According to the second paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission. Under the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, the first paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) would shorten this to: The Commission m...

The “institutional triangle” of the European Union ─ the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament ─ needs internal cooperation to function properly. The treaties define the competences of the European Union (European Community) as a whole and assign the roles to the players, but much of their interaction is left unregulated at this level. The institutions have therefore ...

The European Union launches the final phase of building its new-look leadership team on Monday when legislators start to grill 26 nominees to the next European Commission to assess their suitability for office

European Union countries should hand the European Commission powers to coordinate gas flows in the 27-member bloc in the event of a gas crisis, according to a draft Commission report.

The Commission of the European Communities and the Swedish government have published their annual reports on the activities of the European Union. They are important sources for journalists, researchers, teachers, students, businesses, politicians, public officials, NGOs and interested citizens. Has the Swedish example caught on in other EU member states? *** COMMISSION General Report On 4 March 2...

European Commission upholds procurement complaint Parking Review November 2010 Lee RowleyWestminster City Council has been found to have infringed European Union rules on local government procurement by the European Commission (EC). The commission investigated a complaint about the city council’s decision to enable members of the Partners in Parking (PiP) procurement group to join in its use...

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has opened an investigation into the European Commission's "Early Warning System" (EWS). This computerised information system lists companies, NGOs, associations or other parties which, according to the Commission, are deemed to pose a threat to the financial interests of the European Union.

The gas crisis exposed the vulnerability of the European Union to outside disturbances and lack of interconnection in the energy area. What is the EC Commission doing to tackle the problems? *** The Commission’s Legislative and Work Programme 2009, Acting now for a better Europe (Brussels, 5.11.2008 COM(2008) 712 final), deals with Climate Change and Sustainable Europe as the second priority...

Even if José Manuel Barroso happened to be the best Commission President ever, the European political families should be hard at work competing for the next five year stint at the helm of the Commission. If political parties at European level, representing 500 million EU citizens, are unable to find one qualified candidate each, they betray both their calling and the voters. However, progre...

The member states of the European Community (European Union) have agreed to coordinate their social policies and on the possibility to set minimum standards. The Commission supports these efforts. The Social Protection Committee, in its current form established in 2004, functions in an advisory capacity as a joint forum for the member states’ governments and the Commission. In the context of...