Skip to main content

Abstract

The European Commission has always attracted significant scholarly attention, though in the past, interest was mainly directed towards its role and influence in policy making. That has now changed. The Commission has become the focus of a broad research agenda and a literature that has delivered new knowledge and significantly advanced understanding of the Commission as a public administration. This chapter has two aims: the first is to provide a historically informed overview of the Commission as an administration; the second is to critically review key debates about its singularity, internal operation and leadership, the backgrounds and beliefs of the people who work for the organization, and the extent to which the Commission affects the values of its staff.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Balint, T., Bauer, M. W., & Knill, C. (2008). Bureaucratic change in the European administrative space: The case of the European Commission. West European Politics, 31, 677–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W. (2007). The politics of reforming the European Commission administration. In M. W. Bauer & C. Knill (Eds.), Management reforms in international organizations. Nomos: Baden-Baden.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W. (2008a). Special issue: Reforming the European Commission. Journal of European Public Policy, 15, 625–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W. (2008b). Diffuse anxieties deprived entrepreneurs: Commission reform and middle management. Journal of European Public Policy, 15, 691–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W. (2009). Impact of administrative reform of the European Commission: Results from a survey of heads of unit in policy-making directorates. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75, 459–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W. (2012). Tolerant, If personal goals remain unharmed: Explaining supranational bureaucrats’ attitudes to organizational change. Governance, 25, 485–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W., & Knill, C. (Eds.). (2007). Management reforms in international organizations. Baden-Baden: Nomos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M. W., & Knill, C. (2016). Policy-making by international public administrations: Concepts, causes and consequences. Journal of European Public Policy, 23, 949–959.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bes, B. J. (2013). The role conceptions of senior commission officials: The persistent influence of national factors. Paper presented at the 7th ECPR General Conference 4–7 September, Bordeaux, France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brittan, L. (2000). A diet of Brussels: The changing face of Europe. Boston, MA: Little Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. (1983). Roy Jenkins: A biography. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkel, J. (2005). International institutions and socialization in Europe: Introduction and framework. International Organization, 59, 801–826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claude, I. L. (1956). Swords into plowshares: The problems and process of international organization. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission. (2000). Reforming the commission—A white paper COM/2000/0200 final (2 parts). http://ec.europa.eu/reform/refdoc/index_en.htm. Accessed 30 Nov, 2016.

  • Connolly, S., & Kassim, H. (2015a). The European Commission: Facing the future. https://www.uea.ac.uk/political-social-international-studies/facingthefuture. Accessed 30 Nov, 2016.

