Genealogies of European governance

Abstract

How should scholars study European governance? In this introductory article, we situate our genealogical approach in relation to existing research by summarizing the key features of major strands of research on European governance, clarifying their primary similarities and differences, criticizing their underlying commitment to the development of comprehensive theories and articulating the beginnings of an alternative research agenda. This alternative research agenda pivots away from attempting to develop a comprehensive theoretical model of European governance to one oriented towards investigating the beliefs and narrative traditions that shape Europe's governing practices. We conclude by previewing the contributions to the Special Issue, drawing attention to the overlapping themes addressed in each article, namely the influence of social scientific rationalities, elite narratives and local traditions in contemporary forms of European governance. Comparative European Politics (2017) 15, 685-704.

The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance

“…Although there are different types of networks in the literature, network theorists tend to argue that "the relative stability of belonging, their openness to individuals and groups and the level of interdependence of resources between actors determine the relative influence of different actors and the substantial content of EU policies" [14].…”

“…As such, for Börzel [10], Rhodes [13], Eising and Kohler-Koch [11], Torfing [7], Klijn and Koppenjan [8] and Bevir and Phillips [14] some certain common elements in their approaches can be identified as peculiar to network governance: a variety of actors who share a common interest in policy-making process and who exchange resources in order to achieve common interests, as well as recognizing that cooperation is the best way to achieve common goals.…”

Application and Advances in Radiographic and Novel Technologies Used for Non-Intrusive Object Inspection

“…Worldwide globalization processes aim to make the world more open offering the possibility of easy access to different places around the world regardless of their citizenship or nationality. It also helps make it possible to choose places to visit, to live, and to work based on one’s own preferences without any obstacles during travelling [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Additionally, the modern world with its global integration and interconnection of all processes extremely depends on trading.…”

“…After the EU migration crisis in 2015, several states from the Schengen group temporarily restored control at their national borders [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. However, this created additional obstacles for travelers and trading companies, and could not be considered as an effective countermeasure for economic reasons [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…After the EU migration crisis in 2015, several states from the Schengen group temporarily restored control at their national borders [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. However, this created additional obstacles for travelers and trading companies, and could not be considered as an effective countermeasure for economic reasons [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Thus, different approaches to increasing national security, along with improvement of border control experience both for travelers and trading companies, providing comprehensive but expeditious non-intrusive inspection, should be applied.…”