Executive Politics

Abstract

As the EU has evolved, the governments of the EU member states have delegated significant powers of political leadership, policy implementation and regulation to the Commission. The result is a ‘dual executive’ in the EU, where the Council and the Commission share the responsibilities of ‘government’. Sometimes this institutionalized separation leads to deadlock, as in other ‘dual-executive’ systems (Blondel, 1984). However, consensus and stability are secured through a division of labour, with the Council governing the long term and the Commission governing the short term, and through highly developed mechanisms to manage Commission discretion, such as ‘comitology’. To help understand how this came about and how it works we shall first explore some theories of executive powers, delegation and discretion.

Theories of executive power, delegation and discretion

Government by the Council and the member states

Government by the European Commission

Comitology: the interface of the EU dual-executive

Democratic control of the EU executive

Explaining the organization of executive power in the EU

Conclusion: the politics of a dual executive