This volume investigates the fundamental tension between the operational independence of non-majoritarian EU institutions and the requirement for democratic accountability within the European Union's governance framework. Dominique Ritleng, a scholar of European law, compiles a series of expert essays that examine the legal and political mechanisms governing bodies such as the European Commission, the Court of Justice, and the European Central Bank. The work evaluates the feasibility of imposing oversight on these influential entities without compromising their functional autonomy.

Experts identify this collection as a rigorous academic resource for understanding the structural challenges of EU institutional design. Readers frequently note the high level of legal density in the prose, making it a specialized text for scholars and practitioners of European law.