DOCSLIB.ORG

The Political Profile of the European Commissioners Abstract

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Political Profile of the European Commissioners Abstract Regional Integration and the Expertise Dilemma: The Political Profile of The European Commissioners Cinthia Regina Campos. Professor at UNILAB. E-mail: [email protected] Ernani Carvalho. Professor at UFPE. E-mail: [email protected] Enivaldo Rocha. Professor at UFPE. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This paper seeks further evidence of the College member profile to assess whether the European Commissioners remain experts in their respective portfolios. Professional and political data for all former European Commissioners (N=287) was used. The paper concludes that there’s no significant evidence to affirm that European Commissioners have become less technocratic and more political actors. Key-words: European Comissisoners; Experts; Portifolios; Political Actors. 267 | Revista Política Hoje - Volume 28, n. 1 Regional Integration and the Expertise Dilemma: The Political Profile of The European Commissioners Cinthia Regina Campos – Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira Ernani Carvalho – Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Enivaldo Rocha – Universidade Federal de Pernambuco 1. INTRODUCTION The European Commission (EC) is considered one of the most important institutions of the European system whether in light of its decision-making capacity, stemming from its power of legislative initiative, or by virtue of its role in the implementation and monitoring of community public policy. Still, since the EC’s creation sixty years ago, few empirical studies have been dedicated to tracing the poilitcal-professional profile of the members of the institution; thus, shedding light on the dynamics surrounding commissioners’ appointment and subsequent oversight In turn, these studies indicate that the EC has counted individuals with a predominantly political profile among its members (WONKA 2004; DÖRING 2007). However, little is known about their educational and professional backgrounds or their previous performance—in other related positions—in areas in which they will likely work in the commission. The growing role of the EC in the process of deepening European integration has stimulated the interest not only of the academic community, but also of European society, especially after the 2008 economic crisis. The group of experts formed to rescue Greece from a financial crisis that came to be known as Troika counts on the European Commission’s oversight, in addition to representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank; the EC is responsible for technical support and dialogue between Greek authorities and the aforementioned financial institutions. The EC has also been responsible for the austerity plans adopted by member states in an attempt to contain the consequences of the 2008 crisis. Due to the adoption of unpopular measures, alongside the European Central Bank, the institution achieved the greates loss of European citizens’ trust, according to Eurobarometer data, No. 415 (2014). According to the report, in 2007 the Commission had 52% of the trust of European citizens. However, in March 2014, only 32% had trust in the institution. The same report also indicates that 51% of Europeans agree that the President of the EC should be chosen based on the European Parliament (EP) eurogroups’ recommendation. In other words, although they agree that the European Union is the best available 268 | Revista Política Hoje - Volume 28, n. 1 solution to the problems faced by the continent,1 there is a concern among European citizens about the way that supranational institutions direct this solution. It is clear that the importance of this article lies precisely in providing more empirical subsidies for understanding the dynamics at play when the EC performs its functions. By raising more evidence about the profile of members of one of the main institutions of the European Union, this paper aims to analyze the institution’s trajectory to better understand the direction that the creation of community public policy can take. Thus, it is valid to ask: Is there any relationship between the professional profile and the portfolio for which a commissioner was nominated? Is previous experience a basic prerequisite for the office? Or having a high educational level is a fundamental characteristic? Does the area of academic training matter? Is this correlated to the main area of the portfolio? Did the number of commissioners with a political history increase in the recent colleges? How the enlargement in 2004, and its consequent modifications in the distribution of commissioners by country affected the criteria applied by the member states to choose the commissioners? Is national affiliation more important now than before the enlargement? The paper aims to answer those questions