The European Parliament's empowerment of control over the European Commission: the Santer (1995–1999) and Barroso (2004–2009) cases

Abstract

The European Union delegates to the European Commission the exclusive power to initiate legislation, which allows an autonomous organization guided by expertise to have institutional legitimacy to propose laws that counteract the interests of national governments. By analyzing the voluntary resignation of the Santer Commission and the nomination process for the Barroso Commission, this paper identifies the empowerment of the European Parliament, especially when it oversees the European Commission as an ex-ante control when confirming the commissioners, whereas the ex-post control has been delegated to the president of the Commission, who has become an important actor in the management of crises.

institutions; delegation; veto players; European Union