Wpływ kryzysu finansowego na proces podejmowania decyzji w Unii Europejskiej
The impact of the financial crisis on the decision-making process in the European Union

Summary/Abstract: The article attempts to answer the question as to whether the financial crisis of 2007-2010 led to any fluctuations in the decision-making process in the Union. Hypotheses stemming from the premises of a rationalist and constructivist research programme are articulated at the beginning and are subsequently subjected to empirical verification on the basis of a quantitative analysis of the legislative acts passed in the period of economic slow-down, and on the comparison of these results with features characteristic of pre-crisis decision-making (1999-2006). The data obtained proved the constructivist hypothesis to be correct; the slow-down has not resulted in any noticeable modification of the results and manner of decision-making in the Union, it has not disturbed the consensus culture in the Council and it has neither caused the average support on the part of the governments for the legislative acts to fall not created any decision-making conflicts. As far as the inter-institutional perspective is concerned, it has not resulted in a legislative backlog, while the time it takes to achieve a legislative agreement has not been extended.

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