and raise more evidence on other issues. Therefore, a database was compiled with information on all commissioners who have passed through the European Commission from the first Hallstein term (1958) to the Juncker commission (20142), with an N = 287. Most of the data were collected from the Dorie system, an EU website that provides various documents, including the CVs of those who have held the post of European Commissioner. Other data sources, such as the National Assemblies, personal websites, and political parties also served as complementary and/or confirmatory sources. The first part of the article identifies the main institutional changes in the EC appointment and dismissal process, and the possible impacts of these changes. It also discusses the main empirical articles that have addressed the issue. Then, we present the research methodology, the data source, and the first findings. The first results show that the number of commissioners in elective positions has indeed increased as well as their affiliations to the parties of the incumbent in their country of origin. There has also been an increase, in equal measure, of portfolios identified as political and social, and in the number of commissioners with previous experience in the same field of the portfolio. The paper also created three different indexes to measure the Education Level, the 1 Also according to the same report, 58% of respondents versus 32% believe that the future will be better in the EU than outside of it. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_415_en.pdf, accessed on March 20, 2016. 2 This dataset includes commissioners who replaced former members during the term, except for the Juncker commission. For access the dataset created for this paper, please contact the authors. 269 | Revista Política Hoje - Volume 28, n. 1 Education Field, and the Political Salience to identify whether the expertise 3 in the former commissioner profiles is predominant comparing to political previous experience. However, the paper verifies that the expertise persists in the commissioners’ curricula, despite the increase of political capital. 2. THE NOMINATION PROCESS AS AN EX-ANTE CONTROL Over the past two decades, researchers have applied the delegation theory, the principal- agent model, and game theory to understand the politico-institutional implications of European integration and how member states react to this dynamic as well (TSEBELIS & GARRET 1996, 2000; HUG 2003; TALBERG 2003; FRANCHINO 2004, 2005, 2007; TRONDAL 2008). 4 Considering the classical definition of the principal-agent model, the delegation of authority occurs due to the inherent limitations of government leaders (LUPIA 2001). In this context, some issues require a specific expertise, which ideally can only be provided by agencies completely dedicated to solving problems related to that particular issue. Therefore, governments can, to a certain extent, regulate the performance of these agencies through various mechanisms, particularly establishing the rules according to which the agent will perform their tasks. And here is the great dilemma: how can agencies be controlled without interfering in their autonomy? The agency’s autonomy is constantly perceived as an essential feature that boosts its efficiency. The main idea is that the agent is able to exert their functions only based on technical criteria rather than basing their proposals on political preferences. In the context of European integration, the scenario becomes even more complex. Majone (2001) points to two distinct, but related forms of delegation: the member states to the supranational level and the latter to the institutions responsible for integration. The mechanisms and objectives of each type of delegation could be completely different. First, the member states would give up part of their sovereignty, allowing the community to decide and act on its behalf; at the same time, they take part of the decision-making when they discuss and bargain within Council. In the second type, the member states create agencies and institutions dedicated to finding the best policy for everyone 3 Measured here by the education indexes. 4 There is a complementary view to this perspective; many consequences emerge, and the supranationality dynamics provide new theoretical assertions (Moravsick 1991, 1993, 1997, 2002; Majone 1998, 1999, 2001; Peterson 2001; Thatcher 2003). There is another group of experts that proposes a model inspired by Ernst Haas’ neo-functionalism (1964) to analyze the complex institutional structure of the European Union. According to this view, each political- institutional actor, whether national, supranational, or even sub-national, has the ability, to some degree, to influence
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The European Commissioner for Trade in 2010-2014 (Barroso II Commission) Cecilia Malmström
