PEU: Decision-making

EU decision-making in lens of International Relations

• Delegation of power

  • EU outlier in this case —> Commission negotiates trade deals for all EU states

    • The power has been delegated but it has to be done on the mandate of the member states (final control)

  • Right of initiative

    • Within states: members of Parliament

    • EU: Commission

      • Member states stay in control bc they sit in the Council and the Commission has to come to them for approval (change it, kill it)

• Pulling of sovereignty

EU decision-making in lens of Comparative Politics

• Commission: executive

  • Right of initiative —> strong

  • Can’t implement laws —> weak

• Decision making

  • Council: represent member states

    • National executive

    • Brussels legislative (with EP)

What type of decision-making is the focus?

Secondary legislation

What is secondary legislation decisions-making

Regulation, Directive Decisions

• Ordinary legislative procedure (‘co-decision’) & special legislative procedures

• Policy setting

• Treaties tell us how secondary legislation is made

What is not within secondary legislation

Implementing legislation

• Puts out what comes from secondary legislation into practice

EU competence within decision-making

• Exclusive

• Shared

• Supportive

Exclusive Competences

Can only be taken at the EU level

• Ex. Trade (member states can NOT have bilateral agreements with other nations)

• Ex. Competition for internal market (common competition)

Shared Competences

Members can agree to have decisions made at EU level BUT in some areas it can take decisions at national level

• Ex. Environment, climate change

  • If EU does not have legislation on it, member states are decide themselves how to deal with it

Supportive Competences

• EU commission can gather member states in Brussels and they talk/exchange ideas —> end of the day they go back to their own nations and decide what to do

  • Commission can support member states in the discussion of ideas, no legislation is coming from it

  • Learn from each other, discuss ideas with each other

  • Might be the most effective way to make legislative

    • Why? Governments take ownership

Principle of Subsidiarity

Areas that do not fall under its exclusive competence, the Union shall only act as so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states, either at central, regional or local level. Those goals can be achieved at the EU level.

Are policy and decision making the same thing

No!

Policy making

• Community method

• Intensive transgovernmentalism mode

  • Member states are in charge —> make the most important decisions

    • Unless money is needed to be given -> commission needed (budget)

  • Commission is always in the room

• Centralized decision-making: member states delegated the task to EU level

  • Competition policy

  • Eurozone interest rates

• Open-method: similar to supported competences

Community method: policy making

commission proposes, European Parliament and the Council decide, Court adjudicates

Community method: decision-making

• Commission proposes, EP and the Council decide, Court adjudicates

Community method: 4 decision-making procedures

• Consultation procedure

• Consent procedure

• Cooperation procedure (not relevant)

• Ordinary Legislative Procedure (aka co-decision)

What is the difference between the different procedures in the community method

The role of the EP

Consultation procedure

Within community method

• Treaty of Rome

• Council can:

  • Amend (change what is being proposed)

  • Veto (yes or no)

• European Parliament can:

  • Amend (change what is being proposed)

Consent procedure

Within community method

• Single European Act

• Council can:

  • Amend (change what is being proposed)

  • Veto (yes or no)

• European Parliament can:

  • Veto (yes or no)

Ordinary Legislative Procedure

Aka co-decision

Within community method

• Maastricht Treaty (Lisbon Treaty)

• Council can:

  • Amend (change what is being proposed)

  • Veto (yes or no)

• European Parliament can:

  • Amend (change what is being proposed)

  • Veto (yes or no)

Ordinary Legislative Procedure: First reading

1. Commission comes up with proposal

2. Sends proposal to EU parliament and council + national governments for their opinions

   1. First reading of EP - if it likes everything it can approve without amendment but can also add amendments to it if they are not satisfied (the Council then has to approve the amendments)

      1. To approve them there is either QMV (if Commission also agrees with changes) OR with unanimity (if Commission does not agree with changes)

   2. Council can also make amendments

3. Second reading of EP with Commission present

Ordinary Legislative Procedure: second reading

1. Second reading:

   1. Do nothing —> act considered adopted

   2. Like what the Council proposes and approves by simple majority

   3. Really not like it —> veto

      1. Not adopted

2. EP can included further amendments

   1. Commission is asked for their opinion again

3. Goes to Council second reading

   1. Can approve (QMV with Commission approval/ unanimity without Commission approval) —> act adopted

   2. Doesn’t approve

4. Moves to third reading (if no agreement made)

Ordinary Legislative Procedure: third reading

1. Third reading = procedural deadlock

2. Conciliation committee is convened

   • There to find consensus

   • Made up of equal parts EP and the Council (27 each)

   • Commission is also represented —> the relevant Commissioner

3. Conciliation committee there to discuss any breakthroughs and find a way to agree on the text - formal procedure

   • Trialogues (informal): each representative from each delegation meet to clarify things, move things forward

     • Happens in parallel to conciliation committee

   • If both EP and Council within the Conciliation committee agree —> act adopted

   • If one does not agree —> not adopted

   • If no agreement can be reached at all —> not adopted

• EP and the Council are present at every step of decision making

  • This means that representatives from every member state is present throughout —> can’t say ‘them in Brussels decided this’

Simple majority

14 member states vote in favor

Qualified majority

55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population, vote in favor

Unanimous vote

All votes are in favor

Council voting in reality

Mostly consensus

• Even though QMV is the norm and what they are allowed to use 82% of the decisions are made by consensus

• Culture of consensus in Council

  • don’t want to leave anyone behind, everyone on board

How the EP decides in the OLP

“Working parliament” → Committee with a rapporteur and a “shadow” rapporteur

Plenary

• Simple majority in the first reading

• Absolute majority later on

What is absolute majority in the EP

353 out of 705 votes

Average length of legislative process

Based on 2014 - 2016

• First reading: 16 months

• Second reading: 37 months

• Third reading: -

• Total average: 22 months

“Bang Goes the theory”

Problems with “Bang goes the theory ”

• Lack transparency

• Accountability (who is accountable?)

Odd one out in decision making

Foreign affairs

How are decisions made in foreign affairs

• Agenda-setting/ policy proposals

  • High Representative/ EEAS

  • Member states - Council or European Council

• Decision-making (no “laws”)

  • Unanimity in Council (“Decision”) & “constructive abstention”

  • For international agreements: consent of EP

• Implementation

  • Programming decision by Commission/ EEAS

  • Member States

Trialogues: problematic?

• not very transparent

• More difficulties to exert democratic accountability

• Old dilemma: efficiency vs transparency