The Effect of Juncker’s Organisational Reforms on Policy Formulation Process within the European Commission: Lessons for EU Health and Social Policy

When Jean Claude Juncker took office as Commission President in 2014, he wanted to establish a more political and less technocratic Commission, implying a focus on a smaller number of ambitious priority projects and a stronger top-down steering of the Commission. Whilst the resulting reforms have led to an acceleration of policy activity in areas such as energy, they have had a contrasting and significant effect upon ‘smaller’ areas of EU policy, such as health. This change is emblematic of a more fundamental shift in the trajectory of social policy in the post-crisis EU, where assimilation into economic governance structures and prioritisation of economic objectives continues to delimit social policy objectives. Against this background, this article aims to demonstrate how the new organisational structure has affected policy formulation in the area of health. It takes a comparative approach, contrasting changes in the making of energy policy with shifts in the formulation of health policy. Drawing on historical and sociological institutionalism and evidence from interviews with Commission officials, the article argues that divergence in the impact of the reforms can be explained by policy-specific path dependencies and relational/personal factors. In doing so, it identifies the internal parameters and determinants of post-crisis health and social policies and frames discussion of their future trajectory.