The Erosion of the Meroni Doctrine: The Case of the European Aviation Safety Agency

Abstract:

The non-delegation doctrine developed since the Meroni case has been the main constraint to the full development of EU agencies' powers. In recent years, however, the doctrine is showing its permeability to administrative innovation in the area of internal market regulation.

This article aims to contribute to the debate about the sustainability of the Meroni doctrine, by focusing on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)'s rule-making powers as an illustrative case study. In doing so, the article addresses the main issues of the Meroni doctrine and contextualizes these in the specific domain of EASA, with a view to apply, mutatis mutandis, the inferences to other policy domains.