Seconded National Experts as Part of Early Mover Strategies in the European Union: The Case of Sweden

Abstract:

This article explores in what ways and to what extent the Swedish state uses Swedish Seconded National Experts (SNE) as part of its early mover strategies. Early mover strategies are defined as policies and organizational arrangements aimed at ensuring that national preferences have an impact on the Commission’s agenda setting and proposals. The article draws on three organization perspectives – an instrumental, a cultural and a myth perspective – to increase the understanding of how states use SNEs as early mover tools. The article shows that Sweden’s early mover strategies linked to SNEs are poorly developed regarding both policies and organizational arrangements. It also shows that all three explanatory perspectives contribute to the understanding of this state of affairs.