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LA PRESIDENZA DELLA COMMISSIONE EUROPEA. VINCOLI E RISORSE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2018

Ken Endo

Introduzione

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La carica di Presidente della Commissione Europea è malleabile. I suoi poteri e le sue possibilità di incidenza politica mutano con l'avvicendarsi dei presidenti, e anche nel corso di una stessa presidenza, come mostra il caso di Jacques Delors, il cui ufficio è passato in un decennio (1985–1995) attraverso fasi espansive e restrittive.

Summary

Summary

This article highlights the underlying institutional structure of the Commission presidency which clearly exists, despite the contested and malleable nature of the office.

There are at least three important aspects of the Commission President's leadership. The first is to build an administration, or improve it, thereby founding an effective power base to exercise other aspects of leadership. Second, to build coalitions or effect compromises throught which the President attempts to make the Community function, whilst upgrading the common interests among the member states. The third is to set and expand agendas in order to deepen integration.

For these leadership roles, the Commission presidency is given important resources. Internally, the position as the chairman of the College, the possession of the largest cabinet, cooperation with the Secretary General, and other in-house organs and channels under presidential control, help the President to mobilise the College and the Commission apparatus. This mobilisation in turn allows him to exert influence outside the Commission.

Externally, the President's membership of the European Council is a key to understanding his potential to exercise agenda-setting and mediative leadership. The Council presidency, the Council Secretariat and the Franco-German axis may also be turned into his resources when he manages to ally himself with them. Lastly, the international standing of the Commission President helps (or hinders) him in exercising leadership, since prestige in the international arena can be a resource for the constantly contested office of the President. Success in mobilising these external resources can facilitate enhanced utilisation of his internal resources.

However, the Commission presidency is circumscribed by constraints. The office of the Commission President is not intended to be, nor is it, equipped with democratic legitimacy, lacks the important resource of a political party, and is characterised by meagre links with peoples. Moreover, the internal standing of the Commission President within the Commission is also partly designed and partly obliged to be modest, given the rule of collegiality, the lack of power to hire and fire the Commissioners as well as other key in-house posts, and the fragmentation and heterogeneity of the Commission apparatus.

Type
Saggi
Information
Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , December 1995 , pp. 441 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Societ Italiana di Scienza Politica 

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