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Within the European Union, 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 (i.e. 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.
Main article: Secretariat of the European Parliament § Directorates-General |
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 |
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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 |
Main article: General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union § Directorates-general |
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 |
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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 |