This paper looks at the introduction of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) to EU policy-making. This new mode of governance has been developed over the last decade and has received considerable attention in the literature. However, much of this writing fails to put the OMC into the broader...

This article elaborates analysis of the normative foundations of the European Union's policy for reconciliation of work and family life, with a specific focus on the shifts produced by the introduction of the Open Method of Coordination in the field of childcare policy. The main objective is to...

EuropeÕs economic governance is not only highly complex, but also increasingly inefficient and unsustainable in the long run. This conclusion is reached from the theory of collective action and the difficulties in democratic legitimacy. The solution would be the creation of a European...

This paper discusses recent developments in Euro-Mediterranean relations following the establishment of the European Neighbourhood Initiative (ENP) and attempts to put these empirical insights into theoretical perspective. By relating selected elements of the theory of world society - in...

In the European Employment Strategy (EES) the EU applies the so-called ‘Open Method of Coordination’ (OMC). In the academic literature it is stylized as a focal point for decentralised modes of governance. But drawing on Michel Foucault’s governmentality approach the OMC does not seem to...

One of the most common arguments about ‘new governance’ is that it is characterised by heterarchy rather than by hierarchy, creating horizontal modes of governance among a multitude of actors – public and private – involving all relevant stakeholders. Often implicitly, but sometimes...

AbstractThe complexity of the multi-level European polity is not adequately represented by the single-level theoretical concepts of competing intergovernmentalist and supranationalist approaches. By contrast, empirical research focusing on mul-tilevel interactions tends either to emphasize the...

The present article considers the importance of legal system origin in compliance with ‘international soft law,' or normative provisions contained in non-binding texts. The study considers key economic and governance metrics on national acceptance an implementation of the first Basle accord....

In order to better differentiate the drivers of corporations' actions, in particular shareholder wealth and stakeholder interests, the paper explores the significance of the comply or explain-principle and its underlying enforcement mechanisms more generally. Against this background, compliance...

This paper analyses and assesses the track record and effectiveness of the so-called “Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring in Emerging Markets”,which have emerged as an important instrument for crisis prevention and crisis resolution in the international financial...