Which Policy for Europe? Power and Conflict inside the European Commission

- Provides an encompassing perspective on the day-to-day policy choices of Europe's central agenda-setter for regulatory and spending policies - Combines in depth case knowledge and systematic cross-case comparison - Bridges central compartmentalized debates in the study of European integration - Based on comprehensive new data from insider interviews, internal Commission documents and an the first database on personal and structural Commission features since its founding days The European Commission is at the center of the European Union's political system. Within its five-year terms each Commission proposes up to 2000 binding legal acts and therefore crucially shapes EU policy, which in turn impacts on the daily lives of more than 500 million European citizens. However, despite the Commissions key role in setting the agenda for European decision making, little is known about its internal dynamics when preparing legislation. This book provides a problem-driven, theoretically-founded, and empirically rich treatment of the so far still understudied process of position-formation inside the European Commission. It reveals that various internal political positions prevail and that the role of power and conflict inside the European Commission is essential to understanding its policy proposals. Opening the 'black box' of the Commission, the book identifies three ideal types of internal position-formation. The Commission is motivated by technocratic problem-solving, by competence-seeking utility maximization or ideologically-motivated policyseeking. Specifying conditions that favor one logic over the others, the typology furthers understanding of how the EU system functions and provides novel explanations of EU policies with substantial societal implications.

1: Introduction 2: Position Formation inside the EU Commission: An Analytical Framework 3: Studying Internal Dynamics 4: Connecting Personal Characteristics and Organizational Structure: Commissioners, Directors-General and Services 5: The Intersection of Social and Common-market Policies 6: Research and Innovation Policy 7: Consumer Policy 8: Expert Groups in the Commission: Knowledge providers or political device/ 9: Insulated, Technocratic Decision-Making? Commission Position Formation and the Public Acceptability of Policy Options 10: Structural Biases? The Link Between Internal Coordination and the Dynamics of Position Formation 11: Many Factors in Position Formation, but Some Matter More Often Than Others: Evidence Across Cases 12: Shaping Policies for Europe: Internal Position Formation Between Problem-Solving, Turf Expansion and Political Ideology 13: Conclusion: Why We Should Care About Power and Conflict Inside the European Commission