Directorate-General Explained
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.
Directorates-General of the European Commission
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.
Departments (DGs)[1] | 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 |
| Data Protection Officer | DPO | President of the European Commission |
| Defence Industry and Space | DEFIS | European Commissioner for Internal Market |
| 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 Commission Library | | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
| 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 |
| European School of Administration | EUSA | 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 |
| Historical Archives Service | | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
| Human Resources and Security | HR | European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
| Informatics | DIGIT | 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 |
| Recovery and Resilience Task Force | RECOVER | President of the European Commission |
| 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 | |
Directorates-General of the European Parliament
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]
Directorates-General| 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 | |
Directorates-General of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
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]
Directorates-General| 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 | |
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: 4 June 2022. European Commission: Departments (Directorates-General) and services.
- Web site: Directorates-General . European Parliament . Secretary-General of the European Parliament . 2023-04-25.
- Web site: Organisation . European Parliament . Secretary-General of the European Parliament . 2023-04-25.
- Web site: Secretariat . European Parliament . Secretary-General of the European Parliament . 2023-04-25.
- Web site: 2023-04-16 Organigramme SGC (Version EN).vsdx . 16 April 2023 . Consilium . European Union . 2023-04-25.
- Web site: Directors-General . 3 April 2023 . Consilium . European Union . 2023-04-25.
