Who is the President (chairman) of the European Commission?
Description
This article is from the European Union FAQ, by Roland Siebelink & Bart Schelfhout with numerous contributions by others.
Who is the President (chairman) of the European Commission?
The function of President (or chair) of the Commission has undoubtedly
become much more important in the last ten years. This has much to do with
the personal style of the man who has held the job for the last ten years,
the French socialist Jacques Delors, and the extension of the EU's powers
during his presidency. Mr. Delors predecessors were mainly considered top
civil servants, but the political profile of the function has become much
stronger.
These are the Commission presidents since the 1967 merger[1]:
1967-1970 Mr Jean Rey (Liberal, BE)
1970-1972 Mr Malfatti (Christian Democrat, IT)
1972 Mr Sicco Mansholt (Socialist, NL)
1973-1976 Mr Frangois Ortoli (Gaullist, FR)
1977-1980 Mr Roy Jenkins (Socialist [now LibDem], UK)
1981-1984 Mr Gaston Thorn (Liberal, LU)
1985-1994 Mr Jacques Delors (Socialist, FR)
1995-2000 Mr Jacques Santer (Christian Democrat, LU)
As Richard Corbett[2] writes,
+A new Commission is chosen every five years in the months followin
g the European parliamentary elections by a two-step procedure. In th
e first step, the European Council[3] (Heads of Governments of Member
States) choose a candidate for President of the Commission. This can
didate must be chosen by consensus, which is sometimes hard to reach.
The candidate is then presented to the European Parliament which tak
es a vote on the candidate, by a simple majority of those voting. Thi
s is formally a consultative vote, though it is hard to imagine a can
didature proceeding any further should Parliament's vote be negative.
In the second phase of the procedure, the Member States agree, afte
r consulting the President-designate, on the remaining members of the
Commission. The Commission as a whole then agrees itself on the allo
cation of portfolios among the members and on its programme, which it
presents to the European Parliament. The Commission may only take of
fice if it then obtains a vote of confidence from the European Parlia
ment (simple majority of those voting). Prior to the vote of confiden
ce, Parliament organizes public hearings with each of the candidates
who must appear before the parliamentary committee which corresponds
to their prospective portfolios.;
The EP approved Mr.Santer by a margin of only 22 votes on July 21st., 1994.
After the EP organised hearings for all other prospective members of the
Commission, the new Commission started work at the end of January, 1995.
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