II.The Negotiation of the SEA as a Case Study

A. Mode of Political process and Style of Governance

Part 2: Beyond the Monolithic Government

I. Case Study: Negotiating the SEA - The National Level (Germany)

c) Ministries, esp. Agriculture, Finance, Economics

B. Beyond the Monolithic Government

3. Factors Shaping National Policies

Part 3: Intergovernmentalism and Democracy

I. Intergovernmentalism and Consociational Democracy

II.Accounts, Accountability, Responsibility, Information - A Theoretical

A. Ambiguities about Accountability

1. The Psychology of Accountability

The negotiations leading to the SEA were characterized by a variety of institutional designs none of which, however, reached a level that deserves the label 'high'. It is equally true, on the other hand, that negotiations did not take place in complete chaos. I have already mentioned different committees with specific mandates. The summits, as also mentioned above, have been given a certain framework through the European Council. However, both the European Council meetings (lacking established rules of procedure and not acquiring a firm legal basis until the SEA was concluded) and especially bilateral or trilateral diplomacy are characterized by high informality and flexibility, and therefore only a low level of institutionalization.

All four agenda items do not emanate directly from the Treaty but constitute issues that share the features of high sensitivity, of (at best) evolving existing Treaty provisions, of being of high public awareness, of not being easy to agree on and therefore of necessitating attention from the highest political authority possible. Intergovernmental cooperation is needed when, inter alia, the following is to be achieved: defining the guidelines for integration; goal identification; policy initiation, orientation and co-ordination; scope enlargement; problem-solving.

IV.Developments and Some Further Thoughts

Some common words found in the essay are:
European Council, France Germany, EMS European, Pressure Commission, Introduction Intergovernmentalism, Court Instance, European Union, Heads Governments, Councils UK, Style Intercourse, european council, council meetings, internal market, european council meetings, level institutionalization, leading sea, foreign ministers, monolithic government, majority voting, principal actors, mode governance, influence community processes, principal actors players, mode political process, negotiations leading sea,
Approximate Word count = 4759
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)