The article revisits Majone's famous argument about accountability in the regulatory state in reference to the European Union's (EU) Economic and Monetary Union. Dawson and Maricut-Akbik show that the EU has entered the stage of a “para-regulatory state” marked by increasing EU regulation in areas linked to core state powers. Despite the redistributive and politicised nature of these policy areas, the EU's “para-regulatory state” has continued to rely on its regulatory model of accountability, focused on decisionmaking processes, and interest mediation. In line with Majone, Dawson and Maricut-Akbik describe the model as procedural and contrast it to substantive accountability – which is necessary when regulation has clear redistributive implications. Using two case studies from fiscal policy and monetary affairs, the article illustrates the predominance of procedural accountability as exercised by the European Parliament and EU Courts. Dawson and Maricut-Akbik complement the empirical analysis with a normative discussion of how substantive accountability could potentially be rendered in both fields.
Mark Dawson and Adina Maricut-Akbik (2021) Accountability in the EU's para-regulatory state: The case of the Economic and Monetary Union, Regulation and Governance