Transferring the acquis through EU agencies: the case of the European Neighbourhood Policy countries

Abstract

One of the key features of the evolution of the ‘European regulatory state’ has been ‘agencification’.1 To date, more than 40 decentralized EU agencies and bodies support EU institutions and Member States in making and implementing European regulations. Such institutional processes have significantly affected the nature of the EU regulatory state, as well as the means of setting standards within the internal market. EU agencies are actively involved not only in shaping the regulatory landscape of the EU, but also in building the EU regulatory state beyond its borders through a dense net of transgovernmental ties that extend to third-country regulators.2 In particular, EU agencies focus on institution building and advancing the state capacity of third countries to bring their regulatory standards closer to the EU norms.3 A recent contribution by Lavenex provides one of the first assessments of the EU’s regulatory governance in third countries. She demonstrates that non-Member States have an opportunity to align themselves with the standards of the EU and benefit from the ‘access to a plethora of committees and regulatory agencies that contribute to the development and