12 Colum. J. Eur. L. 645 (2006)
Peter L. Strauss, Betts Professor of Law, Columbia Law School.
This Article stems from a project on European Union Administrative Law undertaken by the American Bar Association’s Section on Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. It explores the generation of normative texts by the Commission of the European Union, its executive body, from the perspective of Americans familiar with notice and comment rulemaking. Legislative drafting (an exclusive responsibility of the Commission), subordinate measures corresponding to American rules and regulations, and soft law generated by the Commission are all considered In creating legislative proposals, the Commission uses techniques quite like American rulemaking, but with consultative practices (including electronic consultations) that seem more conducive to dialogue, and less open to simple grass-roots lobbying efforts. Soft law processes are also often highly consultative. But subsidiary legislation (rules and regulations, in American parlance) are generated following procedures considerably less transparent and open to public input, such as comitology, than one finds here.
