Presidential leadership styles and institutional capacity for climate policy integration in the European Commission

Rietig, Katharina; Dupont, Claire

doi:10.1080/14494035.2021.1936913

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Second, the introduction of project teams led by Vice-Presidents has promoted the earlier co-ordination of policy at a political level, and thus improved strategic political decision-making among the Commissioners, providing stronger policy guidance to the services. This is particularly important for the coordination of climate policy across the various involved DGs (Bürgin 2020: 387;Bürgin 2018: 844-846, Rietig andDupont 2021).…”

Section: The Presidentialization Of the Commissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Commission: a climate policy entrepreneur

Bürgin¹

2023

Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics

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The European Commission is a crucial actor in EU climate policy in three regards. First, based on its unique role in the EU system as an initiator of policy proposals, it acts as a policy entrepreneur, contributing to the gradual advancement of EU climate policy (Dupont et al. 2020(Dupont et al. : 1104Laffan 1997; Skjaerseth and Wettestad 2010). In this role, it has promoted commitments to ever more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets (compared to 1990 levels) that, once agreed, served as the basis for the Commission's legislative initiatives. Second, as guardian of the treaties (Treaty on the EU (TEU) Art. 17), the Commission monitors EU countries' compliance with the adopted legislation. To this end, it has constantly improved coordination processes with national governments (Börzel and Buzogany 2019, Bürgin 2021, Peeters and Athanasiadou 2020, Schoenefeld and Jordan 2020). Finally, the Commission is actively involved in EU international climate policy, coordinating bi-lateral and multilateral partnerships on climate change and energy with third countries, contributing to knowledge transfer and policy learning (Biedenkopf and Torney 2014).The Commission's motivation to push for an ambitious climate policy is twofold. Firstly, it naturally serves the Commission's institutional self-interest to strengthen its role within the governance of the EU. Secondly, and more importantly, the Commission has an obligation to fulfil its responsibilities, as set out in the treaties. In line with this duty, the Commission considers an ambitious climate policy in response to public demand as a powerful engine for European integration, in particular in a context of shrinking citizens' trust in the EU and its institutions, and also as a means to strengthen the EU's role on the global stage (European Commission 2020d, Skovgaard 2013: 1147.The remainder of this chapter is structured as follows. The first section outlines the Commission's political and administrative structure and provides an overview of the interservice coordination in the policymaking process. The second section describes the main competences of the Commission, which include initiating proposals, monitoring and enforcing implementation, and representing the EU in international cooperation. The final section is an assessment of the constraining and enabling factors for the Commission's climate policy entrepreneurship, such as international context conditions, the position constellation among the two co-legislators, as well as the Commission president's internal leadership capacity and strategies.

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Section: The Presidentialization Of the Commissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Commission: a climate policy entrepreneur

Bürgin¹

2023

Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics

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“…Within these lines, this article investigates specifically Juncker's top-down organizational reforms in the Commission, and how these affected organizational co-ordination and policy governance of the transboundary, cross-sectoral CE policy, an area that is under-researched. While scholars have investigated the functioning and the power relations within the Commission, they have not paid adequate attention to the vertical and horizontal organizational co-ordination within the Commission (exceptions are Kassim et al, 2017 andRietig &Dupont, 2021) and/or its impact on policy governance. Therefore, studying the impact of the organizational reforms on CE policy governance is useful, because it differs to the usual organizational structure in the Commission, where one DG is responsible for one particular area and purpose.…”

Section: Organizational Characteristics In the Commissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After his appointment in November 2014, President Juncker emphasized the ‘political drive’ of his College of Commissioners, which ‘rests on a political mandate’ and is reflected in the priorities of his organizational reforms (Nugent & Rhinard, 2019, p. 204). Organizational reforms in the Commission already started under President José Manuel Barroso, who followed a more bottom‐up leadership style than Juncker (Rietig & Dupont, 2021). Juncker's reforms were concrete and distinctive and aimed ‘to produce integrated, well‐grounded and well‐explained initiatives that lead to clear results’ (European Commission, 2014a, p. 2).…”

Section: Juncker's Organizational Reforms and Cementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastly, studies have focused on the impact of the Commission's leadership on the EU's international activities (Kassim et al, 2017). Nevertheless, only a few studies concentrate on horizontal organizational co-ordination within the Commission or pay adequate attention to the vertical dimension and its impact on policy governance (exceptions are Kassim et al, 2017 andRietig &Dupont, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resilience of the Silo Organizational Structure in the European Commission

Chatzopoulou¹

2022

J of Common Market Studies

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This article investigates whether the organizational reforms that President Jean‐Claude Juncker introduced strengthened the Commission's political role, enhanced co‐ordination among Directorates General and affected the policy governance with respect to the circular economy. Drawing on organizational theory, the article demonstrates how Juncker's reforms empowered the Commission's leadership by centralization of powers and close monitoring of DGs' work. The inter‐institutional interactions among the DGs formally increased, especially with respect to information clarification and the allocation of competences and resources. However, the top‐down reforms undermined the DGs' and the services' entrepreneurial role in policy governance and innovation. In response, the individual DGs demonstrated resistance and resilience to these reforms. The article attributes this resistance and resilience to the DG's distinctive administrative capacity, practices, culture and the ‘logic of portfolio’, that reinvigorated the silo structure in the Commission and intensified inter‐DG competition.

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“…CPI emerged in the 2000s especially in the areas of energy, agriculture and transport policy as well as in the form of climate mainstreaming into the EU budget from 2014 onwards (Rietig, 2021). It is conceptually embedded within broader ideas of policy integration and environmental policy integration (EPI), which, for decades, were rather more conceptual exercises than efforts towards a practical policy reform agenda.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%