Flag Dictatorship within the European Commission? The Construction of DG8’s Autonomy

Abstract

‘The malaise comes from Germany. It has discovered that the participation of its companies and industries in the EDF is only 10% of the total while its own contribution to the Fund is perceptibly superior (34%). There is a view that has gained currency in public opinion that this state of affairs is unbalanced — a situation that nobody contests — but also that it is unfair — which is more contestable. According to the same view, we should remedy it by all possible means. Among these means, some are legal and possible (the Commission has sought for some years now to work them out with tenacity and even success). Others are neither desirable nor workable (automatic division of markets, obligation on companies to amalgamate). One has to realize that the privileged (even monopolistic) situation of one of the Member States (France) is about to be reduced and brought into line, which is normal in a Community. One can also see that the participation of other Member States in their trade with the Associated States or in the adjudication of the Fund is increasing year by year. From this, one may conclude that the Commission is on the right track and must continue its efforts (…). The Community is not a piggy-bank, from which each Member State can draw the exact amount of money that it initially gave’ (Ferrandi, 1967, p. 31).