Change and Continuity in European Governance

Since the mid 1990s, European governance has evolved substantially, particularly in thedirection of fewer constraints: flexibility, coordination, peer monitoring, and soft law havebecome fashionable themes. The literature on new modes of governance (or NMGs) hasflourished alongside these transformations. But is the existence of new instruments ofgovernance necessarily synonymous with an innovative way of doing things? Is it really thecase that NMGs now play a central role in EU policy-making? Are we witnessing theemergence of an entirely new system of governance at the European level? In order toaddress these questions, this paper begins by briefly making the point that the concept ofgovernance is better suited to describing the way public policy is conducted in the EuropeanUnion, than that of government. It then moves to a discussion of the main trends that areidentified as NMGs in order to assess to what extent they can properly be described asnew. This is followed by an overview of more traditional forms of EU action, which showsthat old governance has far from disappeared.The European system of governance is thus a good example of change in continuity: oldand new are not mutually exclusive and this hybrid situation may in part be due to the greatcontiguity that exists between new modes of governance and their forerunners. New modesof governance are best analysed as an accentuation of the original features of the system,rather than as outright innovations. Both were largely conceived to respond to the sameneed, to provide a framework for interstate cooperation without leading to an unwanteddegree of centralisation. This is not without analogy with the metaphor of the marble cake,used over a century ago by Morton Grodzins to describe the coexistence of several varietiesof federalism in American government. Pure innovations are rare in the world of governance.directives; European law; governance; legitimacy; multilevel governance; open coordination; policy coordination; soft law

Change and Continuity in European Governance

Since the mid 1990s, European governance has evolved substantially, particularly in the direction of fewer constraints: flexibility, coordination, peer monitoring, and soft law have become fashionable themes. The literature on “new modes of governance” (or NMGs) has flourished alongside these transformations. But is the existence of “new” instruments of governance necessarily synonymous with an innovative way of doing things? Is it really the case that NMGs now play a central role in EU policy-making? Are we witnessing the emergence of an entirely new system of governance at the European level? In order to address these questions, this paper begins by briefly making the point that the concept of governance is better suited to describing the way public policy is conducted in the European Union, than that of government. It then moves to a discussion of the main trends that are identified as NMGs in order to assess to what extent they can properly be described as “new”. This is followed by an overview of more traditional forms of EU action, which shows that “old” governance has far from disappeared. The European system of governance is thus a good example of change in continuity: “old” and “new” are not mutually exclusive and this hybrid situation may in part be due to the great contiguity that exists between new modes of governance and their forerunners. New modes of governance are best analysed as an accentuation of the original features of the system, rather than as outright innovations. Both were largely conceived to respond to the same need, to provide a framework for interstate cooperation without leading to an unwanted degree of centralisation. This is not without analogy with the metaphor of the “marble cake”, used over a century ago by Morton Grodzins to describe the coexistence of several varieties of federalism in American government. Pure innovations are rare in the world of governance

Change and Continuity in European Governance

Since the mid 1990s, European governance has evolved substantially, particularly in the direction of fewer constraints: flexibility, coordination, peer monitoring, and soft law have become fashionable themes. The literature on "new modes of governance" (or NMGs) has flourished alongside these transformations. But is the existence of "new" instruments of governance necessarily synonymous with an innovative way of doing things? Is it really the case that NMGs now play a central role in EU policy-making? Are we witnessing the emergence of an entirely new system of governance at the European level? In order to address these questions, this paper begins by briefly making the point that the concept of governance is better suited to describing the way public policy is conducted in the European Union, than that of government. It then moves to a discussion of the main trends that are identified as NMGs in order to assess to what extent they can properly be described as "new". This is followed by an overview of more traditional forms of EU action, which shows that "old" governance has far from disappeared. The European system of governance is thus a good example of change in continuity: "old" and "new" are not mutually exclusive and this hybrid situation may in part be due to the great contiguity that exists between new modes of governance and their forerunners. New modes of governance are best analysed as an accentuation of the original features of the system, rather than as outright innovations. Both were largely conceived to respond to the same need, to provide a framework for interstate cooperation without leading to an unwanted degree of centralisation. This is not without analogy with the metaphor of the "marble cake", used over a century ago by Morton Grodzins to describe the coexistence of several varieties of federalism in American government. Pure innovations are rare in the world of governance

From Integration through Law to Governance: Has the Course of European Integration Changed?

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Change and continuity in European governance, panel Slow but inclusive motion? New modes of governance and policy-making in the EU

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The ‘Governance Turn’ Revisited

Since the mid 1990s, European governance has evolved substantially, particularly in the direction of fewer constraints: flexibility, coordination, peer monitoring, and soft law have become fashionable themes. The literature on ‘new modes of governance’ (or NMGs) has flourished alongside these transformations.1 Some authors have referred to a ‘governance turn’ in European studies (Kohler-Koch and Rittberger 2006). The analysis of the nature, significance and impact of this ‘new’ governance has indeed created a scholarly movement in its own right (with its ‘stars’, a specific language, quasi-specialised reviews, a multiplication of large-scale research programs, etc.). NMGs are defined, more or less implicitly, in opposition to the Community method. Despite occasional doubts regarding their legitimacy (Georgakakis and de la Salle 2007) or their effectiveness (Idema and Kelemen 2006), they tend to be viewed as increasingly important in EU policy-making

From Integration through Law to Governance: Has the Course of European Integration Changed?

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