The Commission as image-venue entrepreneur in EU social policy

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Abstract
The Commission is a strategically sophisticated bureaucracy with the ability to expand its role and influence policy outcomes by acting as an image-venue entrepreneur. In difficult economic and political conditions, the Commission's recent strategic approach to the development of European Union (EU) social policy has been characterized by a dual approach. On the one hand, it has experimented with new institutional arrangements in order to build up a policy-making framework that lessens the influence of member governments. The development of the Social Dialogue and, to a lesser extent, a Civic Dialogue has been particularly important in this respect. On the other hand, the Commission has been reshaping the dominant 'image' of EU social policy from one based on social rights to an alternative which emphasizes that social policy contributes to stable economic growth and job creation. Its strategic ability to understand the way in which policy images and institutional venues interact affects the Commission's ability to develop and expand EU policy.

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