Decisions of principle

Decisions of principle: oral or written procedure

All decisions of principle involving a margin of political discretion or appreciation must be adopted by the College through oral or written procedure. Such decisions of principle cannot be delegated to individual Commissioners and even less to the Commission services.

The oral procedure (Articles 5 to 11 of the Rules of Procedure) reflects best the collegial nature of Commission decision making, since it provides for an opportunity for discussion between Commissioners. Commission acts are adopted during the weekly meeting (normally on Wednesday) either without discussion (A point) or following discussion between Commissioners (B point).

The written procedure (Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure) aims to relieve the Commissioners of the need to debate matters the adoption of which are not controversial and have been discussed between the head of Cabinets at preparatory meetings on basis of the submitted documents for adoption, approved by the Legal Service and other department directly involved during the interservice consultation.

Resources

See Also

References

• Information about Decisions of principle in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Further Reading

• Information about Decisions of principle in EU Competition Procedure, 3rd. Edition, Edited by Luis Ortiz Blanco (Oxford University Press)