Informal governance in the European Union

Abstract:

Meetings, meetings and more meetings - some with minutes taken, some informal, but both having influence on policy outcomes. Where does the balance of power lie? Is it in the formal recorded or in the informal undocumented? This book looks at the latter and seeks to determine the relevance of the unwritten rules and routines which govern these aspects of EU policies.

The book is comprised of twelve contributions. Following an introduction by the editors, chapter two examines the tensions between efficiency and legitimacy arising from informal governance. The development of a distinct political culture within the European Union is addressed in chapter three. Chapter four examines the incidence of fraud in the EU, and the part that such informal networking plays in that is discussed. The mainstreaming of gender equality policies and the relevance of informal networking between Commission officials are explored in chapter five. The impact of energised networks on the acceptance of EU biodiversity regulation is illustrated in chapter six, which also looks at the expertise gathered in the informal networks vis-à-vis that to be found amongst Commission officials. Chapter seven explores the privatisation of state industry and the role played by informal networks in development and application of competition policy. Chapter eight examines the structure of informal networks engaged in the biotechnology industry. Chapter nine discusses the role of informal governance in EU Single Market regulation. The supremacy of formal decision-making powers in the area of agriculture are emphasised in chapter ten, whilst the significance of informal decision-making in the important policy areas of Economic and Monetary Union and Growth and Stability Pact is the subject of chapter eleven. The pre-accession process itself is a nursery for informal network development which is explored in chapter twelve. The final contribution looks to the future and considers how the EU will manage informal governance with particular reference to the Commission's White Paper on European Governance.

The book will interest scholars, students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in the governance of the EU.

Thomas Christiansen is Senior Lecturer at the European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Simona Piattoni is Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento, Italy.