Essay The Corruption Scandal of the European Commission

Further, the Commission’s institutional structure is a factor putting great weight on perceptions of the democratic deficit since it lacks democratic credentials yet largely dominates EU law-making in spite of the presence of the EP as its democratic face. Commissioners are not elected, directly nor indirectly, as is with most sovereign executives. Follesdal and Hix however argue that the exercise of these executive powers requires contestation of political leadership and policy. They also suggest that direct elections by citizens or national parliaments should be allowed for the contestation of the Commission President who holds the most powerful EU executive position, so as to increase democratic input. Contrary to this position is that of Moravcsik, who discounts the idea of elections as a possible remedy and rejects the notion of

Someone who is abusing the power that is given to him or her defines corruption, however, the word in its self is more than a simple idea; it is an intricate network. Since people’s views about ethical and moral behavior affect the way corruption is examined, the word has a slightly different meaning to each person. Additionally, misconduct across various societies is viewed differently due to social and cultural borders. The criminal justice system has had many instances where corruption had affected the outcome of a case and has inserted itself into the legal process.

Firstly, there is democratic deficit as the Commission is not democratically elected but appointed by the Member States’ governments and it has the monopoly of initiating laws. It may alter its proposal during law-making process as long as the council has not amended the proposal. However, EU citizens do not elect this powerful body and thus it lacks legitimacy as it is much too powerful for an institution that is not democratically representative of the EU citizens. It is only accountable to the European Parliament and the Council. It can be argued that the Commission does not represent the interest of the EU as a

The European Union is an entity that is seen nowhere else in the world. It is not a government, it is not an international organization, and it is not just an association of states. The European Union members, instead, have decided to turnover part of their sovereignty to the Union so that many decisions can be made at the institutions leadership level. This partnership includes 28 diverse democracies built together on the basis of complex treaties. Although the goals of this organization were to assist with expanding economic prosperity, peace and stability throughout its member states, the European Union has been faced with ever-pressing concerns in the recent past that are very serious and may in fact become fatal to the continued coalescing between members. These problems can be categorized into three categories; economic, social, and political.

Is not a surprise that society relationship with business continues to evolve over the decades, expectation of business can vary depending on what interest groups advocate. With more access to education, discussions emerge on whether there can be a solution to the problem. In society is expected that everyone acts ethically according to the standards of societies (11), but when corruption scandals erupts, demand for government action become prevalent. For Latin America corruption is a significant issue that continues to be affect the region in major proportions. According to The Economist corruption in the region has historic roots and continues to hold ground; however there are signs of moderate change (The Economist). When The Odebrecht scandal erupted for many it was the tip of the iceberg. Odebrecht is Latin Americas largest construction conglomerate; many had praised the company for its outstanding business practices. Unfortunately with emerging allegations that

The only institutions that are permitted to perform the tasks entrusted to the European Community are A European Parliament, a Council, a Commission, a Court of Justice and a Court of Auditors.1 In the Parliament members took seats not by nation, but by party affiliation. They had limited legislative authority but they supervised the European Commission and the budget. The Parliament also kept the idea of unity alive. Unity was the main reason that all of these communities were formed in the first place. The final decisions rested with the Council of Ministers representing each of the member countries. Their decisions on very important matters had to be unanimous. Another important aspect of the Community was the Court of Justice, it gave the whole Community a sense of federalism.1

In looking at international efforts in preventing corruption, there is a similar situation where not all corruption is deemed “against the law”, where corruption may go unnoticed because of the lack of effort taken in preventing it. Antonio Argandoña, a professor emeritus of Economics and Business Ethics, examines the UN’s Convention Against Corruption, pointing out that there was no “obligation to make [small-time corruption] in the private sector a criminal offence”, especially when “the line between private and public sector is blurred”, as in many countries (490). Interestingly, Wolfgang Hetzer, general of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), claims that this “silent corruption” is no longer the case, stating that “It is no longer correct to say that corrupt practices are gradually

Political corruption has existed throughout the ages. It believed to be most prominent in positions of power, because of the role money plays in getting people power. However, over the centuries, corruption has changed so much so as to not match a particular definition of corruption, perpetually growing deceptively harder to find (Ebbe).

