their tasks.
I further undertake to respect, both during and after my term of office, the obligations arising therefrom and in particular, the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance after I have ceased to hold office of certain appointments or benefits.
Accountability
In addition to its role in approving a new Commission, the European Parliament has the power at any time to force the entire Commission to resign through a vote of no confidence. This requires a vote that makes up at least two-thirds of those voting and a majority of the total membership of the Parliament. While it has never used this power, it threatened to use it against the Commission headed by Jacques Santer in 1999 over allegations of corruption. In response, the Santer Commission resigned en masse of its own accord, the only time a Commission has done so.
Salaries
In 2004, the annual salary of an individual Commissioner was 217,280 euro, while a Vice President earned 241,422 euro and the President 266,530 euro.[3]
Portfolios
The make up and distribution of portfolios are determined by the Commission President and do not always correspond with the Commissions departments (Directorate-Generals). While some have been fairly consistent in make up between each Commission, some have only just been created or are paired with others. With a record number of Commissioners in 2007, the portfolios have become very thin even though the responsibilities of the commission have increased.[4]
Civil service
A Commissioner can come under a great deal of influence from the staff under their control. The European Civil Service is permanent whereas a Commissioner is in office usually for just 5 years. Hence it is the service which know the workings of the Commission and have longer term interests. Strong leadership from a Commissioner, who knows the workings of their portfolio, can overcome the power of the service. An example would be Pascal Lamy, however the best people are usually kept by their national governments leading to less solid candidates getting the job.[5]
Politicisation
Commissioners are also required to remain above national politics while exercising their duties in the Commission in order to maintain independence. However that requirement has slowly been eroded as the institution has become more politicised. During the Prodi Commission, Anna Diamantopoulou (Employment and Social Affairs) took leave from the Commission to participate in the 2004 Greek elections and resigned when she won a seat despite her party losing. Romano Prodi campaigned in the 2001 Italian elections while still President.[6]
Recently, Louis Michel (Development & Humanitarian Aid) announced that he would go on unpaid leave to take part in the 2007 Belgian elections.[7] Although he positioned himself so as not to be elected, the European Parliament's development committee asked the Parliament's legal service to assess if his participation violated the treaties. [3]
Michel claimed that politicisation of this manner is part of reconnecting the Union with its citizens. The Commission revised its code of conduct for Commissioners allowing them to "be active members of political parties or trade unions." To participate in an election campaign they are required to "withdraw from the work of the Commission for the duration of the campaign."
Politicisation has even gone so far as commissioners backing national candidates, with Neelie Kroes (Competition) backing Angela Merkel in the 2005 German elections and Margot Wallström (Institutional Relations & Communication Strategy) backing Ségolène Royal in the 2007 French elections.[6] Wallström defended this claiming that the EU has to get more political and controversial as being a vital role in communicating the Commission.[8] Wallström has been notable for engaging in debate and politics, she was the first commissioner to start her own blog.
However their political nature can also cause problems in their habit of leaving the job early in the final years of the Commission to take up new national posts. In seeking to secure their post-Commission job, they can undermine the work of the Commission.[9] Following elections in Cyprus, Commissioner Kyprianou left to become Cypriot Foreign Minister.[10] Likewise, Commissioner Frattini left to do the same following elections in Italy.[11] During the previous Prodi Commission, Pedro Solbes left to become the Spanish finance minister, Michel Barnier left to become French foreign minister, Erkki Liikanen left to become head of a Helsinki bank and Anna Diamantopoulou also resigned early. Even President Prodi started campaigning in the Italian elections before his term as head of the Commission was over.[9]
Reform
The number of Commissioners is currently one per member state. This has been seen as making the Commission grow too large with each expansion. Under the Lisbon Treaty the size would be reduced to two-thirds of the members, rotated between them.[12] Other ideas that have been floated are the creation of junior members for smaller states[13], the creation of "super-commissioners"[14]
See also
- Barroso Commission (the current commission)
- List of European Commissioners by nationality
- Category:European Commissioners
- Vice-President of the European Commission
External links
- Commission's website ec.europa.eu
- Commissioners code of conduct ec.europa.eu
References
- ^ [1] BBC: 'Proud' Mandelson back in [UK] cabinet
- ^ [2] EU commission: Wording of the oath.
- ^ What does an EU commissioner do?, BBC News
- ^ Prodi to Have Wide, New Powers as Head of the European Commission iht.com 16/04/99
- ^ Former EU Mandarin Spills the Beans on Commission Intrigue Deutsche Welle
- ^ a b EU commissioner backs Royal in French election euobserver.com
- ^ Commissioner Louis Michel to stand in the Belgian parliamentary elections europa.eu
- ^ Brussels struggles with communication policy euobserver.com 09/05/07
- ^ a b Mahony, Honor (2008-03-04). "EU commission musical chairs begins in Brussels". EU Observer. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Latham, Mark (2008-04-10). "Parliament backs Vassiliou as health commissioner". European Voice. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ Igra, Daniel (2008-04-15). "Berlusconi victory confirms Frattini's departure". European Voice. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ What the EU constitution says news.bbc.co.uk 22/06/04
- ^ EU divided by plan for ‘second-class’ commissioners ft.com 07/01/07
- ^ 'Big three' strike deal on super commissioner, French VAT cuts, 1% ceiling euractiv.com 19/02/05
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