OE
The second sentence states that the European Commission’s current actions are surprising, so they must run counter to the general tendency of bureaucrats described in Blank (i). Since the commission is considering giving up powers it currently possesses, “guard their authority jealously” expresses the opposite of this action, so it is the correct choice. The other two options could potentially describe the process of delegating powers back to national governments; therefore the commission’s actions would not be described as surprising in the context of either of those bureaucratic tendencies. Blank (ii) calls for a word that paraphrases the commission’s proposal; since “devolve” is a synonym for delegate, it is the correct choice. “Appropriate” expresses the opposite, while “misuse” suggests a negative judgment about the commission’s actions belied by the author’s hope that they mark a positive turn. Blank (iii) calls for an adjective describing the commission’s actions. Since the author is hopeful that this latest proposal marks a new direction for a commission whose history is described in negative terms, the correct choice for Blank (iii) is “encouraging.” “Predictable” does not ft because the proposal is described as potentially marking a break in the commission’s former bad practices, and “troubling” does not work because that change is described as a positive rather than a negative one.
Thus the correct answer is guard their authority jealously (Choice B), devolve (Choice D), and encouraging (Choice H).