Franchino, Fabio (2007) The Powers of the Union: Delegation in the EU. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 355.
EUSA Award for the best book published in 2007 or 2008
The Powers of the Union develops and tests a new theory of centralization and bureaucratization in the European Union. Using original data spanning five decades and a multi-method approach, Franchino argues that most EU laws rely extensively on national administrations for policy implementation and provide for ample national discretionary authority, while limiting tightly the involvement of the European Commission. However, when Council ministers do not share the same policy objectives, some have the incentive to limit national executive discretion and to rely more on the Commission. Majority voting facilitates this outcome, but the limited policy expertise of supranational bureaucrats and their biased views impede extensive supranational delegation. Finally, the European Parliament systematically attempts to limit national discretion, especially when its views differ from ministerial opinions, and tries to increase the Commission’s policy autonomy. The book contributes towards understanding political-bureaucratic relations and evaluates the implications for EU democracy and subsidiarity.
• Develops and tests a new theory of centralization and bureaucratization in the European Union, using original data on patterns of delegation in the European Union covering five decades • Argues that national governments have more discretion in implementing EU policy than is commonly argued • Presents similarities and systematic differences in delegation between the EU, the US and European parliamentary democracies
Downloadable files
Data for Figures 3.1 to 3.10
Textual analysis of main acts
Dataset for Chapter 5
Dataset on fisheries (bycatches, discards and overfishing) for Chapter 6
Dataset on European Parliament of Chapter 7
Content analysis of Chapter 7
The full database with the 2835 directives and regulations cited by the 58 legal texts
This compressed file CUP Book 2007 includes all the downloadable files.