A creeping transformation? The European Commission and the management of EU structural funds in Germany

Book abstract:

This sixth volume in Kluwer's 'Library of Public Policy and Public Administration' series examines the role the European Commission plays in the implementation of large-scale European spending programmes. It is based on the PhD of the author, Michael Bauer, which was carried out at the European University Institute in Florence between 1997 and 2000.

The work is divided into eight chapters, grouped around three core elements: an introduction; an empirical investigation and an overall analysis of the Commission's role. The first two chapters provide an introduction, the development of a theoretical framework for studying the 'implementation management capacity' and a historical account of the development of EU regional policy. This is the focus of the empirical investigation, which extends over four chapters, and includes an overview of the Commission's role in policy implementation; a policy evaluation of the structural funds in general followed by one in Germany and a discussion of societal participation in EU structural policy. The third part summarises both the theoretical approach and the empirical findings and provides tentative conclusions regarding the creeping transformation of the Commission which is almost Darwinian in context - to survive it adapts to the changing demands of post-decision policy management.

A number of useful tables and figures are included throughout the book to illustrate the author's arguments.

The volume will interest students, scholars, policy researchers and practitioners in European governance, and European Union studies.

Michael W. Bauer is a Research Fellow at the Max-Planck Project Group Common Goods: Law, Politics and Economics, Bonn Germany.