An evaluation of the Soft Coordination approach of the European Governments' Policies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24965/gapp.v0i4.438Keywords:
European evaluation, Open Method coordinationAbstract
This paper derives from an evaluation carried out by the author and several of his colleagues (From Euréval and Rambøll Management) for the European Commission in 2007. The evaluation applied to the coordination of national policies in the areas of economic growth and employment. The main conclusion of the report (<http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/>) is that the soft coordination approach is effective in fostering mutual learning, enlarging consensus among stakeholders, reinforcing reform promoters’ legitimacy, and finally pushing reforms upward on the political agendas. The instrument has had a small incremental impact in a majority of Member States, something which was assessed as a success since nothing more could reasonably be expected from such a soft mechanism. The evaluation however shows that the instrument does not work exactly as it was assumed to work.
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References
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