IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v4y2016i2p68-79.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Between Potential, Performance and Prospect: Revisiting the Political Leadership of the EU Commission President

Author

Listed:
  • Henriette Müller

    (NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

This contribution argues that although the latest EU treaties formalized the Commission presidency to substantial degree, it remains a constitutionally weak office for the provision of political leadership. The capacity to lead thus still strongly depends on the individual incumbent. As a first step, the article examines the legal-procedural structure of the office before and after the Lisbon Treaty came into force. Secondly, it analyzes the political leadership performance of the Commission president José Barroso in comparison with his predecessor Jacques Delors. In bridging formal institutional rules with concrete performances this article contributes to the understanding of the relationship between structure and agency in international institutions as well as to the growing literature on political leadership in the European Union.

Suggested Citation

  • Henriette Müller, 2016. "Between Potential, Performance and Prospect: Revisiting the Political Leadership of the EU Commission President," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(2), pages 68-79.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v4:y:2016:i:2:p:68-79
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v4i2.581
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/581
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.v4i2.581?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kassim, Hussein, 2013. "A new model presidency: José Manuel Barroso's leadership of the European Commission," Discussion Papers, Schumpeter Junior Research Group Position Formation in the EU Commission SP IV 2013-502, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Tony Barber, 2010. "The Appointments of Herman van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(s1), pages 55-67, September.
    3. Andy Smith, 2003. "Why European Commissioners Matter," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 137-155, March.
    4. Pieter De Wilde & Michael Zürn, 2012. "Can the Politicization of European Integration be Reversed?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(S1), pages 137-153, March.
    5. Pollack, Mark A., 1997. "Delegation, agency, and agenda setting in the European Community," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 99-134, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henriette Müller, 2016. "Between Potential, Performance and Prospect: Revisiting the Political Leadership of the EU Commission President," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(2), pages 68-79.
    2. Rauh, Christian, 2022. "Clear messages to the European public? The language of European Commission press releases 1985–2020," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-19.
    3. Felix Lehmann, 2023. "Talking about Europe? Explaining the salience of the European Union in the plenaries of 17 national parliaments during 2006–2019," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(2), pages 370-389, June.
    4. Rauh, Christian, 2015. "Communicating supranational governance? The salience of EU affairs in the German Bundestag, 1991–2013," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 16(1), pages 116-138.
    5. Braun, Daniela & Grande, Edgar, 2021. "Politicizing Europe in Elections to the European Parliament (1994–2019): The Crucial Role of Mainstream Parties," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(5), pages 1124-1141.
    6. Esther Ademmer & Anna Leupold & Tobias Stöhr, 2019. "Much ado about nothing? The (non-) politicisation of the European Union in social media debates on migration," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 305-327, June.
    7. Nazli Aziz, 2005. "Power delegation and the European Central Bank's democratic deficit," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 537-550, December.
    8. Yuxuan Lei, 2025. "The Role of Political Actors’ Preference Variation in the Decision-Making Process of the European Union," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-31, March.
    9. Wilde, Pieter de & Junk, Wiebke Marie & Palmtag, Tabea, 2016. "Accountability and opposition to globalization in international assemblies," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(4), pages 823-846.
    10. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6881 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Pengfei Hou, 2024. "Two tigers in one mountain: Europeanising the Western Balkans amid China’s engagement," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 165-183, June.
    12. Paul Schure & Amy Verdun, 2008. "Legislative Bargaining in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(4), pages 459-486, December.
    13. Nora Dörrenbächer & Ellen Mastenbroek, 2019. "Passing the buck? Analyzing the delegation of discretion after transposition of European Union law," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 70-85, March.
    14. Klaus H. Goetz & Ronny Patz & Bernhard Reinsberg, 2017. "Trust Funds as a Lever of Influence at International Development Organizations," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8, pages 85-95, August.
    15. Stephan Stetter, 2004. "Torn between Reform and Stagnation: An Institutionalist Analysis of the MEDA Programme," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 43, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    16. Susan Hannah Allen & Amy T Yuen, 2020. "Action or inaction: United Nations Security Council activity, 1994–2013," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(5), pages 658-665, September.
    17. repec:bla:glopol:v:8:y:2017:i:s5:p:15-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Niclas Meyer, 2012. "Political Contestation in the Shadow of Hierarchy," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 46, European Institute, LSE.
    19. Michal Parízek, 2017. "Control, soft information, and the politics of international organizations staffing," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 559-583, December.
    20. Hanspeter Kriesi, 2016. "The Politicization of European Integration," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54, pages 32-47, September.
    21. Maher, Imelda & Stefan, Oana, 2019. "Delegation of powers and the rule of law: Energy justice in EU energy regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 84-93.
    22. Paul Statham & Hans-Jörg Trenz, 2013. "How European Union Politicization can Emerge through Contestation: The Constitution Case," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 965-980, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v4:y:2016:i:2:p:68-79. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.