The EU's Legislative Productivity: How Brussels Passes Thousands of Laws Annually
By
amadeuspagel
Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked to perfection. Worth every minute at the bakery.
Summary
The article examines the European Union's remarkable legislative productivity, noting that despite its broad coalition government spanning multiple political groups and diverse national interests, the EU passed around 13,000 acts between 2019-2024 (about seven per day), significantly outpacing the U.S. Congress. The piece explores the institutional mechanisms that enable this efficiency, including the European Commission's agenda-setting power, the Parliament's committee system, and the Council's qualified majority voting, which collectively create a system that prioritizes compromise and forward momentum over gridlock.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe central puzzle of the EU is its extraordinary productivity. Grand coalitions, like the government recently formed in Germany, typically produce paralysis.
The EU's governing coalition is even grander, spanning the center-right EPP, the Socialists, the Liberals, and often the Greens, yet between 2019 and 2024, the EU passed around 13,000 acts, about seven per day.
The U.S. Congress, over the same period, produced roughly 3,500 pieces of legislation and 2,000 resolutions.
Not only is the coalition broad, but encompasses huge national and regional diversity.
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