欧盟的立法后评估:对评估作为问责手段的质疑

Ex post legislative evaluation in the European Union:questioning the usage of evaluations as instruments for accountability

评估为议会问责其行政机关提供了依据,因此它可能在政治体系中发挥关键作用。这种情况也适用于欧盟。然而,若干因素可能不利于欧盟将评估作为问责手段。欧洲议会议员在高强度的时间压力下工作,而行政机关可能也没有做出高质量评估的动力。因此,本文解决如下两个问题:欧洲议会议员在何种程度上以及在什么时间会采用立法后评估。我们呈现了对220件评估案例的分析,研究其中有多少被纳入了欧洲议会的质询之中。我们的主要发现是:有16%的评估通过质询得到了跟进。然而,欧洲议会质询鲜能达到问责的目的。欧洲议会议员通常利用评估来达成议程制定这一目的。解释评估运用差异的主要变量是立法过程中欧洲议会和欧盟委员会间的冲突水平。

Evaluations may perform a key role in political systems as they provide a basis for parliaments to hold their executives accountable.This is equally the case in the European Union.Yet,several factors may work against the usage of European Union evaluations for accountability purposes.Members of the European Parliament work under great time pressure and executives may have little incentives to produce highquality evaluations.This article therefore addresses the question of to what extent and when Members of the European Parliament use ex post legislative evaluations.We present an analysis of 220 evaluations,studying how many were referred to in parliamentary questions.Our main finding is that 16%of the evaluations are followed up through questions.However,the parliamentary questions hardly serve accountability aims.Members of the European Parliament mostly use evaluations for agenda-setting purposes.The main variable explaining differences in the usage of evaluations is the level of conflict between the European Parliament and Commission during the legislative process.