Key Features of EU Policy Processes

1. Key Features of EU Policy Processes

2. A straightforward ‘standard’ policy-making system was set out in the EEC Treaty • The Commission proposes • The Parliament advises….(on a restricted range of matters) • The Council decides….(almost invariably by unanimity) • The Court adjudicates

3. A highly complex and varied system now exists, as witnessed by: • Its great number of policy- and decision-making processes • Its mixture of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism: with the ‘balance’ constantly disputed. • Its multi-actor character – EU institutions, national actors, interests – in which the formal roles and powers of actors vary between policy areas. • Its multi-level nature: EU, national, sub-national. • Its multi-speed and increasingly differentiated character.

4. Making sense of the complexity The use of three criteria helps us to distinguish between, but also to identify the persistence of, distinct policy-making patterns: - the degree of involvement of institutions that are independent of government; - the decision-making rules in the Council; - the legal character of decisional outcomes. These three criteria are usually related, and result in five broad policy processes:

5. The five main policy processes 1: The classical Community Method Based on an institutional triangle in which usually: - the Commission formally takes the policy lead; - QMV is available in the Council; - the EP has the power of co-decision. Where law is being made, decisions are subject to ECJ jurisdiction.

6. The EU’s Law Making Procedures European Council Court of Justice Commission ‘Political’ and ‘significant’ legislation ‘Administrative’ legislation Committees European Parliament Council of Ministers Direct action Management Regulatory Advisory Legislation is adopted in one of three forms: directives, regulations, decisions.

7. The five main policy processes 2: the EU regulatory mode - Commission as the “architect and defender” of regulatory objectives and rules (econ. criteria) • Council as a forum for agreeing upon minimum standards and the direction of harmonization • ECJ as the means of ensuring rules are applied evenly, backed by national courts • EP as way to prompt consideration of non-economic factors (environmental, regional, etc.) • Regulatory agencies

8. The five main policy processes 3: EU distributional mode • Commission attempts to devise programs, partnering w/ local & regional authorities • Member govts in the Council bargain over a budget w/ some redistributive elements • Some additional pressure from MEPs • Local and regional governments benefit from some policy empowerment as a result of engaging with EU-level of governance

9. The five main policy processes 4: Policy coordination Commission as developer of networks of experts or of stakeholders → technical arguments to promote modernization “independent” experts as promoters of ideas Convening of groups of high-level experts in the Council Techniques of “peer-pressure,” “benchmarking,” and policy learning Outputs in the form of “soft law” and declaratory statements, instead of binding “hard law” commitments

10. The five main policy processes 5: intensive transgovernmentalism • Active European Council sets overall direction of the policy • Predominance of Council of Ministers in consolidating cooperation • Limited or marginal role for Commission • Exclusion of ECJ and the EP • Engagement with specific national policymakers • Process is not transparent (to national parliaments and citizens), but! capacity to deliver substantive joint policy (on occasion).