The Concept and Practice of Good Governance in the European Union

The article deals with one of the most significant
issues concerning the functioning of the public sector in the European
Union. The objectives of good governance were formulated by the
EU itself and also the Scholars in reaction to the discussion that
started a decade ago and concerned the role of the government in 21st
century, the future of integration processes and globalization
challenges in Europe. Currently, the concept of good governance is
mainly associated with the improvement of management of public
policies in the European Union, concerning both domestic and EU
policies. However, it goes beyond the issues of state capacity and
effectiveness of management. Good governance relates also to
societal participation in the public administration and verification of
decisions made in public authorities’ (including public
administration). Indirectly, the concept and practice of good
governance are connected to societal legitimisation of public bodies
in the European Union.

• Robert Grzeszczak

• Good governance
• Government
• European law
• European Union.

[1] World Bank, Managing Development - The Governance Dimension,
1991, Washington D.C., p. 1.
[2] F. W. Scharpf, Optionen des Föderalismus in Föderalismus in
Deutschland und Europa, Frankfurt–New York 1994.
[3] G. Ross, Jacques Delors and European Integration, London 1995, p. 194;
G. Majone, Europe as the Would-be World Power, Cambridge 2009, pp.
43-45.
[4] N. Walker, J. Shaw, S. Tierney (eds.), Europe’s Constitutional Mosaic
(CUP 2011) 404.
[5] C. Joerges, R. Dehousse (eds.), Good Governance in Europe’s Integrated
Market, London 2002.
[6] M. Ruffert (Ed.), Legitimacy in European Administrative Law: Reform
and Reconstruction (Europa Law Publishing 2011) 360.
[7] D. Curtin, R. A. Wessel, Good Governance and the European
Union: Reflections on Concepts, Institutions and Substance, Oxford-
New York 2005, pp. 276.
[8] G. de Burca, B. de Witte, The Delimitation of powers between the
European Union and its Member States (w:) A. Arnull, D. Wincott
(eds.), Accountability and Legitimacy in the European Union, Oxford
2007, p. 192.
[9] N. Walker, J. Shaw, S. Tierney (eds.), Europe’s Constitutional Mosaic,
Oxford 2011, s. 404.
[10] D. Halberstam, E. Stein, The United Nations, the European Union, and
the King of Sweden: Economic Sanctions and Individual Rights in a
Plural World Order, CMLRev. 2009, No. 46, p. 60.
[11] J. Gaspers, The EU’s position as a global foreign policy player has been
impacted by the debt crisis (w:) European Foreign Policy Scorecard,
12/02/2012, https://matisak.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-eus-positionas-
a-global-foreign-policy-player-has-been-impacted-by-the-debt-crisis
[12] C. Joerges, R. Dehousse, (red.), Good Governance in Europe’s
Integrated Market, Oxford 2002.
[13] J. Habermas, Die Kriese der Europäischen Union im Lichte einer
Konstitutionalisierung des Völkerrechts. Zur Verfassung Europas: ein
Essay, Berlin 2011, p. 39.
[14] P. J. Rhys Morgan, Euro Crisis. Aggregate Demand Control is European
Single Currency Weakness, Morganist Economics 2012., pp. 12-15.
[15] See, inter alia, Judgment of the Court of Justice from 18 September 2014
in Case C-549/13; of 5 September 2012 in Case C-83/11 Rahman and
Others; of 16 October 2012 in Case C-364/10 Hungary v Slovakia; of 8
November 2012 in Case C-40/11 Iida.
[16] E. Fisher, The European Union in the Age of Accountability, Oxford
Journal of Legal Studies No 3/2004
[17] European Commission, Promoting good governance European Social Fund thematic paper, Publications Office of the European Union, 2014.
[18] http://www.opac.government.bg