Who sets the legislative agenda? Priority-setting and legislative decision making in the EU

This paper asks which of the EU’s executive institutions is best placed to shape legislative decision-making. On the one hand, the European Commission almost enjoys the monopoly of legislative initiative, and recent research has demonstrated that it places high importance on its Work Programmes and the ensuing legislative priorities. On the other hand, while the European Council is not expected to “exercise legislative functions” (art. 15.1 TEU), empirical analyses have shown that the Heads of State and Government influence the legislative negotiations via the conclusions of their summits and other means. Focusing on the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP), this paper systematically assesses which executive institution of the EU, and under what conditions, is more capable to affect the EU’s legislative process. Using an original dataset which combines data on EU legislation in the period 1999-2019 with information on the priorities of the Commission (in its Work Programmes) and those of the European Council (in the Conclusions of its summits), the paper models the duration of legislation and the impact of priority-setting by the Commission and the European Council. By systematically analysing the influence of the EU’s executive actors over the OLP, this paper provides new and systematic evidence about the topical and highly debated issue of executive leadership in the EU.