Source: European Parliament
Democracy is a founding value on which the EU is built, and free and fair elections are at the core of democracy.
The conduct and the organisation of elections, at local, regional, national and European level, are a competence of the Member States, in accordance with their national legislation, as well as their international obligations and EU law.
The Commission does not intervene in either the organisation of national political parties and their activities in national Parliaments, nor in how elected Members of the European Parliament may organise and conduct themselves in their parliamentary activity.
The Commission President is elected by the Parliament. The European Council proposes a presidential candidate to the Parliament for election, taking into account the elections to the European Parliament and after having held the appropriate consultations.
The Parliament also votes to consent to the Commission as a whole, following individual hearings for each candidate Commissioner before the relevant parliamentary committees.
These hearings are framed by the Commission President’s political guidelines and her mission letters to the candidates. The Commission was approved by the Parliament on 27 November 2024 by 370 votes for, 282 against, 36 abstentions, and subsequently appointed by the European Council.