Samenvatting

The opacity of and lack of democratic control over the European system of comitology - where detailed decisions are made by committees of national officials, chaired by the Commission - has frequently been criticized. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and especially since March 1, 2011, this system of executive and quasi-legislative power has changed in a number of important ways, however: on paper, the committees of national officials play a less prominent role than before and the role of the European Parliament has intensified. The question addressed in this article is what these changes in practice exactly mean. Has there really been so much change, and, if so, what are the implications for national civil servants? Working with the new comitology system means working with two regimes: delegated acts and implementing acts. Although innovative, we conclude that this change seems less fundamental than might be expected. Yet, for both regimes an increased number of parties is involved, which makes working with the new comitology difficult. Stakeholders, including Dutch officials, will thus have to deal with comitology in another way, which could make the new world of comitology an even more important battleground in the European policy process than already is the case.