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The relationship between the member states and the Commission is at the heart of the EU’s institutional structure and at the centre of debates about the European Union. How the power of the Commission changes over time, reflecting, and at the same time contributing to, a shifting balance between supranational and intergovernmental elements, is no less important. This article contends that the decline of the Commission, already in progress when Prodi assumed his responsibilities as its President, has continued apace since the autumn of 1999. The decline of the Commission has serious implications not only for the institution itself, but for the Union as a whole and for integration in the future. In an enlarged Union, where the European Council and the Council of the European Union are likely to become even more cumbersome and unwieldy, the Commission will be the only institution capable of playing the stabilising and coordinating role that an even more complex system will require.