- Cabinet (European Commission)
In the
European Commission , a cabinet is the personal office of aEuropean Commissioner .The role of the Cabinet is to give political guidance to its Commissioner, while technical preparation is handled by the DGs (the
European Civil Service ). [Eppink, 2007, p.109]Composition
The Commissioner's cabinets are seen as the real concentration of power within the Commission [Eppink, 2007, p.50] and consists of six members, but the exact membership faces restrictions. Two must be women, no more than three can be of the same nationality as the Commissioner and it must also reflect the Union's regional diversity. However the exact make up does change throughout the Commissioner's term. [Eppink, 2007, p.79-80] The head member is known by its French translation: "
Chef de Cabinet ".pecial chef's
"Special chef's" are a meeting of a member of each cabinet (for a certain area), the legal service and the secretariat general. They perform last minute preparations to proposed laws before they go before the College of Commissioners, however in reality they are a "political equivalent of a
College of Cardinals " with a great degree ofcloak and dagger work. [Eppink, 2007, p.119]The most "special" of these is the group for inter-institutional relations (formerly Parliamentary affairs) as it provides the Commission with an early warning on what the
European Parliament is thinking - before it rejects the Commission's proposals. The most astute civil servants get sent to these meetings. [Eppink, 2007, p.128-9]The heads of cabinets meet weekly in the "Hebdo" - the most important meeting of European Civil Servants who direct the work of the Commission and the Commissioners. [Eppink, 2007, p.136]
ee also
*
European Civil Service
*Secretariat-General of the European Commission
*Directorate-General for Legal Service (European Commission) References
cite book| last = Eppink | first = Derk-Jan | authorlink = Derk Jan Eppink | coauthors = Ian Connerty (translator) | title = Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission | publisher = Lannoo | edition = 1st edition | language = English | location = Tielt, Belgium | date = 2007 | isbn = 978-9020970227
External links
* [http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/president/team/index_en.htm President's cabinet]
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