The constitutionalisation of Community administration

Article abstract:

The regime of Community administration has recently been going through major changes, the initial catalyst having been the fall of the Santer Commission. It is argued that the new legal regime represents a constitutionalisation of Community administration, both because the governing principles have been enshrined in a norm of constitutional importance, the new Financial Regulation, and because it lays down overarching principles that frame the new administrative order. The article analyses these changes, and explains the emerging pattern of direct and shared administration. It also considers the plethora of different roles played by law within the new order.