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Breaking down the barriers? New public management in the European commission
Author(s) -
Quinlivan Aodh,
Schön Emmanuelle
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of public affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1479-1854
pISSN - 1472-3891
DOI - 10.1002/pa.91
Subject(s) - bureaucracy , commission , corporate governance , public administration , nepotism , language change , political science , european commission , accountability , shadow (psychology) , new public management , china , order (exchange) , public management , european union , economics , law , management , public sector , international trade , politics , finance , art , psychology , literature , psychotherapist
On 15 March 1999, the mass resignation of the College of Commissioners amidst accusations of fraud, mismanagement and nepotism was the catalyst for potential transformation of the European bureaucracy in a radical way. The Commission is at the centre of networks of European governance but it only demonstrates a ‘shadow of a cohesive administrative culture’ (Cini 1996: 223). The managerial reforms which have finally been engaged by the Commission twenty years later than its member countries focus primarily on efficiency and accountability in order to bridge the ‘EU's management deficit’ (Metcalfe 2000: 824). This paper seeks to argue that reforms in the European Commission can only be successful if a cultural analysis is carried out, developing a distinctive approach to European public management in order to lay the basis for new forms of European governance. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.