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.
European Commission
16 January 1958
Nominated by the European Council and confirmed by the European Parliament
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Budget
- Climate Action
- Communication
- Communications Networks, Content and Technology
- Competition
- Economic and Financial Affairs
- Education and Culture
- Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
- Energy
- Environment
- European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
- Eurostat
- Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
- Health and Food Safety
- Human Resources and Security
- Informatics
- Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
- International Cooperation and Development
- Interpretation
- Joint Research Centre
- Justice and Consumers
- Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
- Migration and Home Affairs
- Mobility and Transport
- Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations
- Regional and Urban Policy
- Research and Innovation
- Taxation and Customs Union
- Trade
- Translation
- European Parliament
- Brussels, Belgium
- Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
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.
Initiatives[edit]
Anti-terrorism[edit]
The European Commission has an Action Plan to enhance preparedness against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) security risks as part of its anti-terrorism package released in October 2017. In recent times Europe has seen an increased threat level of CBRN attacks. As such, the European Commission's preparedness plan is important, said Steven Neville Chatfield, a director for the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response in the United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency. For the first time, the European Commission proposed that medical preparedness for CBRN attack threats is a high priority. "The European Commission's (EC) Action Plan to enhance preparedness against CBRN security risks is part of its anti-terrorism package released in October 2017, a strategy aimed at better protecting the more than 511 million citizens across the 27 member states of the European Union (EU)."[95]
COVID-19 response[edit]
The European Commission organized a video conference of world leaders on 4 May 2020 to raise funds for COVID-19 vaccine development. US$8 billion was raised.[96]
The European Commission issued a new multi-year data plan in February 2020 pushing the digitalization of all aspects of EU society for the benefit of civic and economic growth.[97][98][99][100]
The goal of this data strategy is to create a single market for data in which data flows across the EU and across sectors while maintaining full respect for privacy and data protection, where access rules are fair, and where the European economy benefits enormously as a global player as a result of the new data economy.[97][98][99][100]