Calculus of Consent in the EU Council of Ministers

2013 ◽  
pp. 501-520
Author(s):  
Hannu Nurmi ◽  
Tommi Meskanen ◽  
Antti Pajala
Keyword(s):  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

Technical or political? The working groups of the EU Council of Ministers

2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eves Fouilleux ◽  
Jacques de Maillard ◽  
Andy Smith
Keyword(s):  
Working Groups ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

Delegation, Comitology, and the Separation of Powers in the European Union

2002 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Ballmann ◽  
David Epstein ◽  
Sharyn O'Halloran
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

Although relatively unknown outside of Europe, comitology committees are an object of considerable controversy in the European Union (EU). Controversy stems from their pivotal role in overseeing policy implementation authority delegated from the Council of Ministers (Council) to the European Commission (Commission). In this article, we employ a game-theoretic model to analyze the influence of these, committees on policy outcomes. Our analysis provides three important insights. First, we show that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, comitology committees move outcomes toward the Commission's preferred policies rather than the Council's. Second, we demonstrate that the possibility of a Council veto may also move outcomes away from Council members' policy preferences and toward the Commission's. Third, the 1999 changes to the comitology procedures, designed to enhance the Commission's autonomy in policymaking, may have had the exact opposite effect. Paradoxically, we conclude that comitology serves to enhance the Commission's role in policy implementation and thereby strengthens the separation of powers within the EU.

The Making of a President: The European Parliament and the Confirmation of Jacques Santer as President of the Commission

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hix ◽  
Christopher Lord
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Shared Meanings ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
The One ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ACT AND THE MAASTRICHT TREATY attempted to balance two principles of representation in their redesign of the institutional structures of the European Union: the one, based on the indirect representation of publics through nationally elected governments in the European Council and Council of Ministers; the other, based on the direct representation of publics through a more powerful European Parliament. There is much to be said for this balance, for neither of the two principles can, on its own, be an adequate solution at this stage in the development of the EU. The Council suffers from a non-transparent style of decision-making and is, in the view of many, closer to oligarchic than to democratic politics. On the other hand, the claims of the European Parliament to represent public sentiments on European integration are limited by low voter participation, the second-order nature of European elections and the still Protean nature of what we might call a transnational European demos. The EU lacks a single public arena of political debate, communications and shared meanings; of partisan aggregation and political entrepreneurship; and of high and even acceptance, across issues and member states, that it is European and not national majority views which should count in collective rule-making.

6. The European Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 126-141
Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
European Community ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
European Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

The aims of this chapter are threefold. It first briefly considers the events that have led to the creation of the European Community (EC) and the European Union (EU). Secondly, it introduces the reader to the principal institutions of the Union: the European Council; the Council of Ministers; the European Commission; the European Parliament; and the Court of Justice of the EU and General Court. The nature and functions of each of these bodies is considered. Thirdly, the chapter indicates, where appropriate, the nature of the institutional reforms which have occurred following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the member states.

4. The Council of Ministers: Conflict, consensus, and continuity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Hayes-Renshaw
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Council ◽  
European Policy ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the inhabitants of, and working visitors to, the Council of Ministers’s headquarters in Brussels. The Council of Ministers has always occupied an important position among the European institutions and in European policy-making. As a European Union institution, it is involved in all areas of EU activity, both by legislating in tandem with the European Parliament (EP) and by coordinating the member states’ policies in particular fields. The chapter first traces the origins of the present-day Council of Ministers before discussing its hierarchy and what the Council does. It then considers how the Council deals with the other EU institutions such as the European Council, the EP, and the European Commission. It shows that the Council embodies the enduring tension between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism as explanatory tools for understanding the construction of the EU.

scholarly journals A New Paradigm for EU Diplomacy? EU Council Negotiations in a Time of Physical Restrictions

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 556-568
Author(s):  
Heidi Maurer ◽  
Nicholas Wright
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
Written Form ◽  
International Engagement ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
European Diplomacy ◽  
The Eu

Summary Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the European Union (EU) the most institutionalised case of international co-operation amongst sovereign states, with the highest density of repeated diplomatic exchange. In a year, the Council of Ministers hosts on average 143 ministerial and 200 ambassadorial meetings, along with hundreds of working group meetings. These intense diplomatic interactions came to an abrupt halt in mid-March 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 forced the Council to approve — in a manner unprecedented in European integration history — the temporary derogation from its rules of procedures to allow votes in written form, preceded by informal videoconferences between ministers or ambassadors. This argumentative essay reflects on how we can use these extraordinary months of intra-European diplomacy to assess the viability of virtual diplomacy in the EU context and what lessons it provides as we seek more sustainable means of international engagement.

6. The European Union

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
European Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

This chapter has three aims. It first briefly considers the origins of the what is now the European Union (EU). Secondly, it discusses the institutions of the Union, the European Council, the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice of the EU and General Court. The nature and functions of these bodies is considered. Thirdly, the chapter indicates the nature of institutional reforms which have occurred following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Part I Regulatory Structure, 3 European Financial Services

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walker George ◽  
Purves Robert ◽  
Blair Michael
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Banking Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
European Court ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the evolution of the European Union' financial services law and its impact on the development of financial services law in the UK, as it stands at the end of 2016, six months after the EU referendum. It first describes the evolving role and functions of the EU institutions, namely: the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Court of Justice, and the European Parliament. It then considers the primary sources of EU law, including treaties, and the effects of the various changes in the Treaty of Rome. It also discusses the establishment of the single market in financial services and the moves to establish a banking union. Finally, it analyses the substantive financial services measures that have been adopted in the EU since the 1970s.

Explaining Choices of Delegation and Control Regimes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gijs Jan Brandsma ◽  
Jens Blom-Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Costs ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Member States ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
More Care ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Eu

This chapter turns from preferences on delegation regimes to decisions and examines how differing preferences are turned into decisions. It focuses on two factors in addition to preferences. First, legislation in the EU is decided under different procedures which provide the actors with different powers to act on their preferences. Second, legislation comes with transaction costs. Controlling delegated powers takes time and requires staff with technical insight. These costs are bearable to the member states in the Council of Ministers because they can rely on their national ministerial systems to exercise control. However, for the European Parliament, exercising control in practice is demanding. The Parliament is therefore likely to choose its battles with more care than the Council. The aim of this chapter is to understand the overall post-Lisbon pattern of delegation and control structures resulting from the numerous negotiations in daily legislative practice.

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