Europeanize for Welfare? EU Engagement among Swedish Civil Society Organizations

Abstract

This article explores how and why Swedish-based civil society organizations (CSOs) in the welfare area engage with the European Union (EU). Europeanization is understood as a twosided process in which the EU influences national actors while national actors are engaged in usage of the EU. The data collection was conducted through a systematic study of the websites of organizations that participated in the Swedish Compact, and through subsequent e-mail interviews with representatives from 56 of those same organizations. The assumption was that organizations with a privileged position vis-à-vis the Swedish government would be affected by EU influences. The results show that these Swedish CSOs indeed signalled Europeanization in terms of attention to the EU, cooperation, 'projectification', professionalization, and transformation of organizational identities and interests. The EU engagement was analysed in relation to organizational origin and the historical development of the Swedish welfare state, and the conclusion is that the national sociopolitical context influences the scope and strategies of EU engagement.

Civil Society Organizations Going European?

“…This trade-off seems to be absent when it comes to the national level where embeddedness instead incentivizes Europeanization. This is consistent with a recent study about the Europeanization of organizations that were engaged in political consultations at the national level (Hedling & Meeuwisse, 2015).…”

“…A more recent unpublished qualitative study conducted among Swedish CSOs that participated in a civil dialogue process at the national level in the social welfare area showed that many organizations had indeed undergone a process of Europeanization. The most common activities were membership and activities in CSO networks at the European level, participation in EU-funded projects, lobbying activities at the EU level, and making use of specific key persons as facilitators in contact with EU institutions (Hedling & Meeuwisse, 2015).…”

“…However, very few studies have focused on the Europeanization of Swedish CSOs. A recent study (Hedling & Meeuwisse, 2015) suggests that Swedish CSOs active in the social welfare policy area might be Europeanized as well. Such Europeanization seems to take place more through engagement in EU-based umbrella organizations and by receiving EU funding than through direct lobbying.…”

“…One of the Swedish studies about Europeanization (Hedling & Meeuwisse, 2015) has also argued that different generations of CSOs Europeanize in different ways. The study found that organizations founded before 1920 were more internationally oriented than specifically oriented toward the EU level, that organizations founded between 1921 and 1980 were more nationally oriented, and that organizations founded after 1980 were more aware of and oriented toward the EU.…”

“…The most common activities were membership and activities in CSO networks at the European level, participation in EU-funded projects, lobbying activities at the EU level, and making use of specific key persons as facilitators in contact with EU institutions (Hedling & Meeuwisse, 2015).…”