The Dynamics of Eu Growth

Abstract

Since the European Union is a law-intensive organization, growth of EU activity can best be assessed by the growth of regulation rather than by growth in expenditure or personnel. Moreover, the character of EU decision-making means that traditional explanations of policy growth have to be substantially adapted before they can be applied to the EU. An empirical analysis of all legislation ever issued by the EU and its predecessors tests a number of hypotheses relating to EU growth. While there is limited evidence for supporting the view that Commissioners can have an important impact on the scale and pace of legislation, the evidence suggests a trend towards an increasing preponderance of state-building legislation - legislation which applies general principles to specific functional policy areas.