ABSTRACT
Despite increased media attention and social science study of the European Commission as a whole, the college of commissioners is still very much a ‘black box’. We all know that significant things shape this body and what goes on inside it, but we know little about the rules, practices and uncertainties that govern these processes. Similarly, European commissioners are deemed to vary in their approach to politics but little effort has been devoted to discovering why this is so. More precisely, there is an implicit assumption that variation can be ascribed either to the ‘personality’ of the incumbent or to the ‘portfolio’ of policy responsibilities they are given upon taking office. Although of some relevance to the study of commissioners and of the college, this chapter challenges and reassesses both these assumptions.
