Ten years of Barroso’s presidency: Passive or smooth operator?

After having been president  of the European Commission for ten years José Manuel Barroso will most likely end his reign in 2014. Barroso is generally perceived as a weak leader who has thwarted the Commission’s right of initiative. The European Parliament (EP) and member states depicted Barroso and his Commission as slow, uninspired and insignificant.   Because of the erosion of support for a unified Europe in the current crisis these days some analysts portray the EU as dying.   Similar critical reflections were made during interviews with EU experts.  

 

Such characterizations do not suffice. A thorough evaluation of Barroso’s two terms as president has to been seen through the scope of the current inter-institutional dynamics within the EU. Recently there has been increasing attention for the EU’s centralization or intergovernmentalization,  deepening EU integration or lack of deeper integration, and the strengthening or weakening of EU institutions (such as the European Commission). Insights in the actual EU trends in governance, EU leadership and the functioning of the European Commission help to evaluate Barroso’s era. We choose to evaluate Barroso on the basis of possible shifts in the inter-institutional balance within the EU.

 

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