2010 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
The Commission
Published in:
The Government and Politics of the European Union
Frequently portrayed as the civil service of the EU, in reality the Commission is rather more and rather less than that: rather more in the sense that the treaties and political practice have assigned to it greater policy-initiating and decision-making powers than those enjoyed, in theory at least, by national civil services; rather less in that its role in policy implementation is greatly limited by the fact that agencies in the member states are charged with most of the EU’s day-to-day administrative responsibilities.