The European Commission

The EC is one of the main institutions of the European Union. It represents and upholds
the interests of the EU as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws. It manages
the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds.
Composition
The 28 Commissioners, one from each EU country, provide the Commissions political
leadership during their 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for
specific policy areas by the President. The current President of the European Commission
is Jos Manuel Barroso who began his second term of office in February 2010. The
President is nominated by the European Council. The Council also appoints the other
Commissioners in agreement with the nominated President. The appointment of all
Commissioners, including the President, is subject to the approval of the European
Parliament. In office, they remain accountable to Parliament, which has sole power to
dismiss the Commission. The day-to-day running of the Commission is taken care of by
the Commissions staff administrators, lawyers, economists, translators, interpreters,
secretarial staff, etc. organised in departments known as Directorates-General (DGs).
Location
The Commission is based in Brussels and Luxembourg and has offices (representations)
in every EU country and delegations in capital cities around the world.
Purpose
The Commission represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole. It oversees
and implements EU policies by: proposing new laws to Parliament and the Council;
managing the EU's budget and allocating funding; enforcing EU law (together with the
Court of Justice); representing the EU internationally, for example, by negotiating
agreements between the EU and other countries.
1. Proposing new laws
The Commission has the 'right of initiative' it can propose new laws to protect the
interests of the EU and its citizens. It does this only on issues that cannot be dealt with
effectively at national, regional or local level (subsidiarity principle). When the
Commission proposes a law, it tries to satisfy the widest possible range of interests. To
get the technical details right, it consults experts through various committees and groups.
It also holds public consultations. The Commissions departments produce a draft of the
proposed new law. If at least 14 of the 28 Commissioners agree with it, the draft is then
sent to the Council and Parliament. After debating and amending the draft, they decide
whether to adopt it as a law.
2. Managing the EUs budget and allocating funding
With the Council and Parliament, the Commission sets broad long-term spending
priorities for the EU in the EU 'financial framework'. It also draws up an annual budget
for approval by Parliament and the Council, and supervises how EU funds are spent by
agencies and national and regional authorities, for instance. The Commissions
management of the budget is scrutinised by the Court of Auditors. The Commission
manages funding for EU policies (e.g. agriculture and rural development) and
programmes such as 'Erasmus' (student exchanges).
3. Enforcing European law
As 'guardian of the Treaties', the Commission checks that each member country is
applying EU law properly. If it thinks a national government is failing to apply EU law,
the Commission first sends an official letter asking it to correct the problem. As a last
resort, the Commission refers the issue to the Court of Justice. The Court can impose
penalties, and its decisions are binding on EU countries and institutions.
4. Representing the EU internationally
The Commission speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies like the
World Trade Organisation. It also negotiates international agreements for the EU such as
the Cotonou Agreement (on aid and trade between the EU and developing countries in
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific).

Unit IV. European Union Law

I. The Legal Nature of the European Union

Any consideration of the legal nature of the EU must start by looking at its
characteristic features. Although the EUs legal nature was set out in two precedent-
setting judgments of the Court of Justice in 1963 and 1964 relating to the then European
Economic Community, the judgments are still valid for the European Union in its current
form (Borchardt 29). Thus, the elements which together typically characterize the special
legal nature of the EU are:
the institutional set-up, which ensures that action by the EU is also characterised
by the overall European interest, i.e. is reflected in or influenced by the Union
interest as laid down in the objectives;
in other international organisations, and extending to areas in which States
normally retain their sovereign rights;
the establishment of its own legal order which is independent of the Member
States legal orders;
the direct applicability of Union law, which makes provisions of Union law fully
and uniformly applicable in all Member States, and bestows rights and imposes
obligations on both the Member States and their citizens;
the primacy of Union law, which ensures that Union law may not be revoked or
amended by national law and that it takes precedence over national law if the two
conflict. (Borchardt 29-32).

