The Commission is divided into directorates-general. Each one is headed by a director-general, reporting to a Commissioner, who has the political and operational responsibility for its work. The Commission is not an all-powerful institution. Its proposals, actions and decisions are in various ways scrutinised, checked and judged by the other EU institutions. The European interest means that a legislative proposal reflects the Commission's judgment of what is best for the Union and its citizens as a whole, rather than for sectoral interests or individual countries.
Consultation is essential in the preparation of a proposal.
The Commission is no ivory tower. It listens to governments, industry, trade unions, special interest groups and technical experts before completing its final draft. Subsidiarity is enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and is applied by the Commission in such a way as to ensure that the Union takes action only when it will be more effective than if left to individual Member States. Once the Commission has formally sent a proposal for legislation to the Council of Ministers and the Parliament, the Union's law-making process is very dependent on effective cooperation between the three institutions. It is the Commission's job to ensure that Union legislation is applied correctly by the Member States.