Accountability in the European Union - Essay Example

Accountability in the European Union Introduction There is a question on the extent of accountability in the agencies that make up the European Union due to the growing nature of the size and policy making competencies of the European Union and its agencies.1 The debate about accountability has got many dimensions and elements and proponents of accountability argue that Europe has a deficiency of democracy in certain instances as each country that makes the EU usually has its own meaning and definition of democracy. As with any other budget, the European Union has a budget that is at risk or prone to maladministration and mismanagement which may be due to the lack of transparency in the running of its affairs.2 Each and every year in the European Union calendar, there is what is known as the Court of Auditors that reports on the management of the budget of different European Union agencies aimed at improving the management of the money allocated annually for the EU budget. In order to strengthen the means of ensuring accountability and ensuring that fraud is prevented, the European commission established the European Anti-Fraud Office with the responsibility for conducting administrative investigations in the spending of money allocated to different agencies for the running of the EU affairs. As already stated above, the Court of Auditors established by the Budgetary Treaty of 1975 plays an active role in checking the union received by the European Union for the running of its affairs and ensures that the expenditure is incurred in the desired and legal manner and that the budget is under sound management. In ensuring the transparency in the running of European Union affairs, there is a Council of Ministers composed of relevant ministers from each member state who meet in public or have their proceedings aired live to ensure that transparency is accorded in the running of affairs of the organization. The standard plenary sittings of the European Union parliament always has live streaming of the debates of the European Union while the public sittings can be observed from a separate public gallery. Further, the monitoring of the activities of the European Commission is usually performed by an independent commission, for instance European Anti-Fraud Office"(OLAF) which reports to the European Parliament would literally be tasked with checking any instances of fraud in the facilitation of EU projects.3 This research work addresses whether there is accountability in the European Union and its members including the agencies under the current and future regimes which are often affected by the dynamics and interests of each member state. This paper also raises the question on how to determine who is accountable in case there is non-compliance with the frameworks laid down by the European Union and whether there is a joint or proportional accountability. Matters of accountability have increasingly been discussed in political and scholarly arenas and the European Union and its agencies are not exceptions in this.4 Arnull and Wincott (2002) state that this is due to the notion that with the shift from municipal making of policies within states and the making of laws across boundaries, there has become a need to have strong and viable method of enforcing accountability and governance within the European Union.5 The lack of accountability or its inadequacy thereof has been seen as a key cause of visibility of the acts of the EU and therefore its legitimacy in exercising governance over the citizens of the member states.6 In the past, the discussions on accountability in European Union governance structures and this research work will evaluate whether there is an internal framework within EU that ensures accountability and how it operates in practice. It will examine the EU agencies and their impact on the implementation of EU policies and the extent to which they are held accountable either managerial or political. The discussion will be focused on accountability amongst the European Union agencies such as the European Aviation Safety Agency, European Medicines Agency, and The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, Europol, and Eurojust.7 To What extent is the European Union and its Agencies Accountable The European Union and its agencies must be accountable to the members of the Union at any given time and there has been a salient increase for the demand for accountability in the running of their affairs.8 In analyzing this, it is important to know how the accountability is organized, how it occurs in practice and how the practices can be re-evaluated to prove that there is accountability amongst the agencies. Accountability occurs in very many policies that the European Union enacts through its agencies and focuses on the primary mechanisms in the operation of the European Medicines Agency; the European Aviation Safety Agency; the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, Europol and Eurojust. Due to the power wielded by the agencies, there is the inherent need to have mechanisms that ensure that there is accountability in their activities. However, accountability in these agencies faces lots of threats due to accountability issues as well as matters of bureaucracy in terms of law and public administration in the European institutes and agencies.9 An important agency of the European Union is the European Commission which manages the day to day operations of the European Union as well as the implementation of their policies. This Commission proposes new laws to the EU parliament and Council and manages its budget as well as enforcing the EU laws to ensure accountability in the running of EU affairs.10 Within the European Union, there is there are organizations such as the Internal Audit Service (IAS) which conducts internal audit, a function given to it through the European Commission and its agencies. The Internal Audit Function (IAF) for example operates from