Political make-up of the College of Commissioners

Although the European Commission acts as a collegiate body and Commissioners are required to be independent of all outside bodies, most have previously held political mandates in their home Member State and/or in the European Parliament. In this context, researchers have sought to put party political labels on individual Commissioners and thereafter compare the political make-up of Colleges.
The four smaller graphs below show the make-up of the current College and its three predecessors (at the beginning of their terms) with the total number of Commissioners in each. The large graph shows the make-up of each College since 1958 and how the political balance has evolved over time.