Institutional Balance, Democracy and Agenda Setting in the European Union

The Commission’s exclusive power of legislative initiative is a distinguished feature of the EU decision-making process. According to some commentators the Commission’s power of proposal is being progressively eroded by the involvement of other actors, and this is affecting one of the most significant components of the méthode communautaire. From a different perspective, the Commission’s exclusive power of proposal is criticized as a reflection of the EU democratic deficit, which should be corrected by conferring autonomous power of legislative initiative to the EP. This paper assumes a different position arguing that the involvement of EU institutions and of other actors in the first and crucial stage of the decision-making process can be appreciated in terms of democracy with reference to standards of transparency, public debate, and participation as element of a democratic process. If these are further reinforced, it would be possible to maintain unaffected the Commission’s power to initiate legislation avoiding a modification of the Treaties which would alter the EU institutional balance and whose implications should be carefully considered.