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Kassim, Hussein 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7603-8377
(2008)
'Mission impossible', but mission accomplished: the Kinnock reforms and the European Commission.
Journal of European Public Policy, 15 (5).
pp. 648-668.
ISSN 1466-4429
Abstract
The Kinnock reforms have unsurprisingly attracted attention, but important aspects have been overlooked in existing accounts. Closer inspection reveals three puzzles: an atypical pattern of administrative change, where a ‘big bang’ reform followed four decades of inaction; the adoption of a more radical set of measures by the Commission than was demanded of it; and the successful implementation of a far-reaching reform programme in defiance of the expectations of leading theories of administrative change. This article argues that these puzzles contradict the conclusion suggested by a casual reading of the developments. They reveal not an arrogant institution oblivious to its shortcomings and forced to change by external diktat, but an organization in a reform predicament: aware of its failings, but unable to remedy them through its own action. When crisis forced member governments to intervene, the Commission in a case of self-reform under delegation seized the ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to implement an internal reform agenda.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024) |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy |
| Depositing User: | EPrints Services |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Oct 2010 13:56 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2024 09:28 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/8785 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13501760802133146 |
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