EU DELEGATION AND CONSENSUAL DECISION-MAKING IN TIMES OF CRISIS. THE ROLE OF THE COMMISSION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY

IN TIMES OF MULTIPLE AND LONG-STANDING CRISES IN EUROPE, DEVELOPING RESEARCH ON THE EU AS WELL AS TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE TO CIVIL SOCIETY ON THE CENTRAL ROLE PLAYED BY THE EU AS A PROVIDER OF PUBLIC POLICIES APPEARS TO BE CRUCIAL. THE GENERAL AMBITION OF THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL IS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF THE EU BY BREAKING NEW GROUND IN EU INTEGRATION STUDIES AND, PARTICULARLY, IN EUROPEANISATION AND IMPLEMENTATION STUDIES. THE PERSPECTIVE WE PROPOSE IS INNOVATIVE AND FITS WITH ONE OF THE TOP PRIORITIES OF THE EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR THE COMING YEARS: THE SUCCESSFUL DEPLOYMENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION EU PLAN AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY, OF THE EUROPEAN RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY (RRF), THE MAIN FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION EU PLAN. THE MID-TERM AND LONG-TERM PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL IS TO CONSOLIDATE THE INCREASING LEADING POSITION OF SPANISH ACADEMIA IN EU STUDIES BY DECISIVELY CONTRIBUTING TO DEVELOP KNOWLEDGE ON EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, THE FUNCTIONING OF ITS INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE DYNAMICS THAT PRESIDE OVER DECISION-MAKING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EUROPEAN REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES. CONCRETELY, THE MAIN QUESTION WE POSE IS THE FOLLOWING: HOW IS CONSENSUS GENERATED UNDER CONDITIONS OF HIGH IMPLEMENTATION CONDITIONALITY? NEW INTERGOVERNMENTALISM (NI) CLAIMS THAT CONSENSUAL OUTCOMES ARE NOT ONLY REACHED AT THE PEAK OF THE EU POLITICAL SYSTEM BUT ALSO DIRECTLY ENFORCED THROUGH SUI GENERIS INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS THAT SIDE-LINE DELEGATION TO SUPRANATIONAL ACTORS. THIS PROJECT QUESTIONS THE GENERALIZATION OF THIS HYPOTHESIS APPLIED TO THE EUROZONE CRISIS BY ADVANCING A RIVAL HYPOTHESIS IN THE CASE OF THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY (RFF). USING A PROCESS-TRACING METHOD AND RELYING ON A NOVEL DATASET ASSOCIATING THE INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN OF THE RFF TO THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IN THE 27 MEMBER STATES, THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL AIMS AT OPENING THE BLACKBOX OF THE IMPLEMENTATION ROUTINES OF THE RFF CONDITIONALITY REGIME. THE STARTING HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY IS THAT THE LEADERSHIP PLAYED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) MOSTLY ACCOUNTS FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF CONSENSUS IN THIS NEW REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY. CONCRETELY, WE POSIT THAT EVEN WHEN SUBJECT TO STRONG INTERGOVERNMENTAL CHECKPOINTS, THE STRUCTURAL CAPACITY OF THE EC TO QUICKLY ADAPT TO NEW POLICY CHALLENGES AND ITS VAST EXPERTISE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF EU POLICIES AND MEMBER STATES’ MACROECONOMIC SUPERVISION INCREASE ITS CONTRACTUAL LEADERSHIP AND ENABLE CONSENSUS BY REDUCING THE SPACE FOR CONTESTATION AVAILABLE TO POTENTIALLY OPPOSING INTERESTS IN THE COUNCIL.