Preparing Comitology in Commission Expert Groups: Reducing Duration or Minimizing Contestation?
(2014) ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Conference — Location: The Hague (5.June.2014)
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- Abstract
- This paper examines how the involvement of expert groups affects the adoption of implementing acts in comitology. It therefore asks: How does the use of expert groups by the European Commission in the preparation of implementing acts impact on the comitology process? After observing that member state officials who are a member of the comitology committees in many cases also participate in the expert groups that are consulted by the Commission while preparing for comitology, the paper hypothesizes that member state’ involvement in the expert groups can speed up comitology (duration hypothesis) and/or allow the Commission to anticipate contestation within the comitology committee (anticipation hypothesis). Our empirical findings confirm the duration hypothesis while rejecting the anticipation hypothesis. In other words, when expert groups with member state officials prepare an implementing act for a comitology committee, this significantly reduces the duration of the comitology process, but it does not significantly minimize contestation.
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Citations
Van Ballaert, B., & Delreux, T. (2014). Preparing Comitology in Commission Expert Groups: Reducing Duration or Minimizing Contestation? ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Conference, The Hague. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/28211