This book discusses the major issues currently affecting the accountability of executive power in Europe. The work is divided into three parts. The first examines the territorial dimension including unitary, regional and federal. It discusses how territorial actors participate in strengthening or weakening the implementation of accountability of executive power in modern democratic States. The second part explores the links between national traditions and European accountability of executive power to establish a common European culture. The third and final part focuses on how to build a truly multidisciplinary approach to accountability of executive power and draws on legal, historical and political approaches. The volume will be an invaluable resource for researchers, academics and policy-makers in constitutional law and politics, public law, comparative law, legal history and government.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Marcel Morabito Part I: The responsibility of the national Executive power from the point of view of local territories Section 1: Theoretical Reflections Chapter 1: A European perspective Mercedes Bresso Chapter 2: The responsibility of the national executive power in Germany Claus Dieter Classen, Aurore Gaillet and Yoan Vilain Chapter 3: Is calling upon the courts a way to acknowledge the responsibility of the Executive? Virginie Donier Section 2: Regional Realities Chapter 4: The point of view of a State representative Laurent Carrié Chapter 5: The point of view of an elected official André Viola Conclusion: how do local actors participate in the strengthening or in the weakening of the holding to account of the Executive within modern democratic States? Stéphane Mouton Part II: National traditions and European culture Section 3: What impact do the traditions of the Member States have on the European practice of responsibility? Chapter 6: Are there common national traditions regarding the responsibility of the executive power? Luigi Lacchè Chapter 7: The accountability of the EU Commission as the EU’s Executive Paolo Ponzano Chapter 8: Political accountability and role splitting of the Executive in EU Member States Jacques Ziller Chapter 9: Political accountability within the European system Fabienne Peraldi-Leneuf Section 4: A common culture? National traditions, European challenges Questionnaire Julien Padovani and Emilien Quinart Chapter 10: Parliamentarianism and accountability of the executive power on a European scale: the experience of the European Parliament Juan Fernando López Aguilar Chapter 11: The scent of wild animals Sophie in’t Veld Conclusion: On political responsibility and political control in the European Union Jean-Paul Jacqué Part III: Diversity of legal approaches Section 5: Democratic perspectives Chapter 12: The European convergence of the strengthening of the executive power Hanan Qazbir Chapter 13: Responsibility, accountability and legitimacy of Executives: what role for the people? Audrey Bachert-Peretti Section 6: Disciplinary specificities Chapter 14: Administrative responsibility and responsibility of the Executive Hafida Belrhali Chapter 15: Understanding responsibility through the issues of the environment: towards a bilateral conception of responsibility? Malik Bozzo-Rey Chapter 16: A perspective on civil responsibility Jean-Baptiste Donnier Chapter 17: Responsibility of the Executive: cross-read approaches Amaia Errecart Chapter 18: The unique nature of political responsibility Cécile Guérin-Bargues Chapter19: Responsibility and sports: some remarks on a particular couple Clémentine Legendre Chapter 20: The difficulty of thinking about executive responsibility in a republic: a historical perspective François Quastana Chapter 21: Of sheep and straw men: the accountability of the Executive from the perspective of political science Olivier Rozenberg Conclusion: For a common concept of ‘responsibility’ from a multidisciplinary perspective Xavier Magnon Concluding Remarks: a kaleidoscopic approach to make (necessary) interdisciplinary communication possible Guillaume Tusseau