Within the European Union (EU), Directorates-General are departments with specific zones of responsibility. Within the European Commission specifically, Directorates-General are the equivalent of national-level ministries. Most are headed by a European Commissioner, responsible for the general direction of the Directorate-General, and in charge of (politically responsible for) the corresponding policy area; and a director-general, responsible for the management of day-to-day affairs, who reports to the European Commissioner.
Nearly all of the top-level organisational divisions of the Secretariat of the European Parliament and the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union are also termed Directorates-General.
The European Patent Office (part of the European Patent Organisation, separate from the EU) also has Directorates-General, which are administrative groupings of departments.
The Directorates-General of the European Commission are divided into four groups: Policy DGs, External relations DGs, General Service DGs and Internal Service DGs. Internally, the DGs are referred to by their abbreviations, provided below.
| DG | Abbreviation | Relevant Commissioner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements | PMO | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Agriculture and Rural Development | AGRI | European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development | |
| Budget | BUDG | European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget | |
| Climate Action | CLIMA | European Commissioner for Climate Action | |
| Communication | COMM | European Commissioner for Communication | |
| Communications Networks, Content and Technology | CNECT | European Commissioner for Digital Agenda | |
| Competition | COMP | European Commissioner for Competition | |
| Defence Industry and Space | DEFIS | European Commissioner for Internal Market | |
| Digital Services | DIGIT | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Economic and Financial Affairs | ECFIN | European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs | |
| Education, Youth, Sport and Culture | EAC | European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth | |
| Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion | EMPL | European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion | |
| Energy | ENER | European Commissioner for Energy | |
| Environment | ENV | European Commissioner for the Environment | |
| European Anti-Fraud Office | OLAF | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations | ECHO | European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response | |
| European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations | NEAR | European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy | |
| European Personnel Selection Office | EPSO | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Eurostat | ESTAT | European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud | |
| Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union | FISMA | European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union | |
| Service for Foreign Policy Instruments | FPI | High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy & Vice-President of the European Commission for a Stronger Europe in the World | |
| Health and Food Safety | SANTE | European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety | |
| Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority | HERA | European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety | |
| Human Resources and Security | HR | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels | OIB | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Infrastructure and Logistics in Luxembourg | OIL | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action | IDEA | President of the European Commission | |
| Internal Audit Service | IAS | European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship | |
| Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs | GROW | European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship | |
| International Partnerships | INTPA | European Commissioner for Development | |
| Interpretation | SCIC | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration | |
| Joint Research Centre | JRC | European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science | |
| Justice and Consumers | JUST | European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship | |
| Legal Service | SJ | President of the European Commission | |
| Maritime Affairs and Fisheries | MARE | European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries | |
| Migration and Home Affairs | HOME | European Commissioner for Home Affairs | |
| Mobility and Transport | MOVE | European Commissioner for Transport | |
| Publications Office of the European Union | OP | N/A | |
| Regional and Urban Policy | REGIO | European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms | |
| Research and Innovation | RTD | European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science | |
| Secretariat-General | SG | President of the European Commission | |
| Structural Reform Support | REFORM | European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms | |
| Taxation and Customs Union | TAXUD | European Commissioner for Economy | |
| Trade | TRADE | European Commissioner for Trade | |
| Translation | DGT | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
In addition to its Legal Service, the Secretariat of the European Parliament is composed of several Directorates-General, each of which has an official abbreviation.[2] [3] [4]
| Directorate-General (DG) | Abbreviation | |
|---|---|---|
| DG for the Presidency | DG PRES | |
| DG for Internal Policies of the Union | DG IPOL | |
| DG for External Policies of the Union | DG EXPO | |
| DG for Parliamentary Research Services | DG EPRS | |
| DG for Communication | DG COMM | |
| DG for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships | DG PART | |
| DG for Personnel | DG PERS | |
| DG for Infrastructure and Logistics | DG INLO | |
| DG for Translation | DG TRAD | |
| DG for Logistics and Interpretation for Conferences | DG LINC | |
| DG for Finance | DG FINS | |
| DG for Innovation and Technological Support | DG ITEC | |
| DG for Security and Safety | DG SAFE |
The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union is composed of several Directorates-General, which are each headed by a respective director-general or deputy director-general.[5] [6]
| Directorate-General (DG) | Abbreviation | |
|---|---|---|
| Competitiveness and Trade | COMPET | |
| Economic and Financial Affairs | ECOFIN | |
| General and Institutional Policy | GIP | |
| Justice and Home Affairs | JAI | |
| Legal Service | JUR | |
| Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health | LIFE | |
| External Relations | RELEX | |
| Transport, Energy, Environment and Education | TREE | |
| Communication and Information | COMM | |
| Translation Service | LING | |
| Organisational Development and Services | ORG | |
| Digital Services | SMART |