The European Commission
in balance?
Ambition, organisation and power

Adriaan Schout
Adriaan Nunes

Clingendael Report

The European Commission in balance?
Ambition, organisation and power

Adriaan Schout
Adriaan Nunes
Clingendael Report
October 2019

October 2019
Cover photo: European flags in front of the Berlaymont building
© European Communities, 2007 / EC - Audiovisual Service
This is a courtesy translation of the Dutch-language report ‘De Europese Commissie in balans?
Ambitie, organisatie en macht’
About the autors
Dr. Adriaan Schout is Senior Research Fellow and Coordinator Europe. He combines research
and consultancy on European governance questions for national and European institutions.
Adriaan Nunes is Junior Researcher at the Clingendael Institute, where he deals with a broad
range of EU-related subjects. He focuses on the appointment of the new European Commission,
the interinstitutional balance and the position of the Member States in the EU.
The Clingendael Institute
P.O. Box 93080
2509 AB The Hague
The Netherlands
Follow us on social media
 @clingendaelorg
 The Clingendael Institute
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Email: info@clingendael.org
Website: www.clingendael.org

Table of contents
1

Introduction 

1

2	Development, tasks and functions 

5

Nature of the organisation: The Commission as a mixed-breed 
Functions and tasks of the European Commission 
Content of certain functions 
Separation of tasks? 

5
7
10
16

3	Assessment framework: Commission reforms 

19

The organisation of the Commission as a bottleneck 
The interinstitutional balance: towards transgovernmentalism? 

19
23

4	Assessment framework: In search of balance in leadership 

27

From High Authority to European Commission. From ambition to pragmatic
cooperation 
Delors – visionary with the wind in his sails 
From Santer via Prodi to Barroso: Organisational development and
professionalisation 
Juncker: back to a political Commission 

28
29
30
32

5	Trends, problem areas and balances 

36

Final considerations 

39

Bibliography 

42

Annex I: Functions and ambiguities 

47

Annex II: Juncker Commission – Empirical results of success, partial successes
and failures 

51

Annex III: Trust in the European Commission 

65

Annex IV: House of Representa­tives request letter 

66

‘Nothing is possible without men,
but nothing lasts without institutions.’
Jean Monnet
(With the added remark:
Provided that people have trust in institutions)

1

Introduction

As Ursula von der Leyen takes office as the new Commission President,1 it is good
form to give thought to the trends in the development of the European Commission.
The new President will formulate her agenda and organise the Commission as she sees
fit. Von der Leyen aims for an ambitious agenda including, once again, considerable
discussion about the ‘future of the EU’ with institutional deepening, such as
transnational lists of candidates as a new step towards giving the European Parliament
(EP) and Commission President more European legitimacy, reform of the Economic
and Monetary Union (EMU) and getting serious with sustainability. In addition, further
experimentation with the top structure of the Commission is under way with the
appointment of three executive Vice-Presidents, one from each large political family.
The aim is to realise ambitions and organisational innovation.
The European Commission occupies centre stage in the European integration
process. Ambitions, implementation, quality of policy, the balance of power in the
interinstitutional arena, trust in the EU, etc., are determined in part by the organisation
and the policy of the European Commission. Because of its formal monopoly on new
bills, its task as supervisory body, and its central information position, the Commission
enjoys a privileged position towards national governments. For the Netherlands as
well, the Commission has occupied centre stage as the protector of the interests of
the smaller countries. The arrival of a new Commission President is therefore a time
of political reflection, which can make it part of EU-wide democratic control, also in
the Member States.

1

Officially, the term Commissievoorzitter (roughly translated as ‘chair’) is used in the Netherlands.
However, the term ‘President’ is used in the EU. This is ‘Präsident’ in German, and ‘President’ in English,
not ‘Vorsitz’ or ‘Chair’. The term ‘President’ is now commonly used in the House of Representatives.
Eurospeak is changing in its daily use. For example, on 19 September the evening news used the term
‘ministry’ to refer to the collective tasks of a Member of the European Commission.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

This report was written at the request of the European Affairs committee of the House of
Representatives (see the engagement letter in Appendix IV). Because the organisation
and tasks of the Commission are multi-layered, the questions from the House of
Representatives were likewise as varied and concerned the development of the tasks
of the Commission, the history, politicisation (especially after the Lisbon Treaty), the
achievements of the Juncker Commission, formulation of an assessment framework
and the identification of problem areas. Discussions about possible alternatives follow
naturally from the identified developments and bottlenecks, such as the importance
and limitations of high ambitions, of leadership styles, administrative pressure at the
top, the separation of duties and of the possibilities of establishing organisational
units. Because the House of Representatives has asked the government to examine the
enforcement tasks of the Commission, less attention is given in this study to the theme
of enforcement.
The breadth of the study should be seen in connection with the limitations in time and
scope of the study. To a certain extent therefore, the discussion of legal, historical and
organisational developments fails to do the Commission justice. Nevertheless, their
discussion does raise the necessary questions, which was also the aim of the House of
Representatives. It should be considered in this respect that relatively little systematic
research has been done on the Commission.
To answer the question about review criteria, a wide choice of such criteria can
be found in the writings on e.g. politics, administration, business, sociology and
economics. During the study, the historical development of the Commission provided
an assessment framework on the basis of developments which had been set in motion
by the Commission. Firstly, the development of the organisation (including its internal
management and the external management of its national administrative bodies) gives
insight into which measures of quality the Commission has pursued. Secondly, the
outline discussion of Commission Presidents provides insight into leadership styles.
This has basically given the study an organisational slant. Which is not surprising,
because the functioning of the Commission is the result of cohesion between tasks,
ambitions, organisation, relations with its stakeholders and leadership style. For it
is precisely in the multi-layered political-administrative reality of the EU that trust in
government goes hand in hand with the quality of government. Procedural agreements,
tasks, administrative capacities and leadership are what ultimately determine who
has access when and with which knowledge and resources to decision-making and
how effective its governance is. In other words, European decision-making shows to
what degree power, trust and results are related to the quality of the organisation of
the Commission, of the Member States and of their mutual networks. The demands
placed on the effectiveness of relevant national organisations have been given too little
attention, also among national and European policymakers.

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The developments of the Commission also tell us something about the changing power
relations among the European institutions (especially in the relationship among the EP,
Commission and Council) The EP has developed from talking shop to a co-legislator
(Priestley 2008). This development has strengthened the relationship between the EP
and Commission, thus shifting the interinstitutional balance. This development has
contributed to the politicisation of the Commission. However, European integration was
no one-way street with a shift in power towards ‘Brussels’. The Member States have
created new control mechanisms, such as the formulation of the Strategic Agenda.
In addition, the Member States have stood their ground in areas that touch on solidarity
(transfers) and sovereignty. The Member States have also continued in sensitive areas
to establish intergovernmental cooperation in new structures that can better be termed
‘transgovernmentalism’ (see below). The ‘ever closer union’ can, against the will of the
Commission, apparently take place outside the Commission as well. This says something
about the trust of the national governments in and their support for the European
Commission. In several off-the-record media briefings held in the context of this study,
it was therefore emphasised that trust in the Commission needs to increase. 2
Section 2 starts with introductory themes: the nature of the organisation and its
functions and tasks. This nature has been described in dog terms as ‘mixed-breed’
(people familiar with the problems with pedigree dogs understand that this is a positive
term). The Commission’s quest for a more effective and professional organisation
occupies centre stage in section 3. The developments are also related to shifts in
the interinstitutional balance. Section 4 goes briefly into a number of Commission
Presidents. Section 5 sums up a number of problem areas from this brief analysis for
further discussion. The core of the study revolves around balancing. Balancing is not
about compromises but rather ensuring that the right weight is placed on the scales
of the balance.
In addition to the literature consulted, off-the-record media briefings were organised
with a number of current and former civil servants in The Hague and Brussels, and
researchers, in order to identify relevant themes. Given the limited study, these briefings
were used to colour in the themes to be covered. In addition, many discussions and
interviews were used which had taken place in the course of the years for past studies
and projects (see the bibliography). The supervisory committee of the House of
Representatives met three times, and one written round took place. Four experts also
read versions of the report. They acknowledged the trends and challenges set out in
the report, and their comments concerned additions, subtle distinctions (most of which

2

This study does not go into any further depth on trust in the Commission (but see Appendix III).
Experts have expressed their concerns (sometimes assertively). In addition, the Eurobarometer shows
an increase in trust in the Commission, especially in the Netherlands. For a discussion of the reliability
of the Eurobarometer, see Schout and Holderied (2018) and the works cited there.

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were incorporated into the text) and the specification that the Commission is naturally
political and thus calls for better separation between technical tasks and tasks that
concern political considerations. In particular, we would like to thank mr. dr. Sandor
Loeffen of the Analysis and Research Department of the House of Representatives for
his professional assistance.

4

2	Development, tasks
and functions
Nature of the organisation: The Commission as a mixed-breed
The strength of a mixed-breed is the mixture of DNA and experiences so as to function
in all kinds of different circumstances. The European Commission is the result of a
mishmash of the best – and sometimes the worst – of Europe’s traditions in government.
In the Europe of the Six3 in the 1950s, France had a guiding influence on the shape
of the predecessor to the Commission (the High Authority). The High Authority
and the European Commission were rooted in French (and Belgian) bureaucratic
traditions. The French influences are evidenced by the hierarchical structure of the
Directorates-General (DGs) and the internal decision-making, the political cabinets of
the Commissioners (traditionally filled by fellow countrymen of the Commissioner, who
is formally neutral, see Article 17(3) of the Treaty on European Union), the importance of
the President and, originally, the language. The first Commission President, the German
Walter Hallstein (President from 1958 to 1967), added German bureaucratic traditions,
such as the compartmentalisation of policy areas.
New influences became visible as new Member States joined. The British, supported
by the Dutch, further rationalised the organisation by means of impact assessments,
formalisation of planning and the policy processes, and evaluations. The Scandinavian
Member States provided the much-needed transparency and promoted independent
agencies. At the beginning of the 1990s, a simple organisational chart of a DG was
confidential information, but under the influence of the administrative culture especially
in Sweden, the website of the EU (including the Commission) grew to become perhaps
even the largest public sector-related website in the world, with a plethora of public
information. When Austria, Sweden and Finland joined in 1995, the environment
gained political importance as a norm in the EU, and thus also in the Commission.
Eastward expansion partly brought a certain professionalisation to the business culture:
East-European civil servants preferred making an international civil service career for
themselves to a career as a convinced European (Ban 2013).
This diversity sometimes makes it difficult to determine the balance in the culture of the
organisation, which is sensitive to changes in staff or the departure of a Member State.
For instance, the departure of the United Kingdom will have consequences for the Better

3

The Six were Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

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Regulation project. What can therefore be seen as France’s rising star, possibly born
out of a combination of waning British influences and the more difficult French-German
relationship, has influenced recent political appointments. Likewise, the instalment of
Pierre Moscovici (France) as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial
Affairs to replace Olli Rehn (Finland) has changed the character of the post of ‘budget
czar’. Although Commissioners may not officially be referred to in terms of ‘Dutch’ or
‘German’ – there are only ‘European’ Commissioners – the degree of national identity
differs from person to person. In addition to personal character and political experience,
national identity does influence the weight carried by a Commissioner. For example, the
French Commissioner Pierre Moscovici mentioned above made the Financial Times about
twice as often during his term than his Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, from Latvia.
In addition to national administrative cultures, personal characteristics of Commission
Presidents can also be identified. Commission Presidents are entitled to decide on the
internal organisation of the Commission (Article 17(6) of the Treaty on European Union).
The lauded Jacques Delors (1985-1995) created his own personal channels and contacts
within the organisation, with a leading role for his Chef de Cabinet, Pascal Lamy. The
reviled – perhaps undeservedly4 – José Manuel Barroso (2004-2014) sought bureaucratic
stability, with an important role for the Secretariat-General in making and documenting
policy. Jean-Claude Juncker (2014-2019) changed the role of the Secretariat-General
again, mainly by relying on his Chef de Cabinet, Martin Selmayr, which led to the remark5
that if something came from Selmayr (in his position as Chef de Cabinet), there was no
need to run it by the Secretariat-General for coordination and quality control.
Quality is also a characteristic of the Commission. In many respects, the Commission
is one of the best possible administrative organisations. After the French example, the
entry requirements (the concours) are high and even mirror the French ENA (École
nationale d’administration) in the form of the Collège d’Europe in Bruges. It is often said
that the Commission has fewer civil servants than a large European city. However, the
Commission has about (depending on how different categories are counted) 32,000 civil
servants who focus on EU policy and are supported by scores of networks of experts,
while in national ministries the EU expertise is usually divided across individuals in
departments (see also the discussion below about ‘power of expertise’). Low in the past,
the morale among Commission civil servants is high again, thanks in part to the EU-wide
legitimisation of their work by the ambitious Strategic Agenda and the Spitzenkandidaten

4

Schout, A. (2014) ‘Ten years of Barroso’s presidency: Passive or smooth operator?’, Internationale Spectator
68(2) pp. 30-35. https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ten_years_barroso_presidency_
Schout_Buirma_Barroso_UK.pdf. Schout, A., A. Mijs (2014), ‘The EU Commission: from technocracy to
government?’, Internationale Spectator.

5

In an interview for Schout and Schwieter (2018a).

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process.6 Accessibility is also a characteristic of the Commission. The doors of civil
servants from high to low are open to anyone who is relevant. They are convinced of the
need to understand the different contexts from the far north to the deep south.
In 2018, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reckoned
the quality of the Commission’s preparation of policy among the best in the world on
the basis of its formal structure (not on the basis of effectiveness), given its extensively
formalised procedures and transparency. That the Commission formally belongs to
the top does not mean that the formal procedures are actually followed or that the
boundaries are not pushed.7 Extensive procedures are – usually – part and parcel of a
bureaucracy; doubts about whether the procedures work undermine a bureaucracy.8

Functions and tasks of the European Commission
In this study, functions are interpreted as the main duties of the European Commission
that ensue from the texts of the Treaties. The functions of the Commission stem from
the Treaty of Rome (1957). The tasks concern everything that the Commission must
do to execute its functions in the different policy areas. This ranges from preparing
meetings to enforcement tasks. This study limits its discussion of tasks to the expansion
of the Commission’s activity in specific policy areas and a schematic representation
of the tasks in relation to the discussion about the separation of tasks. The formal
functions and the implementation of the tasks in practice continuously call for choices
to be made.
Functions
Part of the functions of the Commission can be found in Article 17 of the Treaty
on European Union. In addition, researchers have added several functions that are
not contained in the Treaty. The table in Appendix I shows the functions and briefly
discusses their inherent ambiguities. The functions of the Commission are, roughly,
the preparation of annual and multiannual agendas and the budget, legislation
(right of legislative initiative), promoting the general interest of the EU as an engine of
integration, supervision, external representation of the EU and manager (coordinator).

6

Research briefing 2: ‘The “political Commission” and the “new ways of working”. The views of European
Commission staff’, H. Kassim (2019). https://www.uea.ac.uk/political-social-international-studies/
research/the-juncker-commission/briefings.

7

See Schout and Schwieter 2018a for a discussion.

8

E.g. Mastenbroek, E., S. van Voorst (2017).

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Article 17 also sets out several rules of conduct for the Commission in the exercise
of its functions: Commissioners are independent and may not accept instructions
from Member States, and Commissioners are considered equal in the College of
Commissioners. The President is a primus inter pares but, in practice, the President’s
weight has grown, partly because of the changed legitimacy of the Commission
President by the EP.9
Ambiguities are part of function descriptions and call for the many accountability
mechanisms that typify the public sector. The functions – such as that of the engine
of integration – have been pushing the Commission towards high integration aims.
The EMU was one of the main objectives long before ‘Maastricht’ in 1991, just like
the formation of a ‘political Union’, expansion (all European countries may become
members), the ever closer union and social objectives (long opposed by the Member
States, especially the UK). The tensions with the Member States about the level of
ambition are emblematic of the history of European integration. This is also evident
in the use of language: European ‘integration’ refers to the final objective of the ever
closer union to which Jean Monnet aspired in the 1950s, while official documents
and speeches in Dutch use the term ‘European cooperation’ for the most part.10
Other ambiguities discussed in Appendix I include the changed right to set the policy
agenda under the influence of expectations that the EP and the European Council pass
to the new President, the degree to which the right of legislative initiative actually lies
with the Commission and the tough role of supervisory body in combination with the
soft role of an honest broker who must unite interests.
Tasks
The tasks – activities in the policy areas – of the Commission have been given more
depth and breadth as successive changes to the Treaties were made. With the Treaty
of Rome (1957), the Commission was given the task to focus on the establishment
of a customs union, elimination of import duties, common agricultural policy and
competition policy. The Treaty also set out the power to act where necessary to make
the internal market possible (implied powers). Social policy was indeed mentioned in
the beginning, but the idea was for integration to lead to stronger welfare states on its
own. The Commission has exclusive competences in several areas (such as the customs
union and competition), the Member States have shared competences in most areas
(such as in internal market legislation) and, in the remaining areas, the Member States

9

Just like the position of the prime minister in the Netherlands, under the influence of European integration
and the arrival of the European Council.

10

See, for instance, the Churchill Lecture by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, delivered in Zurich on 13 February
2019: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/toespraken/2019/02/13/churchill-lezing-van-ministerpresident-rutte-bij-het-europa-instituut-van-de-universiteit-van-zurich.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

have extensive autonomy with supporting competences of the Commission (such as
in education).11 In the exercise of the policy competences, from the Single European
Act (1986) to the Lisbon Treaty (2009), decision by a qualified majority of votes in the
European legislative process too has grown in the Council of Ministers at the expense of
decision by unanimity.
Big steps in the development of the tasks of the Commission included the introduction
of the Economic and Monetary Union in the Treaty of Maastricht (1992) and the transfer
of the intergovernmental12 ‘third pillar’ (justice and home affairs) to the Community
working methods as decided in the Treaties of Amsterdam (1999) and Nice (2001).
Likewise, expansion from 15 to ultimately 28 Member States meant that the Commission
obtained new tasks in bolstering the institutions in the Eastern European Member
States and, more recently, supervision on the quality of the rule of law has grown in
importance.
The Commission’s tasks have also changed because the Member States have started
to work together outside the Treaties, such as on the basis of the Fiscal Compact and
in the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), by which other working relationships have
arisen (see the section on transgovernmentalism).
As the tasks have expanded, new working methods have also become necessary.
In addition to the large legislative role, the ‘open coordination method’ (based on
voluntary participation of the Member States in benchmarking and peer reviews)
has, for instance, become a pillar in the work of the Commission. The development
of informal management instruments was necessary in part because policy that
does not fall under European competences, as the organisation of the welfare state
(such as in pensions and education) has great influence on the stability of the euro.
Mutual dependence simply means a blurring of the lines between official competences
in practice.
The developments in the tasks of the Commission show that, besides the main legislative
function, other policy functions such as supervision over economic and fiscal policy in
the Member States and the management of open coordination projects have arisen.

11
12

For an overview of the division of competences, see Appendix I.
In intergovernmental decision-making, control is maintained all the way from taking the initiatives up to
decision-making. In the Community method, the Commission has the right of initiative and the European
Court of Justice has authority.

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Content of certain functions
Legislative machine with the tendency towards harmonisation
Because the EU budget has been kept limited, tasks belonging to a welfare state have
remained limited. The EU is essentially about legislation (regulatory state). Legislation,
thanks in part to the less immediately visible division of income and expenses, therefore
forms the basis of the work of the European Commission (Majone 1996).
An extensive acquis communautaire has been created in the development of the internal
market. Several trends can be seen in the development of legislation:13
– The number of legislative initiatives probably decreased under the Juncker
Commission. But nevertheless the acquis increased (yet less than under Barroso,
for example). Several legislative pages and articles still need to be added up to show
whether the legislative packages (the focus that the Council asked Juncker to adopt)
do not contain a great deal of details anyway.
– In addition to the steady increase of the acquis, Regulations are used more and more
often instead of Directives, which means that the Member States have less freedom
of implementation. The Netherlands is in favour of this, because it gives countries
with inadequate implementation and enforcement capacities less flexibility.
– EU legislation leads to increasingly higher harmonisation ambitions. Due to
appeals from all kinds of actors (Member States, businesses, NGOs, the European
Parliament, etc.) there is permanent pressure towards harmonisation. Policy
mechanisms also contribute to more and higher harmonisation standards: built-in
revisions are more likely to lead to higher than lower standardisation, problems with
implementation lead to revisions and detailing (failing forward, or integration by
default)14, expert committees (comitology) have the tendency during implementation
to establish calculation methods and implementation procedures etc., the Court’s
reports add to the legislation, objectives regarding high environmental or consumer
protection lead to higher standardisation, etc. ‘Integration by default’ is the
principle that the EU must step in if Member States fail in their implementation and
supervision, such as by exercising more supervision itself, or implementing a social
policy because Member States themselves do not have their change processes in
order (Schout 2017b). Another result of regulation, and overregulation, of the internal
market and ‘integration by default’ is, in the words of Vivienne Schmidt (2006), that
national parliaments become arenas for ‘politics without policy’.
– Interestingly, few questions have been raised about the increasing specificity of
EU legislation (as opposed to questions about the size of the acquis and the use of

13

For an overview of the development in the size of the acquis and the growing degree of harmonisation,
see Schout and Van Schaik 2019 (yet to be published).

14

Jones, Keleman and Meneur (2015); Schout (2017b).

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an undifferentiated measure such as ‘one in, one out’). It would be worth considering
whether this trend towards harmonisation with higher minimum standards is actually
taking place and whether this development in the right of initiative should be
reviewed.
The paradox of the legal character of the EU is that EU law is not as clear as it may seem.
This paradox can also be seen in the priority to improve the quality of the rule of law
in the Member States while there is no viable legal framework for that (it is difficult to
give a precise definition of a value such as ‘democracy’). Even in the Commission itself,
much is made of its understanding of the law where, according to a civil servant at the
top of the Commission, the Commission is much more capable than the Member States
of interpreting legislation, in order to push out frontiers or find the loopholes (see for
instance the supervision on national budgets15). In this regard, the Commission’s power
of expertise also underscores the relativity of procedures and European rules.

Box 2.1

Harmonisation and its effect on national governments

Harmonisation leads to a level playing field, which has rightly received much
attention (limitation of external effects, creation of scale effects, giving certainty
to businesses and consumers). Harmonisation has in the past decades been
given more depth (higher standards) and breadth (covers more parts of policy).
Besides the advantages, harmonisation also has disadvantages. It limits policy
competition among the Member States, the differences about policy objectives
will grow in a more varied Europe of perspectives among Member States
(e.g. not every country is equally attached to high environmental standards) and
Member States will lose their flexibility. Each European measure makes it more
difficult for a Member State to change policy (‘that’s what they want in Brussels’
becomes more pressing). If a country formulates rules itself, it can also change
them itself. Making changes at European level is generally more difficult and
takes much longer. Harmonisation thus leads to inflexibilities as well.16
This raises several questions:
– Up to what point is harmonisation useful, and when does it end up limiting
a healthy dose of competition between policies?
– Is adequate account taken – in the processes of the Commission and in
the Member States – of harmonisation that goes too far?

15

For example, ‘Commission delays French deficit procedure’, Euractiv, 27 November 2014.

16

Compare also Katzenstein 2003.

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Supervision
Supervision is a theme that did not get going from the start. The activism of Jacques
Delors was what really drove this theme, because it was clear that the success of his
internal market project would depend on its implementation and enforcement and
because businesses would complain otherwise. The supervisory function creates a
delicate relationship with the Member States, because the Commission has various
relationships with the Member States. On the one hand, there is a constant exchange
of information and cooperation in the preparation and implementation of policy, where
policy revision is closely connected to the problems that arise in the implementation
of policy. This requires an intensive and open relationship. On the other hand, the
Commission can, as a supervisory body, take countries to the Court of Justice of the
European Union and even impose sanctions. The problem with this combination of tasks
is that the mutual relationship is based on both confidence and hierarchical control.
This is one reason why the Commission has taken a political approach to supervision.
This sensitivity is readily visible in the network of independent fiscal authorities where
two networks function in parallel: one with and the other without the Commission
(Schout and Schwieter 2018b).
External management: The management deficit of the EU
The essential question that remains neglected in many writings and political discussions
is: to what extent can, or must, the Commission act as a manager? The internal
management of the Commission has become an important theme, and giant leaps
have been made (see Section 3). The core of public administration in general is that
objectives can only be achieved by working together with external organisations in all
stages of the policy process. Metcalfe noted that the Commission is too preoccupied
with itself and does not do enough to build administrative qualities and networks in
and among the Member States, leading to implementation and enforcement problems.
The EU suffers from a lack of management as a result. Problems with national
supervision over economic policy, border control on the external borders or the quality
of the rule of law underscore the constant concern about the quality of Member States
(Schout 2018a).
Several challenges are at play in the external management role of the Commission
that are closely connected to the multi-level European administration model. Firstly,
the Member States lack the necessary administrative capacities in scores of areas.
For effective European public administration, it is not enough if the Commission itself
is highly dedicated to management innovation if similar processes do not exist in the

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Member States.17 Inferior administrative capacities have played a role in the EU from
the very beginning, and for countries like Italy and Greece taking part in European
cooperation and the euro was part of the strategy to modernise. Underdeveloped
administrative capacities force us to look for solutions at EU level even where the
Member States are the cause of the problems (‘integration by default’).
Secondly, the Treaty on European Union requires Member States to show solidarity
and take all the necessary measures to that end, but it also shows a high degree of
respect for existing administrative traditions (Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union).
The organisation of public administration is therefore a matter of national sovereignty
of the Member States. The sensitivity of EU policy also plays a role in this respect,
such as can be seen in border controls or national budgetary control.
Thirdly, the policy of ‘don’t complain about me, and I won’t complain about you’ applies
when it comes to criticising each other’s administrative capacities.18 This makes it easier
to talk about policy than about the requirements that must be placed on Member States
to make policy truly effective.
In addition, the Commission has scores of specific types of expertise, but in the culture
of the organisation that is dominated by legal and political considerations, interest in
accepting a multi-level management role is less developed. The mandatory introduction
of national fiscal councils is a salient example. Here the Commission has looked to see
whether Member States have established ‘something’, without paying any particular
attention to the number of people, what qualifications they have, whether they have
sufficient resources in order to operate independently or whether the European
networks in which they work together are strong enough.
There are also examples of successful administrative networks, incidentally. Aviation
safety, for example, has been organised around, among other things, mutual, mandatory,
inspections where countries evaluate each other as part of the UN. And with food safety
– originally a very sensitive theme culturally and economically – an effective network has
been created which has contributed greatly to consumer safety and economic success
(see the importance of the export of the foods industry and the good reputation of
agricultural products).
Sufficient administrative capacities in the Member States open up possibilities for
the EU to operate as a decentralised European federation. In other words, there is
less need for an ever closer union if the Member States have their affairs in order.

17

There are administrative networks in the EU, but the big problems make it difficult to call them – and

18

Jordan and Schout 2006.

especially their non-committal nature – into question.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

European institutions seem to be much more interested in strengthening the EU
‘top-down’ rather than on the basis of decentralised cooperation. Proposals for the
establishment of a ‘fully operational Border and Coast Guard’ and the appointment
of a European minister of Finance including a budget for the eurozone reinforce this
impression. Discussions in executive circles in Brussels have also given the impression
that they have a negative to very negative view of the Member States. Given the national
dynamics, different cultures and importance of subsidiary cooperation, however, the
centralisation of tasks cannot be the solution.19
The Commission recently established the Structural Reform Support Service to
help Member States, on a voluntary basis, build up their institutions. The question
is whether this, first of all, is sufficient if, when shaping policy, considerably more
emphasis is not placed right away on creating European networks at the same
time, in which the Member States keep each other on their toes and in which more
coercion and supervision are involved. Second of all, the administrative quality in the
EU and of the Member States will need to be weighed up for each policy initiative.
The Commission, Member States and the relevant networks need to be capable of
handling implementation and control. More is needed than a budget for individual
Member States that wish to tackle their institutions voluntarily. 20
European arrative building
The expansion and diversification of the Union’s policy areas, but also growing doubts
about European integration after the introduction of the euro plans in 1992, made
narrative building to the Union an important theme. Giving meaning was of importance
from the very beginning, where the idea of freedom existed next to safeguarding
national interests (Milward 1992). The focus on technical integration and its limited
impact on the establishment of state tasks, however, made narrative building a
secondary issue.
The sharp increase of European legislation under Delors, and his suggestion in
1988 that, within ten years, 80% of legislation would come from the EU generated a
sense of uneasiness. To calm the intensifying debate, Delors introduced the concept
of subsidiarity, which was little known until then, except in countries with in-depth
discussions about the division of powers within their federal structure, such as in
Germany, for instance.

19

Compare Perrow 1977.

20

For an utilisation of strengthening national capacities via European networks in the rule of law, see Schout
and Luining 2018.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Until 2008, doubts about the importance of the EU and even the euro were almost
impossible. According to influential opinion makers such as Tony Judt and Jürgen
Habermas, the EU was a ‘perfect example of international quality , ‘irresistibly attractive’,
‘a beacon of light’ and ‘a model for the world’. 21 In addition, the Netherlands Bureau for
Economic Policy Analysis (Centraal Planbureau (CPB)) had calculated that the internal
market would generate a month’s salary for us, and the euro a week’s pay. 22
The euro crisisand the subsequent crisis measures after 2008 and plans for deeper
integration forced former Commission President Barroso to explicitly tackle the
challenge of building a European narrative. In 2013, Barroso launched a project to
formulate a ‘narrative’ based on cultural diversity (unity in diversity) and confidence
in European values, because ‘populism and nationalistic narratives must not prevail’:
‘We need a new narrative for Europe,’ said the Commission President. 23 The debate
about values was an answer to the migration crisis, criticism among Member States
back and forth about the lack of solidarity, and growing distances between north, east,
south and west. Because the economic benefits of membership had faded in the wake
of the euro crisis, as emphasised in off-the-record interviews, the more abstract core
values of democracy and solidarity would just have to be emphasised in the European
narrative.
President Juncker recognised the abstract side of the debate on values and went out
to prove that the EU can solve concrete problems (‘a EU that delivers’). In this spirit,
a senior civil servant of the Commission also said in an interview: ‘Avoid philosophical
discussions; we need action.’
The issue of narrative building is also surrounded by the necessary questions and
ambiguities given the great differences between countries in terms of economic
development, the distance to the Russian border, for instance, and economic traditions.
It might be possible to create a rough narrative (‘security’), but its exact meaning is
very much open to debate. That is why we must wonder whether narrative building
has any use, whether the Commission should remain largely practical and pragmatic
and whether the European narrative is not primarily a national matter. We must also
bear in mind that the EU demands the serious attention of citizens only now and then.
The EU (and national governments) might want a debate about narrative building;
citizens generally have other things on their minds.

21

Schout and Kassim 2018.

22 Later, during the crisis years, former CPB director Coen Teulings admitted in newspaper the Telegraaf that
the figures had been rounded up and should be taken with a grain of salt: ‘CPB exaggerated benefit of euro.
Coen Teulings: Take calculation with a grain of salt’, Telegraaf, 17 May 2014.
23 Speech by Commission President Barroso: ‘A new narrative for Europe’ (2013), https://europa.eu/rapid/
press-release_SPEECH-13-357_en.htm.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Separation of tasks?
What is relevant in relation to the discussion about functions and tasks is the tendency
of the Commission to keep its duties within the Commission for bureaucratic and
technical reasons. The technical argument is that tasks are mutually connected24 and
that there is a risk that tasks located outside the organisation will carry less weight
in internal decisions. On the other hand, each organisation must, firstly, coordinate
flows of information, irrespective of where that information comes from. In other
words, the procedures need to be well designed: formal, transparent and with
complaint procedures. External tasks can also be interconnected. Secondly, with a
view to confidence in information, analyses and decisions, there is much to be said
for separating tasks as much as possible and designing them partly on the basis of
independent agencies, so that each step can be traced and each step is also designed
on the basis of specific needs – and need for independence – of the task.
Thirdly, there are some tasks that are incompatible. A breakdown of policy tasks into
individual steps is illustrated below:

Box 2.2

Tasks from agenda to enforcement

Setting the Data
Analysis Formulating Choice Implemen- Monitoring Enforcement
agenda
­collection
alternatives of policy tation

Independence matters in the collection of data, analysis, formulation of alternatives and
monitoring. Setting the agenda and making policy choices make it necessary to consider
the pros and cons of different standards from a political perspective (among policy
priorities and among different national and ‘European’ priorities). With the information
tasks, legitimacy is based on expertise, while considering the pros and cons is about
political legitimacy (the Strategic Agenda, the working methods presented by the
President in the EP, etc.).
In relation to data collection, Eurostat and agencies enter the picture. Member States
are required by European legislation to have their own independent statistics agencies.
However, Eurostat’s position within this structure is characterised by compromises
in decentralisation. Eurostat is a DG within the Commission and it falls under a
Commissioner (in the Netherlands, Statistics Netherlands is not a Directorate-General
of Economic Affairs and Climate; it is a decentralised agency – an independent
administrative body). For economic supervision and budgetary oversight, Member States

24

Smulders and Paquet (2018); Schout and Schwieter 2018a.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

need to have independent supervision structures. In the Netherlands, the Council
of State and Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) have been designated for
this purpose (outside the direct ministerial lines). Economic supervision, however, is
organised within the Commission in the DG ECFIN (Directorate-General for Economic
and Financial Affairs). Following the economic and financial crisis, it was decided
to bolster independent supervision over the Member States by the Commission.
The supervisory task of DG ECFIN was established to this end, following the example of
DG COMP (Directorate-General for Competition, with significant independence within
the Commission and within the College of Commissioners). 25 For now, supervision
over competition via DG COMP is seen as a success in making a politically sensitive
task independent. This set-up initially seemed successful under Barroso as well,
with Commissioner Olli Rehn as the ‘budget czar’. However, the arrival of the JunckerMoscovici team made it clear that this independence clashes with political ambitions.
There are also hybrid forms of decentralisation. Supervision of national budgets
has been placed within the Secretariat-General, but it is carried out in part by five
professors, each of whom is allocated about 12 days a year and who therefore rely
heavily on the data and analyses of the Commission. Some independent expertise
has indeed been brought in, but this is encapsulated in the Secretariat-General.
Likewise, supervision of the quality of impact analyses has been kept within the
Secretariat-General – although with the addition of three independent experts; but
they, too, are dependent on information that comes from the Commission. They have
neither the time nor the resources to conduct their own analyses to fathom the impact
assessments given to them.
It should be borne in mind in this respect that EU agencies are limited in number (about
6026) and in their independence. 27 This paints a picture of a European Commission that
holds off the separation of tasks. This also harbours the danger of contamination: faulty
supervision of national budgets and economic plans gives the Commission as a whole an
unreliable reputation.28 There is a clash of administrative cultures around the separation
of powers in the Commission, and this has materialised into a compromise that calls for
debate, also in the Member States, about the requirements that should be placed on
European administration (including by the Member States themselves). The argument
that independent structures lead to ‘more bureaucracy’ is debatable. Bureaucracy is
needed because tasks need to be carried out. The question is whether this bureaucracy

25

For references, see A. Schout and A. Mijs 2015.

26

Compare the some 250 similar structures in the Netherlands.

27

Schout 2018.

28

In addition to all manner of discussions about this in think tanks and academia (such as Wyplosz 2018),
see also the column ‘Italiaanse toestanden (Italian conditions)’ in the 11 September 2019 edition of het FD,
where Mathijs Bouwhuis pokes fun at this situation: https://fd.nl/opinie/1316447/italiaanse-toestanden.

17

The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

is good (transparent, subsidiary to national structures, working with the best possible
information and with separation of substantiation and political choices).
In addition, one more thing must be taken into consideration. The notion of the
‘Brussels bubble’, an established term in eurospeak 29, refers to the situation where
EU civil servants are concentrated in Brussels and would be reluctant to move, if
required, to Luxembourg or somewhere even farther from the centre of policy-making.
This concentration of EU civil servants also has its own frame of reference of European
families, European schools, close mutual contacts including – as typified by one of them
in an interview – on the hockey or football pitches. Decentralisation (also literally) can
strengthen the ties to and visibility of the EU in the Member States.

29 https://euobserver.com/opinion/127523, https://www.beout.be/2018/10/25/frans-timmermans-verlaat-jebubble-praat-met-mensen-die-het-oneens-met-je-zijn/.

18

3	Assessment framework:
Commission reforms
The organisation of the Commission as a bottleneck
En route to a legitimacy crisis
Interest in the Commission as an organisation took a while to get going. The book by
Britain’s David Coombes from 1970 long remained an exception in European integration
studies, which were mainly about integration theories and policy (Coombes, 1970).
Les Metcalfe, also from the UK, can be seen as one of the pioneers in the field of
European public management with his article ‘After ’1992’: Can the Commission
Manage Europe’. Overdue maintenance of the organisation, exacerbated by the
activism of Jacques Delors, did not emerge until the degree of mismanagement (and
even nepotism) 30 had become clear. The Santer Commission, which, incidentally, was
hard at work on renovating the organisation, resigned, and two Committees of Wise
Men were created in order to map out the situation. That period saw publication of
scholarly articles with titles such as ‘The Credibility Crisis of Community Regulation’
(Majone, 2002).
The underdeveloped organisation hampered the Commission in various areas:
poor internal coordination among Directorates-General, an underdeveloped set of
instruments for underpinning and documenting policy, faulty internal and external
supervision, inadequate quality of policy proposals with large differences between them
(such as in weighing social risks), failing financial mismanagement, unprofessional staff
policy, the closed nature of contact (among Directorates-General too but certainly also
towards the outside world), a one-sided set of instruments for policy (also from a legal
perspective), and lack of focus on external management (building up capacity in and
among Member States) (Schön-Quinlivan 2011). Management of a national government
department alone is complex and sensitive to administrative trends, but, on top of that,
the Commission must deal with the advantages and disadvantages of different European
administrative cultures and watchful eye of the Member States over the national
top positions.

30 Committee of Independent Experts, First Report on Allegations regarding Fraud, Mismanagement and
Nepotism in the European Commission, European Parliament, 15 March 1999.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Not only is the European Commission exposed to a multitude of influences; it also
operates under a glass dome. In addition, there may be more tolerance of inadequate
policy at national level than at EU level. European media, MEPs, national politicians and
interest groups keep a close eye on the Commission. A proposal for refillable bottles of
olive oil received much attention because some said it would help southern European
olive oil producers to supply small expensive bottles to restaurants, which would drive
up the cost for consumers. A story like this has great allure and is made much of in
the media. 31 Given the sensitivities, the Commission has an extensive communications
department, and it keeps a finger on the national pulses via national representative
offices of the European Union (‘embassies’). Naturally, in this quest for support, there is
a constant clash between the different values of the Member States. The differences in
opinion about bottles of olive oil partly concerned whether consumers would be served
quality olive oil (consumer certainty), at low cost, and whether this was a completely
unimportant detail that the Commission should not interfere with. The checks and
balances of the glass dome force a response. However, amusing scandals, large and
small, and clumsy acts are more likely to draw attention than whether enough progress
is being made on sustainability or the broad question of whether Juncker was an
effective Commission President. In the glass dome, incidents stand out more than
smouldering trends do.
Towards professionalisation
A slumbering trend was what caused the Santer Commission to resign, but the
reason for it were scandals involving French Commissioner Edith Cresson, who was
a controversial person even before she was recommended for the position by France.
She had added a dental surgeon to her Cabinet as a personal assistant, for mental
support. However, in the post-Delors era the causes lay deeper. Ambitious reforms
were ubsequently carried out in:
– Internal management (organisation): Staff policy based more on meritocracy
(a points system was introduced as a basis for more reliable promotions),
stricter financial management and accounting, reforming the Cabinets of the
Commissioners, activity-based management (human resources and budgets
allocated to tasks), etc. For better accounting, control procedures were also set up
around internal financial watchdog OLAF (a ‘service department’ of the Commission
working for European institutions).
– Improvement of the policy processes: policy processes around a transparent
policy cycle were established in the name of ‘better legislation’. These included
pre-information notices by way of road maps, consultations (also over the internet),
integrated impact assessments based on the best available information and with

31

See for example Nu.nl ‘EU withdraws proposal about olive oil bottles (Brussel trekt voorstel olijfolieflesjes
terug)’, 23 May 2013.

20

The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

–

internal quality assurance (Regulatory Scrutiny Board) and, still somewhat in their
infancy, ex-post evaluations.32
A European set of instruments (European governance): e.g. open coordination and
creation of independent agencies.33 After the influx of legislation under Delors,
a start was made under Santer – and partly under the influence of e.g. Dutch
discussions about soft management instruments – to introduce instruments that
would give the Member States more ownership.

The professionalisation of the organisation and policy processes up to and including
the Barroso Commission count as very successful, especially since the Commission
is a very large organisation where Member States are keen to guard their positions.34
Modernisation and reform of organisation, quality of the policy processes and policy
instruments will always continue. Questions raised by the above discussion for the
current juncture include (in random order):
– The size of the College of Commissioners has been a subject of debate for years
now. The Netherlands has been a proponent of a smaller College. The argument
is that the number of Commissioners promotes the tendency towards longer
wish lists and hinders internal coordination. However, Member States want a
national Commissioner, also with a view to ownership in the Member States and
recognisability of the Commission in the national media. For example, the question
is how the Netherlands would view a controversial Commission or Commission
decision if no one from the Netherlands was part of the Commission. Would that
add to the idea that ‘the EU doesn’t know what it’s doing’? A smaller Commission
would also give the impression of forming a government and being a step closer to
the ever closer union. With less control by the Member States, accountability may
possibly proceed more via the European Parliament. This would lead to the situation,
or at least the impression, that a smaller College would have more of a free hand for
‘real’ European interests. This would mean that these European interests should be
under the control of the EP. In addition, it must be considered that large countries
without any representation in the College would probably stand a better chance of
being heard by the Commission than a smaller country without a Commissioner.
Incidentally, competent policy coordination does not necessarily need to come via
a smaller College; it can also be achieved with adequate policy procedures that
are overseen by the Secretariat-General, which filters and coordinates the relevant
priorities (provided that the Secretariat-General functions).
– The Secretariat-General is one part of the Commission where significant changes
have taken place. Originally, as the coordinating body of the President, the
Secretariat-General occupied a difficult position in the political context of the

32

Mastenbroek et al. 2016.

33 European Commission (2001), European Governance - a White Paper. COM(2001)428.
34 Bauer et al 2013; Jordan and Schout 2006.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

–

–

College with its national biases. Not only did Delors have his own channels within
the organisation; working with strong Commissioners – sometimes heavyweights in
their own country, such as Martin Bangemann, former minister for Economic Affairs
from Germany – was also a challenge. The Secretariat-General has grown, especially
under Barroso, in size and tasks, partly because the policy planning cycle has been
expanded and its quality assurance and monitoring of integrated work has increased.
As far as is visible from the outside, the Secretariat-General under Juncker had to
take a step back in favour of the Cabinet of the President (a form of politicisation).
This led to doubts about the reliability of the planning and internal control tasks of
the Commission. Or as an expert put it: ‘If something comes from Selmayr, it does not
need to go through the procedures.’ The administrative pressure at the top, including
Vice-Presidents, Executive Vice-Presidents and Chefs de Cabinet, is probably not an
easy place to start for the coordinating role of the Secretariat-General.
Cabinets are less common in the Dutch administrative structure. Although doubts
can be cast on Cabinets because they can serve as a filter between the DGs and
the Commissioners, there is no point to a discussion of principle about Cabinets.
The functions of a Cabinet in supporting the Commissioners are varied and largely
‘horizontal’ in relation to the preparation of a broad policy agenda of the College
of Commissioners and in maintaining external contacts, including broad policy
coordination with one’s ‘own’ country.35 The Chefs get together every Monday to
prepare the meeting of the College on Wednesday. One could consider refining
the composition of the Cabinets, so that they are less coloured by the national
background of the Commissioner. One specific measure could be adding a provision
to the rules of procedure of Cabinets to the effect that a Chef de Cabinet may not
have the same nationality as the Commissioner. The spirit of the above reforms tends
towards the professionalisation of the ‘European’ Commission where a Commissioner
and Chef de Cabinet from different countries is to be expected.
Around the year 2000, agencies were seen as an important instrument to autonomise
tasks. However, they have remained rather limited in number and powers.

In essence, the above questions touch on the quality of policy processes, instruments
and internal organisation of the College, and confidence in its substance and
procedures. This makes the functioning of the Commission a national political matter
in part (similar to the European Central Bank (ECB), which is ultimately also a national
political matter 36). However, it must be considered that deciding on its internal

35 The recent appointment of Diederik Samsom as the Chef de Cabinet of Frans Timmermans seems to deviate
from this due to a thematic profile of the Chef de Cabinet having being chosen.
36

The independence of executive and administrative organisations is concerned only within the margins of
the study. Dynamic environments can lead to a political clash of margins. At that point the independence
– of the Commission President or the ECB as well – is reached.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

organisation is at the discretion of the President of the Commission (see Article 17(6) of
the Treaty on European Union).

The interinstitutional balance: towards transgovernmentalism?
The interinstitutional balance is about the division of powers among the Member
States (the Council) and the other European institutions. Box 3.1 gives a summary of
a few shifts of balance. On the one hand, the interinstitutional balance is always in
motion: the European Parliament has grown from a ‘Mickey Mouse parliament’37 to
become a co-legislator, but the tasks of the Commission have expanded as well, and
the weight of the President of the Commission has grown. The interinstitutional balance
is established in part in the decision-making procedure, with constant changes to ‘the’
Community method (resulting in the ‘usual’ legislative procedure). The balance of power
has shifted informally as well, such as because the Commission formally has the right
of initiative, while it, with its initiatives, meets demands from outside. It can be argued
that the interinstitutional balance has shifted towards ‘Brussels’. Where the Commission
initially did not need to take account of the EP and therefore could focus on the Council,
today, such as in the run-up to a new Commission, that is unthinkable. The relationship
between the EP and Commission has, with shared institutional interests, grown
considerably.
Because of the increasing heterogeneity among Member States, the balance of power
has shifted away from the Member States, creating more differences of opinion and
increasing coordination costs, and the role of the Commission as a mediator has grown.
In addition, the Commission and the EP have developed an edge – perhaps even a
significant one – in policy expertise. It is difficult for Member States to estimate the
revenue and expense of new EU policy. A national civil servant explained that while they
do have some in-house expertise, the reports of 60 pages or more come from Brussels.
This raises the question of what position the Member States want to maintain in the
interinstitutional balance.
On the other hand, there are some constants in the interinstitutional balance.
Member States generally know quite well which tasks they do and do not want to
relinquish. For instance, the EU is still largely based on legislation because financial
transfers are difficult to explain. In addition, the transfer of sovereignty in scores
of areas, from the organisation of the welfare state to security and border control
remains intergovernmental – as it is called.

37

Priestley 2008; Schout 2018.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

From intergovernmentalism to transgovernmentalism
In short, tensions have remained between supranational and intergovernmental
administration. Nevertheless, the difference between supranational and inter­
governmental is outdated. ‘Intergovernmental’ is often not classically intergovernmental.
Because of distrust of the Commission or the unwillingness to give up any further
sovereignty, Member States organise tasks in separate structures. The European Central
Bank (ECB) is in charge of banking supervision. The European Stability Mechanism
(ESM), a separate body in Luxembourg under the supervision of the Member States, is
in charge of the emergency fund for the euro. The new European Labour Authority is a
partnership among Member States. Separate structures have been created outside the
European Commission for defence and foreign policy as well. With its own structures,
buildings, decision-making procedures and leadership, this development goes beyond
intergovernmentalism. Moreover, the Commission is often still involved, for example as a
legislator (the ESM was founded under European law). European cooperation amounts
to more than the choice between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism.
The Commission is against the establishment of cooperation outside the Commission
and advocates the safeguarding of the unity of European institutions. For instance, in
relation to the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the Commission warns against
‘decisions from the past’ that harm the complexity and effectiveness of the EMU and
which are ‘complex and impenetrable’ for citizens.38 The Commission continues – against
the wishes of some Member States – to hold on to traditional Community cooperation.
In sensitive areas for the Member States, there is apparently the willingness to
institutionalise cooperation, but not via the European Commission. This also raises
questions about the integrative leadership style of the Commission (see below).
Transgovernmentalism is a new concept. The question is whether the Netherlands wants
transgovernmentalism to be a cornerstone of European integration/cooperation, in
addition to ‘federalism’ (in the form of centralisation) and pure intergovernmentalism.
It constitutes a rift with the mission of Commission as the protector of European
interests or the interests of the smaller Member States.
Has the balance of power shifted towards ‘Brussels’? Yes, in some areas (such as the
internal market, appointments of top positions); but not in all areas (e.g. EMU, defence,
taxes). Box 3.1 does show that the developments in the European institutions have gone
more quickly, while the Council and the Member States have been damaged as well.
Judging by instinct, it seems that, all things considered, life has been made more difficult
for the Member States in the interinstitutional balance (see also Box 4.1 below about the
politicisation of the Commission).

38 COM(2017)291 p. 17.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Box 3.1

Risers and fallers in the interinstitutional balance
↑

↓

Commission

– Increase in policy areas and
– Enlargement of the College through
qualified majority decisions
expansion
– Increase in non-legal policy tasks
such as monitoring welfare states
via the Semester
– Central power of expertise
– Increased legitimacy by
increase in the importance of
EP elections (lead candidates
(Spitzenkandidaten) apparently also
have a large indirect influence on
nomination, with three executive
Vice-Presidents from the big
political families in addition to
the President.
– Increased legitimacy because of
the Strategic Agenda
– Close ties with the EP
– Apparently closely tied to the
French-German axis
– Each period of European
integration presents new
challenges the Commission
must respond to: from economic
supervision (euro crisis) to
today’s search for answers
to external uncertainties and
sustainable development

Council of
Ministers

– Only Council that has become
stronger: ECOFIN

European
Council

– Control over strategic agenda
(for what it’s worth, given
the limited size and many
compromises)
– Ultimate problem solver

25

– European Council has become an
agenda setter and solver of great
political differences
– Increased shared position with
the EP

The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

↑

↓

European
Parliament:

– Expansion of policy areas
– Increase in qualified majority
decisions
– Political influence via
Spitzenkandidaten procedure or
(such as with Von der Leyen) by
negotiating political appointments
in the College (balance between
Christian Democrats, Social
Democrats and Liberals: Von der
Leyen/Dombrovskis, Timmermans,
Vestager)
– Strong internal political
organisation, support, planning
and, fairly homogeneous, pro-EU.
The EP has considerable power of
expertise in comparison with the
Member States
– Close ties with the Commission
– Power to delay legislation
– Seems to win every battle in the
long term (from debate group to
co-legislator)

Member
States
(­general)

– New policy areas outside
the Commission (and EP):
transgovernmentalism
– Long tradition of blocking dossiers
containing transfers and transfer of
sovereignty
– Depending on the period of time:
the French-German axis
– Member States have lost freedom
to set policy because of detailed
legislation with highly harmonised
standards

26

– Differences between Member
States have grown and intensified
– Handicapped by weaknesses in
Member States in all stages of
the policy process
– Depending on the period of time:
the French-German axis
– Lead candidates (Spitzenkandidaten
process) make it impossible
for countries from which a lead
candidate hails to put forward
a Commissioner of their own

4	Assessment framework:
In search of balance in
leadership
A number of critical cases39 give us points of reference for discussing ‘Juncker’, although
it should be acknowledged that every Commission President has an impossible job40.
Juncker has proved that he fully supported the EU and was not afraid of sticking out
his neck. The background study into the critical cases leads to the hypothesis that
Juncker’s ambitions ran up against the Council. This conclusion is largely in line with
the development of European integration over the past 60 years.41 Where ambitious
proposals concern the relinquishment of actual sovereignty, transfers or institutional
discussions, the cooperation of the Council falters. Juncker did, incidentally, seem
successful in similarly sensitive areas, such as, from all appearances, the multiannual
financial framework, where the Commission made integrative proposals (the golden
mean). An assessment of Juncker therefore points in the direction of a discussion on
‘leadership style’.
Leadership styles can be grouped together into various characterisations.
One classification draws the following distinction: 42
– Visionary leadership (or transformational leadership) is aimed at changing objectives
and values. This is not about finding an average outcome between interests or the
lowest possible outcome. This concerns the leadership that seeks new objectives
on the basis of long-term visions that aim to help actors extract themselves from
existing situations. This is about the transformation of values and expectations.
The ambition is the objective.

39 The request by the House of Representatives to focus extra attention on the Juncker period raises the
question of how – from what perspective or theory – to look back on it? To find an approach, a list was
made on the basis of discussions with experts and information in the media of 25 initiatives by the Juncker
Commission in the categories of ‘ambitious’ and ‘sensitive’ (see Appendix II). The background research can
therefore be seen as a move towards a study of critical cases.
40 https://www.europeansources.info/record/an-impossible-job-the-presidents-of-the-europeancommission-1958-2014/
41

Compare Dinan 2004.

42

Schout and Vanhoonacker 2006.

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–

–

Integrative leadership (or group-oriented leadership) revolves round the honest
broker who operates on the assumption of existing interests in the group and to
create an atmosphere of trust so that the group process runs smoothly. The objective
is an outcome; the process is the means.
Task-oriented leadership (or functional leadership) revolves round fulfilling functions
that are needed in the group process: planning meetings, ensuring that analyses are
ready, seeing to it that people stick to the agreements, that a technical Presidency is
effective, etc.

These leadership styles are complementary. Visionary leadership benefits much from
a pleasant atmosphere and a functional – professional – approach. Task-oriented
leadership, just like integrative leadership, benefits from a certain degree of ambition so
that actors feel like they are doing something useful.
Seen from the perspective of discussions of European leadership, there is a paradox to
the Presidency of the Commission as laid down in the Treaty (‘engine of integration’).
The rotating presidency of the Council is expected to act as an honest broker because,
otherwise, the Member States will dig their heels in. On the other hand, the Commission
is expected to show visionary leadership, while it needs to get the same Member States
on board. It should naturally be considered that the challenges with a great deal of
pressure call for a more coercive approach than a situation where time and political
expectations play less of a role.

From High Authority to European Commission. From ambition to
pragmatic cooperation
The contours of the European Union, and the role of the Commission therein, were
impossible to define in advance. A variety of integration and cooperation projects,
including the Benelux, ultimately gave birth, after the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) in 1952, to the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom
in 1958. The ambitious French plan of a political union (then: European Defence
Community) ran aground on the Netherlands and ultimately the unwillingness of France
itself. From the beginning, there were conflicts large and small between the ambitions
(political union) of integration versus more pragmatic integration on the basis of
cooperation and added economic value. What is important in view of leadership style
and ambition is that pragmatism won out and led to the European Community with
a strong economic leaning. In other words: overly great ambitions lost. The language,
however, remained unabatedly ambitious, with terms such as the ‘ever closer union’
and ‘integration’.

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Taking nothing away from the importance of peace and stability in the years after the
war, strong national interests also played a role. Although less alluring, power factors
were also at play behind integration as a peace project. Each country had specific
survival reasons for taking part in European integration (Milward 1992; Anderson 2011).
The Netherlands did not want to be excluded and did not want Belgium – emerging from
the war less battered in any case – to move into a more favourable position between
Germany and France. At the same time, the government feared it would be trapped in
a protectionist European block, contrary to its international orientation. France sought
to safeguard its geopolitical relevance. Italy hoped to join in with the modern world.
And Germany sought recognition. Basically, the same discussions about European
narrative building are still alive 60 years later. Contrary to what the intervening years
seemed to suggest, there was not such a big step from De Gaulle to Macron or from
Luns to Rutte in certain areas. From the very beginning, the Commission needed to give
and take between interests, traditions, opportunities and fears of missing the boat.
That resistance is still alive and well today: visionary leadership clashes with interests.
There is a political explanation for this (countries have different objectives), but
resistance to deeper integration (including political integration) has also had a
functional basis: the need for deeper integration has apparently not been very
convincing. Proponents of deeper European integration have, with some regularity,
demonstrated the functional inevitability of deeper integration (‘war is coming’, ‘the
end is near’), but the apparent dangers later turned out to be not so grave after all
(just like the prospective benefits often turned out to be not as great because of mutual
differences and interests).
A common example from the initial years of a thorough approach was Commission
President Hallstein’s plan to switch to majority decisions for matters such as grain
prices. This led to the ‘empty chair crisis’: the French walked away from the conference
table even though they were President of the Council. Examples of over-large ambitions
that led to frustrations: Hallstein claimed to be a sort of European prime minister, Delors
called Europe a ‘federation’ and Barroso used the word ‘empire’. Although the euro was
introduced after the Maastricht Treaty in 1991 (with a detour by setting a date in the
distant political future: 1999), it did cause the necessary resistance after that, just like
the big bang enlargement of the EU in 2004.

Delors – visionary with the wind in his sails
The early years up to the mid-1960s were successful, with the establishment of the
customs union. Momentum was lost, however, in following twenty years. That changed
with the Single European Act (1986), which saw a broadening of qualified majority
decisions. The EU was therefore ready to take things to a deeper level – supported by

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the sentiment that Europe risked falling behind the developments in Asia (then: Japan)
and the US.
Delors had the wind in his sails and, with the political support of all Member States,
including the personal support of UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he was able to
exploit his talent for activism. Although he initially considered aiming for a social Europe
(also an old European ambition with – depending on who you ask – little progress) or
monetary integration, he went for feasibility and targeted the concept of the ‘internal
market’ with 1992 as the deadline. In these years of success, Germany and France
started the similarly successful Schengen project, which would further remove borders
between Member States. In addition, in the wake of the huge political success of the
internal market, the Maastricht Treaty signalled the start of monetary integration.
Four relevant conclusions can be drawn from these years:
– Big ambitions are possible, provided that the underlying objective is shared.
– Delors overloaded the Commission as an organisation. Regular testing of
administrative capacities in relation to pursued ambitions is vital to an organisation.
– There was little consideration for administrative requirements in and among the
Member States (networks). A dose of naivety also played a role. With the euro, it
was assumed that Member States would converge on their own via e.g. the market
mechanism and interest rates.
– The projects commenced during this period had a large – partly unforeseen, partly
consciously underestimated – impact. The free movement of people had an effect
on internal and external migration flows. The internal market, the liberalisation
of inflows of capital and the introduction of the euro contributed to the mutual
interweaving that characterised the euro crisis. There was a lack of cold thinking
over hot issues at crucial moments. Did the engine of integration make a gaffe here?
And were Parliaments unable to fully control the power of the engine?
As a visionary leader, Delors was effective in the internal market but was blind to
functional leadership (the trade of any management). As the Guardian of Treaties and
supervisory body, the Commission ought to be much more concerned with the practical
feasibility of policy and the conditions for its effectiveness. Overly large steps forward
were often taken after that, with similar results.

From Santer via Prodi to Barroso: Organisational development and
professionalisation
Because of the ups and downs of his predecessor, Commission President Jacques
Santer (President from 1995 to 1999) needed to bring peace and reform the
organisation. Santer’s motto was ‘doing less, but doing better’. Although his Commission
resigned over the consequences of the overstrained Commission, Santer did lay the

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basis for internal reforms in financial management and staff policy with programmes
such as SEM 2000, MAP 2000 and DECODE, which his successor Romano Prodi would
implement with the help of Commissioner Neil Kinnock. This period also saw a serious
start being made with decentralising tasks in European agencies.
The resignation of Commission Santer was a turning point in the history of the
Commission in its relationship with the EP. But the importance of good management
(‘input legitimacy’) came painfully into view as a condition for confidence in EU policy
(‘output legitimacy’). Kinnock’s reform plans were a move towards more bureaucracy
– but in a positive sense – by drawing up internal regulations and rules of procedure.
Just like under Santer, the focus was on functional leadership: getting the work
processes under control.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso (President from 2004 to 2014) continued
along the line of professionalisation and innovation – again with the motto of ‘less
but better’. Barroso made the most of the recent enlargement from 15 to 25 Member
States by admitting that managing the Commission was impossible without a certain
degree of centralisation of power and organisational streamlining. He strengthened the
Secretariat-General by placing the emphasis on ‘better regulation’ (read: underpinning
and planning). The planning of new policy and the quality of the proposals needed
to be approved by the SG, which gave the President of the Commission more control
over the policy agenda. In addition, he reformed the culture in the organisation by
placing a heavy emphasis on integrated work processes, by breaking down the walls
between DGs (‘fiefdoms’) and by pushing back national influences in the organisation,
such as by introducing rotation at the top of the Commission, reducing the Cabinets of
Commissioners and laying down rules for the number of Cabinet staff from the same
country as the Commissioner.
At the same time, Barroso recognised that it was an essential task for the Commission
to communicate its policy effectively to the 25 Member States and introduced a State of
the Union address, like in the USA. The lack of an activist policy agenda (partly because
of the cautious position that Barroso always took in relation to the positions of the
Member States) combined with the organisational professionalisation and control over
the organisation epitomise the two Barroso Commissions. In spite of the structuring of
the organisation, however, Barroso was apparently fond of informal relationships himself
(also mentioned: his ‘Mediterranean’ way of working). Every historiography remains an
issue of weighing up balances.
Barroso’s leadership style can best be typified as functionalist: the organisation became
more professional. It is said that he lacked visionary leadership because there was no
consistency to the Commission proposals. Juncker’s motto (big on big, small on small)
is therefore also a criticism on Barroso. This underscores the importance of thinking

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carefully about the political ambition: lack of vision is not good either. But the response
of big on big under Juncker was probably not so successful either.

Juncker: back to a political Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker (President from 2014 to 2019) was known for his vision, with
much talk of a deepening of European integration at the heart of his Presidency.
He also proclaimed himself a leader of a ‘very’ political Commission and presented
his Commission as a ‘last chance Commission’ that would bring added value to the
people of Europe. The Council demanded focus and imposed on him the motto of ‘big
on big, small on small’ mentioned above. His character and European experience, but
also his legitimacy as a Spitzenkandidat and the existing Strategic Agenda created high
expectations. With ‘big on big’, the Juncker Commission also tried to listen carefully to
the concerns and wishes of the Member States. This is also shown by the off-the-record
interviews and can be seen in the attention to consultations in the impact assessments.
Under Juncker, the professionalisation that took place under Barroso was cast partly
in a different light, or simply got stuck. Various off-the-record interviews openly show
that the Commission President and his Chef de Cabinet and later Secretary-General,
Martin Selmayr, had a great effect on policy proposals, which interfered with the
gatekeeping of the Secretariat-General. The politicisation of the Commission under
Juncker (see Box 4.1) can undo years of building on the functional reliability of the
Commission.
The political profile of the Commission also led to questions about the care taken with
impact assessments and ex-post evaluations. The Netherlands has argued, such as via
ministers Timmermans and Kamp, together with other Member States, for decentralising
quality assurance (compare also the positioning of the Advisory Assessment Board
on Regulatory Burden (ART) in the Netherlands).43 In addition, the European Court of
Auditors could be expanded in view of ex-post evaluations.
Juncker adopted a visionary leadership style. This led in the big issues to increased
tensions between the Member States (with e.g. Eastern Europe about the rule of law and
the environment, and with the northern countries about the EMU). Juncker’s ambitions
were partly blocked by the Member States. The Member States started to draw a line.
Whether justified or not, small Member States felt Juncker was less concerned with
them than with France and Germany.

43 Index card: Announcement of programme for healthy and results-orientated legislation (REFIT): state of
affairs and outlook, Parliamentary document, 11-09-2014, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/
kst-22112-1896.html. Like minded paper on priorities in the area of better regulation, 1 April 2015.

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An initial analysis of the results (Appendix III) shows that Juncker was successful in
many areas, such as with ‘small on small’, but that Juncker clashed with the Member
States in the area of visionary proposals. Three meta-themes can be distilled from
the Appendix which, again, have led to tensions between the Member States and the
Commission. Member States oppose proposals that concern 1) solidarity (sharing
expenses and risks, relocation of refugees), 2) deeper integration where sovereignty
is at stake (such as taxes, the EMU, asylum and migration, and common foreign and
security policy) and 3) institutional reforms or discussions about them (discussions
about ‘the future of the EU’ and about the broadening of qualified majority decisions).
This resistance has a long history with similar outcomes. The golden mean sought by
Juncker for the multiannual budget seems to have been more successful.
Visionary leadership creates opposition. This is why the rotating presidency was mainly
expected to play the role of an honest broker, because no compromises could be
reached otherwise. The expectations of leadership are low for the rotating presidency
but high for the Commission, while it is ultimately also important for the Commission
to reach compromises. The Council itself is to blame for the high ambitions of the
Commission: the Strategic Agenda tends towards wonderful prospects that the
Council subsequently does not approve once the initiatives have been put on the table
(see Box 4.2: Vagueness in the Strategic Agenda).

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Box 4.1
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

Several elements of politicisation under Juncker

Spitzenkandidaten system
Ambitious, ambiguous Strategic Agenda from the perspective of the Council
Juncker’s political character, including years of involvement in deepening
the EMU
Direction from the Cabinet (in a political sense) rather than via the
Secretariat-General
More reliance on consultations in the impact assessments
Big-on-big perspective creates a high level of ambition in areas such as
the EMU and border control
Building on a more political manner of supervision

Box 4.2

Vagueness in the Strategic Agenda

The European Council conclusions of 27 June 2014 provided the five priorities of
the Strategic Agenda. Commission President Juncker then translated these into
his own ten priorities. One of the priorities of the European Council concerns the
sensitive EMU, which was quite in the making at the time. This concerns a total
of 46 words. These clearly show the compromises between north (resilience,
convergence) and south (growth, solidarity). In addition, it contains words that
few can quibble over, such as ‘stronger’, ‘transparency’ and ‘openness’.
‘make the Economic and Monetary Union a more solid and resilient factor
of stability and growth: with stronger euro area governance and stronger
economic policy coordination, convergence and solidarity, while respecting
the integrity of the internal market and preserving transparency and openness
towards non-euro EU countries.’ 44

44 http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f= ST%2079%202014%20INIT.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Box 4.3

An ambition of the Commission: ‘executive power’

The degree to which the Commission is a government with ministries is a
recurring subject in institutional discussions. This is also evident from the
words of several former Commission Presidents and in comparisons with
the United States (with e.g. a State of the Union address and an executive).
It is the ambition of the Commission to be the executive power. This can
also be seen on the walls of the Commission, such as in German in the
Charlemagne building in Brussels: die Exekutive. However, the executive power
is divided between Member States, EU institutions and, increasingly, also
transgovernmental institutions.
The question is also whether the Commission should want to be ‘the’ executive
power. The idea of the Commission as the executive power implies a major shift
in the interinstitutional balance with a large role for the EP and a small role for
the Member States. It also underscores the sensitivity of the Commission in the
trend towards intergovernmentalism.

Photo: Adriaan Schout, January 2018.

35

5	Trends, problem areas
and balances
The European Commission is pivotal in European policy processes, from policy initiation
to enforcement and ex-post evaluations of policy. However, this role reaches farther.
Because of its central position, the Commission has a significant advantage over
most – if not all – Member States in knowledge and expertise. It also has a substantial
apparatus of 32,000 civil servants concentrating on EU policy, while national ministries
usually handle current EU affairs alongside their national tasks. The Commission is in
many aspects also superior to the Member States when it comes to policy processes
in the form of integrated impact assessments, ex-post evaluations and planning
policy processes. Its central position and superiority create obligations in terms of
political control. The question raised by this study is whether the functions and tasks
of the Commission are properly embedded to make the procedures work as well, so
that quality, transparency and control are guaranteed. Doubt about this leads to the
impression that this public organisation uses its information position strategically to
define, underpin and evaluate policy objectives.
Several main themes can be identified in the discussion about the development and
functioning of the Commission:
1) The Commission is ambitious, partly owing to the Treaties but also through pressure
from Brussels and from the Member States. The Commission, supported by the
European Parliament, has high ambitions, and the Member States give legitimacy
to its ambitions, such as via all sorts of requests and via the ambiguous Strategic
Agenda. However, the Member States tend towards blocking those ambitions when
it comes to actual proposals. For sixty years now, great European ambitions have
been running aground on the wishes of the Member States (as a collective) to be
cautious with solidarity, financial obligations and the transfer of sovereignty.
This raises questions about the balance between the level of ambition of the
Commission and support for its ambitions.
2) Tied to ambition, the tendency towards the visionary leadership style of Commission
Presidents only goes so far in the European context, which is characterised by
conflicts of interest and weak governments.
Discussion is advisable about the balance between visionary leadership (focused on
change), group-oriented leadership (placing the emphasis on finding compromises)

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and functional leadership (the professional, transparent and reliable execution of
tasks).
3) Organisations count. The organisation of the Commission, the qualities of the
Member States, the importance of well-functioning networks, the decisions for
decentralising tasks, etc. define the input and output legitimacy of the Commission.
In addition, it can be seen that external management is inadequate in relation to the
weaknesses of the Member States and poorly developed networks. Weak Member
States lead to integration by default: the EU must jump in where Member States fail.
Discussion is advisable about the balance between the policy task of the engine of
integration and the management task that also belongs to the engine of integration
in order to guarantee that the policy is realistic in relation to the quality of the public
administration in the Member States.
4) The organisation of policy processes in the Commission is generally good. The
elements are there, but cohesion and direction could use some work. Box 2.2
illustrates the steps in the policy-making process. This shows that there are
technical/technocratic policy tasks that demand independence and tasks that
concern political considerations.
The debate about decentralising tasks has been going on for decades now.
Discussion is needed about the possible shedding tasks with a view to things such
as reliability and contamination, but also in view of the total size of the Commission
as an organisation and the concentration on Brussels as its home (‘capital of
Europe’). The balance between inside and outside may need to be reassessed. The
report discusses a number of tasks, but the examples are certainly not exhaustive.
If impact assessment controls and if ex-post evaluations are decentralised (such as
by an external impact assessment review agency or by giving the European Court of
Auditors more powers and resources in connection with the use of the network of
national courts of auditors), confidence in the quality of documentation and ex-post
evaluations will probably increase and the doubt hinted at in many of the off-therecord interviews will have less of a basis.
5) The focus on policy-making and political choices has diverted attention from
underpinning and evaluating policy and mapping out the effects. In addition to
pressing effects of e.g. the elimination of internal borders, expansions and the euro,
we see that the free market tends towards more harmonisation with higher levels
of protection and thus less freedom to set policy. More can be expected of the
engine of integration in terms of making the effects more explicit, watching trends
and formulating the requirements for public administration. The most unexpected
effects of e.g. the EMU or of the lack of clarity in the Lisbon Treaty which led to

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the Spitzenkandidaten process, with a subsequent revival of the discussion about
transnational lists, underscore that more should also be expected of the Member
States in thinking about the effects. This can paint a picture of conscious half-way
measures that ultimately force further integration.
In addition to conditions for effective policy in terms of the required capacities, it
seems that more thought should be given to scenarios around effects.
6) The structuring of the College tend towards administrative pressure (including Chefs
de Cabinet, the number and type of Vice-Presidents and overlapping hierarchies,
and a Secretary-General). This raises the question whether there is a growing
hierarchy among Commissioners, Vice-President and a core College (President
and the ‘executive’ Vice-Presidents). In addition, the EP recently seems to have
gained more influence by colouring in the core College with three executive VicePresidents, which will have an effect on the independence of the Commission
(the EP need not be seen as the sole representative of ‘the’ European interest).
The balance at the top needs to be looked at and elucidated.
7) Special attention is needed within the College for the President and for the
Secretariat-General. A tacit process is under way to make the College ‘smaller’.
This is happening not by reducing the number of Commissioners but by creating
a hierarchy where the President has obviously become less of a primus inter pares
and there is a tendency towards ‘super Commissioners’. In addition to the legal
question about the desirability of the trend away from a College of equals, one
might also discuss access to decision-making: is that – in practice – still the same
for each Commissioner? Another question here is how serious is the problem of the
effectiveness of a larger College – and whether a strong Secretariat-General might
not solve many coordination problems, including keeping a watch on the priorities.
8) One can see that the role of the Secretariat-General is a recurring theme. In the
administrative pressure at the top, and in relation to effective coordination among
Commissioners, attention is also required for the shifting contours of the SecretariatGeneral. Chefs de Cabinet, Vice-Presidents and executive Vice-Presidents and
an inspired President can impair the reliability of the Commission. The Secretariat
seems to be the ultimate place where bureaucracy in a positive sense is embedded
in terms of agenda management, careful procedures and transparency.
One could consider a model where the President, supported by the SecretariatGeneral, presides over the entire College as a primus inter pares, with one of
his tasks being to ensure that the Secretariat-General can oversee the policy
processes. This is apart from the fact that certain tasks of the Secretariat could
be decentralised.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

9) The Community method is shifting towards transgovernmentalism in areas where
Member States guard against transfers and are concerned about sovereignty (and
national accountability). The Commission also has important roles to play in this
respect, but less than with the Community method. Transgovernmentalism shows
that Member States are moving forward with the ever closer union in sensitive areas
as well but that they do not trust the Commission being in control here.
Discussion is needed with the Commission about whether transgovernmentalism can
be a lasting cooperation method, and in which policy areas.
10) In spite of a certain shift towards transgovernmentalism, the question is still what
will remain the position of the Member States if the Commission and the EP obtain
an even greater advantage in the area of knowledge and expertise. This advantage
also contributes to integration by default. If the Member States do not invest enough
in their European policy control, the significance of ‘Brussels’ will grow naturally.
In this light, the growing ties between EP and Commission must also be considered,
because in recent years the EP has also invested in policy support – such as by
writing reports and reviewing Commission assessments. The position of the Member
States in the interinstitutional balance is not guaranteed.
It would be interesting to hear how Member States and the Commission view this
possible shift in the balance of power as a result of the knowledge needed to take
part effectively in European policy processes.

Final considerations
1) These points raise the question of whether the balances are right between:
– Ambitions, leadership styles and organisational capacities,
– Internal management of the Commission and its external management role,
– Politicisation and the technocratic tasks of underpinning supervision,
– Presidentialisation and the character of a College where all Commissioners are
equal,
– Supranational and transgovernmental cooperation: integration and cooperation,
– Harmonisation with as much room as possible for national freedom to set policy,
– Power, the spread of power and shared power,
– Information and giving meaning.
2) A balance is not a compromise; instead, it suggests ‘the best of both’ (differentiation
and integration).45 In short, it’s not about finding a happy medium but, rather,

45 See Lawrence and Lorsch 1967.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

combining good reasons and good political considerations, and good internal
management and good external management, etc.
3) Organisational studies teaches us that large organisations want to control their
environment (getting external uncertainties under control).46 An organisation with
superior information, with possibly more than the average ambition in respect
of goals, with good networks and with good external communications, including
attempts to narrative building, can tend towards a lack of openness, such as in the
form of tunnel vision towards the relevant goals and staying open to alternative
developments. The introduction of the euro is one example, just like the recurring
reformation debates that take place in Brussels, which are mainly about deepening
integration. Wanting to have control over everything seems to belong to this lack
of openness. A large organisation can try to create its own realities. This is another
reason why discussion about the separation of tasks is advisable.
This may also play a role in the approach to Brexit. Brexit has pushed the
Commission to start talking about deepening European integration (on 30 March
2019; a symbolic day to take action after the departure of the unwilling British).
This ultimately led to the European summit getting bogged down in Sibiu, Romania,
where government leaders once again watered down efforts to deepen integration
(the British apparently were not the only ones to obstruct the subject of reforms).
However, the Commission has done little to connect the opposition of the British to
integration to the discord that can be seen in other countries47 and continues in the
meantime to go for deepened integration.48 Nevertheless, the above analysis shows
that not only the British need to come up with proposals for change. The necessary
things also need to be discussed in the EU: the degree of harmonisation and the
decline in the freedom of setting policy, the shift in the interinstitutional balance,
the rise of transgovernmentalism, alternative forms of the ever closer union, the
presidentialisation of the Commission, separation of tasks, etc. Whether the course
of the Brexit would have been any different if these subjects had been seriously
placed on the agenda is something to be discussed another time. But it is a fact that
the relationship with the UK after a possible Brexit will leave a lasting impression
in areas such as recognition of alternative forms of European cooperation and
harmonisation so that a possible reform agenda of the Commission remains relevant
in this respect as well.

46 Aldrich 1979.
47

See for example: Speech by Michel Barnier at the College of Europe in Natolin, ‘Europe after Brexit’,
29 March 2019.

48 Bogaers and Cuyvers 2019.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

4) Each country watches the nominations for top positions in the European Commission
closely and has a certain influence on the appointments. It could be considered to, in
cooperation with countries with a like-minded European vision, to not only count the
number of civil servants from the Netherland and similar countries, but also watch
the European profile that is nurtured by candidates.
5) The Treaties ought to give more clarity, such as on the objectives and the position of
the Commission as an engine of integration, or by clarifying that closer ties among
the Member States of Europe can also be achieved via transgovernmentalism.
Ambiguities, however, will always remain in the function and task descriptions and in
the objectives. The choices around the balances therefore call above all for political
supervision – also by the national parliaments.

41

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46

Annex I: Functions and
ambiguities
Function

Brief discussion

Setting annual and multiannual agendas.
The ­Commission has taken the first step towards
annual and multiannual programming.

The growing influence of the EP (among others on
the appointment of the Commission President and
via the practice that has been introduced of a presentation of the targeted work planning for approval
of the President) and the introduction, in 2014, of
a Strategic Agenda set by the European Council, has meant that the multiannual agenda was
greatly influenced by the EP and Member States.
An important politicisation (in comparison with
the independence of the Commission President to
define the interest of the EU himself) has therefore
been given via the planning. Studies show that the
Commission’s civil servants feel sustained by the
renewed legitimacy Spitzenkandidaten procedure
and Strategic Agenda has afforded them.49

Right of initiative. In the legislative process,
the Commission should be seen as a neutral actor
that serves the European interest. The Commission
does not have the power to legislate in the area of
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The Netherlands supported the right of initiative of
the Commission for a long time because the Commission was seen as the protector of EU interests
and therefore formed a certain shield against the
influence of the large countries.
In practice, the Commission emphasises that only
a small part of the proposals are its own initiatives
because requests often come from the Council,
European Council (such as in the form of Conclusions), European Parliament, rotating presidency
and other parties. In this respect, the Commission
operates as a mediator between the different
interests and also mobilises parties to support bills
(there can be a conflict between the roles of mediator and independent initiator, see Nugent 2015).

49 Research briefing 2: ‘The “political Commission” and the “new ways of working”. The views of European
Commission staff’, H. Kassim (2019). https://www.uea.ac.uk/political-social-international-studies/
research/the-juncker-commission/briefings.

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Function

Brief discussion

The Commission serves as an engine of integration.
The Commission promotes the general interest of
the Union, taking appropriate initiatives to that end.

The function of an engine of integration may clash
in practice with the roles that it plays in the legislative process as mediator between, and mobiliser of,
the interests. The words of the Treaty therefore open
the door for visionary leadership.
The general interest of the EU is difficult to define
and, moreover, the ‘engine’ and ‘integration’ indicate a level of ambition that need not correspond
everywhere with the general interest as experienced
in the Member States.

Budget management. The Commission proposes
the annual and multiannual budgets and implements the budget and manages the programmes.

Lessons from the past stimulate the C
­ ommission
to find a happy medium between increases,
­decreases, established interests and innovations.

Supervision. In conjunction with the control of
the Court of Justice of the European Union, the
Commission supervises application of the law of
the Union.

The Commission is dependent on the Member
States and their capacities to ensure transposition
and primary supervision. The Commission and
the Court are faced with capacity problems for
the proper monitoring of the Member States and
initiating procedures. This combination opens the
way to many problem areas in implementation,
monitoring and enforcement. In addition, a hard
approach fosters distrust between the Commission
and Member States, while they must have
a relationship of trust in scores of other tasks.
It is also the question whether a hard approach
serves the ‘European’ interests, given the political
opposition and erosion of support among the
population.

External representative. The Commission is responsible for the external representation of the Union,
except where common foreign and security policy
are concerned and in the other cases set out in the
Treaties.

Complications can arise from the relationship
with other actors such as the role of the full-time
President of the Council, rotating Presidency
and the emancipated action of closely involved
Member States.

Manager. Under certain conditions laid down in the
Treaties, the Commission carries out coordinating,
executive and management tasks.

The question is whether sufficient consideration has
been given to the administrative capacities in the
Commission, the Member States and the networks
in between.

Competences of the European Union (tasks)
The EU has only those competences that have been conferred on the basis of the
Treaties (principle of conferral). Under this principle, the Union may act only within the
limits of the competences conferred upon it by the Member States in the Treaties to
attain the objectives set out therein. Competences not conferred upon the Union in the
Treaties remain with the Member States. The catalogue of competences introduced by

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the Lisbon Treaty in Articles 2-6 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
means that the Union has exclusive, shared or supporting competences, as further
elaborated in separate parts of the Treaty.
Exclusive competences (Article 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU): areas where only the EU may legislate and adopt legally binding acts.
Member States may only act if the EU confers on them the power to implement this
legislation. The Union has exclusive competence in the following areas:
– customs union; see also Article 32 of the Treaty where the Commission endeavours
‘to avoid serious disturbances in the economies of Member States.’
– establishing the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal
market; see also Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty.
– monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro;
– conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy;
– common commercial policy;
– the conclusion of international agreements under certain conditions.
Shared competences (Article 4 of the TFEU): both the EU and the Member States may
legislate and adopt legally binding acts. The Member States may, however, only exercise
their competence in so far as the EU has not exercised its competence or has decided
not to do so. Shared competence between the EU and the Member States applies in
the following principal areas:
– internal market; see also Article 26(3): ‘The Council, on a proposal from the
Commission, shall determine the guidelines and conditions necessary to ensure
balanced progress in all the sectors concerned.’
– social policy, for the aspects defined in the Treaty;
– economic, social and territorial cohesion (regional policy);
– agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological resources;
see also Article 43 of the Treaty.
– environment;
– consumer protection;
– transport;
– trans-European networks;
– energy;
– area of freedom, security and justice;
– common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined in the
Treaty;
– research, technological development and space;
– development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
Supporting competences (Article 6 of the TFEU): the Union may only carry out actions
to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States. Legally binding
acts of the Union are only permitted if they do not require the harmonisation of Member

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States’ laws or regulations. Supporting competences apply to policy in the following
areas:
– protection and improvement of human health;
– industry;
– culture;
– tourism;
– education, vocational training, youth and sport;
– civil protection;
– administrative cooperation.

Special competences
The EU can take measures to ensure that the Member States coordinate their economic
policy, social policy and employment policy at European level.
The common foreign and security policy of the EU is characterised by specific
institutional features, such as the limited participation of the European Commission and
the European Parliament in the decision-making process and the exclusion of legislative
activities. This policy is laid down and conducted by the European Council (consisting of
the heads of state and government leaders of the Member States) and by the Council of
the European Union (consisting of a representative of each Member State at ministerial
level). The President of the European Council and the EU High Representative for foreign
and security policy represent the EU in matters of general foreign and security policy.

Exercise of competences
The exercise of EU competences is subject to two fundamental principles that are laid
down in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union:
– proportionality: the content and form of Union action must not exceed what is
necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties;
– Subsidiarity: in areas that do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union
may act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be
sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather be better achieved at
Union level.

50

Annex II: Juncker Commission
– Empirical results of success,
partial successes and failures
Successes
The Juncker Commission enjoyed some success in tabling ambitious projects and
finding the political will for adoption among the Member States. Success can be
ascribed, e.g., to the Juncker Commission’s efforts at cutting down on unnecessary
regulation (“small on small”) ,creating a legislative framework for the Digital Single
Market, and EFSI.
The Juncker Commission’s mantra of “big on big” was complemented with the adage
“small on small.” The concept of “small on small” entailed leaving policy areas where the
Commission concluded that the EU could not deliver significant added value largely up
to the Member States. Overall, the Commission was remarkably successful in reducing
the number of proposals it tabled as compared to its recent predecessors.50
In legislative terms, the Commission’s Digital Single Market legislative framework
can also be described as a success, with 28 out of 30 initiatives “politically agreed
or finalised” according to the Commission, among them ambitious initiatives such
as the controversial Copyright Directive (adopted against the votes of Italy, Finland,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden), regulation of roaming charges,
geo-blocking, Wifi4EU, and the General Data Protection Regulation. Proposals yet to be
adopted concern “e-Privacy” and the “European Cybersecurity Network,” both of which
are currently being considered in the Council.51 Although a number of the adopted
proposals, the GDPR included, have undeniably made a tangible impact on the Digital
Single Market, their success comes with some qualifications. For instance, the GDPR has
come under criticism for largely failing to change the way technology giants do business

50 “Legal Acts – Statistics,” EUR-lex, accessed August 22, 2019, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/statistics/2013/
legislative-acts-statistics.html; Agata Gosty ńska-Jakubowska, “Juncker’s Three Steps to Improve the
Standing of the Commission in the EU,” London: Centre for European Reform, 2015, accessed August 22,
2019, https://www.cer.eu/insights/junckers-three-steps-improve-commissions-standing-eu.
51

European Commission, “A Digital Single Market for the benefit of all Europeans,” Brussels: European
Commission, 2019, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/
euco-sibiu-a_digital_single_market.pdf.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

with data. The heads of Member States’ data protection agencies have characterized the
past year as a “transition year,” marked by relatively high tolerance, which they argue is
now changing.52 Substantial fines have since been issued against British Airways and
Marriott International. Regardless of the eventual impact of the Digital Single Market
legislation, the Juncker Commission advanced its ambitions by getting it adopted.
Finally, EFSI was deemed ambitious and can be regarded as successful. EFSI succeeded
in establishing an EU budgetary guarantee that was intended to attract € 315 billion in
strategic investments across Europe by mid-2018. EFSI was later extended (“EFSI 2.0”)
with the goal of reaching € 500 billion in investments by 2020. However, the estimates of
the amount of investment that EFSI can generate may well be overstated.53

Partial successes
Beyond these success stories, the Commission advanced some initiatives that were
partially successful. These included the European Pillar of Social Rights, Energy Union,
the EBCG, EISF, climate change policy, and the proposals for the 2021-2027 MFF.
In his 2014 political guidelines, Juncker promised that he would work towards a “social
Triple A-Rating” for the EU,54 an ambition that eventually made strident gains in the form
of the European Pillar of Social Rights. According to the Commission, as of August 2019,
24 out of the Commission’s 26 initiatives in this field had been “agreed upon”, including
ambitious and controversial proposals such as the European Labour Authority (which
depends on Member State cooperation and lacks enforcement powers) and revision
of the Posted Workers Directive,55 which triggered objections from 11 Member States

52

Nicholas Vinocur, “On GDPR anniversary, French privacy watchdog says penalties are looming,” Politico,
May 25, 2019, https://www.politico.eu/article/winter-is-coming-says-french-privacy-watchdog/.

53 European Court of Auditors, “European Fund for Strategic Investment: Action needed to make EFSI a full
success,” Brussels: European Court of Auditors, 2019, accessed August 1, 2019, https://www.eca.europa.
eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR19_03/SR_EFSI_EN.pdf.
54 Jean-Claude Juncker, “A New Start for Europe: My Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic
Change – Political Guidelines for the next European Commission,” Strasbourg: European Commission, 2014,
accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/juncker-politicalguidelines-speech_en.pdf.
55 The initiatives that the Commission counts include not only legislative proposals, but also, for instance,
legislative packages (e.g., “Clean energy for all Europeans”) and the social component of EFSI. See:
European Commission, “Social Priorities under the Juncker Commission,” Brussels: European Commission,
2019, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/social_
priorities_juncker_commission_en.pdf.

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parliaments but was nonetheless adopted.56 However, the Commission came up against
vehement Member State opposition to two key initiatives, one a proposal for revising
social security coordination, the other a communication calling for extending QMV
in social policy. Revision of social security coordination fell well short of the qualified
majority required for adoption, with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden opposed (with abstentions from
Malta, Hungary, and Poland). Member States had different reasons for their opposition;
for instance, Germany feared having to provide social security to a large number of
French workers who reside in France but commute to work in Germany, while the
Netherlands objected to the length of the period during which a worker could “export”
social security to another country.57 Member State opposition to moving to QMV in
social policy areas still governed by unanimity was built on similar misgivings. Overall,
the European Pillar of Social Rights has been quite successful, but the Commission
faltered when it came to reforming decision-making and advancing social security
coordination. Though there was not one coherent bloc of Member States opposed
to these initiatives, it is notable that opposition was more likely to come from central
European and northern Member States.
In April 2019, the Commission, as represented by Energy Union Vice President Maroš
Šefčovič and Climate Commissioner Arias Cañete, announced that the EU’s Energy
Union had become a “reality”. The statement referred to the adoption of key legislative
proposals, citing among others a new Emissions Trading System Directive, the “Clean
Energy for all Europeans” and “Low-Emission Mobility Strategy” legislative packages,
arguing that this had put the EU on a path to deliver on its 2030 emissions objective
and achieve greater energy security.58 While a majority of the 45 tabled Energy Union
legislative proposals have been adopted (35 proposals, or 77 %), 10 proposals of
the “Europe on the move and clean mobility package” are still awaiting adoption.
The mobility package (sometimes dubbed “Macron law”) is opposed especially by
peripheral Member States, like Bulgaria, who argue that the package’s rules would

56 Sofia Fernandes, “Posted Workers: How to Ensure a Fair Mobility,” Paris: Jacques Delors Institute, 2017,
accessed August 1, 2019, http://www.institutdelors.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/postedworkerstribune-fernandes-oct17.pdf?pdf= ok.
57

David M. Herszenhorn, “EU countries reject proposal on social security coordination,” Politico, March 29,
2019, https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-countries-reject-proposal-on-social-security-coordination/.
See also:
Wouter Koolmees, “Motie herziening coördinatieverordening sociale zekerheid (EU verordening 883/2004),”
Den Haag: Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 2019, accessed August 1, 2019,
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2019/03/25/kamerbrief-motie-herzieningcoordinatieverordening-sociale-zekerheid.

58 European Commission, “Fourth report on the State of the Energy Union,” Brussels: European Commission,
2019, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/fourth-reportstate-of-energy-union-april2019_en_0.pdf.

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disproportionally hurt their logistics businesses. For instance, the package entails
rules that would require truck drivers to return home more frequently, which poses a
problem for businesses located in peripheral Member States.59 Moreover, it is generally
questionable how the Energy Union translates into real gains in delivering “secure,
sustainable, competitive and affordable energy”. Serious doubts have been cast on the
claim that Energy Union has become a “reality”—not least because Commission officials
had previously explained that “you cannot say at some point in the future, this is the date
the Energy Union will be established […]. It is a process.” Furthermore, the latest report
on the state of the Energy Union abandoned key indicators that the Commission had
previously used to assess progress. Meanwhile, available data on energy dependence,
electricity interconnection, greenhouse gas emission and other variables indicates
that there has been little progress made since 2014.60 The question of added value
notwithstanding, the legislative framework is largely in place, rendering the Energy Union
a partial success.
In his 2015 State of the Union speech, Commission president Juncker called for
developing Frontex into a “fully operational” EBCG.61 Though the proposal is well on its
way to adoption and the Council agreed to a staff of 10,000 by 2027, the EBCG will not be
“fully operational” in the way originally intended by the Commission. Most importantly,
the proposal was altered to the effect that now the Council authorizes deployment of
the EBCG, not the Commission. Furthermore, the EBCG will depend on the cooperation
of the Member State EBCG agents are deployed to.62 Overall, questions remain about
the nature and scope of the EBCG’s tasks, or, in the words of one informed interviewee:
“What are these 10,000 people going to do?”. Especially southern and eastern Member
States with directly exposed external borders were opposed to the EBCG proposal.

59 Gergana Stancheva, “Bulgarian truck drivers to protest in Brussels against mobility package,” EURACTIV,
January 9, 2019, https://www.euractiv.com/section/transport/news/bulgarian-truck-drivers-to-protest-inbrussels-against-mobility-package/.
60 Peter Teffer, “EU’s claim Energy Union now a ‘reality’ not based on facts,” EUObserver, April 11, 2019,
https://euobserver.com/energy/144633. The fact that multiple Member States have failed to fully comply
with their responsibility to submit National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) to the Commission is another
strong indicator that the ambitions of the Energy Union are not shared by all Member States and that
the legislative framework has yet to produce durable results. See: Sam Morgan, “Seven EU nations miss
climate and energy plan deadline,” EURACTIV, January 11, 2019, https://www.euractiv.com/section/climatestrategy-2050/news/seven-eu-nations-miss-climate-and-energy-plan-deadline/.
61

Jean-Claude Juncker, “State of the Union 2015,” Strasbourg: European Commission, 2015, accessed
August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/state_of_the_union_2015_en.pdf.

62 Angeliki Dimitriadi, “The European border guard: New in name only,” European Council on Foreign Relations,
June 2, 2016, accessed August 1, 2019, https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_the_european_border_
guard_new_in_name_only_7035.

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Meanwhile, negotiations over the EISF were eclipsed by the debate about the
Eurozone budget, now tellingly renamed the Budgetary Instrument for Convergence
and Competitiveness (BICC), set to execute only a function for strengthening
convergence and competitiveness, instead of stabilisation in times of crisis.63 The
notion of stabilisation, common to the EISF and the early Eurozone budget proposals,
championed by France, quickly attracted hard opposition from fiscally conservative
Member States, most notably the New Hanseatic League and Germany. These Member
States fought against the stabilisation function, as they deemed the mechanism to
be an encouragement for fiscally irresponsible behaviour for which richer and more
conservative Member States would ultimately pay the bill. Consequently, EISF was
parked and the Eurozone budget whittled down in scope to a budgetary tool with
a mandate only for fostering convergence and competitiveness.64 Nevertheless, the
BICC—though it falls well short of the ambition behind the EISF and early Eurozone
budget proposals—marks a step towards deepening integration in EMU, rendering the
efforts partially successful.
The Juncker Commission pursued its climate change policy with mixed results.65
At the beginning of his term, Juncker explicitly tied his climate change policy to Energy
Union by making “a resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change
policy” one of his political priorities. As discussed above, the Energy Union has been
relatively successful legislatively, even while its benefits are not yet fully evident and the
implementation of policy remains incomplete. Though the Commission associates efforts
to improve sustainability through circular economy with its “New boost for jobs, growth
and investment”-priority, it is worth mentioning in the context of climate change policy
that the Commission has been quite successful in this regard.66 The Paris Agreement,
too, was adopted by the EU—and ratified by the Member States. However, commitment
to emissions reduction varies among Member States and the Commission. The Juncker
Commission, along with a number of north-western Member States, has been pushing

63 Francesco Guarascio, “EU to drop stabilisation as use for euro budget, keep convergence, competitiveness:
draft,” Reuters, December 12, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-future/eu-to-dropstabilization-as-use-for-euro-budget-keep-convergence-competitiveness-draft-idUSKBN1OB1TP.
64 Mehreen Khan, “Dutch step up pressure over Macron’s eurozone budget,” Financial Times, April 8, 2019,
https://www.ft.com/content/8fa3569c-58b4-11e9-9dde-7aedca0a081a.
65 It is important to note that climate change policy permeates much of the Commission’s work, including
agricultural policy, transportation policy, trade negotiations, and devising the MFF, among others.
Within the scope of this policy brief an assessment of all these activities is not possible. Instead, the focus
lies on climate change policy as pursued in the context of the Energy Union, as well as the Commission’s
efforts to advance ambitious emissions reduction goals.
66 European Commission, “Report from the commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
economic and social committee and the committee of the regions on the implementation of the Circular
Economy Action Plan,” Brussels: European Commission, 2019, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/
TXT/?qid=1551871195772&uri= CELEX:52019DC0190.

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for higher ambitions in line with the Paris Agreement climate objectives. Other Member
States have pushed back. This struggle is perhaps best exemplified by the European
Council’s failure to agree on the question of climate neutrality by 2050, an ambitious
goal that had been advanced by the Juncker Commission in its “A Clean Planet for All”
communication.67 Though 24 Member States have endorsed the goal, a group of four
central and eastern European Member States opposed the target at a European Council
meeting in Brussels in June.68 Taking into account the fledgling Energy Union, successes
in circular economy, and the Commission’s failure to bring the Council on board with its
ambitious and long-term emissions reduction goals, its climate change policy can be
regarded only as a partial success.
Much opposition to the Commission’s 2021-2027 MFF proposals has been predicated on
the ambitious size of the budget, along with other concerns, for example over Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and a proposal to tie budget transfers to Member
States’ upholding of the rule of law.69 As the UK, an important net-contributor to the
EU budget, is presumably leaving the Union, the EU is going to suffer a significant
setback in contributions. The Juncker Commission, however, has tabled proposals that
would keep the EU’s financial commitments at roughly the pre-Brexit level,70 theoretically
forcing the EU to find other sources of funding to bridge the gap, including soliciting
higher contributions from the remaining 27 Member States. The Netherlands, among
others, disagrees with this approach, decrying the “unfair distribution of costs” and
arguing that a smaller Union should also mean a smaller budget and that reforms are
required rather than fresh money. The Commission’s compromise offer to compensate
for 50 % of the “Brexit gap” in spending cuts did not go far enough to appease the
critics of the budget proposals.71 As a result, the MFF proposals have been parked, and
will likely not be adopted until shortly before the December 2020 deadline—or even

67 European Commission, “A Clean Planet for All,” Brussels: European Commission, 2018, accessed August 1,
2019, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri= CELEX:52018DC0773&from=EN.
68 Rochelle Toplensky, “EU 2050 climate target blocked by eastern nations,” Financial Times, June 21, 2019,
https://www.ft.com/content/881a50de-936e-11e9-aea1-2b1d33ac3271.
69 Lili Bayer, Emmet Livingstone and Jacopo Barigazzi, „5 big EU budget headaches,“ Politico, April 19, 2019,
https://www.politico.eu/article/5-big-eu-budget-multiannual-financial-framework-summit-headaches/
70

European Commission, “EU budget: Commission proposes a modern budget for a Union that protects,
empowers and defends,” European Commission, May 2, 2018, https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-183570_en.htm.

71

For the Commission’s proposed solution to the Brexit gap, see: Noah Gordon, “The EU budget after Brexit:
Reform not revolution,” Brussels: Centre for European Reform, 2018, accessed August 1, 2019,
https://www.cer.eu/sites/default/files/prbrief_mff_gordon_24.4.18.pdf. For the Dutch position, see:
Mark Rutte, “Statement Prime Minister Rutte about the European Commission’s proposal for the
Multiannual Financial Framework,” Den Haag: Government of the Netherlands, 2019, accessed August 1,
2019, https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2018/05/02/statement-prime-minister-rutte-about-theproposal-by-the-european-commission-for-the-eu-budget.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

later. While it is not unusual for budget negotiations to be lengthy, the Commission had
originally intended for its proposals to be adopted by the end of 2018, and before the
EU elections at the latest.72 Though this ambition has been thwarted, it is far too early to
judge the 2021-2027 MFF proposals as either complete failure or success.
Thus, in a number of cases, the Juncker Commission made headway with ambitious
proposals, albeit without fully achieving its ambitious aims. Remarkably, some of these
advances were made in policy areas where Member States have traditionally been—and
still are—hesitant to surrender sovereignty, namely EMU, migration and social policy.

Failures
Finally, there are the numerous Commission projects that may be described as failures.
By and large, these include most of the Commission’s high-profile efforts at deepening
EMU, giving the EU a greater role in taxation, reforming European migration policy, and
changing the way in which the EU makes foreign policy.
EMU
During the Juncker Commission’s term, prominent battles were fought over some
of the Juncker Commission’s proposals concerning EMU. In 2015, the EU’s “Five
Presidents Report” asserted that it was “inevitable” that Member States would share
more sovereignty in this area.73 Later in its term, the European Commission presented
a number of initiatives aimed at deepening EMU (overall similar in substance to EMU
proposals pushed adamantly by President Emmanuel Macron). Among others, proposals
for the EMF and an EU minister for economy and finance, EDIS, and SBBS were put
forward by the Commission.
Concern about sovereignty arose especially in relation to the Commission’s proposal
for integrating the ESM into EU law by creating the EMF. The EMF would no longer
be administered in a purely intergovernmental fashion, with some decisions taken by
reinforced QMV. Additionally, the Commission envisaged a role for a Commission Vice

72

Eulalia Rubio, “Negotiating the Next Multi-Annual Financial Framework in an Electoral Year: Which
Consequences,” Paris: Jacques Delors Institute, 2018, accessed August 1, 2019, E:institutdelors.eu/
wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1811-Negociating-the-next-MFF-in-an-electoral-year-Eulalia-Rubio.pdf.

73

Jean-Claude Juncker, “Completing the Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union,” Brussels: European
Commission, 2015, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/5presidents-report_en.pdf.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

President to act as chairperson of the EMF.74 A group of Member States were reluctant
to give up decision-making power in this way, with resistance led by the fiscally
conservative New Hanseatic League. To the contrary, the group (reinforced by Slovakia
and the Czech Republic) called for the ESM to be given monitoring competence of the
financial situation of Eurozone countries, which currently lies with the Commission, in
an effort to strengthen enforcement of fiscal rules.75 So far, the Hanseatic League has
been successful in blocking the transfer of Member State sovereignty over the ESM to
the Commission.
Member States aiming at balanced budgets, including Germany and the New Hanseatic
League, also opposed the Commission’s proposal for EDIS. Germany is opposed to
EDIS as long as European banks still hold bad loans that make them more liable to fail.
Adding to German fears is the fact that banks often hold a large amount of national
government bonds. In the event of a government’s insolvency, public debt default fallout
affecting banks’ ability to pay out deposits could thus be transferred to the European
level via the EDIS.76 Therefore, EDIS suffers from opposition based on the perception
that it is a mechanism that rewards risk-taking and burdens fiscally responsible actors,
which critical Member States view as not proportionate.
A similar fate befell the proposal to create SBBS, which was meant to alleviate (German)
fears that Eurobonds—the idea of Eurozone countries jointly issuing bonds, championed
by Jean-Claude Juncker for almost a decade, both in his capacity as Eurogroup chef and
Commission president—would lead to risk mutualisation. In contrast to Eurobonds, which
would entail a degree of debt harmonization, SBBS were intended to create securities
backed by Member States’ pooled sovereign debt, supposedly eliminating debt and

74

Jean-Claude Juncker, “State of the Union 2017,” Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European
Union, 2017, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/stateunion-2017-brochure_en.pdf. See also: European Commission, “Proposal or a Council Regulation on
the establishment of the European Monetary Fund,” Brussels: European Commission, 2017, accessed
August 1, 2019, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri= cellar:050797ec-db5b-11e7-a50601aa75ed71a1.0002.02/DOC_1&format=PDF.

75

Jim Brunsden and Mehreen Khan, “Hawkish European capitals lobby to beef up eurozone bailout fund,”
Financial Times, November 2, 2018, https://www.ft.com/content/2975a1ca-ddc3-11e8-9f04-38d397e6661c.

76

Ruth Berschens and Jan Hildebrand, “Austria’s compromise on European deposit insurance
irritates Berlin,” Handelsblatt, September 13, 2018, https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/finance/
nein-danke-austrias-compromise-on-european-deposit-insurance-irritates-berlin/23583320.
html?ticket= ST-171344-OCdk2PeBTlSjmDU7khxe-ap2.

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risk mutualisation.77 However, German critics viewed SBBS as “Eurobonds though the
backdoor,” and there has so far been little progress on the file.78
Overall, it appears that any type of debt or risk mutualisation/harmonization and
economic transfer is regarded as untenable by fiscally conservative Member States,
who argue that such measures would put an unfair burden on fiscally responsible
Member States. The same group of Member States, most notably Germany and the
New Hanseatic League, is most concerned about losing sovereignty as a result of
deepening EMU. Disagreement regarding EMU proposals has also been among the
clearest indicators of the weakening of the “French-German axis.” While German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has had to contend with internal divisions and declining
popularity at home, which left her unwilling and unable to pursue integration in EMU,
French President Emmanuel Macron has continued to push an ambitious agenda,
putting strain on the alliance.
Taxation
Concerns voiced in response to the Juncker Commission’s suggestion to move to
QMV in matters of taxation were emblematic for Member State objections to the
Commission’s taxation ambitions. The Commission, in its communication calling for
QMV in taxation, pre-emptively acknowledged the concerns over sovereignty that the
proposal would spark.79 The foreshadowing proved accurate: In response to the plan,
Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe stated that “[t]axation is a sovereign Member
State competence and decisions at Council on tax matters require unanimity. Ireland
does not support any change being made on how tax issues are agreed at EU level.”
This stance is shared by a substantial number of other Member States, overwhelmingly
peripheral and small (and Nordic), including those in the New Hanseatic League
(of which Ireland is also a part), Malta, Hungary, and Cyprus.80

77 Gregory Claeys, “Are SBBS really the safe asset the euro area is looking for,” Bruegel, May 28, 2018,
https://bruegel.org/2018/05/are-sbbs-really-the-safe-asset-the-euro-area-is-looking-for/.
78

Francesco Guarascio, “EU proposes new sovereign bond-backed securities, faces criticism,” Reuters,
May 24, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-sovereign-sbbs/eu-proposes-new-sovereignbond-backed-securities-faces-criticism-idUSKCN1IP1G2.

79

European Commission, “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European
Council and the Council: Towards more efficient and democratic decision making in EU tax policy,”
Strasbourg: European Commission, 2019, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/
sites/taxation/files/15_01_2019_communication_towards_a_more_efficient_democratic_decision_
making_eu_tax_policy_en.pdf.

80 Joe Brennan, “Ireland rejects Brussels plan to kill national vetoes on tax,” The Irish Times, January 25, 2019,
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland-rejects-brussels-plan-to-kill-national-vetoeson-tax-1.3759027. See also: Bjarke Smith-Meyer, “Brussels’ bid to kill tax veto faces uphill battle,” Politico,
January 13, 2019, https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-bid-to-kill-tax-veto-faces-uphill-battle/.

