It came a bit out of the blue: on Thursday the European Commission launched legal action against the UK over its failure to nominate a new EU commissioner. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
What’s a commissioner?
The European Commission is the EU’s executive branch, and it acts a bit like a cabinet government, coming up with new European legislation. It has 28 members (or “commissioners”), one appointed by each member state, though they are each bound to act in the interests of the union as a whole rather than their home country.
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