A call for papers has been announced for two ‘sister panels’ to be organized at the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance Biennial Conference, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, 4-6 July 2018.
Title: New Challenges of Regulation and Enforcement in the EU
Chairs: Dr. Ton van den Brink (Utrecht University), Prof. Ellen Mastenbroek (Radboud University) and Dr. Mira Scholten (Utrecht University)
Discussant: Mariolina Eliantonio (Maastricht University)
Panel I (regulation): The double balancing act in EU Regulation: between the technical and the political & between the EU and the Member States
Shaping EU regulation involves a complex balancing act between technical and political decision-making and between EU authority and national autonomy. This double balancing act is not new, but has in recent years become increasingly pressing: the political salience of EU policies has increased significantly and technocratic issues sometimes suddenly turn highly political (think of the recent glyphosates debate). EU regulation is nowadays shaped in a context in which the sensitivity to national sovereignty and autonomy is higher than ever before.
The aim of this panel is not to view the problems of this double balancing act, but rather to look at the practices and mechanisms that seek to accommodate it and evaluate their legitimacy and effectiveness. This panel invites papers that address these issues from normative and empirical perspectives.
Panel II (enforcement): Institutional innovations in the field of enforcement in the EU
Since recently, we see a rise of various institutional forms of cooperation in the field of implementation and enforcement of EU law and policies. An increasing number of EU agencies and institutions (like the Commission and the European Central Bank) have received direct enforcement powers. In addition, there is a proliferation of EU enforcement networks, offices (European Public Prosecutor’s Office), and other forms, such as joint supervisory or investigation teams. In which sectors have these been established and used? What is the rationale behind opting for one or another institutional form? How do the function in reality? To what extent do they enhance national implementation and enforcement? What implications does the choice for one or another institutional form carry? (In terms of legitimacy, accountability, protection of fundamental rights)
This panel invites (comparative) papers addressing these issues from the perspective of different disciplines.
Submissions can be sent to M.Scholten@uu.nl