Vlad CONSTANTINESCO - The 1999 Crisis and the Responsibility of the European Commission

Pouvoirs n°92 - La responsabilité des gouvernants - janvier 2000 - p.117-131

Does the voluntary resignation of the European Commission, which occurred in unusual circumstances, annouce a renewal of democracy at the European level ? Considering the results of the 1999 European elections, this seems unlikely. The shift from a political responsibility – not established in this case by the European Parliament, although it is anticipated in the Treaty –, to a moral responsibility determined by a committee of experts highlights the difficulty of determining the responsibility of an institution independent from the member states. The fall of the Commission also reveals the contradiction between the desire of the states to increase its tasks while not giving it additional means. It also illustrates the difficulty of conceiving and building a governmental function in the European Union. Résumé

Référence électonique : Vlad CONSTANTINESCO, "The 1999 Crisis and the Responsibility of the European Commission", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°92, 2000, p.117-131. Consulté le 02-06-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-1999-Crisis-and-the.html