EU Administration: Center Formation and Multilevelness

Abstract

In formal terms it is usually quite clear which bodies belong to national governments and which belong to the European Union (EU). In this chapter, however, I argue that national administrations, or more correctly, parts of national administrations, have over the last couple of decades to some extent also become parts of a kind of EU administration. I intend to show that this is due to quite particular institutional developments at both European and national level. At European level it is first and foremost the enhanced autonomy and consolidation of the European Commission (Commission) which makes the difference: for the first time in the history of international organizations we can speak of a multipurpose supranational executive with its own political leadership that is able to act relatively independently of national governments and councils of ministers (see next section). In addition, the executive capacity at EU level seems to be complemented by an increasing number of EU-level agencies. Being in charge of both EU policy formulation and implementation, the Commission needs stable partners at national level for both purposes. Arguably, those partners might be found among national (regulatory) agencies, which during the same period of time tend to have been organized at arm’s length from ministerial departments (Christensen and Lagreid, 2006). This so-called agencifications phenomenon at national level provides an administrative infrastructure that might be highly conducive to the development of a multilevel Union administration.