Trans-national governance without supra-national government: The case of the European Employment Strategy

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In this article it is argued that governance and government are inextricably bound up, though not necessarily at the same level of decision making. The novel, multi-level polity that emerged in the context of the so-called extended re-launch of European integration in the 1980s and early 1990s can be best described as trans-national governance without supra-national government. The privileged partnership between the European Commission and the European Round Table of Industrialists, and the European Employment Strategy are singled out to show that trans-national informal practices of governance have an impact on formal practices at the national level. This is at the heart of what is referred to as asymmetrical regulation: Supra-national regulation in the context of the Single Market and Economic and Monetary Union is limiting the national capacity to act, notably in the field of social regulation. While keeping up the illusion of self-determination, it is national government that is in charge of reforming labour markets.

This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit: