The agency phenomenon in the European Union

Emergence, institutionalisation and everyday decision-making

Edited by Madalina Busuioc, Martijn Groenleer, Jarle Trondal

Publication date:

30 May 2012

Length of book:

224 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

234x156mm

ISBN-13: 9780719085543

This volume offers a comprehensive analysis of the agency phenomenon in the European Union. It takes stock of the emergence and development of EU agencies, providing insight into the characteristics as well as the consequences of the ongoing EU agencification process. The volume traces the varied roots of and routes to agency emergence and institutionalisation. It also analyses everyday decision-making processes within EU-level agencies, notably the management of such agencies, their role in the creation of network structures in European executive governance and in the implementation of EU legislation at the member state level, and the varied sources of agency accountability. The ambition of this volume is to offer an even-handed assessment and explanation of agency creation, design, and evolution at the EU level. The volume is targeted to academics, post-graduate students and practitioners. Chapter authors include Deirdre Curtin, Renaud Dehousse, Morten Egeberg and Thomas Gehring.

Part I Introduction
1. Introducing the phenomenon of European Union agencies
Madalina Busuioc, Martijn Groenleer and Jarle Trondal
Part II The emergence and institutionalisation of EU agencies
2. Building executive power at the European level: on the role of EU-level agencies
Morten Egeberg, Maria Martens and Jarle Trondal
3. Executive power in the making: the establishment of the European Chemicals Agency
Maria Martens
4. Changing the EU’s institutional landscape? The added value of an agency
Adriaan Schout
5. Hybrid agencification in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and its inherent tensions: the case of Frontex
Jorrit Rijpma
Part III Everyday decision-making in EU agencies: networks, management, accountability and implementation
6. Deliberative regulation through European agencies and other network structures?
Thomas Gehring
7. Wielders of supranational power? The administrative behaviour of the heads of European Union agencies
Madalina Busuioc and Martijn Groenleer
8. The parliamentary accountability of European Union and national agencies
Tobias Bach and Julia Fleischer
9. Catalysts of compliance? The role of European Union agencies in the implementation of European legislation in Poland and Bulgaria
Esther Versluis
Part IV Epilogue
10. EU agencies: Tipping the balance?
Deirdre Curtin and Renaud Dehousse

"Each chapter is informative, well-written and offeres convincing arguements. What is innovative and interesting is that this volume seeks to tie together different approaches, and thereby contribute to a broader and more nuanced understanding of the agency phenomenon. This is an important endeavour, and the book is likely to appeal to a wide range of readers interested in EU governance"

(Helena Ekelund, Political Studies Review, May 2014)