Prospects and Limits of Administrative Steering by the European Commission in the EU’s Economic Governance: Political Discretion and Leeway within the ‘Reform Support Framework’

The literature on the EU’s economic governance has repeatedly emphasised the importance of direct cooperation and dialogue between the EU and national authorities in the daily application and implementation of the European Semester. Accordingly, this paper examines the Commission's ability to steer through administrative interactions across levels by focusing on the role of the Commission's civil servants as a vital layer of the Commission’s steering capacity within the EU’s economic governance setting. Using the Commission’s ‘Reform Support Framework’ as an empirical example of a steering tool to second the Semester-related implementation of Country-Specific Recommendations, structural reforms, or other strategic EU objectives (e.g., the EGD) by Member States, the paper explores the role of Commission public servants in delivering reform support projects on the ground. To this end, the analysis investigates their influence during interactions with national civil servants and their political discretion in guiding EU policy implementation at the national level. Based on interviews with Commission officials, the paper assesses the prospects and limitations of administrative steering from the perspective of the Commission’s discretionary leeway through the specific channel of ‘Reform Support’. Moreover, it highlights internal and external factors that enable or hinder the Commission’s capacity and capability to steer administratively within multi-level governance settings. Theoretically, the empirical findings are discussed in the context of broader discussions on the future and anticipated challenges of the EU’s economic governance, particularly in light of the imminent expiry of the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ and the ongoing negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2035).