Institutional compliance, European networks of regulation and the bureaucratic autonomy of national regulatory authorities

One important function of European regulatory networks (ERNs) is to provide national regulatory authorities (NRAs) with an institutional platform for coordinating the implementation and harmonization of Community law within the member states by issuing non-binding norms such as guidelines and standards. However, to what extent are NRAs successful in implementing these non-binding rules within their member states and what is the role of European networks of regulation? This article argues, and illustrates with a case study of the implementation of privacy norms in electronic health systems in the Netherlands, that next to the expertise generated by the relevant ERN, it was the institutional compliance of the Dutch government to the Privacy Directive that has substantially contributed to the bureaucratic autonomy of the Dutch Data Protection Authority.