Bridging the Gap: Political and Administrative Leadership in a Reinvented European Commission

Over the past years the European Commission has undergone it most significant changes since its inception. The resignation of the Santer-Commission in 1999 pushed reform to the top of the political agenda of the Commission. A range of internal reform measures transformed the functioning and administration of the Commission and its executive responsibilities. Moreover a long series of treaty revision—Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice—since the early 1990s, changed the legal and political framework governing the appointment and tasks and accountability of the Commission. This all contributed to the transformation of the political and administrative leadership in the European Commission. This paper explores how new rules, recruiting patterns, a change in role interpretations and a transformation in the relationships between political and administrative leaders in the European Commission have emerged.