THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE POWER TO REQUEST A COMMISSIONER'S RESIGNATION

Article 17(6) TEU provides that a Commissioner "shall resign if the [Commission] President so requests". This terminology appears absolute and suggests that the President's power to (essentially) dismiss a Commissioner summarily is one related to confidence. This immense power appears in the Treaties alongside the Article 247 TFEU compulsory retirement procedure, through which the ECJ can remove a Commissioner for, inter alia, serious misconduct. This article analyses the President's power to - in essence - dismiss Commissioners, and seeks to establish the limits, if any, on this power. The article argues that a line between the President's Article 17(6) TEU power and the compulsory retirement procedure cannot be maintained pragmatically. The article also asserts that, save for highly exceptional circumstances, the President is free to compel the resignation of Commissioners.