Accountability in the European Union

New Forms of Accountability and EU-Governance

“…1 It therefore comes as no surprise that, as the European Union is turning more and more into a polity (Van Gerven, 2005), issues of accountability increasingly have found their way onto the political and academic agendas (Arnull and Wincott, 2003;Harlow, 2002;Fisher, 2004). There is a growing concern that the shift from national, state-based policymaking to transnational and multi-level European governance is not being matched by an equally forceful creation of appropriate accountability regimes (Schmitter, 2000;Fisher, 2004, 496).…”

Legitimacy Intermediation in the Multilevel European Polity and Its Collapse in the Euro Crisis

“…And if it were installed nevertheless, political interactions would not meet republican standards: there are as yet no Europe-wide media of political communication and debates, no Europe-wide political parties to articulate and aggregate citizen interests and preferences, no Europe-wide party competition focused on highly salient European policy choices -and thus no way in which the citizens of European member states could respond collectively to proposed or actually adopted policy choices at the European level or to their effects. Regardless of the increasing powers of the European Parliament, therefore, there are no European governors (or governing parties 13 ) that must anticipate and respond to the egalitarian control of Europe-wide election returns (Greven 2000;Harlow 2002;Follesdal/Hix 2006;Hix 2008). While some republican authors hope that these deficiencies might be overcome through institutional reforms facilitating the politicization of European policy choices, they seem to pay insufficient attention to the EU's lack of "political-community" foundations 14 -which republican theory must treat as a crucial precondition for collective self-determination by majority rule (Karolewski 2010).…”

Accountability in Public Policy Partnerships

“…For the public sector, Göran Arvidsson has articulated the problems of efficiency and effectiveness-focused performance evaluations as follows: 'Public activities have intrinsic values which cannot be expressed in terms of economic effectiveness or rationality' (Arvidsson, 1986, p. 629). Similarly, Oliver and Drewry (1996) mention that the use of performance indicators in the public service can be counterproductive; Harlow (2002) shows how value for money audits can lead to an abdication of ministerial responsibility; Neal (1995) and Sirotnik (2004) criticise the practice of performance measurement in higher education; and Dahl (1994) as well as Behn (2001) highlight the trade-offs involved in creating greater accountability for performance. 44.…”

“…The literature on the European Union's governance in general and its democratic deficit and accountability in particular is vast. For a few examples, see Amtenbrink (1999), Arnull and Wincott (2002), Asbach (2002), Chryssochoou et al (1998), Coultrap (1999), Decker (2000), Grande (1996), Gustavsson (2000), Gusy (1998), Habermas (1998), Harlow (2002, Katz (2001), Kiernan (1997), Laffan (2003), Lemke (1999), Lindseth (1999), Lodge (1996Lodge ( , 2003, Lopez Coterilla and Vicente (1998), Lord (1998Lord ( , 2001, Meadowcroft (2002), Misch (1996), Moravcsik (2002), Moussis (2000), Neunreither (1994), Norris (1997), Oberreuter (1999, Pasquino (2000), Pogge (1997), Rosanvallon (2002), Scharpf (1999), Tsebelis and Garrett (2000), Weiler et al (1995), Wiener and Della-Sala (1997), Williams (1990), Wincott (1998), Wolf (2000, Zürn (2000), Zweifel (2002). 79.…”

“…80. For a detailed discussion of the scandal, subsequent investigations and the changes introduced as a response, see Harlow (2002), Chapter 3. 81.…”