How to Manage the EU în 2020

HOW TO MANAGE THE EUROPEAN UNION IN 2020

1. A general crisis of the European Union institutions

The Commission’s recent crisis is only the visible part of a general crisis of the European Union institutions, whose administrative functioning methods remain founded on organisational methods dating back to the 50’s. The evolution of European societies as well as the increasing integration process in the European Union have led the European administrative system to suffer from very serious harms, characteristic of a system in a process of bureaucratisation. The coming passage to Euro plays a part of catalyst in those deficiencies henceforward belonging to the public sphere. The increasing demand for transparent methods of public management reinforces these tendencies, just as the massive advent of new information technologies does. The « closed up » game (far from the citizens, reserved to the administrative and political elite) and the « drawn game» (all acquired power to the one part is lost for the others) have been at the basis of the system for the last 40 years. It is the end of this managing method that the year 1999 has expressed through its European crises.

2. The necessary acquisition of a democratic legitimacy

Along the next 20 years, the European administrative system will have to provide evidence of its ability to manage a Union closely involving the peoples, and to face the hazards of History. It must therefore root its functioning mechanism in three main values likely to help play this role: transparency, democratisation of its decision-making processes and efficiency of its action. Thanks to more transparent internal functioning mechanisms, to renewed control procedures and through a real communication policy, transparency and efficiency will be made possible. By recognising the politicisation of the European project and by supporting the emergence of a Euro-political class specifically trained to manage the European Union, it will become possible to see the emergence of a Euro-citizenship, only warrant of democratic and historical anchorage of the European Union.

3. Some fundamental reforms to allow the management of the European Union in 2020

The European administrative system should soon see an end to its pyramidal functioning method (European level>national level>regional level) and head towards the network method (functional definition, not hierarchical). This modification implies a rethinking not only of the Commission but also of national administration at least in their relation to European topics. This evolution might lead to a fundamental geographical reorganisation of the European institutional area. The European Central Bank already illustrates the emergence of this new administrative organisation type. Within the European administrative system, a redefinition of roles is becoming necessary in the perspective of 2020: a more collegial Commission playing a part of executive stimulation; a Presidency designed to ensure action coherence; a Council heading towards a Chamber of States; a Parliament which has to learn how to touch its citizens. An in-depth reform of the Commission’s human resources management and control procedures must be initiated by year 2000 in order to avoid the Euro to be implemented with a weakened executive. For a controlled transition process, the definition and implementation of a strong and coherent communication policy is to take place as soon as possible. At the heart of this policy, it appears necessary to find a great mobilising political project imperatively structured along the concept of « common democracy », just as there was a Single Market or a Single Currency. Such a project would play the part of « political locomotive » for the next decade and constitute the integrationist solution to enlargement.

However one should not underestimate that the current crisis is only the initial stage of the profound upheavals that will affect the European system in the next decades. From now on, internal and external crises are part of European Union’s daily life (since the « mad cow », the rhythm of critical events accelerates). Paradoxically this situation reinforces the need to endow the European Union with an efficient anticipation organism, capable of alerting all decision-makers before the release of crises. Finally one should keep in mind that a great part of the causes (organisational as well as human) which led to the current crisis is still present and active within the European administrative system; and that it might resist to changes.

HOW TO ORGANISE THE EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM INTO A NETWORK

The convergence of analyses and the quality of recommendations permit to elaborate a coherent synthesis centred around three main axes :

1. the new components of the European administrative system have already begun to connect into a network since the mid-90’s, even though neither decision-makers nor public opinions realised it yet.

2. Even though it is the operational tool for subsidiary, the networking functioning method remains largely ill- mastered by decision-makers and European political and administrative operators

3. In 2020, the European administrative network will no longer be organised on the basis of hierarchy levels (Europe, nation, region) but on functions (European, national, regional functions).

The new components of the European administrative system have already begun to connect into a network since the mid-90’s, even though neither decision-makers nor public opinions realised it yet. Nevertheless, the emergence of networking structures such as the European Central Bank (which is a network of central banks as much as a bank settled in Frankfurt), Euro-Just or the Euro’s communication strategy, prove that the EU creates networks that do not obey classical pyramid rules in which adequate structures would be created at the European level in order to cover a whole national and regional administrative machinery. These evolutions result from a number of decisions aimed at answering specific constraints of operational efficiency, and the higher levels of the EU do not realise their innovating and general nature. However, since the whole European political and administrative system is stuck, these evolutions could usefully be

Universitatea de Stiinte Agronomice si Medicina Veterinara

Facultatea de Management- Bucuresti