The European Commission is the Executive (governmental) body of the EU, initiating legislative proposals and also managing the EU’s budget (Europa, 2007). Each commission operates for a five-year period, with meetings taking place in Brussels every Wednesday. The Commission consists of a President of the Commission and twenty-eight commissioners (some vice presidents). Employees of the Commission are organised according to department (Directorates-General) and answer to a Commissioner. The Commission exists in order to represent the interests of the whole of the EU (thus arguably the whole of Europe), as opposed to individual Member States. The Commission represents the EU on a global basis and is the main participant in negotiations in areas such as trade. The appointment of Commissioners is the responsibility of the Parliament, with all having previously assumed senior positions in politics in their own country, usually within its national government. Proposals are drafted by the senior civil servant (Director-General. A proposal may be adopted if more than half of the Commissioners decide to adopt it. Once agreed, all Commissioners must give their unconditional support – similar to the collective responsibility held by the Scottish executives and the UK. The Commission works closely with both

     In the event of an integrated Europe, constructivists recognize that to completely avoid conflict, each state will have to succumb to a “European identity” and all individual identities will have to become merely “cultural gems” within the European system. This, they argue, can be achieved with the success of several steps including economic, judicial, and security integration . The first step has already been attempted with the establishment of the Euro, the common European currency, which has been outperformed by its monetary competitors. A great amount of trust will have to be secured between states before a common court or army can be established, and most likely with as little success as the common currency. So, even by these simplified guidelines the outlook for the creation of a new “European

As regards to international treaties, it has the main role to decide on whether to give the Commission a mandate to negotiate, the content decision to mandate, overseeing the negotiations in a special committee, and then decide on the content to sign and conclude the agreement. However, it cannot be forgotten that the EP’s power to consent on most treaties and the Commission’s power of negotiation. The Council also has power to stop such treaties and to define the EU’s position instead of implementing them. It is clear that the Council represents the interests of the governments of the Member State on resolving issues of conflict and it plays an important role in the development of

As a staff member of the Directorate-General of the European Commission I have been appointed to describe to you the composition and the powers of the Commission in the European Union. In the following paragraph I will describe the body of the Commission divided in three pillars: First you have the College of the Commissioners, then the Directorate-General (DGs) and lastly the cabinets. In the Third paragraph I will briefly describe the powers of the Commission and in the last paragraph I will conclude

Since its founding in 1958, the European Union’s main purpose has been to promote peace, human rights, cooperation, democratic ideals, and the well-being of the European people. It has enabled Europe to emerge from destruction of World War II with a much unified marketplace, connected through a single currency, the Euro. The EU is a unique structure in that it is one of the biggest governing alliances worldwide that has been reasonably successful in its purpose. There are several elements of the structure, such as the European Council, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and the European Commission, as well as many others that help the EU to run efficiently and effectively.

Luxembourg is a small country located in between France, Germany, and Belgium. This small country also is one of the founding countries of the European Union. Despite not being vocal as some of the more significant countries, Luxembourg still impacts the European Union. The Council of the European Union, the co-legislative body, has each of the twenty-eight member states rotating as the president of the European Union. The president is not a person, but rather one of the member states. Every 6 months a new member state sets the agenda and leads the Council. Member states try to push agendas in favor of their country. Luxembourg has last held the presidency from July to December 2015. During this presidency, Luxembourg pushed focus on the single market’s digital dimension and the migrant crisis facing the European Union. These major concerns do not only concern the European Union but also Luxembourg. A major concern of the European Union not too long ago was the Euro crisis. Luxembourg was thankfully not as impacted by the Euro crisis, but it did impact the EU in its entirety. The European Union and member states like Luxembourg experience a dynamic relationship; the choices and events impacting the EU also impact that member state and the interests of member states like Luxembourg impact the European Union. Despite its stature in the EU, Luxembourg has a principal role as any other country in the European Union.

According to Joos (2015), the Lisbon Treaty also known as the reform treaty which was made on 1st December 2009 has resulted in complex political decision-making process in EU. First, it strengthens the role of the parliament in political decision making and increased the number of decision makers. Second, decision making in the Council is now made through the qualified majority principle rather than the unanimity principle.