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The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union, wielding the power to initiate proposals and the responsibility to uphold the Union's treaties. One of the most frequent criticisms of the Commission is that it is too powerful, and as a result over the years some of its powers have been curbed. It has been argued that there has in actual fact been little real decline in the Commission and that there was merely a decline in its prestige and self-confidence. The Commission's position declined in the early 1980s, and was subsequently revived by the Delors Commission, yet in the early 1990s its position seemed compromised once again. Regardless of the specific fluctuations in Commission power, it is necessary to ponder whether or not containment of the Commission's powers in recent years have been excessive, and to question whether or not the Commission stills possesses enough power to perform its role effectively. In order to answer this question it is necessary first to define the commissions role and responsibilities, secondly to understand how much and in which ways its power has been undermined, and lastly to question whether or not it is now no longer powerful enough to fulfil the role bestowed upon itself from the Treaty of Rome.

The main function of the Commission is to submit legislative proposals to the Council of Ministers it is also responsible for drawing up the draft annual budget to present before the European Parliament. The Commission possesses the sole right to propose legislation which gives it great power over the direction of EU policy. Whilst it is the only institution that can instigate proposals, it does not do this in isolation. Proposals can only be amended by the Council if it acts unanimously, which means unless the Commission proposes something completely radical or against all interests of the national governments, it has considerable power in the impetus of EU legislation. As the sole body in which politicians swear upon serving the interests of Europe as a whole rather than individual national governments, the Commission works together with the European Parliament in attempting to pry power away from national government in the interests of the EU. The relationship between the two institutions is however uneasy, as the EP relentlessly attempts to gain the powers of legislative initiation from the Commission which is resolutely opposed to sharing that power, as it believes only the Commission should have a monopoly

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