II. The European Union: Legal Order

The constitution of the EU, and particularly the fundamental values it embodies, can be
brought to life and given substance only through Union law. This makes the EU a legal
reality in two different senses: it is created by law and is a community based on law.
This is what is entirely new about the EU, and what distinguishes it from earlier
attempts to unite Europe. It works not by means of force or subjugation but simply by
means of law. However, the EU is not merely a creation of law but also pursues its
objectives purely by means of law. It is a community based on law. The common
economic and social life of the peoples of the Member States is governed not by the
threat of force but by the law of the Union. This is the basis of the institutional system. It
lays down the procedure for decision-making by the Union institutions and regulates their
relationship to each other. It provides the institutions with the means in the shape of
regulations, directives and decisions of enacting legal instruments binding on the
Member States and their citizens. Union law also defines the relationship between the EU
and the Member States.
Union law is still shaped by the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the Treaty Establishing the
European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom Treaty).
The EUs legal order is the true foundation of the Union, giving it a common system
of law under which to operate. Only by creating new law and upholding it can the
Unions underlying objectives be achieved. The EU legal order has already accomplished
a great deal in this respect. It is thanks not least to this new legal order that the largely
open borders, the substantial trade in goods and services, the migration of workers and
the large number of transnational links between companies have already made the
common market part of everyday life for some 500 million people. Another, historically
important, feature of the Union legal order is its peacemaking role. With its objective of
maintaining peace and liberty, it replaces force as a means of settling conflicts by rules of
law that bind both individuals and the Member States into a single Community.
As a result, the Union legal order is an important instrument for the preservation and
creation of peace. The community of law of the EU and its underlying legal order can
survive only if compliance with and safeguarding of that legal order are guaranteed by
the two cornerstones: the direct applicability of Union law and the primacy of Union law
over national law. These two principles, the existence and maintenance of which are
resolutely upheld by the Court of Justice, guarantee the uniform and priority application
of Union law in all Member States (Borchardt 125).

III. The Decision-Making Process

The EUs standard decision-making procedure is known as 'Ordinary Legislative

Procedure (ex "codecision"). This means that the directly elected European Parliament
has to approve EU legislation together with the Council (the governments of the 28 EU
countries). The Commission drafts and implements EU legislation.
EU Treaties
The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that every action taken by
the EU is founded on treaties that have been approved voluntarily and democratically by
all EU member countries. The Treaty of Lisbon increased the number of policy areas
where 'Ordinary Legislative Procedure' is used. The European Parliament also has more
power to block a proposal if it disagrees with the Council.
Regulations, Directives and other acts
The aims set out in the EU treaties are achieved by several types of legal act. These
legislative acts include regulations, directives, recommendations and opinions. Some are
binding, others are not. Some apply to all EU countries, others to just a few.
Application of EU law
EU law - which has equal force with national law - confers rights and obligations on the
authorities in each member country, as well as individuals and businesses. The authorities
in each member country are responsible for implementing EU legislation in national law
and enforcing it correctly, and they must guarantee citizens rights under these laws.

IV. EU Legal Institutions

The judicial work is now carried out on three levels by: the Court of Justice, as the
highest instance in the Community legal order; the General Court; and the specialised
courts, which may be appointed to the General Court to decide on cases in particular
areas (Borchardt 66-67).
The Court of Justice currently consists of 27 judges and eight Advocates General,
who are appointed by common accord of the Governments of the Member States for a
term of six years. Each Member State sends one judge. The Court is assisted by eight
Advocates General, whose term of office corresponds to that of the judges; they enjoy
judicial independence. Their task is to submit opinions to the Court in the form of (non-
binding) proposals for a Court decision based on a fully independent and non-partisan
survey of the questions of law raised in the case concerned. The Court of Justice is the
highest and at the same time the sole judicial authority in matters of Union law. In
general terms, its task is to ensure that in the interpretation of [the] Treaty the law is
observed.
Like all courts, the Court of Justice is overburdened. This is why, in 1988, a General
Court was established to take the pressure off the Court of Justice. The General Court is
not a new Union institution but rather a constituent component of the Court of Justice.
Nevertheless, it is an autonomous body separate from the Court of Justice in
organisational terms. It has its own registry and rules of procedure. The General Court
consists of 27 members whose qualifications, appointment and legal status are subject to
the same requirements and conditions as judges at the Court of Justice. The General
Court sits in Chambers of five or three judges or, in certain cases, a single judge. Over 80
% of the cases before the Court are heard by a Chamber of three judges. The General
Court acts as an appeal court for cases of appeal against decisions given by the judicial
panels (Borchardt 71-73).
In 2004, to relieve the burden on the Court of Justice and improve legal protection in
the EU, the Council of the EU attached a specialised court for civil service cases to the
General Court. This specialised court has taken over jurisdiction from the General Court
for ruling at first instance in European civil service disputes. It consists of seven judges,
who enjoy a similar status to members of the General Court and are appointed for a term
of six years. They must have the ability required for appointment to judicial office. The
specialised court usually sits as a panel of three judges, but can give a decision as a full
panel or a panel of five judges, or as a single judge. Decisions of the specialised court are
subject to a right of appeal to the General Court on points of law only (Borchardt 73).