Keeping up with the Neighbours: Diffusion of Norms and Practices Through Networks of Employer and Employee Organizations in the Eastern Partnership and the Mediterranean

Abstract

Using social network analysis and logistic regression, we analyse how inter-organizational networks facilitate co-operation and the transfer of best practice from EU-based organizations to organizations in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries. More specifically, we examine networks of employer and employee organizations that participate in the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership and in TRESMED, a Mediterranean project. We find that networks are successful at disseminating principles and good practices of economic and social partnership, but also that dissemination proceeds slowly. In addition, we detect more co-operation among employer than among employee organizations, which reflects collective action difficulties facing organized labour more generally. Last, we find that inter-organizational co-operation is more intense in the Southern than in the Eastern neighbourhood, which is explained by contextual differences as well as by the EU's longer-term engagement with the Mediterranean than with the countries on its Eastern frontier.

Policy-specific effects of transgovernmental cooperation: a statistical assessment across the EU’s post-Soviet neighbours

“…Building upon the idea of knowledge-sharing in a professional environment and bringing together relevant actors to engage in sustained cooperation, networks are often described as capable of fostering capacitybuilding and constituting successful instances of external governance (Lavenex 2008;Freyburg 2011;Lavenex and Schimmelfennig 2009). In general, cross-border networks have been recognized as capable of spreading know-how, shaping democratic attitudes, and transferring organizational practices even in non-democratic environments (Freyburg 2015;Turkina and Kourtikakis 2015). Some also suggest that the inclusion of local actors in transgovernmental networks results in growing support for convergence with the acquis among state officials (Langbein and Wolczuk 2012).…”

The Structure of Coordination: Transatlantic Policy Networks and the Mobilization of Business and Civil Society

“…The literature on internal EU policy networks, which operate in a similar (albeit less challenging) political environment already includes many studies that examine policy networks as coordinating mechanisms (Pappi and Henning, 1999;Paraskevopoulos, 2001;Kriesi, 2006;Christopoulos and Quaglia, 2009;Henning, 2009;Knill and Tosun, 2009). Much like external transgovernmental networks, external policy networks can also function as mechanisms of diffusion, when there is power asymmetry between the EU and its international partners Postnikov, 2012, 2014;Oehri, 2014;Turkina and Kourtikakis, 2015). Hence, examining networks that are part of a symmetrical relationship between the EU and a third country would be a critical test for coordination.…”

“…Much like external transgovernmental networks, external policy networks can also function as mechanisms of diffusion, when there is power asymmetry between the EU and its international partners (Turkina and Postnikov, 2012, 2014; Oehri, 2014; Turkina and Kourtikakis, 2015). Hence, examining networks that are part of a symmetrical relationship between the EU and a third country would be a critical test for coordination.…”

EU Rules Beyond its Borders: The Policy‐specific Effects of Transgovernmental Networks and EU Agencies in the European Neighbourhood

“…Building upon the idea of knowledge sharing in a professional environment and bringing together relevant actors to engage in sustained co‐operation, transgovernmental networks are often described as being capable of fostering capacity‐building and constituting successful instances of external governance (Lavenex, ). Cross‐border networks have been recognized as being capable of spreading ‘know‐how’ expertise, shaping democratic attitudes and transferring new practices even in non‐democratic environments (Freyburg, ; Shyrokykh, ; Turkina and Kourtikakis, ). Some also suggest that the inclusion of local actors in transgovernmental networks results in growing support for convergence with the acquis among state officials (Langbein and Wolczuk, ).…”