    Торговельна політика ЄС Що Карел залишає Сесилії? Роберт Хорольський, к.ю.н., радник Юридичної фірми «ОМП» 24 вересня 2014 року, м. Київ Karel De Gucht • Born 1954, a Belgian politician • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE), liberal • In 2009-2010, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid (Barroso I Commission) • The European Commissioner for Trade in 2010-2014 (Barroso II Commission) Cecilia Malmström • Born 1968, a Swedish politician • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE), liberal • In 2010-2014, European Commissioner for Home Affairs (Barroso II Commission) • The European Commissioner for Trade in 2014-2019 (Juncker Commission) European Commissioners for Trade since 1957 Jean Rey Belgium 1957–1962 Hallstein Commission I 1962–1967 Hallstein Commission II Jean-François Deniau France 1968–1970 Rey Commission Ralf Dahrendorf W.Germany 1970–1972 Malfatti Commission 1972–1973 Mansholt Commission Christopher Soames UK 1973–1977 Ortoli Commission Wilhelm Haferkamp W.Germany 1977–1981 Jenkins Commission 1981–1985 Thorn Commission Willy De Clercq Belgium 1985–1988 Delors Commission I Frans Andriessen Netherlands 1989–1992 Delors Commission II Leon Brittan UK 1993–1995 Delors Commission III 1995–1999 Santer Commission Pascal Lamy France 1999–2004 Prodi Commission Danuta Hübner Poland 2004 Prodi Commission Peter Mandelson UK 2004–2008 Barroso Commission I Catherine Ashton UK 2008–2009 Barroso Commission I Benita Ferrero-Waldner Austria 2009–2010 Barroso Commission I Karel De Gucht Belgium
    [Show full text]
  • The Bank of the European Union (Sabine Tissot) the Authors Do Not Accept Responsibility for the 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 Translations
    The book is published and printed in Luxembourg by 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 15, rue du Commerce – L-1351 Luxembourg 3 (+352) 48 00 22 -1 5 (+352) 49 59 63 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 U [email protected] – www.ic.lu The history of the European Investment Bank cannot would thus mobilise capital to promote the cohesion be dissociated from that of the European project of the European area and modernise the economy. 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 The EIB yesterday and today itself or from the stages in its implementation. First These initial objectives have not been abandoned. (cover photographs) broached during the inter-war period, the idea of an 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 The Bank’s history symbolised by its institution for the financing of major infrastructure in However, today’s EIB is very different from that which 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 successive headquarters’ buildings: Europe resurfaced in 1949 at the time of reconstruction started operating in 1958. The Europe of Six has Mont des Arts in Brussels, and the Marshall Plan, when Maurice Petsche proposed become that of Twenty-Seven; the individual national 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 Place de Metz and Boulevard Konrad Adenauer the creation of a European investment bank to the economies have given way to the ‘single market’; there (West and East Buildings) in Luxembourg. Organisation for European Economic Cooperation. has been continuous technological progress, whether 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 • 1958-2008 in industry or financial services; and the concerns of The creation of the Bank was finalised during the European citizens have changed.
    [Show full text]
  • The European Parliament As a Driving Force of Constitutionalisation
    DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AS A DRIVING FORCE OF CONSTITUTIONALISATION STUDY Abstract This report analyses the increasing role played by the European Parliament (EP) in the EU decision-making process. In the first part (Sections 2, 3, 4 and 5), it describes how the EP acquired more power in legislation, comitology, in the appointment of the European Commission and in the budgetary field. In the second part (Sections 6 and 7), the report illustrates the EP’s role in two relevant policy fields: economic governance and external trade agreements. The report demonstrates that EP’s formal and informal powers in legislation, comitology, Commission investiture, the budgetary process, economic governance and international agreements have increased strikingly since the Treaty of Rome. This empowerment is partially explained by the concern for democratic legitimacy on the part of some member states’ (and the Commission). To another important part the empowerment may be explained by the fact that treaties frequently contain ambiguous provisions and thus allow room for informal rules to emerge through bargaining specifying the details of treaty provisions. PE 536.467 EN This study was commissioned by the policy department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee. AUTHOR(S) Adrienne Héritier (Project leader), Catherine Moury, Magnus G. Schoeller Katharina L. Meissner, Isabel Mota. RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Mr Petr Novak Policy Department Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: poldep- [email protected] Manuscript completed in October 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • The European Commission
