Bureaucratic autonomy and the European Commission : Europe's custodians / Antonis A. Ellinas, Ezra.

"This book examines the struggle of the European Union bureaucracy to maintain its autonomy in an increasingly complex institutional setting and adverse political environment. Using an original survey of nearly two hundred top European Commission officials, it shows that the European Union is a coherent organization that shares a common culture of supranationalism. The European Union's multicephalous structure of political authority limits the capacity of European politicians to curb the autonomy of the Commission but tends to undermine the legitimacy of the organization, which finds itself under persistent political attacks. These attacks inadvertently help the organization bolster its defenses against the external threats and trigger internal legitimation processes that reinforce the devotion of its employees to its institutional mission. The rich survey data show how Commission bureaucrats establish themselves as the "custodians of Europe." The book helps disentangle the complexity of the Commission and makes a contribution to the study of international bureaucracies, a topic that has received little attention"-- Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-232) and index.

Print version record.

Cover; The European Commission and Bureaucratic Autonomy; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Tables; Graphs; Acknowledgments; 1: Introduction; 2: The Autonomy of National and Transnational Bureaucracies; The Autonomy of International Bureaucracies; The Autonomy of the European Commission; Serving Multiple Masters; Lacking Legitimacy; A Common Commission Culture; 3: Surveying Top European Bureaucrats; Interviewing Top Officials; The Political Context; The Commission in the Eye of the Storm; Diversity at the Top; Educational Profile; Prior Experience and Expertise; Conclusion

4: Autonomy at the Top of the European BureaucracyPolitical Management at the Helm of the Commission; Bureaucratic Autonomy and Information; Brussels Bureaucrats and Politicians; The Commission and the EU Legislators; Relations with the Council; Relations with the Parliament; Bureaucratic Autonomy and Special Interests; Conclusion; 5: Political Attempts to Alter Bureaucratic Behavior; The Commission and Political Control; Continuity, Crisis, and Change; The Kinnock Reforms; Assessing the Reform; The View From the Top; Not a Hierarchical Beast; Merit-Based Recruitment; Promotion: Mixed Picture

Administrative Overdrive?Conclusion; 6: Cultural Impediments to Political Control; Bureaucratic Culture and the European Commission; A Common Bureaucratic Culture; Subcultures in the Commission; A Weakening Culture?; Bureaucratic Culture and Political Attacks; Conclusion; 7: Custodians of "Europe"; The Views of Senior Bureaucrats on Euroskepticism; Senior Officials and Supranationalism; National Background and Supranationalism; Organizational Experience and Supranationalism; Conclusion; 8: Bureaucratic Attitudes Toward Controversial Policies

European Officials and the Failed Constitutional TreatyThe Bolkestein Directive; Turkish Accession; Conclusion; 9: Conclusion; An Autonomous Bureaucracy; Bureaucratic Autonomy in Comparative Perspective; Bureaucracy in Decline?; Bureaucratic Power at a Time of Crisis; Appendix A: Distribution of Sample by Directorate-General (DG) or Service (N = 194); Appendix B: Contact of European Bureaucrats with the European Parliament; Bibliography; Index

English.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide