6. Exercise on the Role of EU Institutions in EU Agenda-Setting
Fill in the Blanks!
Generally, the task of EU agenda-setting belongs to
the European Council, whose task is to provide the necessary
and
political
for the development of the EU. The Lisbon
Treaty gave the European Council more prescriptive agenda-setting powers, and
provided more detailed mechanisms for realizing those. Damian Chalmers has
written that the European Council is therefore no longer confined to setting
out guidelines for the EU, but is now defining its directions and priorities
(Damian Chalmers, Giorgio Monti. European Union Law. Updating Supplement.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 20). Article 15 (1) TEU states: "1.
The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary
for its development and shall define the general political
and
thereof. It shall not exercise legislative
functions". The European Council cooperates with Member States (in different
Council configurations), and the other EU
in
agenda-setting.
The European Council's agenda-setting is limited by the final sentence, meaning that the European Council is not trespassing the Commission's legislative initiative - the European Council, according to Article 15 (1) TEU, is not supposed to exercise legislative functions, which indicates that the legislative initiation, as well as related to that initiation functions, remain to the European , who is also considered as an agenda-setter in the EU, setting out the points on what the parliaments (European Parliament, as well as the Parliaments) will vote later. The Commission does not only initiate law-making, but it initiates also general process. According to Article 1 TEU, the Commission takes appropriate initiatives in order to promote the EU's general interest, ensures the application of the Treaties, and of measures adopted by the institutions pursuant to the Treaties, exercises the budget, and manages programmes; exercises coordinating, executive and management functions; ensures the EU's external representation. In order to fulfill its tasks, the defines its work programme for five years. This work programme includes:
- legislative programme for years;
- financial issues,
- broader policy issues.
Formally, Article 17 TEU gives the Commission the power to initiate the EU’s annual and multiannual programming, with a view to achieve agreements. The Commission also takes agendas on separate issues. From inside (internally), the President of the Commission sets out the political guidelines. On those guidelines later bases the debate about which direction the EU should take, and the concrete measures. Form inside, the Commission is assisted by the relevant Directorates who interact with civil society here, but also with the Member States’ governments who limit the Commission’s powers here. Therefore, one may say that also the civil society and the Member States’ participate in EU agenda-setting. Formally, Article 11 TEU enables the Commission to broadly consult with parties with the aim to ensure coherent and transparent EU actions, to submit proposals on matters about which the EU citizens consider a EU legal act useful, on citizens’ initiative.
The Commission interacts here with also other EU institutions. For example, when the Commission took Agenda 2000: for a stronger and wider Union, that agenda was preceded by the Commission Communication that based on the combined work of all EU , but also on the Member States' initiatives.
When the Commission initiates legislation, also the European Parliament (the European Parliament, for example, has Committee of Experts, which Committee participates in working out the reform of the Commission), or the Council (the Council is represented by national governments) may ask it to make a proposal. The citizens' initiative may require the to make a proposal. National governments, international (institutional, or deriving from international organizations), or obligations may demand legislation. The Council, through its , sets out legislative timetables, which the Commission is expected to follow. The European does agree and revise annual and tri-annual legislative programmes in partnership with other EU institutions.
The advantages of the agenda-setting are: involvement of other EU institutions, civil and Member States' representatives, scientific , that gives the agenda-setting wider direct and indirect involvement, consequently , and brings it closer to the citizens.
The
disadvantages / actual problems could relate to:
- the role of national
in the
agenda-setting;
- the requirements for the citizens’ initiative (on
which initiative the Commission reacts), namely only 0,5 per cent of the
European population could initiate the citizens’ initiative that could
mean involvement of only certain interest groups;
- (related to the previous) not all involvement is
good;
- the attempts to constrain the influence of on the Commission’s activities (the lobbyists’ register and funding means that lobbyists are tried to allocate under control).