The european commission as an administration

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.