Challenging Administrative Sovereignty: Dimensions of Independence of National Regulatory Authorities Under the EU Law

The EU standards on independence of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) expanded significantly over the past two decades, including the most recent legislative developments relating to competition authorities and regulators in the sectors of audiovisual media and electronic communications. They appear to gradually challenge the principle of administrative sovereignty enabling the Member States to shape their administrative structures autonomously. The major aim of this article is to investigate the concept of independence, established in various acts of the EU law with regard to NRAs. In particular, the main attributes of ‘EU-made national independent authorities’ are explored, as well as the limitations of their autonomy deemed legitimate under the EU legislation. After reconstruction of the phenomenon of independent regulatory authorities, the paper reviews the EU standards on their independence. It then discusses similarities, differences and inconsistencies in interpreting the overarching principle of independence across various areas of the EU legislation, considering also additional guidelines stemming from the CJEU’s case law. Finally, the paper provides a summary of the main attributes of administrative independence guaranteed by the EU law to national regulators and analyses to what extent they pose a challenge to the principle of administrative sovereignty of the Member States. national regulatory authorities, administrative independence, administrative sovereignty