EU Agencification? A New Framework for the Functioning of Decentralized Agencies of the European Union

EU decentralized agencies multiplied over the years in response to new challenges and developing needs of the EC/EU. The process has been intensified since the 1990s as a result of creation of the internal market. However, this multiplication was so chaotic and uncoordinated that significant differences in the status and functioning principles of the agencies emerged. At the beginning of the 2000s, a need to create minimum standards common to all such entities became apparent. Activity initiated at that time led to the presentation by the European Commission in 2012 of the so-called Roadmap to regulate matters related to establishment, scope of activity and competences of EU decentralized agencies. In recent years, especially in English-language literature, the new term agencification is gaining popularity. This concept is used not only in the context of EU agencies, but has a wider application and refers to a quite common phenomenon of delegation of competences and regulatory powers by state institutions to specialized units formed for just such purpose. Similarities between the national and the EU level with regard to agencification do not only concern the process of establishing the agencies, but extend also to certain general principles in autonomization of such entities.

AGENCYFIKACJA UE? NOWE RAMY FUNKCJONOWANIA AGENCJI ZDECENTRALIZOWANYCH UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ

Agencje zdecentralizowane były tworzone na przestrzeni lat, stanowiąc odpowiedź na nowe wyzwania i potrzeby WE/UE. Nasilenie tego procesu miało miejsce od lat 90. i związane było z tworzeniem rynku wewnętrznego. Proces ten był na tyle chaotyczny i nieskoordynowany, że pojawiły się znaczące różnice w ich statusie i zasadach funkcjonowania. Na początku lat dwutysięcznych pojawiła się potrzeba stworzenia minimalnych standardów wspólnych dla wszystkich tego typu podmiotów. Działania rozpoczęte wówczas doprowadziły do przedstawienia przez Komisję Europejską w 2012 r. tzw. mapy drogowej, mającej uporządkować materię związaną z tworzeniem, zakresem działalności i kompetencjami UE. W ostatnich latach, szczególnie w literaturze anglojęzycznej, na popularności zyskuje nowy termin: agencification, który można przetłumaczyć na język polski jako „agencyfikacja”. Pojęcie to nie jest używane tylko w kontekście agencji UE, ale ma szersze zastosowanie i odnosi się do zjawiska dość powszechnego, związanego z delegowaniem kompetencji i uprawnień regulacyjnych przez instytucje państwowe na specjalnie w tym celu tworzone wyspecjalizowane jednostki. Podobieństwa między poziomem krajowym a unijnym w nawiązaniu do agencyfikacji nie odnoszą się tylko do procesu tworzenia agencji, ale wskazują na pewną generalną prawidłowość dotyczącą autonomizacji tego typu jednostek.

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