The Europeanisation of public policies: Understanding idiosyncratic mechanisms and contingent results

Abstract:

The debate on the Europeanisation of public policies is a specific branch of the new field of research on Europeanisation. It aims at understanding how national policies are shaped and changed due to European integration. This research is, however, still in its 'infancy'. The aim of this paper is threefold: Firstly, it aims at offering an empirically underpinned typology of three mechanisms of Europeanisation. Secondly, in doing so, it wants to point to one mechanism of Europeanisation that has not been addressed so far (namely Europeanisation by evasion) and thus extend the empirical lens. Thirdly, the paper aims at extending the conceptual lens by emphasising that and why Europeanisation is much more than the mere implementation of European policies.