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The Agency Phenomenon in the European Union

Long gone are the days when agencies in the European Union were few in number and modest in substance. We have entered into an era of agencification, with more than fifty agencies and the number continuously on the rise, just like their (quasi-) autonomous powers.

The book discusses the de jure framework of the agencification process, however its originality lays in its de facto – real life approach to agencies. Namely, it studies the specifics of everyday decision-making, the management of agencies and their role in the creation of network structures in European executive governance through empirical work. In doing so, the book goes beyond the initial debate on agencies when a lot of assumptions were made on basis of formal provisions with little consideration on what the repercussions were in practice. Hence, the ambition of the book is to offer an assessment and explanation beyond the levels mandated by formal design.

This makes the book highly relevant not only for scholars interested in the topic, but also for practitioners who can gain insights into the complex dynamics that arise between European agencies, both the “newcomers” and the existing institutional structures.

The Agency Phenomenon in the European Union brings together authors who have examined the European Union and its agencies from a variety of angles, fuelling the theoretical and practical discussion with substantiated arguments rather than a priori normative assumptions. Chapter authors include: Deirdre Curtin, Renaud Dehousse, Morten Egeberd and Thomas Gehring.

Postscriptum

ACELG wishes Madalina Busuioc much success in her position as fellow at the London School of Economics Centre for the Analysis of Risk and Regulation (CARR), as of 1 September 2012. Madalina Busuioc joined ACELG in September 2009 as a postdoctoral fellow and grew to the position of Assistant Professor at ACELG. She is the author of European Agencies: Law and Practices of Accountability (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2013).