Juncker Commission takes office

Today the Juncker Commission is officially starting its term of office that will run until 31 October 2019.

On this occasion, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “Thanks to the democratic support of European citizens, the European Parliament and Heads of State and government, today the new Commission takes office. Now it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get down to work. Europe’s challenges cannot wait. As of today, my team and I will work hard to deliver Europe the new start we have promised. Together with a strong and experienced team I look forward to deliver for Europe during the next five years.”

Background

“Europe’s challenges cannot wait” – this is the motto of the day: It is the first time that a European Commission takes office on time since the first European Parliament hearings were introduced in 1994 under the Jacques Delors Commission.

The beginning of the mandate of the Juncker Commission marks the end of a long process leading up to the new European Commission. Following the first pan-European election campaign, Jean-Claude Juncker was proposed on 27 June by the European Council to the European Parliament as candidate for Commission President. The European Council thereby took the result of the elections to the European Parliament into account, as required under Article 17(7) of the Treaty on European Union.

On 15 July, Mr Juncker was then elected by the European Parliament by a strong majority of 422 votes (he needed a majority of 376 votes), on the basis of the Political Guidelines he presented to the Parliament.

Following this election and an interview process of candidates for Commissioners, the President-elect selected the other members of the Commission. The final list of Commissioners-designate was then agreed between the President-elect and the Council on 5 September. President-elect Juncker presented his team and the allocation of portfolios on 10 September which was followed by individual hearings of the Commissioners-designate in front of the relevant European Parliament committees.

On this basis, and following the adjustments Juncker made to his team to address issues raised in the European Parliament hearings (see IP/14/1163 and SPEECH/14/705), the European Parliament gave its consent to the entire College with 426 votes in favour (out of 699 votes). The European Council then appointed the European Commission at its Summit of 23 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit the new Homepage of the Juncker Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

Political Guidelines for the Juncker Commission: ‘A New Start for Europe: My Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change’: http://ec.europa.eu/news/eu_explained/140715_en.htm

The New Commissioners