The Composition and Role of the Institutions of the European Union
The Commission
Composition
- 20 commissioners – two from each of the larger member states (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) – one from each of the smaller.
- UK commissioners are Neil Kinnock from Labour and Chris Pattern from Conservative.
- The term of office is 5 years.
- Governments appoint the president after consultation with the European Parliament – The current president is Romano Prodi.
- The European Parliament has a veto over the appointment of the members.
