However, European Commission seems to defy that rule. The members are nominated by the national governments, yet, they seem not to give unfair advantage to their native countries.
I am uncertain if this is true, or at least, it can be debated. There have been numerous and many complaints of Commission producing decisions and policies that favor some countries.However, such failure mode, if true, is not of the form where individual comissioners favor their native countries, but where the commission as a body adopts stances compatible with overall political power dynamics in the EU.
Also to be considered that national governments do not get to unilaterally appoint their respective comissioners, but must present comissioners that are acceptable to other organs. In monarchies, this would comparable to difference between monarch appointing prime minister at His Majesty’s will, desire and whim, vs monarch being forced to take parliaments opinion into account in appointing the PM so that the appointed government is viable. In analogy “monarch” is national government, “PM” the commissioner-appointee-to-be, “parliament” (in official procedure) the Commission President and the European Parliament (and unofficially, I would not be surprised if there are other considerations).
I am uncertain if this is true, or at least, it can be debated. There have been numerous and many complaints of Commission producing decisions and policies that favor some countries.However, such failure mode, if true, is not of the form where individual comissioners favor their native countries, but where the commission as a body adopts stances compatible with overall political power dynamics in the EU.
Also to be considered that national governments do not get to unilaterally appoint their respective comissioners, but must present comissioners that are acceptable to other organs. In monarchies, this would comparable to difference between monarch appointing prime minister at His Majesty’s will, desire and whim, vs monarch being forced to take parliaments opinion into account in appointing the PM so that the appointed government is viable. In analogy “monarch” is national government, “PM” the commissioner-appointee-to-be, “parliament” (in official procedure) the Commission President and the European Parliament (and unofficially, I would not be surprised if there are other considerations).