Beware the grip of the

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Beware the grip of the Euro monster Gordon
Brown claims he preserved British interests in
last weeks EU treaty negotiations. But how
secure are his red lines?
From The Sunday Times October 21, 2007
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The EU institutions - lec 3 -

• The political system of the European Union
• The EU institutional triangle
• Theory Historical institutionalism
• Why study EU institutions?
• The Commission

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The Political System of the EU
The EU institutions belong to the most
powerful in the world
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The EU institutional triangle
Council of Ministers
European Commission
EP
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New Institutionalism
institutions matter

• March and Olsen (1989)
• institutions are also actors, their form and
  shape have powerful impact on politics
• institutions form group loyalties (corporate
  identities)
• institutions have own interests, priorities
• institutions can resist control
• institutions have norms
• therefore, central to all institutionalist
  approaches PATH DEPENDENCE

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New institutionalism and EU

• EU is sui generis and polycentric
  (Peterson and Shackleton 2002)
• Central claim EU institutions played a leading
  role in the integration process
• Because they
• have an information advantage (Commission),
  based on linkage to both governments and
  international networks and organisations (WTO
  UN)
• have defined priorities (in contrast to
  governments)
• form a network of formal and informal rules
• are interdependent
• are multifunctional
• Yet , they work sub-optimal fraud, nepotism,
  lack of accountability, mismanagement, lack of
  steering competence

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Why study EU institutions?

• Experimental character of the EU
• Learn about the evolution of institutions and
  institutional power
• Uncover intra-institutional networks and
  competition
• Understand where institutions matter and why
• Explore the role of the EU on international level
  
• Central to European citizenship

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The European Commission

• Structure
• Tasks
• Powers
• Problems

http//europa.eu/comm/
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Introduction - Commission in the news

• Appearance
• Supranational government
• EU power centre
• Hyper-bureaucracy
• Propaganda-machine
• Scandals
• Fraud (lack of financial control)
• Nepotism (jobs for relatives and friends)
• Over-regulation (tractor seat regulation)
• Global trade
• Trade-wars with Japan and US
• Subsidies for industries (aircraft, steel,
  agriculture)
• Negotiations on WTO level
• Media
• Prices for calls from mobiles
• Airport body scanners

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Responsibilities and Powers

• Legislative functions
• Implementation and Development of Policies and
  (right of sole initiative)
• Commission legislation
• Commission regulation (competition policy)
• Executive Functions
• Rule-making (agenda setting)
• management (finances)
• Guardian of the treaties
• Supervision of adoption and implementation of EC
  law
• external representation and negotiation (WTO, UN,
  OECD)
• mediator
• conscience of the Union

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EU - Civil Service or European Government?

• Promoter of European integration
• Central to EU political system
• Part of decision-making process
• Initiator of policies
• Legislative and executive powers

• Not directly accountable to EP or national
  parliaments
• Neither staff nor president elected
• Executive and legislative functions limited
• No power to raise taxes nor to use political force

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Commission structure
services
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The Services

• 15,000 staff (20,000 counting researchers,
  translators, and interpreters)
• 36 Directorates-General and specialist services
• Task Forces

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The President

• Most prominent figures
• Walter Hallstein first president (1958-67)
• Roy Jenkins only president from UK (1977-1980)
• Jacques Delors most active (1985-94)
• Appointment
• 5 year renewable term
• By common accord of state leaders, consulted by
  EP
• Tasks
• Representation vis a vis other institutions and
  bodies
• Head of EU administration
• Shapes portfolios and allocates Commissioners
• Provide political guidance
• Commission as a whole subject to confirmation of
  EP and dismissal

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The College of Commissioners

• 27 Commissioners
• Until 2004 One from each member state plus one
  extra for Germany, France, UK, Italy, and Spain
• From 2005 reduced to one per member state
• Further reduction when number exceeds 27 (Niece)
• Commissioners delegated by member states
• Required to serve EU rather than national
  interests
• Portfolios often overlap
• EP has de-facto veto on appointees

The members of the Commission shall, in the
general interest of the Community, be completely
independent in their performance and duties They
shall neither seek nor take instructions from any
government or from any other body (Art. 213 ECT)
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(No Transcript)
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The Policy-Making Process

• debate over extent of Commission influence
• view 1 merely a facilitating structure
• view 2 autonomous actor, which can act
  independently of the member states

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The Commission as a structure

• Like the secretariat of any other international
  organisation
• Function to help governments find agreement on
  the details of co-operation
• A reliable source of technical proposals
• A neutral arbiter between conflicting national
  interests
• Reduces transaction costs

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Commission as autonomous actor

• Has sole right of initiative
• Can set up expert committees and commission
  reports
• Can locate allies among interest groups
• Most influential in the 1986 SEA negotiations
• Has competition powers under Articles 81-89 of
  the TEC

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Implementation

• Most day-to-day implementation done by member
  state executives
• Implementation problems increased in the 1990s
• Disparities in implementation records of member
  states led to calls for more effective
  enforcement
• Implementation functions increasingly referred to
  separate agencies

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Problems

• Bureaucratic weaknesses
• hierarchical structure
• over-centralization
• problems of co-ordination
• slow to decentralize key functions 
• 1990s concern over financial management
• Threat of European Parliament dismissal
• 1999 resignation of Santer Commission

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The new European Commission

• Lost power in the last 10 years
• Allegations of fraud and nepotism
• Leadership weakened since Delors (Santer, Prodi,
  Barroso)
• Power centralised within Council
• Increasing influence of Council Secretariat
• EP extended influence
• Commission still important on global affairs

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Evaluation

• Neither clear cut Civil Service nor European
  Government
• Vetter at policy formulation than implementation
• Struggling with capacities
• A unique and truly supranational institution

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Class questions

• In what sense has the Commission served as the
  motor of European integration?
• What factors inhibit it from playing this role
  today?