Critically evaluate the notion that the EU is controlled by a host of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

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European Business

Steve Robinson

Essay 1 – 30/10/03

Critically evaluate the notion that the EU is controlled by a host of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

Over the last 50 years, the European Union has grown not only economically but also politically from the original six members.

Many would say that The European Union has provided stability, peace and economic wealth for its member states. It has helped to raise standards of living, built an internal market, launched the Euro and strengthened the Union's position in the global market.  However the structure and size of the EU has changed dramatically since the original six, and many would argue that’s its original objectives have changed from a simple desire to create a free trade area to an economic and possibly political union. It is this growth in size (with 10 more member states to join in 2004) and power that has resulted in the EU coming under fire in recent years over the way in which its institutions are run.

The growth in power of the EU has inevitably led to a growth in the power of its institutions, many of which are run by unelected civil servants. Member states, as they have joined, have given up a certain amount of sovereignty to each of these institutions so that they can make decisions on certain policy areas. These decisions should be made in the interest of the EU and so many believe there should be elected officials within these institutions to represent their views, however this is not usually the case. It is this that has led to the notion that the EU is controlled by a host of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

There are five main institutions in the EU, the European Council, the Court of Auditors, European Parliament, European Commission and the European Court of Justice. There are also other institutions which support these including the European Central Bank and the Council of Ministers. The European Council holds summit meetings, usually twice a year to discuss issues such as policy direction, treaties and other general issues. It is intergovernmental in design and so not all the member states need to sign a treaty, for example Britain and Ireland did not sign the Amsterdam treaty 1997.

The Court of Auditors consists of 15 auditors (one from each member state) and around 500 staff. It carries out audits of the EU’s institutions and also acts as a watchdog for the EU’s finances. The auditors are appointed and so are not elected into this role. The European Parliament is the only EU body, which is directly elected. It consists of 626 elected MEP’s represent the 15 member states of which the UK has 87 (Mercado 2001.) The powers of the European Parliament fall into three categories, the first is legislative power which includes Co-decision procedure which I will cover later. The second is supervision of executive in which its role is to supervise the council of ministers and the commission. Lastly it has powers over budget. Whilst the council still has a final say on the expenditure, the EP can along with the council fix the budget.

The European Commission is the most controversial institution when looking into the notion that the EU is run by a host of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. This is due to the fact that it is headed by 20 civil servants representing the member states who are appointed to serve a five-year term. They are an executive body with over 20,000 civil servants working for it. Many see the commission as the driving force of the EU. It has three main functions. The first of these functions is initiator. All legislation begins with a proposal by the commission. It is also guardian of the treaties ensuring all obligations are met and any infringements investigated. An example of this would be the recent investigation into P& O and other ferry companies in Dover over suspected price fixing.

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The European Commission is completely supranational in that it has certain jurisdiction over member states relating to the forming of laws. Some may argue that the Commission is too powerful and should be more accountable for its actions. Officially its members aren’t accountable to anyone, however the European Parliament acts as a watchdog to the Commission and has the power to sack them if necessary.

The European Court of Justice settles disputes to do with EU law. Any person can take a dispute to them and once a decision has been made it is binding, as there is ...

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