Address by Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), given at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London on 25 March 1965. In his speech, Dr Hallstein considers the powers and responsibilities of the Commission in the context of the EEC Treaty in order to discuss the topic of the Commission as a new factor in international life.

Summary of the lecture given by Étienne Davignon, Member of the European Commission from 1977 to 1985, to the Royal Institute for International Relations (IRRI-KIIB) on 11 September 1979 in Brussels, on the theme of the Commission’s role in a strengthened European Community.

On 12 January 1981, Gaston Thorn gives his first address to the European Parliament as the new President of the Commission. Thorn emphasises the Commission’s determination, as guardian of the treaties, to uphold its responsibilities. He also declines responsibility for matters that should be dealt with by the governments of the Member States but are often attributed to the Commission. To avoid misunderstandings of this sort, Thorn calls on the European Parliament to establish an interinstitutional relationship based on trust and cooperation.

Zur Stunde, da die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Europäischen Gemeinschaften ihr Einverständnis zur Ernennung von Jacques Delors zum Präsidenten der Europäischen Kommission geben, erinnert eine RTL-Radiosendung an die fundamentale Rolle der Kommission als Herzstück des institutionellen Aufbaus der Gemeinschaften.

Der RTL-Journalist Olivier Mazerolle nutzt den Besuch des neuen Präsidenten der Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften Jacques Delors und ruft seinen Hörern die Aufgaben dieser Institution in Erinnerung.

Artikel der Süddeutschen Zeitung über die Rolle der Europäischen Kommission im institutionellen Dreieck Kommission-Rat-Parlament. Nach Meinung des Autors, braucht sich die Kommission im Rahmen der Debatte zur Reform der Institutionen durch die Einführung eines Präsidenten der Europäischen Union in ihrem Einfluss nicht bedroht fühlen. Ein Präsident, der dem Rat ein Gesicht gibt, sowie generell ein erkennbares Gesicht für jede Institution, würde Verantwortlichkeiten klarer machen.

In this interview, António Vitorino, Member of the European Commission with special responsibility for justice and home affairs from 1999 to 2004, outlines the fundamental role of the Commission as the driving force behind European integration and the defender of the general interest above and beyond the interests and judicial systems of the individual Member States.

In this interview, Étienne Davignon, Member of the European Commission from 1977 to 1985, emphasises the political role of the Commission as the institution capable of fixing common objectives and defending the general interest of the Community.