The European Commission as a Network Organization

Abstract

The 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), Maastricht II, was intended to focus on the effectiveness of the policies and institutions of the European Union. It should not be deflected from its primary purpose. The EU has a management deficit that is at least as important as its democratic deficit. In order to improve the effectiveness of European governance, the European Commission should be reinvented as a network organization with the mission of designing and developing multilevel, intergovernmental networks for managing European Union policies. The reasons for redefining the role of the EC is that European integration is on a pluralistic trajectory of federation among nations rather than amalgamation into a European federal state. The effectiveness of this mode of integration depends on building and strengthening interorganizational networks. The task of the Commission, as a network organization, is to strengthen collaborative advantage—the organizational capacities to manage interdependence—rather than seek to impose central control. Acting as a network organization requires three-core competency for: (1) constructing regimes; (2) designing administrative partnerships; and (3) developing coordination capacities.