Kursinformation

This course deals with the administrative dimension of the European Union (EU) and analyses the hybrid nature of the European administrative landscape and its implications for the development of public policies in the EU. We take the phase model of the European policy-making process as our starting point. The European Commission occupies a prominent position as a policy entrepreneur in terms of agenda setting and policy formulation. However, while the Commission also has a managerial and supervisory role, the implementation of Union law is essentially carried out by the member states. Pressman and Wildavsky (‘How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland’) were already aware in 1973 of the discrepancy between the desire to shape policy and the reality of implementation. At the same time, infringement procedures can be initiated and the digitalisation of the administration makes it possible to remove communication barriers. Our challenge as a Master’s course is to grasp, both theoretically and conceptually, as well as empirically and analytically, an administrative system that is not only complex but also particularly dynamic. The idea of a ‘European administrative space’ is still worth discussing.
Our study of the structures and dynamics of European multi-level administration is guided by different research perspectives and focuses on
- the administrative capacities of the Commission and other EU administrative structures such as comitology and EU agencies,
- the dynamics of agenda-setting in the EU and the framing of EU policies, taking into account the Commission,
- the Europeanisation of national administrative systems and factors of member state compliance, i.e. adherence to EU law, with regard to the transposition of EU directives and practical implementation, exploring databases and datasets on the implementation of EU law,
- sanctioning mechanisms, such as the rule of law proceedings under Art. 7 TEU against Poland and Hungary, as well as compliance mechanisms such as the SOLVIT network.