Agencies in the European Community - A Step Towards Administrative Integration in Europe

Abstract

Agencies in the European Community (EC) are a functional and politically important institutional phenomenon, yet almost completely ignored within the academic literature. In addition there is some evidence that EC agencies will fall victim to political considerations both within the main Community institutions and at the level of national and regional government where implications of the EC agency model may be misunderstood or misrepresented. The starting point for any discussion and interpretation of agencies within the EC context should be a reflection and consideration of the ten EC agencies currently operational in nine different member states. A comparative analysis of EC agencies reveals not only differences with regard to their mode of emergence but also in their formal status. Significantly, agencies can be placed into two categories (informational or executive). The EC agencies are an important phenomenon in both the vertical dimension (EC, state, regional) and the horizontal dimension (relations between the institutions) of the EC. Any discussion about the importance of EC agencies for the forthcoming institutional reform of the EC should keep in mind their inherent potential for EC integration and their capacity to integrate the administrative branch.