A more accountable union? Untangling the multi-level accountability webs embedded in European Administrative Networks

Abstract

Speaker: Ana Carolina Soares, University of Copenhagen Chair: Martin Moland, Universitetet i Oslo At the same time that differentiation allows the European Union (EU) to manage diversity across its’ members, it has also added to the complexity in assessing accountability. Defining which venues allow for account-giving and holding, and which actors are to be held accountable for which decisions becomes a challenging task as contemporary challenges demand increasing cooperation across national borders and between national and supranational actors. This is evident with European Administrative Networks (EANs). Despite being presented as important tools to improve national implementation and enforcement of EU policy, scholars have highlighted several chronic accountability issues – namely, their lack of transparency, insulated work-mode and selective membership. Yet, there is little empirical evidence on how these issues manifest on the ground and whether they have implications to how the network functions. This article addresses this gap by outlining the network’s structural features that may be undermining their accountability potential and traces the multi-level accountability relationships EAN members are involved in. Through social network analysis of unique survey data on the Head of Environmental Protection Agencies Network (EPA Network), horizontal and vertical linkages on accountability can be uncovered. The findings show that despite being a voluntary and informal network without a formal steering actor, the EPA Network presents an underlying hierarchical structure centered around key members, which holds strong implications to the assumption of peer accountability within EANs.