within the Europol to provide objective and independent consultancy services in audit while the Joint Supervisory Body reviews the activities of Europol. The European Union promotes an integrated approach in the management of its financial resources through the strengthening of financial management systems as well as the tax systems. Though this has been a challenge, to some extent, it has succeeded in certain aspects of accountability due to continuous reporting and scrutiny by the Councils and the agencies concerned. When we look at the environmental policy of the EU, the framework governing it is the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive which obliges states to maintain a number of designated habitat types and species at favorable status at selected sites as decided and agreed upon by the European Commission. The birds and habitats Directives cover about 17 per cent of the territory covering the European Union and the regulation makes it an offence to kill or disturb the homes or resting places of these species as well as their breeding places. The impact of this policy goes down to the municipal level in member states for example the stopping of construction of a port in Tenerife was stopped by the Canary Islands regional government partly due to the warning issued by the European Commission to the Spanish government. The European Court has similarly ruled that the Segerra-Garrigues irrigation project in Spain goes contrary to the rules of conservation of nature as enacted by the European Union. Similarly, on July 2, 2009, the European Commission through its agency concerned with the environment temporarily exempted Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and Spain from enforcing the EU air quality standards for airborne particles.11 This clearly shows that the European legislative and executive power is effective in ensuring the accountability is in place as they were able to police the member states to ensure compliance. In April 2007, the European Commission fined Dutch brewers Heineken, Bavaria and Grolsch for being involved in activities that bordered on a cartel in the beer market in violation of its rules that puts accountability on restrictive business practices.12 Between the period 1996 and 1999, the three fined beers held numerous meetings deemed unofficial whereby they coordinated the prices of the beers in The Netherlands. The commission out of its own initiative discovered a cartel operating in Belgium which led to a massive inspection in France, Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands showing the commission is capable of holding even private citizens in their member countries to accountability. The European Commission has also previously fined computer giant Microsoft almost nine hundred Euros for abusing its dominance in the market as it had previously refused to open its Windows program to different internet browsers majorly to keep away European Union competitors. Therefore it can be said that the European Union plays an important role in the development of competition regulation within its member states and may control such aspects as mergers, acquisitions and cartels amongst other competition law policies. The agencies are able to impose open market competition on states that are members of the European Union. Other than the European Commission, other agencies also play an important role in ensuring that there is accountability in the daily running of the affairs of citizens within member states. They ensure there is accountability through the shaping and the implementation of policies and decisions that play a significant role in ensuring that the major aim of accountability is achieved. The committees that the Commission forms also play an important role in the approval and implementation of the European Union policies over a number of issues such as financial spending and regulation. The European Aviation Safety Agency The European Aviation Safety Agency plays a significant role in regulating the aviation industry in Europe and aims at maintaining safety and environmental protection in the aviation industry including the manufacture of aircraft and other air-moving objects and devices. This agency monitors the implementation of standards through inspecting member states’ aviation industry in terms of certifications and licensing of aircrafts and the personnel that run them which are mainly executive and regulatory tasks. The EASA is an independent EU body established by the European Union Commission and its management board adopts its work program as well as the budget while at the same time being accountable to the member states and the Council.13 European Medicines Agency (EMEA) The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) ensures that there is accountability and transparency in order to have public trust and participation in decision-making in matters concerning medicine.14 The EMEA takes a leading role in improving transparency in the policies implemented by the about thirty national regulatory bodies of the EU member states to ensure that public health and safety of citizens within Europe. The agency ensures accountability through evaluation and supervision of medicines for human and veterinary use and also their marketing through a centralized procedure which means that only accredited company can market the products.15 Accountability of EMEA can be ensured in the sense that scientific committees made up of member states that develop, assess as well as supervise the products that are put in the market for sale. The EMEA also ensures transparency and accountability through safety monitoring or what is known as pharmacovigilance through a network within member states and can take the necessary action it the benefit-risk balance of the product has been brought into question. The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) promotes and manages community trade marks and designs and carries out registration procedures for titles