Tensions of European governance: politicized bureaucracy and multiple accountability in the European Commission

Abstract

The article proposes a neo-institutionalist perspective on the European Commission based on two lines of internal conflict: the Commission's need to be accountable simultaneously to the member states and to 'the citizens' ('multiple accountability') and its dual function of providing executive government and public administration ('politicized bureaucracy') for the European polity. These dimensions of conflict have created a multi-organization which combines features of four organizational ideal-types. Within the Commission the search for answers to the inherent tension between these conflicting organizational modes is different from one policy area to the next, and the overall balance is shifting over time. It is suggested that the study of the politicization of such institutionalized contradictions, the mechanisms developed for their resolution and the resultant organizational dynamics are a useful guide towards an improved understanding of the European Commission and the integration process at large.