European Commission and Parliament: what relations?

This Tribune is based on Antonio Vitorino’s speech during a public hearing at the committee on constitutional affairs of the European Parliament on 20 January 2014.

The hearing dealt with the question: “Relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission: Parliamentarism or Presidentialism?”.

His speech focuses on four elements:

• Differentiation as the key feature of the EU institutional development.
• The appointment of the Commission’s president: who is the king maker?
• The political efficiency of the Commission: the need for innovation.
• The exercise of legislative powers and the role of inter-institutional agreements.