Subsidiarity, a principle with which the commission agrees, means that decisions should be taken at the lowest possible level, or that which is closest to the people. Municipal councils are responsible for the shape and spacing of streetlights, for example. The commission has specific responsibility for foreign trade negotiations. But between these extremes, not all decisions are as easy to place in pigeon holes. Officials here acknowledge that the commission is unpopular.
Opinion polls show that it is.
That unpopularity is often the result of a lack of understanding. But if the commission is remote from citizens, one obvious reason is that it has neither a budget nor a mandate to engage in public relations. Commission information bureaus in the capitals of the 15 member states are usually manned by only two or three staffers. And the fact that staffers are sometimes working in a second or even a third language means that the commission's presentational style is wooden and often replete with jargon. The Chirac-Kohl letter appeared to be prompted by domestic concerns.