The National Co-ordination of EU Policy: The Domestic Level

Abstract

This book is the first of two volumes in which leading scholars examine the way in which member states of the European Union (EU) co-ordinate their European policies. Rather than looking at the ‘Europeanization’ problematic within which the issue is usually addressed, it adopts a broader, more inclusive approach, examining domestic processes and investigating co-ordination in ten member states ––Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom –– looking at co-ordinating ambitions, the actors involved in EU policy-making, and the structures and processes by which policy is made. These particular countries were selected to cover the most important dimensions of variation among member states. From a comparative perspective, the book identifies and assesses the impact of the influences that have shaped systems of national co-ordination – the demands exerted by Union membership, the institutional structure of the national polity, the pre-existing balance between domestic institutions, administrative norms and values, and attitudes, both popular and elite, to European integration. It assesses the extent to which there has been a convergent response to the administrative challenges posed by membership on the part of the member states or whether a pattern of divergence emerges. The effectiveness of member states in influencing policy outcomes at the European level is also addressed. All the chapters except for that on Portugal and the Conclusion are substantially revised versions of papers presented at a workshop on co-ordinating EU policy held at Oxford in June 1998. The companion volume answers similar questions about national administrations in Brussels and looks at twelve member states; it is the first systematic examination of the role played by Permanent Representations in national EU policy-making.