SPECIALIZED AGENCIES

Overview Particularly since the early 1990s, and as the policy reach of integration has spread, so specialized EU agencies have been created in order to encourage better policy coordination. There has been no template or overall plan for their development, and their size, reach and powers vary. Some are part of the EU structure, others are independent. The creation of these agencies has mainly occurred below the public radar, yet their growth is significant as they have given the EU more of the trappings of a conventional system of government.

Financial Bodies With economic issues long at the heart of European integration, banks have been at the heart of institutional development. The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (1958) lends on favourable terms to capital projects that support the goals of the EU. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (1998) is charged with helping manage the euro by ensuring price stability and setting interest rates. New regulatory institutions have been created as part of the EU’s response to the 2007-10 global economic crisis, with responsibility for monitoring the EU’s financial sector.

Decentralized Agencies These are independent bodies set up under EU law (more than 30 in all), mainly funded out of the EU budget, and given technical, management, or informational responsibilities. Most are permanent, but there are also a few temporary executive agencies set up with specific tasks in mind. They cannot always regulate, but take decisions on the application of EU standards, and influence policy through the provision of information. Headquartered in different EU capitals or regional cities, they include agencies dealing with such issues as vocational training, worker safety, registration of trade marks, aviation and maritime safety, monitoring drug use, and gathering environmental information.

Advisory Bodies The two major advisory bodies are the European Economic and Social Committee, a policy forum for key economic and social groups, and the Committee of the Regions, which gives a voice to the interests of local government. Both are based in Brussels, both have 353 members divided up among the member states roughly in proportion to population, and their role is limited to issuing opinions on EU policy.

Other Bodies Police and judicial cooperation are encouraged by Europol and Eurojust, which help deal with serious forms of cross-border crime. The European Court of Auditors is the EU’s financial watchdog, charged with making sure that the EU’s accounts are correct, and recognized since Maastricht as a formal EU institution. Eurocorps is an independent body tracing its roots back to 1991 that maintains a multinational European military force for use mainly in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. The European Space Agency is an independent body that undertakes research and maintains Europe’s astronaut programme.