Building EU Regulatory Capacity: The Work of Under-Resourced Agencies in the European Union

239 Pages·2019·2.03 MB·English

by  Eva Heims

G
EXECUTIVE POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE
P
E
BUILDING EU REGULATORY
CAPACITY
THE WORK OF
UNDER-RESOURCED
AGENCIES IN
THE EUROPEAN UNION
EVA HEIMS
Executive Politics and Governance
Series Editors
Martin Lodge
London School of Economics and Political Science
London, UK
Kai Wegrich
Hertie School of Governance
Berlin, Germany
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Eva Heims
Building EU
Regulatory Capacity
The Work of Under-Resourced Agencies in the
European Union
Eva Heims
Department of Politics
University of York
York, UK
Executive Politics and Governance
ISBN 978-3-319-97576-4 ISBN 978-3-319-97577-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97577-1
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F
oreword
This book is about the inter-organisational relationships between
European Union (EU) and national regulatory bodies. I am all too aware,
however, that a book about this topic may almost seem irrelevant at a time
when the EU is, once more, in crisis. As the United Kingdom is preparing
to leave the EU, populist movements are gaining ever more traction in the
EU’s Member States. The objectives and values of the EU seem under
pressure as never before. Why should we care about cooperation between
bureaucratic agencies in such times? At the heart, the work of these regu-
latory bodies is fundamental in producing policy outcomes that affect all
EU citizens and that are crucial to the legitimacy of the EU at large.
Without the cooperation taking place between regulatory actors in the
EU on a daily basis, cross-border risks in the EU cannot be managed
effectively. That is not to claim that this multi-level, transnational bureau-
cracy is failsafe and that it produces desirable outcomes at all times, far
from that. However, it does mean we need to be aware how important the
work of regulators is for the maintenance of an integrated market that has
been a key rationale for the creation of the EU. Bureaucracies are always
and everywhere fundamental for the maintenance of the state. Especially
in times of crisis they are often the backbone of continuation, of keeping
things going, for better or for worse. In that spirit, this book hopes to
shed light on the work EU agencies and national regulators carry out
v
vi FOREWORD
every day to ‘level the playing field’ in an integrated market and to keep
us safe from cross-border risks.
York, UK Eva Heims
May 2018
A
cknowledgements
Many people have supported me in conducting the research for this proj-
ect and in helping me to develop my thoughts. My greatest debts in this
regard are owed to Damian Chalmers and Martin Lodge. It was Damian’s
course on Law and Governance of the Single European Market, which
provided me with the initial inspiration for my own research project.
Without his support and encouragement at this stage I might not have
dared to embark on this project and an academic career. Martin, in turn,
opened my eyes to the world of research on public policy, regulation and
public administration outside of EU studies, which is undoubtedly
reflected in this book. Neither of them ever tired of diligently reading the
many drafts of the initial work I produced for this project. They never
failed to give me support and encouragement when the things got diffi-
cult. I am immensely grateful to them.
There are many other people whose constructive feedback and support
was invaluable over the years. Ed Page provided crucial feedback at key
stages of the project, for which I am very thankful. Christel Koop, Madalina
Busuioc, Tobias Bach, Eva Ruffing, Hussein Kassim, Waltraud Schelkle,
Julia Black, and Hellen Wallace all provided feedback or inspired my think-
ing on the topic of this book over the years. I would like to thank them all.
I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Department of Politics at
York, for the feedback they provided on this project, as well as for provid-
ing such a collegiate working environment.
I am indebted to the officials who gave up their time to speak to me
about their work for this research project. Without these conversations my
understanding of the relevant regulatory issues would have remained
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
rather superficial. Their input has undoubtedly been crucial for enhancing
my ability to understand rather technical regulatory problems and I thank
them for their patience in this regard. More importantly, however, with-
out their willingness to give up their time and to explain technical issues to
me, this book could not have been completed.
A very special thanks is also owed to the Foundation of German
Business and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Their financial support made it possible for me to fully concentrate on the
empirical research that underpins the findings of this book.
Last – but by no means least – I am grateful for the support of my fam-
ily and friends. I would like to thank my brother and his family, my aunt
and uncle, and especially my parents for always being there, including in
the completion of this project. I dedicate this book them (even though I
cannot help but wonder whether a book on bureaucracy is something they
ever hoped to be dedicated to them…). Finally, I cannot thank Ned
enough. He has had to endure a lot as a result of this research project. I
cannot express how thankful I am to him for always taking my latest panic
over a ‘not-so-final draft’ with good humour.
c
ontents
1 R egulatory Capacity Building 1
2 An Organisational Perspective on Regulatory Capacity
Building in the EU 27
3 Building EU Capacity to Monitor the Safety of Drugs 53
4 Building EU Maritime Safety Regulatory Capacity 83
5 Food Safety: Building EU Regulatory Capacity Through
the Backdoor 111
6 Building an Integrated Banking Market While Containing
Cross-Border Risks 153
7 The Future of Regulatory Capacity Building in the EU 193
Index 221
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