From graphite to diamond: The importance of institutional structure in establishing capacity for effective and credible application of EU rules

Book abstract:

This book is concerned with those countries that have applied for membership of the European Union and the need for them to adopt, apply and enforce the 'acquis communitaire', the body of Community law, policies and practice. The book advocates the use of an institutional approach to building capacity for policy implementation and has three aims. First it analyses the role of accountable institutions in efficient and effective policy implementation. Second, it reviews the European Commission's assessment of the capacity of the candidate countries. Third it proposes a list of recommendations on how to check the institutional capacity of the authorities responsible for applying and enforcing Community rules.

The book is structured into a set of questions and answers. These include: Why is effective implementation of EU rules an issue in the current enlargement of the European Union?; How does the European Union ensure effective implementation of its rules?; Are the methods currently used sufficient to guide the candidate countries?; and How to achieve effective and efficient policy implementation in the context of integration processes? The underlying theme of the book is that either positive or negative incentives are necessary to induce authorities in the candidate countries to act efficiently and effectively.

The book is aimed at academic audiences and practitioners. Phedon Nicolaides is Professor at the European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht, The Netherlands.