“With and without Supranationalisation: The Post-Lisbon Roles of the European Council and the Council in Justice and Home Affairs Governance.” - Part of Dr Adina Maricut's dissertation has been published in the Journal of European Integration

Maricut, Adina. 2016. “With and without Supranationalisation: The Post-Lisbon Roles of the European Council and the Council in Justice and Home Affairs Governance.” Journal of European Integration 38 (5): 541–55.

Adina’s article explores patterns of European Council and Council decision-making in the field of justice and home affairs (JHA) as a hybrid case which bears close resemblance to classic legislative decision-making but carries distinctive features of the phenomenon described as ‘integration without supranationalisation’ by Sergio Fabbrini and Uwe Puetter in the introductory article of the special issue. By assessing the role of the two institutions in the post-Lisbon period, the purpose is to show that despite the gradual supranationalisation of JHA, the institutional framework maintains a strong new intergovernmentalist character. This is evident in the permanent presence of the European Council in agenda-setting during crisis situations, the informality of working methods in the Council, the large number of working parties, and the continued use of senior expert committees. Drawing on official documents, secondary literature, and 26 semi-structured interviews with relevant officials, the article demonstrates that the only way in which supranationalisation could proceed in a domain so closely linked to national sovereignty was by ensuring member states’ control over agenda-setting and decision-making through the continuous centrality of the European Council and the Council in the institutional landscape.

Read more:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07036337.2016.1178253