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Two images exist of the day-to-day practice of the EU comitology system. The first claims that comitology is a technocratic version of deliberative democracy in which informal norms, delibera-tion, and good arguments matter more than economic interests and formal voting rules. The second image portraits comitology as an arena for hardball intergovernmental bargaining designed by the member states to control the Commission. The paper makes a systematic empirical investigation based on survey evidence from a questionnaire to Danish national representatives to all comitology committees in 2006. The evidence suggests that both images hold, and that their relative importance is determined by the nature of the issues dealt with by the individual comitology committees. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comitology procedure is the main decision-making mechanism of the European Community (EC) and from empirical records to date it appears to be an extremely efficient way of reaching consensus amongst the Member States. However, when attempting to reach a decision regarding the approval of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), the Comitology procedure consistently fails and Member States divest their decision-making responsibility to the Commission This paper analyzes the decision-making dynamics that lead to such an outcome. It argues that the external pressures on the Member States and the Commission prevent deliberation and consensual solutions. Furthermore, the Comitology procedure itself exacerbates the conflict between states and prevents deliberative methods from being utilized. Member States strategically divest themselves from the responsibility to make decisions and "pass-the-buck" to the Commission through a dynamic that is termed "strategic institutional decay". ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formative period of comitology is traced back to the early 1960s when it was introduced as part of the common agricultural policy. It is demonstrated to rest on an interstate bargain between France and Germany. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]