Centralised Enforcement Legitimacy And Good Governance In The Eu

Article 226 EC is the central mechanism of enforcement in the EC Treaty, and has remained unchanged since the original Treaty of Rome. It provides the European Commission, as guardian of the Treaty, with a broad power of policing Member States’ conduct. Article 226 has been traditionally characterised as an arena of secretive negotiation focused on the sole function of effective enforcement. This study seeks to move beyond this approach by characterising Article 226 as a multi-functional mechanism within the Treaty. It does this by examining the central mechanism of enforcement through the normative lenses of legitimacy, good administration and good governance. Centralised Enforcement, Legitimacy and Good Governance in the EU is interdisciplinary in nature, examining law in its political context. It focuses on how the institutions interact and react to competing policy pressures, and explores the tensions that lie at the heart of legitimacy in the actions of public actors by engaging with concepts such as democracy, legitimacy and good administration. Scholars and policy-makers whose work explores Article 226 will find this work especially relevant. It will also appeal to those who are interested in enforcement and regulation in the international/EU arena, as well as those whose work considers concepts such as good governance, legitimacy, and accountability in the EU. It is also relevant to scholars engaged in the study of institutions and processes of interaction and change.

This book approaches the notion of good governance from three different angles. First it establishes whether it is a meaningful notion at all by taking a closer look at the parameters of good governance. Secondly, the authors look at the institutional translation of the criteria of good governance. In a third dimension, the concept may be analysed in relation to a number of substantive issues.

The European Commission has increasingly focused on the benefits it can derive from the greater participation of organized civil society in its role and activities. In the face of general decline in public trust in the institutions of government, it facilitated and encouraged new channels of access and consultation opportunities as a means to legitimize its position within the European political system. Karen Heard-Lauréote’s comparative analysis of four European Commission advisory forums innovatively investigates the existence of a conflict between the capacities of such forums to deliver standards of good governance. The author questions whether these venues can provide efficiency gains via the production of sufficient policy output without delays or deadlocks at reasonable cost and sustain adequate democratic credentials such as legitimacy. This study makes a significant contribution to its field by pursuing contemporary legitimacy debates asking whether under certain conditions or in certain policy-making contexts, legitimacy and efficiency may be reconciled or become at least partially compatible in European Commission committees. European Union Governance will be of interest to students and researchers of European Union politics and policy-making.

The European Union's growing accountability deficit threatens to undermine its legitimacy; accordingly, member states have agreed to negotiate a new set of Treaty changes in 2004. These essays consider various aspects of accountability and legitimacy in the European Union.

This book explores the concept of civil society which over recent years has been revived and introduced into the institutional debate of the EU and the contributors study the role of civil society organisations in the multi-level context of European governance.

This volume examines the role of law in increasing the legitimacy of European decision-making by structuring and facilitating diverse forms of participation, representation, and deliberation. The important role of interest groups in the current debates over the legitimacy of the European Union is examined. Models of functional participation, including committees, agencies, and social dialogue are analysed in the light of a detailed empirical study of EC occupational health and safety policy.

A comprehensive analysis of the European Commission's general role in supervising member state compliance with EU law, this book provides a detailed assessment of centralized EU enforcement. It starts out by asking whether it is viable to establish stronger Commission powers of enforcement at this point in time. Against this backdrop, and as a means of exploring the role of the Commission, the chapters examine a number of different aspects pertaining to enforcement of EU law. Beginning with an appraisal of the Commission's function under the general EU infringement procedure stipulated in Articles 258 and 260 TFEU, the volume argues that the EU lacks independent self-sustained regime authority. Moreover, this is reflected in both substantive EU law and procedural law, including the general EU infringement procedure. Chapter two makes the case that Article 258 TFEU can usefully be explained in terms of managerialism. Chapter three analyses Article 260 TFEU concerning repetitive infringements. In particular, it asserts, EU member state sanctions sustain the managerial approach. It then goes on to examine the Commission's unsuccessful attempts to gain sharper enforcement powers through secondary legislation, and identifies the effective points of functional overlap between enforcement powers and certain types of implementing tools. Finally, it discusses the Commission's role under various non-binding, ad hoc arrangements. The concluding chapter places the general EU infringement procedure in the broader context of a comprehensive (negotiated) policy process. It argues that the enforcement stage shares many features with earlier steps in the legislative process, including flexibility and deliberation.