Reforming the European Commission

The resignation of the College of Commissioners in 1999 triggered the drafting and implementation of a White Paper entitled 'Reforming the Commission' which listed 98 measures to overhaul the ways the Commission did business. Ten years later, the time has come to ask what impact the reforms instigated by Neil Kinnock have had on the European Commission and the wider European governance. Using a historical institutionalist approach to analyze the administrative construction of the Commission between 1950 and 2010, Reforming the European Commission focuses on the implementation of New Public Management-based measures launched by Neil Kinnock and their institutional impact on the governance of the European administration. It traces the design, negotiation and implementation of the reforms through a study of primary documents and semi-structured interviews with key actors of change. Through case studies of the Secretariat-General, DG Regional Policy and DG Transport and Energy, the book delivers an assessment of the nature, degree and dynamics of the institutional change which the Commission has undergone, and its impact on its internal governance.

Introduction: How to analyse administrative reforms in the European Commission 1950 – 1984: Constructing the administrative Commission 1985 – 1998: the foundations for the Kinnock reforms A novel strategy for reform Reforming public administrations: New Public Management and the White Paper From policy to practice: operationalising NPM The Secretariat General: a case study in innovation DG Regional Policy: a case study in adaptation DG Transport and Energy: a case study in resistance Conclusions: understanding heterogeneous institutional change in the Commission