Decisionmaking in the EU

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Decision-making in the EU

• W E E K 9

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Introduction

• There is not one uniform decision making mode as
  there is not one single policy-making process
• Experimental and evolutionary
• Policy-making Decision-making issues modes

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What is politics?

• The authorative
• Allocation of values
• For a society (Easton 1965 50)

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What is policy?

• a set of interrelated decisions taken by a
  political actor or group of actors concerning the
  selection of goals and the means of achieving
  them within a specified situation where those
  decisions should, in principle, be within the
  power of those actors to achieve (Jenkins 1978)
• Public policy consists of political decisions
  for implementing programs to achieve societal
  goals(Cochran/Malone)
• Public policy is the outcome of the struggle in
  government over who gets what (Cochran et al.)

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What types of public policy do exist? (Lowi)

• Regulative Policies
• Expenditure
• Re-distributive Policies
• Distributive Policies
• Macro-Economic Stabilisation

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EU policy making
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The Four Main Stages of the Policy Process
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The Policy Cycle
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Theories of Integration

• Neo-Functionalism
• Intergovernmentalism
• Liberal Intergovernmentalism
• Liberal democracy at national level
• Intergovernmental bargaining
• RC interpretation of institutions
• New institutionalism (RC, sociological,
  historical)
• Constructivism
• Convergence?
• IR/Comparative/Federalism perspectives?
  Governance?

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5 modes of policy making

• Traditional Community Method
• Supranational
• Locking in / decision trap
• Strong commission
• CAP
• EU regulatory mode
• Commission as architect, Council as forum
• Consultation of stakeholders
• EP as one channel for non-economic input,
  otherwise weak
• Common market

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5 modes of policy making

• EU distributional mode
• Commission programs
• EP and local/regional authorities as pressure
  groups
• Cohesion, research
• Policy coordination
• OECD method
• Commission networks of experts/benchmarking
• Role of EP limited (experts)
• Lisbon strategy, Unemployment

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5 modes of policy making

• Trans-/Intergovernmentalism
• European Council/Council of Ministers
• Commission limited
• EP, ECJ, national citizens largely excluded
• Opaque
• Sometimes quite efficient
• JHA, Schengen, CFSP

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General Principles

• Unanimity voting
• QMV
• Simple/Absolute majority voting
• Consensus

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Decision-Making Institutions

• 3 main types of actors EU Institutions, national
  governments, national/transnational interest
  groups
• Main EU institutions involved in decision-making
• Commission
• Council of Ministers
• European Parliament

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Preparation

• Policy-shaping before formal process begins
• Commission involved (Art. 211 TEC)
• Consultations between EU and national level
• Formal forums
• Informal policy networks
• Issue networks (large, open, conflict)
• Policy communities (small, tight-knit, consensus)
• Stage where the most lobbying activity occurs
• After this stage only 20 of the proposal can
  be subject to change

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Decision-Making Procedures

• four main legislative procedures
• consultation
• co- operation (virtually abolished)
• co- decision
• assent
• co- decision now most common procedure
• budget passes through a complex process

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The Consultation Procedure
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The Budget Procedure
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Decision-making modi in the Council
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Decision-making EP/Council
Administrative Law
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Implementation

• an integral part of policy-making
• three main types of EC instruments
• Decisions (applies only to particular addressees)
  
• Directives (binding aims, MS choose means)
• Regulations (immediately applicable)
• national actors important in implementation
• Indirect implementation (Member states
  responsible)
• Direct implementation (Commission responsible)
• European Court of Justice decisions are final
• Court of Auditors checks EC expenditure

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Monitoring

• Commission understaffed
• Needs to rely on national administrations
• Delay of implementation recorded by the
  Commission
• Huge monitoring exercise for the Central and East
  European Countries

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Stages, actors and channels of policy process

• 4 features of policy making
• 1. numbers of actors involved
• 2. multi-layered (region government EU)
• 3. levels of seniority (HSG, Ministers, COREPER,
  committees)
• 4. levels of formality official semi-official
  informal

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Complexity of decision making role of Member
States

• Size of state
• Significance of particular negotiations
• High and Low Politics
• Capacity of governments
• Relations with other governments
• Competence of negotiators
• Mix of package dealing and side payments
• Agreement on how a matter has to be decided can
  take as long as decision making

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Multiple policy stakeholders

• Policy communities
• Different types of actors institutional,
  non-institutional, governmental, non-governmental
• Epistemic communities (experts)
• Nested and repeated games

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Multi-level EU decision making(according to
Peterson/Bomberg)
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Inter-institutional Cooperation Agreements

• Maastricht and Amsterdam strengthened position of
  EP and therefore the need of all institutions to
  communicate, find compromises, bargain, dealing
• Inter-institutional agreements (1995 Code of
  Conduct to guarantee functioning of EU)
• Result any proposal will be watered down
  (generally accepted, lowest common denominator),
  depends on many variables common mood,
  presidency, national elections, interest groups,
  expected public effect, divergent interests, even
  single persons

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Efficiency of EU policy process

• seen to be slow (up to 7 years), complicated,
  distant from the people, not understandable, too
  many parties
• Lack of transparency
• Sub-optimal outcomes
• EU is lacking of a fixed, central, authoritative
  point to have the last word
• not very different from national policy making
• EU tries to set up long term goals (5 year
  financial programme, Agenda 2000 - 2006), and
  Commission annual work programme

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Class questions

• 'Stagnation, decision-making, blockages,
  institutional paralysis'. To what extent is this
  a fair summary of the EU in the seventies and
  eighties?
• How far did the Single European Act and the
  Maastricht Treaty go towards more efficient
  decision-making in the Community?
• And what did the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties
  provide to maintain the functioning of
  decision-making in an enlarged Union?