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ABSTRACT
European agencies' de facto independence and influence are phenomena, which are still undertheorized and understudied. In particular broader comparisons are lacking. This article compares six regulatory agencies and argues that their role in agenda-setting (as formal or informal agenda-setter) and the degree to which agencies can draw on the resources of their networks is decisive for their actual influence and independence. The article compares formal an informal agenda-setters, arguing that formal agenda-setters face a trade-off between independence and influence, whereas informal agenda-setters do not, with the networked character of agencies being a central intervening variable. As a result, it demonstrates that agenda-setting role and reliance on networks are central factors in explaining agencies' influence and independence in European decision-making.
Acknowledgements
I thank the participants of the Workshop “European Administrative Networks” – organized by Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen and Ellen Mastenbroek – as well as Reini Schrama and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. In addition, I thank Hannah Springer and Marie Malik for their assistance in collecting the data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 EMA Annual Report 2020, available at https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/annual-report/2020-annual-report-european-medicines-agency_en.pdf (6 January 2022)
2 ibid.
4 https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/minutes/minutes-chmp-meeting-22-25-july-2019_en.pdf, p. 20 (6 January 2022)
5 https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/minutes/minutes-chmp-meeting-13-16-september-2021_en.pdf (6 January 2022)
6 ESMA Annual Report 2020, available at https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma20-95-1381_2020_annual_report.pdf (7 January 2022).
7 https://op.europa.eu/de/web/who-is-who/organization/-/organization/FISMA/COM_CRF_61641 (7 January 2022)
8 See ESMA Document Technical Standards, updated 17 September 2021, available at https://www.esma.europa.eu/convergence/guidelines-and-technical-standards (6 January 2022).
9 https://www.esma.europa.eu/databases-library/esma-library?f%5B0%5D=im_esma_sections%3A5 (6 January 2022).
10 https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma22-106-2834_soc_26_august_2020_board_of_supervisors.pdf; https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma22-106-1980_soc_october_2019_board_of_supervisors.pdf (6 January 2022)
11 ACER Annual Activity Report 2020, available at https://documents.acer.europa.eu/Official_documents/Acts_of_the_Agency/Publication/ACER%20-%20Consolidated%20Annual%20Activity%20Report%20-%20Year%202020%20-%20Adoption%2016.06.2021.pdf (6 January 2022)
13 https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/corporate/pub/ar19, p. 72 (6 January 2022)
14 https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/advanced-search/panel%20plant%20protection?start_date=1462053600 (6 January 2022)
16 All ECHA opinions and the related Commission documents can be found at https://echa.europa.eu/applications-for-authorisation-previous-consultations
17 https://echa.europa.eu/de/meetings-of-the-rac/2020; https://echa.europa.eu/de/about-us/who-we-are/committee-for-socio-economic-analysis/meetings-of-the-seac/2020
18 RAC 36 min, p. 3.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Eva Ruffing
Eva Ruffing is professor for German Politics in Context of European Multi-Level Governance at the University of Osnabrueck. She works on multi-level administration, policy-making and implementation in the European multi-level system as well as information processing in public organizations.