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Beyond the Community Method: Why the Open Method of Coordination Was Introduced to EU Policy-making

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  • Schäfer, Armin
Abstract
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 context of EMU; in contrast, this paper links the Amsterdam employment title to the prior Maastricht decision to form a monetary union. It seeks to contribute to the literature on European integration in two ways: First, this paper offers three refinements to Pierson's historical institutionalist account of European integration. Second, it thus provides an alternative to functional explanations of the OMC. In brief the argument is that a conservative-liberal coalition at Maastricht created hard law in fiscal and monetary policy to constrain its successors, while the social democratic majority at Amsterdam relied on soft law to promote its goals in employment and social policy. While the former effectively limited later policy-choices, the latter largely avoids sovereignty losses for national governments. The contents of the Employment Title were determined by EMU, its form the OMC by social democratic reluctance to transfer power to the EU.

Suggested Citation

  • Schäfer, Armin, 2004. "Beyond the Community Method: Why the Open Method of Coordination Was Introduced to EU Policy-making," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 8, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:erp:eiopxx:p0118
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iain Begg, 2002. "EMU and Employment Social Models in the EMU: Convergence? Co-Existence? The Role of Economic and Social Actors," One Europe or Several? Working Papers 42, One-Europe Programme.
    2. Haas, Peter M., 1992. "Introduction: epistemic communities and international policy coordination," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 1-35, January.
    3. Karl Magnus Johansson, 2002. "Another Road to Maastricht: The Christian Democrat Coalition and the Quest for European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 871-893, December.
    4. Jonah D. Levy, 1999. "Vice into Virtue? Progressive Politics and Welfare Reform in Continental Europe," Politics & Society, , vol. 27(2), pages 239-273, June.
    5. Dermot Hodson & Imelda Maher, 2001. "The Open Method as a New Mode of Governance: The Case of Soft Economic Policy Co‐ordination," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 719-746, November.
    6. Sandholtz, Wayne, 1993. "Choosing union: monetary politics and Maastricht," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 1-39, January.
    7. Pollack, Mark A., 1997. "Delegation, agency, and agenda setting in the European Community," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 99-134, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nedergaard, Peter, 2005. "The open method of co-ordination and the analysis of mutual learning processes of the European employment strategy," MPRA Paper 33099, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Littoz-Monnet, Annabelle, 2010. "Dynamic Multi-Level Governance – Bringing the Study of Multi-level Interactions into the Theorising of European Integration," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 14, April.
    3. Barry Eichengreen, 2010. "How Asia Can Benefit from the European Experience," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Jong-Wha Lee & Peter A. Petri & Giovanni Capanelli (ed.), Asian Regionalism in the World Economy, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Hartlapp, Miriam, 2006. "Über Politiklernen lernen: Überlegungen zur Europäischen Beschäftigungsstrategie," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment SP I 2006-114, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

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