The Europeanization of Public Policy

Abstract

This chapter deals with the Europeanization of public policy, with emphasis on the problems that researchers encounter when they try to get to grips with the concept of Europeanization, the issue of explanation, the measurement of effects and the control of alternative rival hypotheses. It covers the domestic impact of the public policy of the European Union (EU), for which the term ‘EU-ization’ could be used. Featherstone has shown in the introductory chapter that the scope of Europeanization can go beyond EU-ization, for example, it can include the transfer of policy from one European country to several other countries, but this chapter if primarily concerned with how the EU impacts on the domestic policy systems of member states. The first section of the chapter, ‘The Concept’, looks at the implications of the conceptual analysis of Europeanization and suggests ideas in the direction of conceptual precision; the next section ‘What is Europeanized and to What Extent?’ ‘unpacks’ the concept of Europeanization by using a simple taxonomy; the section ‘Vertical and Horizontal Mechanisms' illustrates the main mechanisms involved in Europeanization of public policy, before the key explanatory variables are discussed in the section ‘Towards Explanation?’. The concluding section presents suggestions for future research, the key argument throughout the chapter having been that research on Europeanization presents an opportunity to bring EU scholars closer to ‘normal’ political science.

Transplanting Anglo-American accounting oversight boards to a diverse institutional context

“…Our analysis is informed by O'Donnell's (1994) conceptualization of delegative democracy, supplemented by literature on economic and political reform in Europe (e.g. Dyson & Goetz, 2003;Featherstone & Papadimitriou, 2008;Radaelli, 2003).…”

“…Studies have shown that the implementation of EU-inspired reforms by member states is often associated with significant gaps between the intended purposes and the actual effects of the Europeanization project (Featherstone & Papadimitriou, 2008;Radaelli, 2003). In a sense, when change is imposed from above (Mouzelis, 1995), the complex, multifaceted and interdependent domestic system of economic and political power illustrates a form of social "homeostasis" (Simon, 1962, p. 467).…”

Europeanisation of interest intermediation in the Central and Eastern European member states: contours of a mixed model

“…(Radaelli 2003, 30) In an exploratory manner, it seeks to capture the extent of diffusion and institutionalisation of the practices of interest intermediation, defined at the EU level and sent to the member states in the form of legal or normative requirements, with a view to identifying the degree of "incorporation" as put by Radaelli (2003). The principal point of departure is the assumption that the partnership principle communicates a specific idea or a mode of state-society relations imposed by the EU.…”

North Africa and the Making of Europe : Governance, Institutions and Culture

“…This has been described in terms of 'Europeanization', i.e. the process of constructing, diffusing and implementing formal and informal norms, which are first defined within the EU and then incorporated in domestic discourse, identity and political structures (Radaelli, 2003). The literature on 'external governance', i.e.…”