Legislative-executive relations in the EU

This article outlines and evaluates competing views of the future organization of legislative-executive relationships in the European Union (EU). It argues that the organization of legislative-executive relations faces three challenges: to streamline the organization of powers, to convey democratic accountability, and to accommodate diversity between Member States' interests. By systematically analysing member governments' contributions to the debate on the Future of the EU, three main positions are identified: a federal, an intergovernmental and a 'federation of nation-states' position. For each of these positions an internally coherent account is reconstructed, including their respective answers to the three challenges outlined.