유럽공동체의 정책결정과정에서 국민국가와 초국가적 제도간의 상호작용에 관한 연구

Abstract

In the policymaking process of the European Community(EC), two countervailing forces interact with each other: (1) the centrifugal force exerted by the nation-states, and (2) the centripetal one originating from the supranational institutions. The structural changes in the world political economy have reinforced the importance of the EC as a transnational entity. This does not mean, however, that the governments of the member states have increasingly lost its control over the direction of the EC. The Single European Act and Maastricht Treaty have an effect of strengthening the supranational institutions in making policies concerning the organization of the ECs as well as in settling legislative matters within the EC. Nevertheless, they have not brought about a fundamental change in the predominance of the nation-states" governments and intergovernmental institutions over the supranational institutions. Intergovernmental negotiations do matter most in explaining how the EC works. Within this limitation, the supranational institutions enhance their role as the Community-level workload increases. Especially, the criticism of "democratic deficit" in the policy-making process has set the agenda of consolidating the European Parliament, elected directly by the European people.