Abstract
This article discusses the impact that the reforms of the European Union’s economic governance since 2011 have had on the European Commission’s role as a policy entrepreneur. Particular attention is paid to mechanisms that are applied by the Commission to extend its scope beyond its given formal competences to shape national reform agendas. The research interest is based on the assumption that the Commission is a ‘competence-maximising rational actor’ (Pollack, 1997), whose primary organisational goals are to expand the scope of Community competence and increase the Commission’s own standing within the policy process. Accordingly, this research contributes to the scholarly debate by identifying mechanisms applied by the Commission under the European Semester to shape European and national reform agendas in areas of sovereign policymaking competences of the member states.
Highlights
In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis, several changes were made to the EU’s economic gov‐ ernance
The noteworthy changes enhanced the discretionary authority of the Commission and the Council to push for structural reforms in EU member states by addressing macroeconomic imbalances (Erne, 2018, p. 237; Scharpf, 2014)
The analysis has shown that the European Semester procedure is highly standard‐ ised
Summary
In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis, several changes were made to the EU’s economic gov‐ ernance. The noteworthy changes enhanced the discretionary authority of the Commission and the Council to push for structural reforms in EU member states by addressing macroeconomic imbalances The research contributes to this debate by exam‐ ining how the Commission uses its new role under the European Semester to strategically exploit instruments and strategies and enhance its ability to mobilise both consensus for the Commission’s reform proposals and commitment among supranational and national policy‐ makers.
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