    The European Commission Administration or Government? TOM KING MP CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES 57 Tufton Street London SW1P 3QL 1999 THE AUTHOR The Rt Hon Tom King MP has been MP for Bridgwater since March 1970. He served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major for a total of ten years, holding five posts including Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1985-89) and Secretary of State for Defence (1989-92). He has been Chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee since 1994. Acknowledgements The author is most grateful to Tessa Keswick for her positive response to his original suggestion for this pamphlet and to Martin McElwee and Tim Knox for their active interest and effort in helping to produce this work. Support towards research for this Study was given by the Institute for Policy Research. The Centre for Policy Studies never expresses a corporate view in any of its publications. Contributions are chosen for their independence of thought and cogency of argument. ISBN No. 1 897969 98 8 Centre for Policy Studies, August 1999 Printed by The Chameleon Press, 5 - 25 Burr Road, London SW18 CONTENTS Preface Summary 1 Introduction 1 2 The Structure of the European Community xx 3 The Commissioners xx 4 The Genesis and Historical Role of the Commission xx 5 The De-politicisation of the Commission xx 6 Conclusions xx PREFACE I FIRST REPRESENTED THE UNITED KINGDOM in the Council of Ministers of the European Community in 1979. Over six years, in the Environment, Transport and the Employment (Social Affairs) Councils (including the period during which the UK held the Presidency in 1984), I observed at first hand the workings of the Community.
    [Show full text]
  • Conflict and Change in EU Budgetary Politics
    Running head recto i Conflict and Change in EU Budgetary Politics How does the European Union deal with conflict among member states and between institutions? This book provides an institutionalist analysis of an important feature of EU decision-making. Focusing on the dominance of conflict in EU budgetary politics, the author introduces the key actors and issues in European budgetary decision-making and traces the main developments in EU finances since the introduction of own- resources and parliamentary co-responsibility in the 1970s. With its analytical emphasis on distributive and institutional conflict, the author reveals the strong impact that rules and procedures have on the ability of EU actors to resolve conflict. Moreover, with its rigorous use of social science methodology, it makes a valuable contribution to the institutional research agenda and presents testable propositions on the influence of institutions and the emergence of institutional change. This book will be of considerable interest to students and researchers of European Union politics and those interested in institutionalist analysis. Johannes Lindner is Counsellor to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. He holds masters degrees from the University of Cologne and the London School of Economics, as well as a doctorate from the University of Oxford. Routledge Advances in European Politics 1 Russian Messianism: 9 Democracy and Enlargement in Third Rome, revolution, Communism and Post-Communist Europe after The democratisation of the general public Peter J.S.
    [Show full text]
  • REY Commission (1967-1970)
    COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION 1958-2004 HALLSTEIN Commission (1958-1967) REY Commission (1967-1970) MALFATTI – MANSHOLT Commission (1970-1973) ORTOLI Commission (1973-1977) JENKINS Commission (1977-1981) THORN Commission (1981-1985) DELORS Commission (1985) DELORS Commission (1986-1988) DELORS Commission (1989-1995) SANTER Commission (1995-1999) PRODI Commission (1999-2004) HALLSTEIN COMMISSION 1 January 1958 – 30 June 1967 TITLE RESPONSIBLITIES REPLACEMENT (Date appointed) Walter HALLSTEIN President Administration Sicco L. MANSHOLT Vice-President Agriculture Robert MARJOLIN Vice-President Economics and Finance Piero MALVESTITI Vice-President Internal Market Guiseppe CARON (resigned September 1959) (24 November 1959) (resigned 15 May 1963) Guido COLONNA di PALIANO (30 July 1964) Robert LEMAIGNEN Member Overseas Development Henri ROCHEREAU (resigned January 1962) (10 January 1962) Jean REY Member External Relations Hans von der GROEBEN Member Competition Guiseppe PETRILLI Member Social Affairs Lionello LEVI-SANDRI (resigned September 1960) (8 February 1961) named Vice-president (30 July 1064) Michel RASQUIN (died 27 April 1958) Member Transport Lambert SCHAUS (18 June 1958) REY COMMISSION 2 July 1967 – 1 July 1970 TITLE RESPONSIBLITIES REPLACEMENT (Date appointed) Jean REY President Secretariat General Legal Service Spokesman’s Service Sicco L. MANSHOLT Vice-president Agriculture Lionelle LEVI SANDRI Vice-president Social Affairs Personnel/Administration Fritz HELLWIG Vice-president Research and Technology Distribution of Information Joint
