Ezra Suleiman

Reforming the Commission: between modernization and bureaucratization

The article uses evidence from an original survey of 200 top Commission officials to highlight the schizophrenic nature of the Kinnock reforms. It shows that the push toward the ‘modernization’ of the Commission has been accompanied by a trend towards ‘bureaucratization’. The findings of the survey challenge the dominant view that the reform project was largely a move toward the institutional paradigm set by new public management (NPM). Based on the views of top Commission officials, the reforms can best be described as a marriage of ‘Weberian-bureaucratic’ and NPM ideas. This mix of largely incompatible reform measures resulted from the simultaneous effort to maximize the efficiency of the organization while responding to the legitimacy crisis that created demands for more accountability. The political nature of these demands suggests that it will be hard for the Barroso Commission to substantially change the turn toward bureaucratization.

Supranationalism in a Transnational Bureaucracy: The Case of the European Commission

While a significant body of scholarly work suggests that we can best understand the policy output of international bureaucracies by focusing on the preferences of their political masters, this article joins those looking ‘inside’ such bureaucracies to comprehend their behaviour. Using an original data set from nearly 200 interviewees, the article examines the policy preferences of top bureaucrats of the European Commission. It shows that top Commission managers favour deeper European integration regardless of their national background or their organizational experience. The tilt of the Commission bureaucracy toward supranationalism is indicated by a broader consensus within the organization on some of the most controversial initiatives in the EU, such as the constitutional treaty, Turkish accession and the directive for the liberalization of the services sector. This notable consensus suggests that despite occasional policy setbacks and perceived intergovernmental ‘trends’, the Commission will continue serving its integrative mission.