TAE: Reducing Bureaucracy Starts at the Top! The EU Commission Should Finally Set a Good Example

TAE statement by President Michael Jäger on the occasion of the inquiry/article  by “Die Welt am Sonntag”, July 21, 2024

An EU Commission with 27 members is, simply put, oversized.

The principle of “one commissioner per country” still applies, meaning that each EU state appoints a commissioner, “even though the EU Treaty has for years provided for a significantly smaller commission – keyword rotation principle.”

The Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE) is calling on the heads of state and government as well as the EU Commission to finally implement this requirement. If this is not possible for the coming EU legislative period, a binding decision to reduce the size of the EU Commission must be made for the following legislative period.

Because if the EU Commission is serious about reducing bureaucracy, then it should start reducing it at its own top and thus set a good example. The experience of recent years shows that more EU employees have not led to less bureaucracy! On the contrary, this bloated EU apparatus with its over 50 directorates general, agencies and departments is creating more and more bureaucracy to the detriment of citizens and companies, and ultimately it costs billions.

A reduction in bureaucracy is urgently needed, especially at the EU level - and it simply starts at the top. The commission must be made smaller! Less is more here!

On the size and numbers of the EU Commission:
Since the European elections in 2009 the number of EU commissioners should actually be less than that of the member states, as the Treaty of Nice stipulates (signed on February 26, 2001, put into force on February 1, 2003).

The Treaty of Lisbon, signed in Lisbon on December 13, 2007 and ratified by all member states, stipulates that from 2014 only two thirds of the member states can appoint a commissioner (see Article 17 (5) of the EU Treaty). This would mean that the EU Commission would only have 18 commissioners. However, there is unfortunately also a specific opening clause in the Lisbon Treaty: The European Council can decide by unanimous decision to change this number, and this instrument has been used. In May 2013, the heads of state and government of the EU states unanimously decided to stick to the principle of “one commissioner per country” until further notice. The rules of the Lisbon Treaty should only apply when the EU has 30 members, or by 2019 at the latest.

Munich/Brussels, July 18, 2024