EUROPEN COMMISSION.

COLEGISLATOR AT
EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL

Summary

The Commission is an important institution of the Community institutional system,

since it represents the Community interest compared to the national interest of each member
state. It is responsible for the way in which the Community interest prevails, when a member
state or The European Union Council takes a decision in Community objectives.
The Commission is the institution which - although composed of officials nominated by
member states - negotiates in favor of the Unions interests, with member states which are
trying, separately or in the Council, to advance their own interests. This is composed of
persons nominated by European Union Member States for a period of 5 years.
The European Commission is lead by a President and 2 Vice-Presidents assisted by a
general secretary. The president, as well as members of the Commission, is subject to approval
vote of the European Parliament. He is responsible for convening meetings and represents the
Commission in third party relations, including in front of the Council and the European
Parliament. The Commission should not be considered as a hierarchically subordinate
functioning device to the EU Council, the Commission is a community institution with its own
political responsibility, its headquarters being in Brussels.
The functioning of the European Commission is based on good fellowship, which
means that decisions are taken by a collective decision, its members being jointly responsible
for the measures taken.
The Commission is "the main initiator" in the European Union, as the Council cannot
deliberate on itself or jointly with the European Parliament except on the basis of a regulatory
proposals of itself, so the EU Council, alone or jointly with the European Parliament adopts
legislation based on proposals from the Commission.

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1. GENERAL ASPECTS

The Commission is an important institution of the Community institutional

system, since it represents the Community interest compared to the national interest of
each member state. It is responsible for the way in which the Community interest
prevails, when a member state or The European Union Council takes a decision in
Community objectives.
It is known as being the Community executive, as such it is "the engine that
leads community activities", and another expression that is commonly associated to the
name of the commission is the "guarantor of Treaties."
The commission, as well as the other basic institutions, is common to the three
European Communities. The Brussels Fusion Treaty from 1965 transforming the three
Committees (the CECO/CECA High Authority, the CEE Commission and the CEEA
Commission) in a single Commission. The regularization of the three Committees
appears in the 8-19 TCECO/CECA Art, the 155-163 TCEE Art. and the 124 - 135
TCEEA art.
In case of the European Commission the merger was more difficult than in the
case of the Council, because the three Commissions had different and independent
administrative infrastructure, unlike the Councils whose secretariats were common
even before their merger.
The European Commission1 is that the second community institution which, in
the C.E.C.A. Treaty system, was called "The High Authority".
The Commission should not be considered as a hierarchically subordinate
functioning device to the EU Council, the Commission is a community institution with
its own political responsibility, its headquarters being in Brussels.
According to the 162nd Art of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Commission
has self-organization competence, expression of the principle of the autonomy of
communitarian institutions, which sets its interior conduct to ensure itself and its
services under the terms of the Treaty.
The Commission engaged its activity in so-called “General Directions”,
Services and Groups.
2. MEMBERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
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The name “European Commission” was adopted only after the Maastricht Treaty on European
Union, before being used the phrase “Commission”

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 The Nisa Treaty supervises the appointment in the European Commission:
● The European Council with a qualified majority decides the appointed of an
official which will be named president of the commission, the European Parliament
approving this appointment;
● The EU Council together with the future President of the Commission
appoints commissioners on the proposals from the national governments;
● The commissioners, together with their President, are subjected as a collegial
device to the approval of the European Parliament;
● The European Commission in its whole is appointed by the E.U Council,
from a qualified majority.
The Commission is the institution which - although composed of officials
nominated by member states - negotiates in favor of the Unions interests, with member
states which are trying, separately or in the Council, to advance their own interests.
According to the 11th Art in the Brussels Treaty and the 157th Art TCE, the
commissioners must have nationality of the member states who nominate them. The
Lisbon Treaty complements this by saying: "Commission members are elected from
among nationals of member states according to a strictly equal rotation system between
the member states which is to reflect the demographic and geographic diversity of all
member states. This system is established by the European Council, acting
unanimously in accordance with 211th Art of the Treaty on the function of the
European Union.
According to the Fusion Treaty the mandate of Commission members was 4
years and of Commission President was limited to 2 years, according to the Maastricht
Treaty, the candidates of member states are named for no more than 5 years, mandate
which can be renewed. Also the President’s mandate is 5 years.
Presently, following the enlargement with the last wave of states, respectively
Romania and Bulgaria on January 1st 2007, the European Commission has now 27
commissioners2.
“As of November 1st 2014, the Commission is composed of a number of
members, including the President and High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy, corresponding to two thirds of the member states, as long
as the European Council doesn’t decided to alter this number, acting unanimously”3.
2
Octavian Manolache -“Community law”, 4th Edition, All Beck Publishing House, Bucharest,
2003, p.116
3
Lisabon Treaty, Art. 9D

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 Each commissioner has specific duties regarding one or more fields of activity.
The decisions taken by each commissioner, in his area of responsibilities are
considered "Commission decisions" because it works as a collegial device.
According to the 10th Art in the Brussels Fusion Treaty, the European
Commission is composed of "commissioners appointed on basis of their general
competence and whose independence is beyond any doubt."
Independence of Commission members is its characteristic feature of its
composition, as such the treaties impose certain obligations on both member states and
commissioners. For this the commissioners have a number of privileges and
immunities such as immunity from jurisdiction for acts committed in carrying out their
mandate, are exempt from taxes and salary impositions and other financial rights
granted.
During their mandate, commissioners can’t be engaged in other activities, they
are prohibited, for example, being members of national parliaments or the European
Parliament.
If they violate their obligations, they may lose pension rights by a decision
from the Court of Justice, which can also dismiss commissioners.
Each member of the Commission has its own staff, called a cabinet. Chiefs of
Cabinet meet weekly to prepare the work of the Commission.
Commissioner’s mandate can seize either individually or collectively.
Individual seize of the mandate is accomplished by:
● Death;
● Resignation;
● They can be removed from CJUE at the request of the Commission
or the Council for committing grave errors.
Collective seize occurs in the following cases:
● Collective dismissal;
● If the European Parliament adopts with a 2/3 majority a censure
motion, in which commission members are required to mass
resignation.
The European Commission is lead by a President and 2 Vice-Presidents
assisted by a general secretary.

a) The European Commission President

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 The Commission President has an administrative and formal role. He is
responsible for convening meetings and represents the Commission in third party
relations, including in front of the Council and the European Parliament.
The president, as well as members of the Commission, is subject to approval
vote of the European Parliament.
The Commission shall work under the political guidance of the President of the
Commission which is empowered to allocate portfolios between commissioners,
including their change during the mandate.
Members of the Commission shall exercise the functions assigned to them by
the President under his authority. In addition to the veto wright which comes from
being appointed, the President may request the resignation, after the approval of the
whole Commission College.
Under the Lisbon Treaty, the Commission President has the following tasks:
● defines the guidelines within which the Commission is to work;
● decides on the internal organization of the Commission to ensure coherence,
effectiveness and good fellowship of its actions;
● appoints Vice-Presidents, others than the Union’s High Representative for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, wrom within the Commission.

b) European Commission Vice-Presidents

They are appointed by the President, from among Commission commissioners.

Vice-Presidents have to take the president’s place when circumstances requires it.

3. THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The functioning of the European Commission is based on good fellowship,

which means that decisions are taken by a collective decision, its members being
jointly responsible for the measures taken. The principle of good fellowship in
Commission decision was regarded as a guarantee of effectiveness of the

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Commission’s activity at the Intergovernmental Conference that led to the adoption of
the Treaty on European Union4.
There are 3 ways of making decisions:
a. Meetings. Decisions are made based on proposals from one or more of its
members, which were adopted by a majority. Meetings aren’t public and discussions
are confidential.
In the absence of a member of the Committee, the Chief of Cabinet may attend
the meeting and, at the initiative of the President, will present the views of absent
member.
b. By written procedure. The proposal text is circulated to all members. Any
member of the Commission may require, during the written procedure, for the proposal
to be discussed by sending the President a reasoned request to that effect. The proposal
is considered adopted if no member of the Commission made any reserve, and this is
maintained until the deadline.
c. By delegation. The Commission may authorize one or more of its members,
on behalf of it and under its responsibility, to take management or administrative
measures.
The C.J.C.E decided that the delegation cannot be granted for the exercise of
discretion by the Commission, but only for its executive powers.
The Committee’s official working languages are English, French and German.
Official documents, in their entirety, are translated and printed in the 23 official
languages, according to the 1st Art in the nr1 Regulation of the Council.
Thanks to the large number of problems which the Commission must cope
with, the commissioners specialize in fields, thus having specific roles. For each field,
the commissioners write projects to present to the Commission, and after they are
adopted, they support them before the Council, ending with supervising of how these
are reinforced.
The Commission may resort to advisory committees of variable composition
mainly formed from experts with the role to assist in the development and
implementation of Community policy.
The Commission Procedure Rules also includes dispositions regarding the
preparation and implementation of the Commission decisions – appointment of
members of the staff's own offices, the key role of Secretary General who assists the
President in preparation of actions and meetings, ensures implementation of

4
Nicoleta Elize Valcu - “Institutional Community Law”, Sitech Publishing House, Craiova,
2009, p. 171

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procedures and decisions as well as coordination, responsibility for official relations
with the other institutions.

4. EUROPEAN COMMISSION POWERS

a. Power of legislative initiative

The Commission is "the main initiator" in the European Union, as the Council
cannot deliberate on itself or jointly with the European Parliament except on the basis
of a regulatory proposals of itself, so the EU Council, alone or jointly with the
European Parliament adopts legislation based on proposals from the Commission, this
being considered the "favorable device of European integration"5
The Commission may withdraw its proposal6 if the Council has not issued
decision. In case of withdrawal of the proposal, this must be justified and is necessary
to inform the European Parliament whenever its consultation procedure is involved,
general situation in most community areas.

b. Executive powers

The Commission also has executive responsibility; respectively it may adopt

concrete administrative acts through which the primary or secondary right is applied,
as it is appropriate the Commission adopts regulations, directives, decisions,
recommendations or notifications acting on its own regulatory power.
As an executive device, it is responsible for implementing the Community
budget and administration of protective causes in treaties and in secondary legislation.
According to the 203rd Art of TEC (272nd Art of TAM), the Commission has the
responsibility to prepare the budget proposal, which is to be submitted to the Council.
In the following procedure which involves both the Council and European Parliament,
the Commission must be consulted on a regular basis. Once the budget has been
adopted, the Commission must implement it on his own responsibility and within the
powers conferred by the 205 Art of TEC (274th Art TAM), plus, the Commission must

5
Cornelia Lefter - “Institutional Community Law”, Economic Publishing House, Bucharest,
2001, p. 113
6
Under paragraph 2 of T.C.E, Art. 189 A

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submit annually as well as to the European Parliament and to the Council the financial
balance of the budget for the previous fiscal year, having to submit a balance sheet
describing assets and liabilities of the Community.
Beside these tasks, according to the 156th Art of TEC (212th Art of TAM), the
Commission has the obligation of publishing the General Report of the Community,
which usually happens in mid-February of following the year.

c. Supervisory power

The European Commission has the capacity to monitor the abidance of quotas
of both primary and secondary rights in relation with the Community Institutions and
member states.
The Commission carries out its attribution of monitoring both the level of
Community institutions as well as the Member States. In concern to the Member States
the European Commission shall ensure the application of treaties, having the right to
inform Court of Justice concerning the states who do not apply the treaties.
Also the Committee is permanently interested in the way in which the
communitarian rights are achieved in member states, the latter being obliged to inform
it whenever changes occur in the national legislation, implementing Community law.
It may order some investigations, respectively the taking of measures in case violations
of the treaty are established.

d. Power of representation

The Commission exerts representation functions of the European

Communities, both internationally as well as internally, which means that it has a
representative role in the EU before the Member States, third party countries and
international organizations. It also exercises its function of representation in
commercial negotiations, association or admittance of new members.
The European Commission must act so the Community interests take priority
over the interests of Member States. It appears as a neutral intermediary between
Member States on the one hand, and between them and the Union, on the other hand.

5. EUROPEAN COMMISSION RESPONSIBILITY

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 The Commission, as a device, is accountable to the European Parliament.
If the European Parliament is informed of a motion of censure regarding the
Commission’s activity, it will be able to debate it and may decide on it only after 3
days from its deposition, the Parliament deciding by open vote.
If the motion of censure is adopted by a qualified majority of 2/3, from a
quorum of half plus one, members of the Commission must resign collectively, and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs must resign from this position.
However, the Commission will continue to operate in the competence in which
it resigned. New Commission members will be appointed only during the remaining
mandate of the commission before it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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1. Dacian Cosmin Dragos – “European Union. Institutions. Mechanisms”, 2nd Ed., All
Beck Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005;
2. Nicoleta Diaconu – “The EU's Institutional System”, Lumina Lex Publishing House,
Bucharest, 2001;
3. Augustin Fuerea – “European Union Manual”, 3th Ed., revised and added, Univers
Law Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006;
4. Augustin Fuerea – “The European Union Institutions”, Univers Law Publishing
House, Bucharest, 2002;
5. Gheorghe Iancu – “Constitutional Institutions of the European Union”, Lumina Lex
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007;
6. Cornelia Lefter – “Institutional Community law”, Economic Publishing House,
Bucharest, 2001;
7. Octavian Manolache – “Communnity Law”, 3th Ed., All Beck Publishing Huose,
Bucharest, 2001;
8. Tudorel Stefan, and Beatrice Andreşan Grigoriu – “Community Law”, C.H. Beck
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007;
9. Tudorel Stefan – “Introduction to Community Law”, CH Beck Publishing House,
Bucharest, 2006;
10. Elise Nicoleta Valcu – “Institutional Community Law. University course”, Sitech
Publishing House, Craiova, 2009;
11. Dan Vataman – “European and Euro-Atlantic Organizations”, Lumina Lex
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2008.

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