The power of initiative of the European Commission : a progressive erosion?

Abstract

This study, produced by Daniela Corona, Costanza Hermanin and Paolo Ponzano, offers a useful contribution to the current debate on the merits and the alleged limitations of the “Community Method”, of which the Commission’s monopoly over legislative initiative is such a crucial element. Based on data relating to what are termed “innovative” legislative proposals, it allows the reader to draw conclusions which I feel are equally applicable to the exercise of the power of initiative as a whole, and which confirm the analysis that I have drawn from my experience as a Member of the Commission. As this study argues, we need to distinguish three different kinds of issues if we are to effectively measure the way in which the Commission’s exercise of the power of initiative has partly changed its nature: first, we have the “agenda setting”, then the definition of the “terms of debate”, and lastly the negotiations that lead to the finalisation of the texts.