國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

The European Union has developed into a sui generis political system. Insteadof   the   conventional   dichotomy   of   “intergovernmental”   and   “supranational”arguments  of  the  EU,  this  essay  will  take  multi-level  governance  approach  as  aframework  for  analyzing  the  economic  and  political  integration  of  the  EU.According  to  the  EU  multi-level  governance  model,  supranational,  national,subnational,  as  well  as  transnational  actors  and  institutions  all  play  a  key  role  forEuropean integration. Some dimensions will be examined through this approach:1.  Decision  making  competence  is  shared  by  actors  at  different  levels  ratherthan  monopolized  at  national  level.  The  state-centric  power  to  the  EU  policiesremains important but meets its limits. 2. Policy making at the EU level (within theCommission   and   the   Council)   involves   the   loss   of   control   for   individualgovernments. Member States’ sovereignty has been reduced by the restrictions onindividual governments veto to the EU decision and by the expansion of the controlof  the  Commission  over  the  EU  policies.  3  Political  arenas  are  interconnected.Actors  at  the  subnational,  as  well  as  transnational,  level  can  by  pass  the  nationallevel on crucial issues.Finally, by examining the dynamics and unique characteristics of the Europeanintegration, we can conclude that the multi-level governance of the EU representsprobably   a   useful   analytical   concept   for   the   post-sovereign   modernity   ofinternational politics in the twenty-first century.