  • Connolly, S., & Kassim, H. (2015b). The permanent commission bureaucrat. In M. W. Bauer & J. Trondal (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of the European administrative system (pp. 260–290). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, S., & Kassim, H. (2016). “Supranationalism” in question: Beliefs, values and the socializing power of the European Commission revisited. Public Administration, 94, 717–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coombes, D. (1970). Politics and bureaucracy in the European community a portrait of the commission of the E. E. C. London: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, R. W. (1969). The executive head: An essay on leadership in international organization. International Organization, 23, 205–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, R. W., & Jacobson, H. K. (1973). The anatomy of influence: Decision making in international organization. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cram, L. (1994). The European Commission as a multi-organization: Social policy and IT policy in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy, 1, 195–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehousse, R., & Thompson, A. (2012). Intergovernmentalists in the Commission. In N. Brack & O. Costa (Eds.), Euroscepticism within the EU institutions: Diverging views of Europe. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrakopoulos, D. G. (Ed.). (2004). The changing European Commission. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrakopoulos, D. G. (2008). Collective leadership in leaderless Europe: A sceptical view. In J. Hayward (Ed.), Leaderless Europe (pp. 288–304). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrakopoulos, D. G., & Page, E. C. (2012). Rewards at the top: The European Union. In M. Brans & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Rewards for high public office in Europe and North America (pp. 269–284). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duchêne, F. (1994). Jean Monnet. The first statesman of interdépendance. London: W.W. Norton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egeberg, M. (1996). Organization and nationality in the European Commission services. Public Administration, 74, 721–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egeberg, M. (2012). How bureaucratic structure matters: An organizational perspective. In B. G. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of public administration (pp. 157–168). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Egeberg, M., & Heskestad, A. (2010). The denationalization of cabinets in the European Commission. Journal of Common Market Studies, 48, 775–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas, E. B. (1958). The uniting of Europe. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallstein, W. (1972). Europe in the making. London: George Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallstein, W. (1965). The EEC Commission: A new factor in international life. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 14, 727–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartlapp, M., Metz, J., & Rauh, C. (2014). Which policy for Europe? Power and conflict inside the European Commission. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hix, S., & Hoyland, B. (2011). The political system of the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L. (1997). ‘A House with Differing Views: The European Commission and Cohesion Policy’. In N. Nugent (Ed.), At the Heart of the Union: Studies of the European Commission. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L. (1999). Consociationalists or Weberians? Top commission officials on nationality. Governance, 12, 397–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L. (2002). The European Commission and the integration of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L. (2005). Several roads lead to international norms, but few via international socialization: A case study of the European Commission. International Organization, 59, 861–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L. (2012). Images of Europe: How commission officials conceive their institution’s role. Journal of Common Market Studies, 50, 87–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joana, & Smith, A. (2002). Les commissaires européens: technocrates, diplomates ou politiques? Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jupille, J. (2004). Procedural politics issues, influence, and institutional choice in the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H. (2004a). The Kinnock reforms in perspective: Why reforming the commission is an heroic, but thankless, task. Public Policy and Administration, 19(3), 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H. (2004b). A historic accomplishment? The Prodi Commission and administrative reform. In D. G. Dimitrakopoulos (Ed.), The changing European Commission. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H. (2006). The secretariat general of the European Commission. In D. Spence & G. Edwards (Eds.), The European Commission (3rd ed.). London: John Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H. (2008). “Mission Impossible”, but mission accomplished: The Kinnock reforms and the European Commission. Journal of European Public Policy, 15, 648–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H. (2016). What’s new? A first appraisal of the Juncker Commission. European Political Science, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H., Peterson, J., Bauer, M. W., Connolly, S., Dehousse, R., Hooghe, L., et al. (2013). The European Commission of the twenty-first century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kassim, H., Connolly, S., Dehousse, R., Rozenberg, O., & Benjaballah, S. (2017). Managing the house: The Presidency, agenda control and policy activism in the European Commission, Journal of European Public Policy, 24, 653–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laursen, F. (2012). Designing the European Union. From Paris to Lisbon. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lemaignen, R. (1964). L’Europe au berceau: Souvenirs d’un technocrate. Paris: Plon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, L. N. (1963). The political dynamics of European economic integration. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loth, W., Wallace, W., & Wessels, W. (Eds.). (1998). Walter Hallstein. The forgotten European?. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, M. (1997). Identities in the European Commission. In N. Nugent (Ed.), At the heart of the union: Studies of the European Commission (pp. 49–70). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, L. (1992). After 1992: Can the commission manage Europe? Australian Journal of Public Administration, 51(1), 117–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michelmann, H. J. (1978). Organizational effectiveness in a multinational bureaucracy. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monnet, J. (1978). Memoirs. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, Z., & Geys, B. (2012). Instrumental calculation, cognitive role-playing, or both? Self-perceptions of seconded national experts in the European Commission. Journal of European Public Policy, 19, 1357–1376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, Z., & Trondal, J. (2013). Contracted government: Unveiling the European Commission’s contracted staff. West European Politics, 36, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noël, E. (1992). Témoignage: l’Administration de la Communauté Européenne dans la Rétrospection d’un Ancien Haut Fonctionnaire, Jahrbuch für Europäische Verwaltungsgeschichte 4 (Die Anfänge der Verwaltung der Europäischen Gemeinschaft), 145–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noël, E. (1998). Walter Hallstein: A personal testimony. In W. Loth, W. Wallace, & W. Wessels (Eds.), Walter Hallstein. The forgotten European?. London: Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Page, E. C. (1997). People who run Europe. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, M. A. (1998). Constructivism, social psychology and elite attitude change: Lessons from an exhausted research program. Paper presented at the 11th International Conference of Europeanists, February.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, M. A. (2003). The engines of European integration: Delegation, agency, and agenda setting in the EU. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2011). Public management reform: A comparative analysis (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, G. (1995). Jacques Delors and European integration. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasse, C., Poullet, E., Coombes, D., & Deprez, G. (1977). Decision making in the European community. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön-Quinlivan, E. (2011). Reforming the European Commission. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Scully, R. (2005). Becoming Europeans? Attitudes, behaviour, and socialization in the European Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Seidel, K. (2010). The process of politics in Europe: The rise of European elites and supranational institutions. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shore, C. N. (2000). Building Europe: The cultural politics of European integration (p. 260). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidjanski, D. (1965). Some remarks on Siotis’ article. Journal of Common Market Studies, 3, 47–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siotis, J. (1964). Some problems of European secretariats. Journal of Common Market Studies, 2(3), 222–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (Ed.). (2004). Politics and the European Commission: Actors, interdependence, legitimacy. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, D. (2006). The President, the college and the cabinets. In D. Spence & G. Edwards (Eds.), The European Commission (3rd ed.). London: John Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, D., & Edwards, G. (Eds.). 2006. The European Commission (3rd ed.). London: John Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, A., & Stevens, H. (2001). Brussels bureaucrats? The administration of the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Topan, A. (2002). The resignation of the Santer-Commission: The impact of “Trust” and “Reputation”. European Integration Online Papers, 6(14). http://eiop.or.at/eiop/texte/2002-014a.htm.

  • Trondal, J. (2001). The parallel administration of the European Commission: National officials in European clothes? Paper presented at ECPR Joint Sessions, Grenoble.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J. (2006). ‘Governing at the Frontier of the European Commission: The Case of Seconded National Officials’, West European Politics, 29(1), 147–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J. (2007a). Is the European Commission a “Hothouse” for supranationalism? Exploring actor-level supranationalism. Journal of Common Market Studies, 45, 1111–1133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J. (2007b). The public administration turn in integration research. Journal of European Public Policy, 14, 960–972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J. (2011). Bureaucratic structure and administrative behaviour. Lessons from international bureaucracies. West European Politics, 34, 795–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J., Marcussen, M., Larsson, T., & Veggeland, F. (2010). Unpacking international organisations: The dynamics of compound bureaucracies. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J., Van den Berg, C., & Suvarierol, S. (2008). The compound machinery of government: The case of seconded national officials in the European Commission. Governance, 21, 253–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tugenhadt, C. (1986). Making sense of Europe. London: Viking.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wille, A. (2013). The normalization of the European Commission. Politics and bureaucracy in the EU executive. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Young, O. R. (1991). Leadership and regime formation: On the development of institutions in international society. International Organization, 45, 281–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hussein Kassim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kassim, H. (2018). The European Commission as an Administration. In: Ongaro, E., Van Thiel, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55269-3_41

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics