Initial proposals for EU legislation are researched and put forward by the European Commission, which is also responsible for carrying out EU policies once they have been adopted.
This executive body is composed of 25 individuals, proposed by EU national governments and approved by the European Parliament. The Commission holds office for five years, subject to Parliament's continuing approval. It can be dismissed by Parliament during its term of office.
key facts
The European Commission is a small body, with fewer employees than Leeds City Council.
It has no legislative power. It can only make proposals to Parliament and Council, and carry out what is agreed.
Commissioners are held to account by Parliament, and are regularly called to be cross-examined by Parliamentary committees. |
Part of an MEP's job is to keep tabs on the executive Commission and on the civil servants working under the authority of the Commission - the famous Brussels bureaucrats. In fact, the total number of civil servants working for the Commission is fewer than work for a medium-sized city council - contrary to tabloid mythology!
Nonetheless, they must be held accountable. Commissioners and their civil servants regularly appear before European Parliamentary committees to be questioned, to explain what they are up to and to be cross-examined.
The European Parliament is also responsible for adopting the EU's annual budget. The broad guidelines of the budget must be agreed jointly by the Parliament and the Council, but the exact sum allocated to individual items is up to Parliament, except in the field of agriculture (though, if the proposed constitution comes into force, agriculture spending will come under parliamentary control too).
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