Negotiations in Networks in the European Union

Abstract

Multi-level governance is a term that is commonly used to characterize the nature of the European Union. In this article we argue that multi-level governance requires a research focus on negotiations and networks. Our focus is on day-to-day negotiations rather than ``history-making'' decisions, and we proceed from the assumption that negotiations vary in character across issue areas. After discussing the distinctive features of EU negotiations and applying the multidimensional network concept to the EU, we formulate a number of hypotheses as to why network patterns vary across issue areas and how network characteristics affect negotiations. Some illustrative cases are briefly presented, and some tentative observations are proffered concerning the role of networks in EU negotiations.

Social Network Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Their Mutual Benefit for the Explanation of Policy Network Structures

“…However, there is another important question that logically precedes the question on the relationship between the decision-making structure and the output. We need to understand why a given network structure forms (Jönsson et al 1998: 332, König and Bräuninger 1998: 446, Linder 2005.…”