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

Similar objections had been made by Member States in opposition to Commission
proposals to create a C(C)CTB, a Digital Tax, and the FTT—in fact, the proposition
to move to QMV in matters of taxation was made in response to the failure of these
proposals, as was made explicitly clear in Commission President Juncker’s 2017 State
of the European Union speech.81
The Commission’s rationale behind advancing proposals for C(C)CTB82 was based to
a good extent on the argument that C(C)CTB would curb tax evasion. However, Irish
critics have argued that C(C)CTB is neither specifically designed nor especially effective
at combatting this practice, rendering it inappropriate for the stated purpose (as well
as disregarding subsidiarity and tax sovereignty, according to seven Member State
parliaments).83 Meanwhile, the rationale behind the Commission’s Digital Tax proposal
was to levy taxes on multinational companies that conduct their business in a way that
makes it difficult for governments to tax profits where they are generated. The proposal
foundered, encountering resistance from Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden—and even
Germany, which sponsored a watered-down version of the proposal together with
France—amid concerns over its scope (and potential US retaliation).84 The FTT, a project
of enhanced cooperation, was blocked by participating Member States, first by Belgium
and Slovakia and later Spain, over concerns about the instrument’s effects on pension
funds, its potential role in funding the Eurozone budget, and revenue distribution.85

81

Jean-Claude Juncker, “State of the Union 2017”.

82

C(C)CTB encompasses two related concepts: firstly, CCTB stands for Common Coporate Tax Base,
which would quite literally provide a common way for EU Member States to calculate corporate tax base­
—­though tax rates would remain the responsibility of the Member States. Secondly, CCCTB stands for the
Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, which means that—since there would be a uniform tax base
across the EU—companies that operate across borders would only have to file a single tax return, with tax
revenues being distributed across Member States according to an apportionment formula. See: European
Commission, “Proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB),”
Strasbourg: European Commission, 2016, accessed August 1, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/
sites/taxation/files/com_2016_683_en.pdf. Also: European Commission, “Proposal for a Council Directive
on a Common Corporate Tax Base,” Strasbourg: European Commission, 2016, accessed August 1, 2019,
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/com_2016_685_en.pdf.

83 Esther de Lange, Bryan Hayes and Gunnar Hoekmark, “The great EU corporate tax lie,” EUObserver,
February 27, 2018, https://euobserver.com/opinion/141092. See also: Alain Lamassoure, “Report on the
proposal for a Council directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB),” European
Parliament, March 1, 2018, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2018-0051_EN.pdf.
84 Jorge Valero, “The EU’s digital tax is dead, long live the OECD’s plans,” EURACTIV, March 8, 2019,
https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/the-eus-digital-tax-is-dead-long-live-the-OECDsplans/.
85 Cécile Barbière, “Belgium told to get off the fence, stop blocking FTT,” EURACTIV, March 22, 2017,
https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/belgium-told-to-get-off-the-fence-stop-blockingftt/. See also: Jorge Valero, “Spain obstructs agreement on ‘Tobin tax’,” EURACTIV, July 25, 2019,
https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/spain-obstructs-agreement-on-tobin-tax/.

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So far, none of the taxation proposals have made much headway—at least not at EU
level. There is not one distinct group of Member States that were opposed to taxation
proposals, with concerns over sovereignty arising in Member States across the Union.
However, some individual Member States, most notably France, have championed
deepening European integration in tax matters. In the face of the stalemate at EU level,
Member States such as France and Spain have taken up work on national versions of
the Digital Tax and FTT. There are also ongoing discussions about the taxation of digital
companies at the OECD level.
Migration policy
In 2015, the Commission devised two refugee relocation schemes that were meant
to relieve those Member States that saw the greatest numbers of refugee arrivals
(primarily Italy and Greece). The second refugee relocation scheme was adopted
by the Council, using the “nuclear option” against the votes of the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. After adoption, these opponents of the Commission’s
migration policy, along with Poland, undermined the scheme by largely rejecting their
responsibilities to take in migrants, thereby rendering the system dysfunctional.86
They based their opposition mostly on the argument that mandatory relocation violated
their sovereignty, as it curtailed their national sovereign power to decide over their
borders and who could legally reside in their countries. Among these Member States,
this view led not only to non-compliance with the EU directive, but more generally
to the attitude that the Commission should revert back to its role as an apolitical
Guardian of the Treaties, instead of continuing to act as the explicitly political body it
had become (most notably under Juncker).87 Slovakia, taking the refugee relocation
scheme to court at the ECJ, also argued that the measure was not proportionate,
as it was not appropriate for accomplishing the policy objective of relocating thousands
of migrants. Though the ECJ dismissed the challenge (along with the Hungarian
challenge), arguing that the Commission could not have foreseen the failure of the
relocation scheme88—which was caused in good measure by the con-compliance

86

Jacopo Barigazzi, “Brussels to end mandatory refugee relocation (for now),” Politico, September 15, 2017,

87

Aneta Zachová, Edit Zgut, Karolina Zbytniewska, Michal Strzalkowski and Zuzana Gabrizova, “Visegrád

https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-to-end-mandatory-refugee-relocation-for-now/.
nations united against mandatory relocation quotas,” EURACTIV, July 23, 2018, https://www.euractiv.
com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/visegrad-nations-united-against-mandatory-relocation-quotas/.
See also: Viktor Orbán, “Will Europe belong to Europeans,” Visegrádpost, July 22, 2017,
https://visegradpost.com/en/2017/07/24/full-speech-of-v-orban-will-europe-belong-to-europeans/.
88 Court of Justice of the European Union, ‘The Court dismisses the actions brought by Slovakia and Hungary
against the provisional mechanism for the mandatory relocation of asylum seekers,’ ECJ, 6 September 2017,
https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-09/cp170091en.pdf.

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of its legal challengers—the outcome of the suit does not change the fact that the
Commission’s scheme did in fact fail due to Member State opposition.
The Commission also tabled proposals to institute a permanent relocation scheme
and a revision of the Dublin rules,89 which were similarly rejected by anti-migration
governments on the grounds of sovereignty and reinforced the position of opposition
against the Commission (and against other Member States who were in favour of
reforming asylum policy) taken up by these Member States.
Overall, the Commission’s efforts at reforming EU migration and asylum policy have
illustrated the deep division in attitudes towards migration among Member States.
Opposition to reform emanates mostly from peripheral Member States to the South and
East, along with other Member States that have been governed by anti-immigration
governments, notably Austria, Denmark, and the UK.
Common Foreign and Security Policy
Commission ambitions in regard to CFSP have been charged with controversial
implications for national sovereignty. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
notoriously teased the notion of establishing an EU army at a time when British public
opinion about the EU was alarmingly polarized.90 As public discourse about the UK’s
place in the EU was characterised by fears about the loss of national sovereignty to
a centralized, supranational bureaucracy, the ambition to establish an EU army, voiced
by the top Brussels bureaucrat, played directly into the cards of the Eurosceptic camp.
The issue was not developed further by the Commission and thereby never properly
put to the test, though opposition to the idea has been discernible in Austria, Denmark,

89 European Commission, ‘Annex to the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing
a crisis relocation mechanism and amending Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State
responsible for examining an application international protection lodged in one of the Member States by
a third country national or a stateless person’, Brussels: European Commission, 2015, accessed 1 August
2019, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/
com/2015/0450/COM_COM(2015)0450(ANN)_EN.pdf. European Commission, ‘Proposal for a Regulation
of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining
the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the
Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person (recast)’, Brussels: European Commission,
2016, accessed 1 August 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/1-2016-270EN-F1-1.PDF.
90 Jean-Claude Juncker, ‘In the very long run, we will need a European army. Because we have to be credible
when it comes to foreign policy #wahlarena #withJuncker,’ Twitter, 20 May 2014, https://twitter.com/
junckereu/status/468847798725918720?lang= de.

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Finland, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK among
others.
The suggestion to move to QMV in matters of CFSP through the activation of a
passerelle clause suffered a similar fate. The ambition got a more elaborate treatment,
having been published as a Commission communication laying out the argument
after all Member States had affirmed their desire for a “stronger Europe on the global
scene” and France and Germany had suggested moving to majority voting on CFSP.91
The result, however, was uneasiness about the Commission´s overreach into an area
of national sovereignty proliferating especially among Eurosceptic and comparatively
smaller Member States, as they were concerned that QMV in CFSP would simply enable
larger Member States to invalidate their foreign policy interests and decisions.92 In this
environment, it appears highly unlikely that the Council will agree to apply QMV in the
Union’s CFSP.
Institutional Reform
The Juncker Commission also missed the mark in promoting debate about the future
of the EU. In March of 2017, preceding the European Council’s Rome summit later that
month, the Juncker Commission published its “White Paper on the future of Europe.”
The White Paper, which detailed five scenarios for the future of the European Union, was
meant to foster debate about the future trajectory of the EU post-Brexit referendum.93
The Commission went on to publish several discussion papers on more concrete
questions, such as the deepening of EMU or developing the social dimension of Europe.
While these efforts to foster debate contributed to the formulation of concrete policy
proposals, as in the policies proposed as part of the European Pillar of Social Rights or
the Eurozone budget, debate about the underlying questions of European integration

91

EU Member States, European Council, European Parliament and European Commission, ‘The Rome
Declaration,’ Brussels: European Council, 2017, accessed 1 August 2019, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/
en/press/press-releases/2017/03/25/rome-declaration/. Government of the French Republic and German
Federal Government, ‘Meseberg Declaration: Renewing Europe’s promise of security and prosperity,’
Berlin: Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung, 2018, accessed 1 August 2019, https://archiv.
bundesregierung.de/archiv-de/meta/startseite/meseberg-declaration-1140806. European Commission,
‘Communication from the Commission to the European Council, the European Parliament and the
Council – A stronger global actor: a more efficient decision-making for EU Common Foreign and Security
Policy,’ Brussels: European Commission, 2018, accessed 1 August 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/
sites/beta-political/files/soteu2018-efficient-decision-making-cfsp-communication-647_en.pdf.

92

Leonard Schuette, ‘Should the EU make foreign policy decisions by majority voting,’ Centre for European
Reform, 2019, accessed 1 August 2019, https://www.cer.eu/sites/default/files/pbrief_qmv_15.5.19.pdf.

93

European Commission, ‘White Paper on the Future of Europe: Reflections and scenarios for the EU27 by
2025,’ Brussels: European Commission, 2017, accessed 1 August 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/
sites/beta-political/files/white_paper_on_the_future_of_europe_en.pdf.

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and the EU’s purpose did not properly get off the ground. This was perhaps most
noticeable in the European Council declaration following the Sibiu summit in May 2019.
Though the summit was intended to mark the culmination of two years of debate and
consultation on the future of Europe, the declaration was arguably largely devoid of any
meaningful indication of the future trajectory of the Union.94
Discontinuation of Seasonal Time Change
Another proposal that attracted substantial attention was the Commission’s plan to
abolish seasonal time change in the EU. The proposal met with resistance regarding the
timing of the discontinuation of time change in 2019, and though it appeared set to be
adopted with the date of discontinuation pushed back to 2021,95 a source close to the
negotiations claims that there is a lack of agreement between Member States and that
discontinuation will likely not be adopted.

94

European Council, ‘The Sibiu Declaration,’ Brussels: European Council, 2019, accessed 19 August 2019,
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/05/09/the-sibiu-declaration/.

95

Joshua Posaner, ‘EU stops clock on Commission’s time change plan,’ Politico, 29 October 2018,
https://www.politico.eu/article/transport-ministers-countries-say-no-to-juncker-commission-daylightsaving-clock-change-plan/.

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Annex III: Trust in the European
Commission
100
90
80
70
60
50
40

Netherlands

30

EU28

20
10
autumn 2008
spring 2009
autumn 2009
spring 2010
autumn 2010
spring 2011
autumn 2011
spring 2012
autumn 2012
spring 2013
autumn 2013
spring 2014
autumn 2014
spring 2015
autumn 2015
spring 2016
autumn 2016
spring 2017
autumn 2017
spring 2018
autumn 2018
spring 2019

0

Source: Eurobarometers autumn 2008 – spring 2019, accessed on: https://ec.europa.eu/
commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/index#p=1&instruments=STANDARD

65

Annex IV: House of Representa­
tives request letter
1.

Introduction

The standing committee on European Affairs has, in the framework of its annual
planning for strengthening the knowledge position for 2019 (see Appendix 4), decided
to carry out a study on the tasks and functions of the European Commission.

2.

Reason for the request

Changing institutional relationships, a ‘political’ European Commission
This coming autumn will see the commencement of a new European Commission.
One the central institutions of the European Union, the Commission has the task,
in accordance with the EU Treaty, to promote the general interest of the Union and
take appropriate initiatives to this end. In this respect, it fulfils important functions
such as initiating bills and policy and the execution of EU legislation. In addition, it
has coordinating, enforcement, management and budgetary tasks and plays a role in
the external representation of the Union.
Given the great changes that the European Union is going through, the question is how
these extensive and varied tasks are performed in practice and whether the Commission
is fit for the job. On the one hand, the Commission has in recent decades worked on
the professionalisation of the performance of its tasks, such as by improving impact
assessments and the more recent initiative towards better legislation. On the other hand,
the political character of the European Commission is perceived to be growing: the
current President calls his Commission a ‘political Commission’ and has, for example,
altered the relationships within the College of Commissioners. The President of the
European Commission is assuming a public role.
There also seems to be increasingly closer consultation with the European Parliament.
There is also more and more contact with the national parliaments. The Commission
has adopted a clear stance in the debate since 2017 about the future of the EU.
At the same time, the European Council has in recent years been playing an increasingly
important role in the European field of influence. The result of all this is that the
institutional relationships are changing. That can affect, and has affected, the character
of the Commission.

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3.

Subject and objective of the study

The study is aimed at obtaining a better picture of the way in which the European
Commission performs the tasks and functions conferred on it in the EU Treaty.
The following questions and elaboration serve for this purpose:
1. What developments have the tasks and functions of the European Commission gone
through in recent years?
– Give a brief sketch of the development of the tasks of the European Commission
since the 1950s.
– Map out which tasks and functions the European Commission has had since
the Lisbon Treaty (2009) and what the main developments in practice have been
since then. Of particular interest in this respect are the developments under
the current European Commission (2014-2019). The focus should be placed
on the question of whether, and if so, where a more politicised Commission
emerges in the performance of tasks and how this relates to the task description
in the treaties. The developments in respect of the enforcement tasks may be
left aside. Following the Mulder motion (Parliamentary document 35078, no 4),
the government has already been examining the organisation and reorganisation
of the enforcement tasks of the European Commission.
– Show which review criteria are available for assessing the European
Commission’s performance of tasks.
2. What problem areas are there in the existing combination of tasks of the European
Commission and what alternatives – seen in this connection – are imaginable?
– Identify what the main problem areas are in the existing combination of tasks
of the European Commission, taking into account the way in which these are
performed and partly in the context of the changing relationships with other
EU institutions and bodies. In addition, ascertain how a politicised European
Commission relates to the European Council and the Council of the EU.
– Sketch several alternative scenarios or models for the organisation and
reorganisation of the tasks of the European Commission to resolve these
problem areas, while also working out how these should be divided and whether
responsibility for certain tasks or functions can be placed elsewhere. How these
scenarios relate to the Commission’s own vision for the future (White Paper on
the Future of Europe) may also be examined.
– These scenarios or models should be based on the tasks as laid down in
the current EU treaties (in view of the coming Commission), while multiple
alternatives can also be sketched alongside or within them that would require a
treaty amendment (in view of the long-term development of the Commission).
The objective of the study is to contribute to further contemplation of this subject within
and outside the House of Representatives. No conclusions will be drawn in the report

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The European Commission in balance? | Clingendael Report, October 2019

about the advisability – in a political sense, where applicable – of different scenarios
or models.

68