Seminar The politics of agencification in the European Union

Since the 1990s, we can observe a trend of so-called ‘agencification’ in the European Union (EU). The notion of agencification implies that more and more policy-related tasks are delegated to decentralized, (semi-)autonomous bodies; EU agencies, sometimes referred to as office, authority or agency. These tasks include processing and distributing information (e.g. on occupational health and safety or the environment), as well as regulating specific markets (e.g. pharmaceuticals or GMOs), often in connection with the European Commission. Over the years, more than 40 EU agencies have been created, most recently three supervisory agencies for the banking sector in the wake of the financial crisis. Many of these agencies deal with politically sensitive issues and their creation as well as their institutional structure and day-to-day decision making have proven to cause serious controversy; hence, the politics of agencification. The main objective of the course is to familiarize students with the notion of agencification as one of the most dynamic fields of institutional development in the EU. At the end of the course, students will understand why agencies are created, in the EU and elsewhere, how they can be understood within the system of EU governance and why agency creation is controversial. The course also invites students to reflect on normative questions of accountability, transparency and legitimacy regarding the role of (semi-)autonomous bodies in the policy making process. The literature will be exclusively in English and includes primarily books, book chapters and academic articles. Additional sources such as legislative texts, official documents and news articles will have to be used for in-class assignments and the required essay (see below). Introductory literature: Geradin, Damien (ed). Regulation through agencies in the EU: a new paradigm of European governance, 2005. Rittberger, Berthold (ed). Special issue: Agency governance in the European Union. Agency governance in the European Union, Journal of European Public Policy, 18, 6, 2011. A detailed syllabus including mandatory and optional literature will be provided in due time. Sozialwissenschaften Students are expected to read the mandatory literature and to fully participate in class, i.e. in the course of discussions, assignments and individual or group presentations. In addition, students will have to write an academic essay on a topic within the area of agencification/EU agencies. Universität Duisburg-Essen WiSe 2015/16 Powi B.A., Politikwissenschaft (Bachelor of Arts) Mag.phil. Klika Christoph Mag.phil