to EU industrial property amongst producers and manufacturers amongst member states. It enjoys legal, administrative and financial independence and balances its own budget from the revenue it generates from registration and renewal fees for the protection of trademarks and designs.16 Accountability of the OHIM is ensured through cooperation between its operations and the individual national offices of member countries who ensure that they it is transparent and accountable to the citizens of the European Union. The EU ensures there is accountability in the affairs of OHIM through organizing symposia that are aimed at harmonizing and promoting the application of community trademarks and designs as well as dispute resolution in national courts.17 The OHIM has a service charter that sets performance targets and commitments to the users as the standards are used internally to set targets that measure productivity and performance measurements. The OHIM ensures accountability and transparency through publications on its websites and also allows inquires through radios and televisions that ensure that standards are met in whatever circumstances within the European Union.18 Europol Europol enforces the law enforcement in member states of the European Union and prevents all forms of crime including acts of terrorism in order to achieve a safer Europe and citizens occupying the member states of the EU. It functions as the major European Union support centre for the operation and enforcement of laws, and acts as a criminal information centre of the EU as well as development of law enforcement capability.19 The Europol Management Board evaluates the Council decisions and implements its activities and ensures compliance with Europol Council Decisions for law enforcement regulations.20 The Europol is accountable to the European Union Council of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs and controls the guidance of Europol’s law enforcement activities both within member states and the larger Europe in general. This organ approves its budget as well as recruiting staff and together with the European Parliament adopts regulations that are related to the work of the European Union. The Council ensures accountability through annual reports that are presented to the European Parliament which significantly controls its budget. It also has the management board that gives strategic guidance as well as overseeing the implementation of its tasks aimed at policing European Union member states. In terms of financial accountability, it monitors a commitment and disbursement of expenditure and abides by the principles set by EU that ensures that there is budgetary discipline and sound financial management.21 The EU also ensures accountability in Europol through the European Court of Auditors (ECA) which scrutinizes and reports on its financial accounts.22 The ECA is the organ that provides the budgetary authority that legalizes and regularizes the financial transactions carried out by the Europol and publishes them in the Official Journal of the EU. After this is done, parliament discharges its legislative duty whether to approve or disapprove the budget of the Europol as recommended by the Council. Conclusion Accountability is important to the future of the European Union and its agencies for prosperity in its economic and monetary functions according to resolutions made by the European Parliament.23 Though there may be needs to change the treatise that make the EU and EMU, the current framework is still capable of ensuring that accountability is made as well as the supervision of its agencies. There is also need to involve national parliaments to take part in fiscal and reform plans as well as policies that are aimed at ensuring accountability within the European Union member states. The European Union has got structures within it that ensure accountability and democratic governance and to some extent it has succeeded in ensuring that there is accountability in its agencies. Accountability plays a significant role in knowing whether the EU has legitimacy in order that the members of European Union through member states believe in it. There are differing concepts of offering accountability through different agencies within or created by the European Commission that create checks and balances that operate within national parliaments and the wider European Union. Recent developments as discussed by Schoutheete have necessitated the allocation of tasks at both the European and national levels of governments which has also changed the configuration of powers which ultimately affects the accountability of EU’s agencies24. The European Union must therefore be governed by accountability through constitutional architecture that distributes executive authority within the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament. In the face of grumblings over the accountability of the European Union, it is important that it uses its power and resources to ensure that it has agencies in place which are responsible and transparent in their activities. The conclusion is that the European Union has frameworks for ensuring accountability though it may be affected by dynamics and citizens have the right to hold the EU accountable in whatever matter they think they have a right to question. However, the time has come to change the system of governance of the European Union that will allow the leadership to be accountable for the citizens to promote efficiency and transparency. To answer the question initially posed, we can deduce that the European Union and to some extent its agencies have tried to ensure that there is accountability and transparency in all their activities for the benefit of citizens. Bibliography “A money mountain”. The Economist (March 6, 2008). accessed 31 January, 2014. Arnull, Anthony, and Daniel Wincott. Accountability and Legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print. 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