European administration: Centralisation and fragmentation as means of polity-building?

The creation of a unified administrative space is part and parcel of all polity-building processes. We hold that the accelerating agencification in the European Union has created a complex administrative space characterised by simultaneous centralisation and fragmentation. Due to the fact that the finalité of integration is open-ended, this complexity is not just a passing occurrence but a defining moment of the EU. Administrative cooperation within and outside primary law, the establishment of a growing number of agencies with divergent powers, scope, and depth support this claim. Hence, we witness a development which impacts considerably on the democratic quality of the Union. The area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters serves as a case in point. This article discusses potential problems which might arise from the creation of regulatory agencies in light of classical theories of representative democracy and their constitutional frameworks governing the member states as well as the Union.