Prodi Commission

The Prodi Commission was the European Commission in office between 1999 and 2004. The administration was led by former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

Prodi Commission
3rd Commission of the European Union
The Prodi Commission in 1999
Date formed	16 September 1999 (1999-09-16)
Date dissolved	21 November 2004 (2004-11-21)
History
Election(s)	1999 European Parliament election
Predecessor	Santer Commission
Successor	Barroso Commission I

Headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels.

History

The commission took office on 16 September 1999[1] following the scandal and subsequent resignation of the Santer Commission which had damaged the reputation of the institution. The College consisted of 20 Commissioners which grew to 30 following the Enlargement of the European Union in 2004. It was the last commission to see two members allocated to the larger member states.

This commission (the 10th) saw in increase in power and influence following the Amsterdam Treaty. Some in the media described president Prodi as being the first "Prime Minister of the European Union".[2][3]

As well as the enlargement and Amsterdam Treaty, the Prodi Commission also saw the signing and enforcement of the Nice Treaty as well as the conclusion and signing of the European Constitution: in which he introduced the "Convention method" of negotiation. From 1999 Prodi saw in the euro and by 2002 it came into cash form and the single currency for 12 of the EU's 15 member states.[4] The body was however criticised for being lacklustre, with poor communication and failing to make an impact despite major events such as enlargement and the euro.[5]

The commission was due to leave office on 31 October 2004, but due to opposition from the European parliament to the proposed Barroso Commission which would succeed it, it was extended and finally left office on 21 November 2004.

Commissioners

New members of May 2004 with president Prodi

When the Commission took office in 1999, there were 20 Commissioners, one from each member state and two from the largest 5 states (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom).

2004 saw 15 new Commissioners, 5 replacing existing Commissioners who had resigned before the end of their mandate and 10 from the new member states who joined in that year. Most of these Commissioners continued to serve in the following Barroso Commission.

The members from the new states shared a portfolio with an existing member, rather than creating new posts or having Commissioners (old or new) without a portfolio.

The following table indicates the number of Commissioners according to their political alignment at the start of the Commission, those who joined from the new member states and the number when the Commission left office. The colours reflect those used in the table of Commissioners below.

By political affiliation

Political alignment	1999 to 2003	Joined on 4 May	November 2004
Social Democrats (PES)	10	0	8
Liberals (ELDR)	2	2	6
Centre-right (EPP-ED)	5	3	9
Greens (EGP)	1	0	1
Independent	2	5	6

Initial College

Portfolio(s)	Commissioner	State	Party
President	Romano Prodi	Italy	ID/DL EDLR
Vice-President; Administrative reform	Neil Kinnock	United Kingdom	Labour PES
Vice-President; European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, Transport and Energy	Loyola de Palacio	Spain	PP EPP
Competition	Mario Monti	Italy	independent
Agriculture and Fisheries	Franz Fischler	Austria	ÖVP EPP
Enterprise & Information Society	Erkki Liikanen Served until 12 July 2004	Finland	SDP PES
Enterprise & Information Society	Olli Rehn Served from 12 July 2004	Finland	Keskusta ELDR
Internal Market	Frits Bolkestein	Netherlands	VVD ELDR
Research	Philippe Busquin Served until July 2004	Belgium	PS PES
Research	Louis Michel Served from July 2004	Belgium	MR ELDR
Development & Humanitarian Aid	Poul Nielson	Denmark	SD PES
Enlargement	Günter Verheugen	Germany	SPD PES
External Relations	Chris Patten	United Kingdom	Conservatives ED
Trade	Pascal Lamy	France	PS PES
Health & Consumer Protection	David Byrne	Ireland	independent
Education & Culture	Viviane Reding	Luxembourg	CSV EPP
Budget	Michaele Schreyer	Germany	Greens EGP
Environment	Margot Wallström	Sweden	SAP PES
Justice and Home Affairs	António Vitorino	Portugal	PS PES
Employment and Social Affairs	Anna Diamantopoulou Served until March 2004	Greece	PASOK PES
Employment and Social Affairs	Stavros Dimas Served from March 2004	Greece	ND EPP
Regional Policy	Michel Barnier Served until April 2004	France	UMP EPP
Regional Policy	Jacques Barrot Served from April 2004	France	UMP EPP
Economic & Monetary Affairs	Pedro Solbes Served until 26 April 2004	Spain	PSOE PES
Economic & Monetary Affairs	Joaquín Almunia Served from 26 April 2004	Spain	PSOE PES

New commissioners from 1 May 2004

Portfolio(s)	Commissioner	State	Party
Regional Policy	Péter Balázs	Hungary	independent
Trade	Danuta Hübner	Poland	independent
Economic & Monetary Affairs	Siim Kallas	Estonia	Reform ELDR
Development & Humanitarian Aid	Joe Borg	Malta	PN EPP
Agriculture and Fisheries	Sandra Kalniete	Latvia	Vienotiba EPP
Education & Culture	Dalia Grybauskaitė	Lithuania	independent
Enlargement	Janez Potočnik	Slovenia	independent
Enterprise & Information Society	Ján Figeľ	Slovakia	KDH EPP
Budget	Markos Kyprianou	Cyprus	DIKO ELDR
Health & Consumer Protection	Pavel Telička	Czech Republic	independent

See also

• Bolkestein Directive
• Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

External links

• President Prodi's Website
• Prodi Commission profiles, portfolios and homepages

References

2. Prodi to Have Wide, New Powers as Head of the European Commission iht.com 16 April 1999
3. Commentary: Romano Prodi: Europe's First Prime Minister? (int'l edition) Businessweek.com 1999
4. Discover the former Presidents: The Prodi Commission, Europa (web portal), Accessed 23 August 2007
5. BM: The new Commission – some initial thoughts Archived 23 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine bmbrussels.be 2004