Editing European Commission (section)

===Executive power===
Before the [[Treaty of Lisbon]] came into force, the executive power of the EU was held by the council: it conferred on the Commission such powers for it to exercise. However, the council was allowed to withdraw these powers, exercise them directly, or impose conditions on their use.<ref>{{cite web|title=Executive body|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/executive_body-en-1ea2c754-b3fe-42ea-b6ab-44f07291d9ee.html|date=15 September 2016|access-date=18 April 2013|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805194749/https://www.cvce.eu/obj/executive_body-en-1ea2c754-b3fe-42ea-b6ab-44f07291d9ee.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Implementing powers of the Council of the European Union|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/implementing_powers_of_the_council_of_the_european_union-en-5d4d07d9-bba1-467e-93c2-8241444be9a2.html|year=2016|access-date=18 April 2013|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805190623/https://www.cvce.eu/obj/implementing_powers_of_the_council_of_the_european_union-en-5d4d07d9-bba1-467e-93c2-8241444be9a2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This aspect has been changed by the Treaty of Lisbon, after which the Commission exercises its powers just by virtue of the treaties. Powers are more restricted than most national executives, in part due to the commission's lack of power over areas like [[Common Foreign and Security Policy|foreign policy]]&nbsp;– that power is held by the Council of the European Union and the European Council, which some analysts have described as another executive.<ref name="dragoman"/>

Considering that under the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Council has become a formal institution with the power of appointing the commission, it could be said that the two bodies hold the executive power of the EU (the European Council also holds individual national executive powers). However, it is the Commission that currently holds most of the executive power over the [[European Union]].<ref name="dragoman">{{cite web |last=Stark |first=Christine |publisher=Dragoman |title=Evolution of the European Council: The implications of a permanent seat |date=4 September 2002 |url=http://www.dragoman.org/ec/belfast-2002.pdf |access-date=10 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325005346/http://www.dragoman.org/ec/belfast-2002.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bermann|first=George|title=Executive Power in the New European Constitution|year=2004|url=http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/archive/papers/04/040501-13.rtf|format=RTF|publisher=New York University|access-date=18 June 2006|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731021346/http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/archive/papers/04/040501-13.rtf|url-status=live}}</ref>