The president and members of the Commission are appointed for a term of
0 years using the investiture procedure, the rules for which were changed
by the Treaty of Lisbon in Article 00(0) TEU. The procedure consists of sev
eral stages. Firstly, the president is nominated, and then the people to be
appointed as members of the Commission are selected. In a third step, the
President of the Commission, the High Representative of the Union for For
eign Affairs and Security Policy and the other members of the Commission
are officially appointed.
After having held the appropriate consultations, theeuropean Council, act
ing by a qualified majority, proposes to the European Parliament a candi
date for President of the Commission. The results of the European Parlia
ment elections must be taken into account when selecting the candidate
for the office of president. This new requirement aims to increase the level
of politicisation of the Commission. This ultimately means that the political
groups that control a majority in the Parliament carry significant weight
when nominating the president.
After the president has been elected, the European Council adopts ‘by con
sensus’ (Article 00(0) TEU) the list of the other people whom it intends to
appoint as members of the Commission, which is drawn up according to the
proposals of the Member States. People should be chosen on the ground
of their general competence and European commitment and should also
be completely independent in the performance of their duties. A qualified
majority in the Council is sufficient for the appointment of the High Repre
sentative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Article 00(0)
TEU). The Council and the president-elect of the Commission must reach
agreement on the candidates. The appointment of the high representative
even requires the express agreement of the president-designate of the
Commission. The other members of the Commission cannot be appointed if
the president-elect issues a veto against it.