The Comitology system: From intergovernmental bargaining and deliberative supranationalism to a strategic Commission?

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2024-08-12

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en

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This Master’s Thesis delved into the functioning of the comitology committees of the European Union. Specifically, it focused on the alignment between the Commission’s proposals and the comitology committees’ decisions. Based on the literature on the comitology system, three main perspectives could be identified. The first perspective suggests that this alignment is due to intense negotiations within the comitology committees. The Commission, consequently, aligns its proposal with the results of these negotiations. The second perspective argues that deliberation is the dominant way of decision making within the comitology committees. As a result, the only good decisions becomes apparent. Lastly, the third perspective argues that the Commission strategically uses the comitology procedure to make sure that the comitology committees vote in line with its proposals. After identifying these perspectives, a survey was conducted among the Dutch members of the comitology committees. After retrieving all the data, t-tests were used to come to conclusions. Based on the responses of seventy-five comitology members, it was concluded that the second hypothesis – deliberative supranationalism – occurs more frequently with in the comitology committees, compared to the other two perspectives.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen