Agriculture The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of rural issues including most notably the controversial
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which represents 44% of the
EU budget. The post used to be combined with Fisheries in the
Jenkins and
Thorn Commissions. The related DG is the
Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development Climate Action The post of Commissioner for Climate Action was created in February 2010, being split from the environmental portfolio to focus on fighting
climate change. The first Commissioner to take the post was
Connie Hedegaard who headed the
Directorate-General for Climate Action.
Competition The Commissioner for Competition is the member responsible for
commercial competition,
company mergers,
cartels,
state aid, and
anti-trust law. The position became the sole merger authority for the
European Economic Area in September 1990. The Competition Commissioner is one of the most powerful positions in the commission and is notable in affecting global companies. For example, the commissioner has been pursued a number of high-profile cases against anticompetitive behaviour; such as the case against the merger of
Sony –
BMG, against
Apple Inc. regarding
iTunes, the ongoing
case against Microsoft and in particular the
GE-Honeywell merger attempt in 2001. In 2007, Neelie Kroes (then Competition Commissioner) was the only Commissioner to make
Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women; she held position 59.
Development The Commissioner for Development deals with promoting sustainable development in deprived regions (such as
ACP countries and the EU's
OCTs). It used to include
humanitarian aid. The related DG is
Directorate-General for International Partnerships Technology The Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, previously the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, is responsible media and information issues such as
telecoms and
ICT. 2004–2010 Commissioner,
Viviane Reding, found a relatively popular policy in seeking to lower
roaming charges of mobile phones when travelling within the EU, stating: "For years, mobile roaming charges have remained unjustifiably high. We are therefore tackling one of the last borders within Europe's internal market". Her
legislation to cap roaming charges was approved by the
Parliament in April 2007 On 7 April 2006 the commission launched the new "
.eu"
TLD for websites for EU companies and citizens wishing to have a non-national European internet address. This has proved popular with 2.5 being registered by April 2007. It is now the seventh most popular TLD worldwide, and third in Europe (after
.de and
.uk) In the previous Commission information society was linked with Enterprise (now linked with Industry).
Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs The Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs is responsible for the EU's economic affairs including the
euro. In the
Juncker Commission, the post also acquired responsibility for
taxation and anti-fraud protection. There have been calls for a strengthened economic portfolio with
Ségolène Royal suggesting that there should be an economic government for the
eurozone and at the start of the first
Barroso Commission Germany suggested an economic "
super-commissioner" – which could see a change in this position. That idea, however, was dropped but the Enterprise and Industry Commissioner was strengthened in response.
Education, Culture, Sport and Youth The Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth is responsible for policies in education and
training,
youth, sport,
civil society, culture,
translation,
interpretation and relations with the
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. The post was enlarged since the
Prodi Commission with the addition of
training and multilingualism (The
Directorate-General is still just
Directorate-General for Education and Culture). When Romania joined the EU in 2007, multilingualism was handed over to the new Romanian commissioner. In its place the portfolio included youth, sport and civil society. Multilingualism was reintroduced in 2010 under Barroso's second Commission. The commission has become increasingly active in education. The
ERASMUS programme, which was established in 1987, is a student exchange programme promoting mobility of students between European universities. The
Bologna process aims to create a
European Higher Education Area where academic qualifications can be recognised across Europe. The
European Institute of Technology is a proposed research university. The previous portfolio to the current was Culture, merged with Audiovisual policy and
EP relations.
Employment and Social Affairs The Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is responsible for matters including those relating to employment, discrimination and social affairs such as
welfare. The post has had various alterations; under the first Barroso Commission it was known as Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
Energy The Commissioner holds responsibility for the
European Union's energy policy as well as nuclear issues (
Euratom). The
Directorate-General for this portfolio is shared with the
Commissioner for Transport as the
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. The EU is an active supporter of the
Kyoto Protocol, which it signed alongside its member-states. In March 2007 the Union committed itself to cut emissions by 20 percent by 2020.EU agrees on carbon dioxide cuts There is also a desire to reduce dependency on
Russian energy supplies following the disputes between Russia and
Belarus and
Ukraine. In April 2007 five southern European countries signed a deal to build an
oil pipeline from the
Black Sea to
Italy which will help diversify energy sources.
Enlargement, European Neighbourhood Policy and External Relations The Commissioner for Enlargement and the
European Neighbourhood Policy is concerned with foreign policy towards the EU's nearest neighbours. The
enlargement portfolio began to be created out of the regionalised foreign policy posts. In particular the
Santer Commission post for relations with central and eastern Europe as those countries began applying to join. The Neighbourhood Policy element was created in 2004 as part of the External Relations portfolio. When that portfolio was absorbed by the High Representative in 2009, Neighbourhood Policy was transferred to Trade and then to Enlargement in 2010 under the Second Barroso Commission.
Environment The Commissioner for the Environment is responsible for protection of the
European Union's environment. Specific actions relating to
climate change are under the responsibility of the Climate Action commissioner as of 2010. The EU has made a number of environmental moves, partially in regards to climate change. Most notably it signed the
Kyoto Protocol in 1998, set up its
Emission Trading Scheme in 2005 and is agreeing to unilaterally cut its emissions by 20% by 2020. (See:
Energy policy of the European Union). Other policies include; the
Natura 2000 a widespread and successful network of nature conservation sites, the
Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) directive requiring safety testing on widely used chemicals and the
Water Framework Directive ensuring water quality reaches higher standards. For more, see
European Climate Change Programme,
European Union Emission Trading Scheme,
Renewable energy in the European Union and the
Directorate-General for the Environment.
