| This thesis seeks to determine the role of the European Commission within the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. The evaluation of this role is limited to the inter-institutional interactions between the Commission and the member states. In order to achieve this goal I present a set of three variables, which are developed from the theoretical framework of principal-agent theory, and form the basis for empirical analysis. The ensuing empirical analysis provides a detailed description of the enlargement process on the foundation of which I apply the three variables. The analysis reveals that the role of the Commission was for the most part that of a bureaucratic entrepreneur for the member states, with the ability to influence the strategies for the attainment of their objectives. |
