Politiktransfer durch die Europäische Beschäftigungspolitik? Methodische Überlegungen und empirische Analyse des Falls Deutschland

The European Employment Strategy and National Core Executives: Impacts on activation reforms in the Netherlands and Germany

“…A low level of compliance (that is, the goodness of fit argument), related to the mechanism of peer pressure, and a low level of consensus between key actors on reforms and a high level of Europeanization (as evidenced by a high EES profile and a low extent of Euro-scepticism), both related to the mechanism of strategic use of the EES, are shown to facilitate its impact in four countries with widely varying employment policies different from the ones considered here (Mailand, 2008). Moreover, openness of the government towards EES and a high degree of reform necessity (Zohlnhöfer and Ostheim, 2007) are proposed to facilitate EES policy transfer. Revisiting our findings for our country cases in the light of these factors, the compliance argument did not hold in any of them, while the Europeanization argument does help to interpret the evidence in both cases (if taking specific state structures and attitudes towards subsidiarity into account).…”

“…In this view, both the Job-Aqtiv Law and the Hartz reforms (including Hartz IV) strongly resembled (and referred to) EES guidelines, due to a learning effect on the part of the Ministry, owing to a high degree of readiness to change the current policy paradigm and a favourable organizational coupling of competences within the ministerial structure (Preunkert and Zirra, 2009). Several other studies contend, yet without referring to core executives, that the core of Hartz IV, merging several benefits, corresponds to the EES guidelines, even though this was not publicly acknowledged (see Behning (2006) and Heidenreich and Bischoff (2008); Zohlnhöfer and Ostheim (2007) stress EES references in the Hartz Commission report). Heidenreich and Bischoff (2008: 518) detect 'a subtle, but nevertheless quite effective influence on German … employment strategies', including Hartz IV, amounting to 'learning by irritation', that is, a mutual influence of European and national patterns of perception and behaviour (2008: 520-1).…”

The EU and the promotion of renewable energy: an analytical framework

“…This focus has brought alternative or less direct forms of Europeanization to the front. The EU's Open Method of Coordination (OMC) is the most prominent of these mechanisms of horizontal rather than top-down Europeanization (see, for example, Büchs, 2007;Lodge, 2007;Nedergaard, 2007;Zohlnhöfer and Ostheim, 2007). Although horizontal Europeanization works in the absence of binding supranational law, or in issue areas where the adaptational pressures emanating from the EU are rather limited, it nevertheless may lead to policy change or even to a convergence of domestic policies towards the goals of the EU (Bulmer and Radaelli, 2004).…”