Budget and Human Resources The Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources is primarily responsible for the management of the
budget of the European Union and related financial issues except for
budgetary discharge which falls under the Commissioner for administration commissioner. Previously simply for the budget, the position expanded under the
Prodi Commission to include financial programming. The related DG is the
Directorate-General for Budget. Under Commissioner Grybauskaitė, Commissioner's 121.6 billion euro 2008 budget proposed that for the first time funding for
sustainable growth (€57.2 billion) would be higher than that of the
Common Agricultural Policy (€56.3 billion), traditionally the largest source of expenditure in the EU. There would be an increase in
cohesion funds,
energy and
transport of 14%,
research by 11% and lifelong learning by 9%. There would also be an increase in the administrative budget, aid to Kosovo and
Palestinian institutions and funds towards the
Galileo project. [http://euobserver.com/19/24012?rss_rk=1 Group of EU states wary of 2008 budget plan
Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union The Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union is responsible for banking and finance. It was a role created under the Juncker Commission.
Institutional Reform, Democracy and Demography Health and Consumer Protection The Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy is responsible for matters of public health, food safety, animal health, welfare and consumer affairs. Between 2007 and 2010 it was split into a Commissioner for Health and a Commissioner for Consumer Protection – in order to give a portfolio for the incoming Bulgarian Commissioner. It was recombined under the second Barroso Commission.
High Representative The High Representative became a Commissioner on 1 December 2009, replacing the External Relations Commissioner (see historical below). Although other external relations posts continue to exist, such as trade, the High Representative is the most senior foreign affairs post in the EU.
Home Affairs The Commissioner for Home Affairs was created in 2010 by dividing the previous Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio into a security orientated post (DG HOME) and a post centred on justice, on individual and fundamental rights (DG JUST). Its DG is the
Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME).
Industry and Entrepreneurship The Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry post was enlarged from the Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society portfolio in the
Prodi Commission to include Industry. At the start of the first
Barroso Commission, Germany, backed by Britain and France suggested an economic "super-commissioner" The current Vice President is
Maroš Šefčovič. Prior to 2010 it was also responsible for Audit and Anti-Fraud, now merged with taxation, but gain responsibility for relations with the other EU institutions.
Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship The Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship was created in 2010 by dividing the previous Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio into a security orientated post and a justice and fundamental rights orientated post. The portfolio was then renamed into Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality under the
Juncker Commission.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries The Maritime affairs and Fisheries Commissioner is responsible for policies such as the
Common Fisheries Policy, which is largely a competence of the EU rather than the members. The Union has 66,000 km of
coastline and the largest
Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering 25 million km2. On 7 June 2006 the Commission published a
green paper for a Maritime Policy and
consultation will end in June 2007. The document addresses a number of issues such as sustainable development, protection of the environment, skills and employment, technology and resources, coastal safety and tourism, financial support and heritage. The Commission came under fire in May 2007 for not penalise French fishermen after
over-fishing the threatened
bluefin tuna by 65% while backing penalties on Irish fishermen for over-fishing
mackerel.
Regional Policy and Cohesion The Regional Policy Commissioner, occasional Regional Affairs Commissioner, is responsible for managing the
regional policy of the EU which takes up a third of the
EU's budget; it includes the
European Regional Development Fund,
Structural Funds and Cohesion Funds,
Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession and the
European Social Fund. The related DG is
Directorate-General for Regional Policy.
Research, Innovation and Science The name has had several variations: under the first Barroso Commission it was Science and Research, under Prodi it was simply "Research", Santer was "Research, Science and Technology" and under Delors it was combined with others as "Industry, information technology and science and research" and other various names and combinations prior. The related DG is the
Directorate-General for Research. The 2004–2010 Commissioner, Potočnik, aimed to create a
European Research Area.
Defence Union The Commissioner for Security Union was created in 2016.
Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud The Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud is responsible for the
EU's customs union and
taxation policy. The European Union has had a customs union since the creation of the
European Economic Community and that union
extends to the non-EU members of the
European Economic Area and to
Turkey,
Andorra and
San Marino. Since 2010 it gained responsibility for audit (budgetary discharge, internal
audit, counter
fraud): in particular the
Internal Audit Service and the
European Anti-fraud Office.
Trade The Commissioner for Trade is responsible for the EU's external trade policy. Due to the size of the
European economy, being the world's largest market and having a huge slice of world trade, this position can be very important in dealing with other world economic powers such as China or the United States. Former Commissioner
Leon Brittan commented that "Frankly, it is more important than most [national] cabinet jobs". The Commissioner leads Europe in organisations such as the
World Trade Organization (WTO). Concluding WTO talks after the collapse of the
Doha Development Round has been a contentious point, with the EU not willing to cut
agricultural subsidies without similar action by the United States. The related DG is
Directorate-General for Trade.
Transport The portfolio is responsible for the development of transport infrastructure in the EU such as
road and rail networks but also navigation systems such as the
Galileo positioning system. ==Historical portfolios==