European Union

In March 2020, the entire world was thrown into an unprecedented crisis. Although this isn’t over yet, a number of lessons can already be drawn. Koen Doens is the Director General for International Partnerships at the European Commission. Jérémie Pellet...

Europe invested €26.3 billion in new offshore wind farms in 2020, financing 7.1 GW of new capacity, despite the COVID pandemic, according to industry association WindEurope.

Renewables will not be enough for Europe to meet its 2050 climate neutrality goal, says a coalition of centrist and conservative MEPs. Instead, the EU will need a nuclear renaissance to achieve it, they argue, referring to a fresh study on the EU’s climate policy.

On Safer Internet Day, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel writes for EURACTIV that young people should be given more support in media literacy, allowing them to avoid the pitfalls of disinformation across the online world.

Concerns that Germany may have an unfair competitive advantage because of billions of euros pumped into its virus-hit companies are not backed by data which show other EU states doing as much if not more for their businesses, Europe's antitrust chief said.

European Union countries should use a chunk of the bloc's €750 billion recovery fund to set up 5G corridors to help the 27-country bloc to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, Europe's digital chief said on Monday (8 February).

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Berlin, Stockholm, and Warsaw expelling Russian diplomats, Greece and Israel signing a five-year agreement on tourism, and so much more.

Written by Giulio Sabbati,

© European Union, 2021

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. Under the Treaties, its tasks are to ‘promote the general interest of the Union’, without prejudice to individual Member States, to ‘ensure the application of the Treaties’ and adopted measures, and to ‘execute the budget’. It also holds a virtual monopoly on the right of legislative initiative, alone proposing nearly all EU legislation to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

The College of Commissioners is currently composed of 27 individuals: the President, Ursula von der Leyen, three Executive Vice-Presidents, five Vice-Presidents and eighteen Commissioners. The Executive Vice-Presidents both manage a specific portfolio and coordinate one of the core parts of the Commission’s political agenda. The five Vice-Presidents each coordinate a single specific policy priority. The other Commissioners manage the specific portfolios, under the coordination of the Vice-Presidents.

This Briefing sets out the responsibilities, composition and work of the Commission and its leadership, both in the current Commission and in the past. It also gives details of the staff of the Commission’s departments, their main places of employment, gender distribution and national background, as well as providing a breakdown of the EU’s administrative budget and budgetary management responsibilities.

Read the complete briefing on ‘European Commission: Facts and Figures‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

A baby left without a nationality after she was born in Spain to a same-sex couple from Bulgaria and Gibraltar is at the centre of a test case to be heard by the European Union's top court on Tuesday (9 February).

While the European Commission is well-positioned to initiate the development and implementation of a new European Bauhaus, it must be truly open to the ideas of a wide array of contributors and committed to supporting a diversity of perspectives, writes...

A new trial against the former treasurer of Spain’s Popular Party (PP) Luis Bárcenas for the use of alleged illegal money to refurbish the headquarters of the conservative party in Madrid kicked off in the Spanish capital on Monday (8 February). EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

High Representative Valentin Inzko has decided that the process of electing the mayor in Mostar’s City Council should be conducted through a secret vote. “I am forced to intervene to remind city councillors that elections for Mostar’s mayor must be...

While Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša called on the cultural sphere to have a more constructive attitude to the current coronavirus situation rather than “street activism and threats” during his Culture Day address – according to Slovenian public television –...

Hungary has received support from NATO to appoint a new Kosovo Force (KFOR) commander, the Hungarian army’s chief-of-staff, Ferenc Korom, told the Belgrade based Balkan Security Network in an interview on Monday, adding that, according to Hungary, the international mission...

The interdepartmental commission has recommended the Croatian government choose between the new American F-16 Block 70 and the used French Rafale fighter planes, according to unofficial information, EURACTIV’s partner Jutarnji list reports. However, Zagreb can expect new planes to fly...

As the Romanian government has announced budget expenditure cuts for this year, an increase in public pensions is planned for 1 January 2022 rather than this year, said Romania’s former prime minister and leader of the centre-right coalition’s largest party...

The European Parliament’s Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group (DRFMG) will vote on whether to organise an on-the-ground mission in Bulgaria to study the corruption and rule of law situation in the country, announced MEP Elena Yoncheva...

Slovakia irretrievably lost €1 billion from the European Regional Development Fund as it did not reallocate the funds by the end of 2020, MEP Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (ECR) has said. While coalition partner and Vice-Prime Minister Veronika Remišová – who...