In the face of the current confusion about the use of arts 290 and 291 TFEU, there is need of further development of the theory of legislative delegation to the EU Commission. This timely book approaches this question from a practical perspective with a detailed examination of how the legislator uses delegated and implementing mandates in different fields of EU law. Offering an analysis of legislative practice and providing concrete evidence of how articles 290 and 291 TFEU are actually handled, it offers new insight into potential developments in EU administrative law.

Every year the EU Commission issues thousands of rules based on powers delegated by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. But delegation is carefully controlled. Traditionally, control has been exerted through a system of committees of member state representatives ('comitology'). However, this system was contested by the European Parliament which was left without any influence. The Lisbon Treaty introduced a new control regime for delegated powers, the so-called delegated acts system, which was meant to supplement the existing system. The new system involves direct control by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament and thus for the first time gave the European Parliament real influence over delegated powers. However, the choice over which delegation regime to use in practice has turned into one of the most vehement institutional conflicts in the EU political system. This book represents the first comprehensive investigation of this conflict. It does so by a combination of methods and data, including process-tracing of the introduction of the new system in the Lisbon Treaty, case studies of selected post-Lisbon delegation situations, and statistical analysis of datasets comprising hundreds of post-Lisbon legislative files.

This book revisits the Treaty of Lisbon's promise to further parliamentarize the EU's functioning by looking into the Treaty-law framework governing the delegation of legislative power in the EU. In this field, the Lisbon Treaty formally greatly strengthened the position of the European Parliament vis-à-vis both the European Commission and the Council. The book explores whether Parliament's formally reinforced role is reflected in the actual balance of powers in the area of delegated legislation and executive rule-making. It does so by assessing how both the law and practice of decision-making at the legislative level, looking at specific case studies, and the sub-legislative level, examining the scrutiny over delegated legislation, has crystallized in the ten years following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. This rigorous study gives a fascinating insight into one of the most significant developments in European parliamentary law-making, which EU constitutional lawyers will find required reading.

The last few years have seen major reforms to the delegation of powers and post-delegation supervision of the European Commission. In light of these reforms, Rulemaking by the European Commission: The New System for Delegation of Powers assesses whether the new system has really affected the old doctrine of delegation of powers, and if so, how? Specific questions answered include: have the objectives of the reform been achieved and what were these objectives? How does the new system affect the division of functions between the institutions of the EU and the institutional balance? Has this new system affected the relationship between the EU and its Member States, and if so, how does it concern its citizens? Presented by an interdisciplinary group of experts who have actively followed or participated in the process of reform, the book is structured in four parts: (1) the political and historical context in which the rule-making takes place, (2) the operation and functioning of the system before and after the reform, (3) the legal substance of a new framework for rule-making and the emerging case law from the Court of Justice of the EU, and (4) the procedural dimension, including the legal preconditions for non-institutional actors to participate.

98% of EU rules are decided via Comitology and delegated acts, rather than via legislation. This shows the importance of these decisionmaking processes. The procedures are complex with many exceptions and derogations. Academic books have been published on the subject: they explain the “what” comitology and delegated acts are, but are silent on “how to” effectively operate in these processes. What European affairs practitioners need is a manual explaining each step of the different processes with diagrams, concrete cases, practical explanations. This is exactly what the Handbook on secondary legislation is all about: a book designed by practitioners for practitioners. An indispensable tool to navigate efficiently through the labyrinth of decision-making procedures. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Former Associate Partner of EPPA, Daniel Guéguen has dedicated his whole working life to European public affairs. Daniel set up several businesses specialised in European affairs and after disposing of them in 2012, he founded PACT European Affairs, specialised in the post-Lisbon comitology procedures. Alongside this activity, Daniel Guéguen has published books that have been translated into several languages. Via articles, blogs and tweets widely circulated in international press, he has campaigned for a more operational EU that is closer to citizens. Building upon the educational nature of his books on the EU, Daniel is still today involved in many university programmes, in the USA (Harvard, Georgetown) and across Europe (ULB, Paris Sciences-Po, EDHEC, HEC, INSEAD), and at at the College of Europe in Bruges and Natolin. For his European activities, Daniel Guéguen was in 2005 awarded the rank of “Chevalier” in the order of the Légion d’honneur. Vicky Marissen’s legal background and long-standing experience in European Public Affairs make her the expert capable of assisting companies, trade associations and organisations active in highly regulated sectors such as food, pharmaceuticals and health, helping them close the procedural gap and regain impact on the EU decision-making process. Besides providing legal and procedural input on files and assistance in developing and deploying engagement strategies, Vicky provides support in communicating often technical arguments in an understandable form to different target audiences (public, private, media, etc.).

This book first provides a critical analysis of the legal framework that governs the delegation of rulemaking powers to the European Commission. Second, it explores how the framework that governs such a delegation of powers to the Commission operates in the food and health policy domain.

This book focuses on the evaluation of delegated and implementing rule-making, based on Articles 290 and 291 TFEU. These articles have attracted considerable attention since their introduction in 2009, and their implementation is one of the most hotly debated questions in European Administrative Law. The book takes up this timely topic, discusses it in an innovative way and offers valuable new insights. Delegated and implementing acts are the most common form of EU legal acts. However, despite their ubiquity and relevance, it is unclear how the Commission’s powers to adopt these important acts relates to subjects’ democratic rights. Accordingly, the book explores the question of how the Commission’s powers to adopt delegated and implementing acts can be justified. The relationship between the Commission and the persons within the Member States who are directly affected by its rule-making should be seen, the book argues, as one of institutional trust, and as a result as a fiduciary relationship. The book begins by defining the theoretical conditions for a justificatory approach, before explaining the background and foundations of fiduciary law. It then links this theoretical perspective with the realities of delegated and implementing acts, describing how the various roles in fiduciary relationships map onto the rule-making process that produces delegated and implementing acts, and explains how the fundamental tenet of fiduciary relationships – loyalty – can be included in the rule-making process.