Introduction: agency governance in the European Union

Abstract

The literature on European Union (EU) agencies has proliferated rapidly since the first essay collection on EU agencies was published by the Journal of European Public Policy in 1997. This collection picks up three thematic threads contained in the initial collection and provides state-of-the-art treatises on these different themes. The first theme addresses the causes and dynamics of the creation and design of regulatory bodies in EU governance, focusing not only on EU agencies but also on alternatives to the agency format, such as regulatory networks. Second, once agencies are established the consequences and trajectories of governance with and by EU agencies will be explored. Third, the design of EU agencies as independent, non-majoritarian institutions poses pressing questions with a view to their legitimacy and accountability.

Keywords:

• Accountability
• autonomy
• delegation
• EU agencies
• legitimacy