European Commission

European Commission
Name in official languages
Bulgarian: Европейска комисия
Croatian: Europska komisija
Czech: Evropská komise
Danish: Europa-Kommissionen
Dutch: Europese Commissie
English: European Commission
Estonian: Euroopa Komisjon
Finnish: Euroopan komissio
French: Commission européenne
German: Europäische Kommission
Greek: Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή
Hungarian: Európai Bizottság
Irish: Coimisiún Eorpach
Italian: Commissione europea
Latvian: Eiropas Komisija
Lithuanian: Europos Komisija
Maltese: Kummissjoni Ewropea
Polish: Komisja Europejska
Portuguese: Comissão Europeia
Romanian: Comisia Europeană
Slovak: Európska komisia
Slovene: Evropska komisija
Spanish: Comisión Europea
Swedish: Europeiska kommissionen
Overview
Established16 January 1958 (1958-01-16)
Country
PolityEuropean Union
LeaderPresident
(Ursula von der Leyen)
Appointed byNominated by the European Council and confirmed by the European Parliament
Main organCollege of Commissioners
Ministries
Responsible to
  • European Parliament
Headquarters
Websiteec.europa.eu
The Berlaymont building, seat of the European Commission

The European Commission (EC) is part of the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (directorial system, informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President.[1][2] It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.

There is one member per member state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state.[3] The Commission President (currently Ursula von der Leyen) is proposed by the European Council[4] (the 27 heads of state/governments) and elected by the European Parliament.[5] The Council of the European Union then nominates the other members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and the 27 members as a team are then subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.[6] The current Commission is the Von der Leyen Commission, which took office in December 2019, following the European Parliament elections in May of the same year.

  1. ^ European Commission (2006). How the European Union works: Your guide to the EU institutions (PDF). p. 20. ISBN 92-79-02225-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2011. Informally, the appointed members of the Commission are known as 'Commissioners'.
  2. ^ "How the Commission is organised". European Commission. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019. The Commission is steered by a group of 28 Commissioners, known as 'the college'.
  3. ^ "European Commission swears oath to respect the EU Treaties" (Press release). Brussels: European Commission. 3 May 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  4. ^ "European Council Decision of 27 June 2014 proposing to the European Parliament a candidate for President of the European Commission". EUR-Lex. 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schütze 2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Treaty on European Union: Article 17:7

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