journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...

Book reviews – Comptes rendus – Buchbesprechungen 129The author begins with an historical overview of the notion of executive power. Hefocuses on Montesquieu’s theory and especially on the idea of “check and balance”. This isfollowed by an attempt to find a definition of “executive power” through the observation ofthe executives of the Member States of the Union. Jorda argues that it is possible to identifyan executive function stricto sensu, which corresponds to administrative activity, and awider function, which would be more normative and governmental. He therefore poses thequestion whether such an executive power exists at the European level.He divides his analysis in two parts. In the first part, the author highlights that the firstcharacteristic of the Union’s executive power is its double split-up among Europeaninstitutions on one hand (section I) and between European institutions and Member Stateson the other (section II). Chapter I of section I provides an in-depth analysis of comitologyand particularly of the new comitology decision of 1999, while chapter II deals with theadministrative execution, making a distinction between “external” and “internal”community administration, the former consisting namely of EC competition law, the lattermostly concerning staff matters. Jorda argues that the essence of the Union’s executivepower can only be understood through comitology. Not only does it show the variablecharacter of this power, but it also highlights its transnational quality. Section II puts theaccent on this particular issue. In the first chapter of this section the author focuses on thenature of national authorities’ executive power in the context of EC law. Particular attentionis paid to the principle of co-operation between Member States and the EC established inarticle 10 ECT. Chapter II of section II highlights the difficulties which Member Statesencounter in executing European law. Jorda’s analysis shows that Member States’ executivepowers are residual, depend, however, on the legislative instruments made by the Europeaninstitutions. He concludes the first part of the book arguing that the executive power of theUnion varies greatly and can belong to the European institutions, the national authoritiesand, in certain cases, also to some local authorities.The second part of the book is based on the view that the tasks which are assigned to theUnion at present are not sufficient to create a genuine Union’s executive power, neitherstricto senso nor in its broader definition. Jorda bases his analysis on two main arguments.First, he argues that the Union has an insufficient monitoring on its powers (section I).Chapter I concentrates on the imperfections of the political monitoring, focusing on theroles played by the European and national parliaments. Chapter II discusses the juridicalmonitoring, which the author considers to be incomplete. Jorda’s second argument refers tothe pillar structure of the Union. He argues that the Union’s executive function is stillunachieved because of its heterogeneity. He identifies three main areas where thisphenomenon is particularly clear: the economical and monetary field, the second and thirdpillars and the external action of the Union. A detailed analysis of the role played by eachinstitution and the Member States in those areas follows. In the third chapter Jorda claimsthat the difficulties connected to the delimitation of competencies between Union andMember States and the absence of a clear distinction in the Treaty between legislative andexecutive instruments are a clear deficiency of executive power. He concludes his analysisby restating his underlying theme, namely that the executive power of the Union isunachieved, and by suggesting that if this is due to the specific nature of the Union thedevelopment of this concept will depend on the European evolution.On the whole this book constitutes a valuable reference for readers interested in this quitecomplicated topic. The law practitioners should not be too intimidated by the longtheoretical introduction. The core part of the book is well-structured and the author analysesin detail many aspects of European institutional law. His analysis is interesting andintelligent but the speed at which European law evolves make some arguments soundalready obsolete. The work of the Convention will perhaps bring more precision to the