The Career of the Open Method of Coordination: Lessons from a ‘Soft’ EU Instrument

Luc Tholoniat

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European Union Policy and Governance Public Policy and Administration Research European Law and Migration

Abstract

This article examines the career of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) as a policy instrument. Looking at the European Employment Strategy and the Lisbon Agenda, it shows that more has been accomplished than is often realised. It argues that the OMC's apparent fragility reflects an intrinsic tension, termed here the ‘soft-law dilemma’: it must ensure a constant supply of items to feed the EU agenda, whilst at the same time guaranteeing a level of institutional stability sufficient to allow effective policy delivery. To maintain both legitimacy and effectiveness, the OMC has learned to navigate between the extremes of all-out policy activism and bureaucratisation. As a result, the OMC has become an established form of socio-economic governance at EU level. A decade later, EU actors have the resources to take action in areas long associated with national sovereignty, thereby widening the scope and potential for a politicisation of the EU.

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References

2007Introduction: Understanding Public Policy through Its Instruments—From the Nature of Instruments to the Sociology of Public Policy Instrumentation 2005Gouverner par les instruments 2004The open method of co-ordination and new governance patterns in the EU 2005Hard and Soft Law in the Construction of Social Europe: the Role of the Open Method of Co-ordination 2005The Open Method of Co-Ordination in Action: The European Employment and Social Inclusion Strategies 2005The Open Method of Co-ordination in Action 1999The European Employment Strategy: Genesis and Development 2003Alternative Approaches to Governance in the EU: EU Social Policy and the European Employment Strategy*

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