EU Agencies in Executive Governance: Task Development, Operational Practices and Inter-Institutional Interactions

Abstract

This panel discusses EU agencies’ development and their operational practices after delegation. The panel both looks at causes of the overall developments in EU agencies’ competences as well as explanatory factors for their strategic behaviour and its effect on individual agencies. To unveil the bigger picture of competence developments after delegation, the first contribution asks if– and under which conditions– EU agencies have been further empowered after their establishment. Secondly, two contributions analyse how EU agencies have shaped their legitimacy and accountability practices and thus what they do to create the basis for their effective cooperation with other actors in the EU’s regulatory space. These contributions answer how EU agencies gain legitimacy, how this is challenged by stakeholders and how this and EU agencies’ experts’ backgrounds affect accountability practices and outcomes. Finally, the fourth paper investigates which factors in the interaction and networking of the European Chemicals Agency with the European Commission gives leverage to ECHA in influencing the Commission. Combining these various perspectives, the panel deepens our understanding of EU agencies’ organisational development, their strategic choices in interacting with other institutions and actors, as well as in shaping their reputation Ultimately, the panel offers a comprehensive overview of EU agencies’ relevance in the in the EU’s executive system, and their influence on policy outputs.

Title	Details
The Evolution of EU Regulatory Agencies: A Story of Empowerment?	View Paper Details
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Comparative Analysis of Formal Independence of Decentralised Agencies in the EU	View Paper Details