    [Show full text]
  • European Economic and Monetary Integration, and the Optimum Currency Area Theory
    EUROPEAN ECONOMY Economic Papers 302| February 2008 European economic and monetary integration and the optimum currency area theory Francesco Paolo Mongelli EUROPEAN COMMISSION EMU@10 Research In May 2008, it will be ten years since the final decision to move to the third and final stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and the decision on which countries would be the first to introduce the euro. To mark this anniversary, the Commission is undertaking a strategic review of EMU. This paper constitutes part of the research that was either conducted or financed by the Commission as source material for the review. Economic Papers are written by the Staff of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them. The Papers are intended to increase awareness of the technical work being done by staff and to seek comments and suggestions for further analysis. The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily correspond to those of the European Commission. Comments and enquiries should be addressed to: European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs Publications B-1049 Brussels Belgium E-mail: [email protected] This paper exists in English only and can be downloaded from the website http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications A great deal of additional information is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu) ISBN 978-92-79-08227-6 doi: 10.2765/3306 © European Communities, 2008 European Economic and Monetary Integration, and the Optimum Currency Area Theory Francesco Paolo Mongelli (ECB)∗ Abstract: This essay follows the synergies and complementarities between European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the optimum currency area (OCA) theory.
    [Show full text]
  • Wilfried Loth Building Europe
    Wilfried Loth Building Europe Wilfried Loth Building Europe A History of European Unification Translated by Robert F. Hogg An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 978-3-11-042777-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-042481-2 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-042488-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover image rights: ©UE/Christian Lambiotte Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Table of Contents Abbreviations vii Prologue: Churchill’s Congress 1 Four Driving Forces 1 The Struggle for the Congress 8 Negotiations and Decisions 13 A Milestone 18 1 Foundation Years, 1948–1957 20 The Struggle over the Council of Europe 20 The Emergence of the Coal and Steel Community
    [Show full text]
  • Appointment of the Commission: Parliament's Role Before 1995
    Appointment of the Commission: Parliament's role before 1995 SUMMARY In September 2014, the Commissioners-designate for the Juncker Commission will be required to appear before the European Parliament’s committees as part of the procedure for the approval of the European Commission. This will be the fifth set of hearings to be held since 1995. But what about the Commissions prior to 1995? Did Parliament already have a role to play in the new Commission’s appointment in those days? With this briefing we provide a short account of the procedure used before 1995 and the long road which Parliament had to take to have its say in the appointment of the Commission. It has always been the tradition for each President of the Commission, when taking office, to deliver a general policy statement before Parliament. Until 1981, when Parliament approved the appointment of the Thorn Commission with its resolution of 12 February, the newly nominated President of the Commission gave a speech to Parliament in plenary. However, no vote of approval or of confidence was taken until 15 January 1985, when the first vote of confidence was passed in the first Delors Commission. Formal hearings of commissioners-designate were introduced as a result of the Maastricht Treaty. The first Commission to be subject to this new procedure was the Santer Commission in 1995. In this briefing: From Hallstein to Jenkins - statements before the EP Towards the vote of confidence - European Parliament resolutions Vote of confidence in the new Commission Vote of approval Main references EPRS Appointment of the Commission From Hallstein to Jenkins - statements before the European Parliament The Treaty of Rome (1958) did not contain provisions regarding the involvement of Parliament in the approval or nomination of the Commission.
