President of the European Commission
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| President of the European Commission | |
| Image:Flag of Europe.svg Commission emblem | |
| Incumbent | Image:José Manuel Barroso MEDEF 2.jpg José Manuel Barroso |
|---|---|
| Inaugural | Walter Hallstein |
| Formation | 1958 |
| Website | ec.europa.eu/president |
The President of the European Commission is the head of the executive body of the European Union. The President leads a college of 27 Commissioners, one from each Union member-state, who hold specific portfolios. The President is also a member of the European Council, the body which appoints him/her, with the approval of the European Parliament, serving for five year terms. In some European languages this office is designated by a word generally corresponding to English "chairman" rather than "president".
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[edit] Duties and responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of the President are regulated by Article 217 of the EC Treaty according to which "The Commission shall work under the political guidance of its President, who shall decide on its internal organisation in order to ensure that it acts consistently, efficiently and on the basis of collegiality".
Essentially, the President controls the internal organisation of the Commission. He appoints Commissioners with the agreement of member-states and allocates portfolios, such as External Relations or Competition. He also appoints the Vice-Presidents of the Commission.
Generally the President lays down the basic work and guidelines of the Commission, particularly with a college of 27 members he co-ordinates the legislation and work of the body as well as representing the body to other institutions such as the European Council, of which he is also a member, and in the world with the President attends G8 meetings.
[edit] Selection procedure
The President of the Commission is selected by a Qualified majority vote among members of the European Council and must subsequently be approved by the European Parliament, along with the remainder of the Commission. Thereafter, the President is accountable to Parliament, who may dismiss the Commission with a vote of no confidence.
As the head of the European Commission, effectively the executive branch of the European Union, it is sometimes argued that it would be appropriate for the President to be elected by the European Parliament, or directly elected by citizens, rather than being chosen by national governments. However, no such change is envisaged.
Under the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, agreed but not yet ratified by all member states, the Council will be obliged to take into account the results of the most recent elections to the European Parliament when nominating the President of the Commission. The council voluntarily did this when appointing President Barroso, a member of the European People's Party after came out as the largest party after the 2004 election. Furthermore, under the constitution future candidates for the President of the Commission will be put forward by the European Council and approved by the European Parliament, who will have the final say. This differs from the present procedure in that Parliament will acquire the power to reject the President-designate specifically, rather than simply rejecting the entire Commission.
[edit] History
The present Commission has its roots in the Commission of the European Economic Community, with the Hallstein Commission. However there were three Commissions of the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Coal and Steel Community had five "High Authorities", similar to the Commission. The First President of the Authority in 1952 was Jean Monnet (Monnet Authority), who was a key architect of European integration.
Since Hallstein in 1958 there have been 11 Commission Presidents (not including President Marín, who was an interim President after the mass resignation of the Santer Commission following allegations of corruption. Historically, President Delors' Commission is held to have been the most successful, and has held a record three terms. It completed the internal market, began work that led to the creation of the euro and oversaw numerous enlargements.
[edit] Appointment
| Member | Presidents | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Image:Flag of France.svg France | two | 1985 to 1995 and 1973 to 1977 |
| Image:Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg | two | 1981 to 1985 and 1995 to 1999 |
| Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | two | 1970 to 1972 and 1999 to 2004 |
| Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany | one | 1958 to 1967 |
| Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal | one | 2004 to 2009 |
| Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom | one | 1977 to 1981 |
| Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium | one | 1967 to 1970 |
| Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | one | 1972 to 1973 |
| Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | one(interim) | 1999 |
In the first Commissions, Presidents were mainly originated from national ministries with backgrounds in economics or foreign affairs. Recently however this has changed with the Commission becoming more high-profile. The last two Presidents were former heads of government from member states; Romano Prodi was Prime Minister of Italy and José Manuel Barroso was Prime Minister of Portugal.
The national origin of Presidents has so far been mainly from older member-states. Each of the original six has had at least one President with only the UK and Portugal having their citizens becoming Presidents (One each. Spain had an interim Commissioner in 1999). When appointing the new president in 2004, national origin was taken into account with a desire for the President to come from a small eurozone state (with Bertie Ahern, Jean-Claude Juncker and Guy Verhofstadt all being considered).
[edit] List of Presidents
Legend: [ ] left leaning (e.g. PES) - [ ] liberal (e.g. ELDR) - [ ] right leaning (e.g. EPP)
[edit] See also
- Vice-President of the European Commission
- List of presidents of EU institutions
- President of the European Union
[edit] External links
- Commission President (official website)
- Terms of office
- Organisation of the European Commission European NAvigator
- Barroso is favourite as deadline is set for EU leadership deal independent.co.uk
- Europe finally agrees on a new President independent.co.uk
European Commission Presidents and their Commissions | |
|---|---|
ECSC: Jean Monnet (1952) • René Mayer (1955) • Paul Finet (1958) • Piero Malvestiti (1959) • Rinaldo Del Bo (1963) • Albert Coppé (1963) EEC: Walter Hallstein (1958)2 EC: Jean Rey (1967) • Franco Maria Malfatti (1970) • Sicco Mansholt (1972) • François-Xavier Ortoli (1973) • Roy Jenkins (1977) • Gaston Thorn (1981) • Jacques Delors (1985)2 | Image:Berlaymont.jpg |
European Council |
|---|
| President: Janša (SI) · Gusenbauer (AT) · Verhofstadt (BE) · Stanishev (BG) · Topolánek (CZ) · Papadopoulos (CY) · Merkel (DE) · Rasmussen (DK) · Ansip (ET) · Vanhanen (FI) · Sarkozy (FR) · Karamanlis (GR) · Gyurcsány (HU) · Ahern (IE) · Prodi (IT) · Godmanis (LV) · Kirkilas (LT) · Juncker (LU) · Gonzi (MT) · Balkenende (NL) · Tusk (PL) · Sócrates (PT) · Popescu-Tăriceanu (RO) · Fico (SK) · Zapatero (ES) · Reinfeldt (SE) · Brown (GB) · Barroso (EC) |
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