EU policymaking 101: The policy cycle, for complete beginers
Gather 'round folks, I'm about the explain to you how EU law is made. I promise, no fancy words, no complicated concepts. Come to listen about the magical word of Brussels...
No fancy words, no complicated concepts: here is a short but informative description of the EU policymaking cycle, for complete beginners. Without further ado, let’s get started!
On which aspects can the EU make policy?
The European Union cannot rule on any topics. Some areas of policymaking are reserved for member states, while others are shared, and others again are exclusive to the EU. These areas are called '“competencies”.
The traditional dichotomy of competencies is that the Union gets to make laws on “low politics” subjects (matters that are considered less important by national agendas) and that member states keep the initiative in areas of “high politics”: economic, defense, foreign policy, etc.
But, as it is common with the European Union, there are exceptions to it. For instance, the Union has sole competency on matters of international trade, while foreign relations are shared, and sometimes remain “chasse gardée” of national states.
EU competencies include:
Agriculture,
Competition and consumer protection,
Environment,
Fisheries,
Working conditions,
etc.
Member states share competencies with the EU in areas such as:
Culture,
Energy,
Regional development,
Social issues,
etc.
Issues such as citizenship, criminal justice, defense, health care, tax policy, etc. are the sole responsibility of member states.
That being said, we understand that the EU makes law only in areas where it has full or shared competency. Let’s consider how the policy cycle works.
The policy cycle
EU policymaking is organised in a cycle, from the identification of a problem to its implementation. Let’s briefly cover the steps of the cycle.
Agenda setting
The European Council (the organisation that gathers heads of states and governments) sets the policy agenda. It “outlines broad policy goals and sparks new policy initiatives”1.
This process is not always easy, as 27 people, representing 27 different nations, with different (and sometimes competing) agendas, need to agree on the priorities for the whole of Europe. The Council (or rather its members) is itself influenced by national public opinion, specialist reports, changes in the world’s politics, etc.
Formulation and adoption
Once a problem is identified and a consensus on how to solve it emerges, options are debated between different interest groups and players in the EU policy environment.
The European Commission has the most important role to play, as it formulates policy and acts as an intermediary between the co-legislators and a forum for exchanging ideas.
Proposals of the Commission are regularly amended by lobbying from various interest groups (trade associations, NGOs, national governments, etc.). The collection of ideas, recommendations, and proposals from all players in the EU policy environment are considered in the final proposition of the Commission.
Negotiations between co-legislators
The Commission issued its proposal. Now, its content will be reviewed, debated, amended, and ultimately approved by the co-legislators: the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of ministers.
The details of these negotiations and the players involved are too complex to be discussed now and will be the subject of another article. Let’s just conclude that once the three co-legislators agreed on a text, it can move forward with its implementation.
Implementation
The implementation of EU law is traditionally left to national and European administrations. The one of the Union, the European Commission, is rather small and has no power to directly enforce EU law. It must rely on national governments to do so.
To make sure that a law is indeed applied, the Commission organises meetings with national representatives to monitor progress.
“Most of the time, however, the Commission must rely on other sources, including the governments of member states […], whistleblowing by interest groups, the media and private citizens, the European Parliament (which since 1983 has required that the Commission submit annual reports on the failure of members states fully to implement Community legislation) and the European ombudsman” - Understanding the European Union, John McCormick
Evaluation
Finally, the efficacity and relevance of European law are evaluated by the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Council, the European Parliament, interest groups, etc.
Should the need for an update, a confirmation, a removal, or any change in the law arise, the policy will start again at its formulation phase.
Compromise and bargaining
At all stages of policymaking, several elements come into play. We talked briefly about the role of interest groups, lobbying, of the agenda of EU leaders.
The European policy process is characterised by compromise and bargaining. The co-legislators adopt between themselves a compromise position on a final text. But the text proposed by the Parliament is itself a compromise of the debates and amendments between the Members of the European Parliament. The Commission made its proposal by listening to business representatives, NGOs, etc.
That’s it for this - very broad, I agree - overview of EU policymaking. In later articles, we’ll explore in detail each aspect of the policy cycle. So don’t forget to subscribe to The Beubble and not miss the next articles.
Understanding the European Union, John McCormick