    [Show full text]
  • EUI Working Papers
    ROBERT SCHUMAN CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES EUI Working Papers RSCAS 2010/80 ROBERT SCHUMAN CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES THE RISE OF EUROPEAN COMPETITION POLICY, 1950-1991: A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY SURVEY OF A CONTESTED POLICY SPHERE Laurent Warlouzet EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE ROBERT SCHUMAN CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES The Rise of European Competition Policy, 1950-1991: A Cross-Disciplinary Survey of a Contested Policy Sphere LAURENT WARLOUZET EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2010/80 This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the working paper, or other series, the year and the publisher. ISSN 1028-3625 © 2010 Laurent Warlouzet Printed in Italy, October 2010 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ www.eui.eu cadmus.eui.eu Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), directed by Stefano Bartolini since September 2006, is home to a large post-doctoral programme. Created in 1992, it aims to develop inter-disciplinary and comparative research and to promote work on the major issues facing the process of integration and European society. The Centre hosts major research programmes and projects, and a range of working groups and ad hoc initiatives. The research agenda is organised around a set of core themes and is continuously evolving, reflecting the changing agenda of European integration and the expanding membership of the European Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Shaping European Union: the European Parliament and Institutional Reform, 1979-1989
    Shaping European Union: The European Parliament and Institutional Reform, 1979-1989 European Parliament History Series STUDY EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Wolfram Kaiser PE 630.271 – November 2018 EN Shaping European Union: The European Parliament and Institutional Reform, 1979-1989 Wolfram Kaiser Based on a large range of newly accessible archival sources, this study explores the European Parliament’s policies on the institutional reform of the European Communities between 1979 and 1989. It demonstrates how the Parliament fulfilled key functions in the process of constitutionalization of the present-day European Union. These functions included defining a set of criteria for effective and democratic governance, developing legal concepts such as subsidiarity, and pressurising the Member States into accepting greater institutional deepening and more powers for the Parliament in the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service AUTHOR This study has been written by Professor Dr Wolfram Kaiser of the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, at the request of the Historical Archives Unit of the DIrectorate for the Library within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to thank Christian Salm for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this study and Etienne Deschamps for his support in finding suitable illustrations for the text. ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSIBLE Christian Salm, Historical Archives Unit To contact the publisher, please e-mail [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Manuscript completed in September 2018. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work.
    [Show full text]
  • Spitzenkandidaten and the Democratic Deficit
    Spitzenkandidaten and the Democratic Deficit How has the Rise and Repudiation of the Spitzenkandidaten Impacted the EU’s Perceived Democratic Deficit between 2014 & 2019? Alexander Fitzpatrick (s2522403) [email protected] Leiden University, the Netherlands Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts in International Relations: European Union Studies on the 3rd of July 2020 Supervised by Drs. Marije Cornelissen 14,998 Words. Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………..……..…...…3 Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………………...….....4 Chapter Two: Political Philosophy Perspectives on Democratic Legitimacy and the Insulation & Delegation of Power…………………………………………………....7 2.1: Introductory Remarks…………………………………………………………………...…...7 2.2: Pluralist Perspectives on Electoral Accountability, Competition and Selection…….....…...…...8 2.3: Libertarian Perspectives on Voting and Paternalism………………………………….10 2.4: Social Democratic Perspectives on Paternalism and Gender Mainstreaming………...13 2.5: Deliberative Democratic Perspectives on Participation, Passivity and Transparency..15 2.6: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...18 Chapter Three: Methodological Approach………………………………………………………….19 3.1: Variables…………………………………………………………………………….….19 3.2: Investigative Methods…………………………………………………………………..19 3.3: Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………....21 Chapter Four: Tracing the (S)election of the President of the European Commission……………...24 4.1: Introductory Remarks…………………………………………………………………...24 4.2: Pre-Lisbon
    [Show full text]