Civil Servants and Politics, a delicate balance

The Montesquieu Institute Maastricht has conducted a research carried out by Christine Neuhold, Sophie Vanhoonacker and Luc Verhey on the changing relations between civil servants and politicians in the European Union in de past two decades.

The relationship between civil servants and politicians is as fascinating as it is complex with their mutual interdependence requiring to cooperate despite the ever-present risk of tension and conflict. For reasons of efficiency it is important that the civil service has a certain degree of independence and detachment from the political process. The requirement of democratically legitimate and accountable decision-making however demands control at the political level. In addition to national case studies this book also looks into politico-administrative relations in supranational institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament.