Control of the Commission's Executive Functions: Uncertainty, Conflict and Decision Rules
In: European Union politics: EUP, Band 1, Heft 1, S. 63-92
ISSN: 1465-1165
The literature on implementation committees predominantly emphasizes their informational role & relies on a sui generis characterization of the European Union. This article reasserts their control function & locates these committees within the core tenets of rational choice & agency theory. It takes McCubbins & Page's (1987) propositions about the determinants of legislators' control of executive functions & applies these to the control that the member states exert on the Commission's executive powers. The likelihood of establishing control procedures & the stringency of control are positively correlated with 1) the uncertainty facing legislators about the optimum policy actions, 2) the level of conflict among legislators & 3) the need of unanimous agreement in the Council of Ministers. Using logistic regressions & a cumulative logit model applied to a stratified sample of non-amending secondary legislation adopted between 1987 & 1998, the article concludes that unanimity, level of conflict & uncertainty significantly increase the likelihood of procedural control of the Commission's activities. Level of conflict & uncertainty are also significant factors affecting the stringency of control. The article concludes by relating these results to the literature on European integration & on political control of the bureaucracy. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 39 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd.]