The European Commission more multinational than before
The staff of the so-called cabinets of the European Commission are more multinational than before. This may lead to decisions less influenced by each commmissioner's national background, Morten Egeberg and Andreas Heskestad write in a recent article in Journal of Common Market Studies.
The staff of the so-called cabinets of the European Commission are more multinational than before. (Photo: European Union)
Against standard portrayal
In a recent article in Journal of Common Market Studies, Morten Egeberg together with Andreas Heskestad concludes that the standard portrayal of the cabinets as national enclaves and points of access must be modified. This goes against the standard portrayal that commissioners have only employed advisors form their home country in these cabinet groups and that they have been used as a tool for member state interest in the supposedly supranational Commisson.
Reforms
The composition rules of these so-called cabinets has been reformed in the last years. Consequently, the advisers that each commissioner surrounds themselves with, has to come from three or more EU countries. In addition, the head (or deputy head) of the cabinet must be of a different nationality than the commissioner. This has not only resulted in a more multinational composition of the staff, but 96 per cent of cabinets are now more multinational than required and 57 per cent of the staff are of a different national origin than the commissioner.
Less national influence
The authors have not studied how this affects the policy-making of the Commission, but thinks that it is reason to believe that the inclusion of more nationalities in each cabinet will lead to policy choices that are less influenced by the interests of the member state of the commissioner.
Read the full article "The Denationalization of Cabinets in the European Commission" in Journal of Common Market Studies (4 Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 775-786).