Pooling administrative resources through EU regulatory networks

Abstract

Do EU administrative networks help to preserve executive power at the member-state level, or centralize executive power at the EU level? This article examines how resource pooling takes place in the European Medicines Regulatory Network (EMRN), and the relevance of organizational structure in explaining this. By doing so the article adds both empirically and theoretically to the literature. The article presents new insights on intra-network decision behaviour, showing how network participants, under the coordination of an EU agency, pool resources by sharing knowledge, information, practices and experiences, and by routinized division of labour. Furthermore, applying an organizational perspective the article identifies some organizational structural factors that facilitate resource pooling and contribute to centralization of the EMRN. The findings thus have implications for the debate on the effects of establishing EU regulaory networks.

Researching European Union Agencies: What Have We Learnt (and Where Do We Go from Here)?

“…For example, the hub position of the European Medicines Agency enables it to allocate the preparatory work on drug authorization among the national medicines agencies, dependent on their expertise, administrative capacity, availability etc. (Vestlund, ). Such a division of labour may benefit all network participants, and in particular poorly resourced national administrations.…”

The drivers of regulatory networking: policy learning between homophily and convergence

“…In particular, contributors have highlighted the strategic use that regulators make of their networks to achieve more autonomy from the government (Danielsen and Yesilkagit 2014; Ruffing 2015) by exploiting the informational advantages deriving from transnational networking (Eberlein and Grande 2005; Jordana 2017). In addition, regulators appear to pool resources through networking, thereby compensating for those they lack (Alcañiz 2010; Vestlund 2015).…”

“…Beyond interdependence, the drivers of regulatory networking have rarely been investigated. Recent explanations have pointed to the importance of autonomy and resources in prompting regulators to network transnationally (Vestlund 2015; Bach et al 2016). Moreover, existing literature usually employs the word “network” as a useful descriptive metaphor, but rarely studies it as a relational structure (Isett et al 2011).…”

Networks as First Best? Network Entrepreneurship and Venue Shifting in the Establishment of the Network of Euro–Mediterranean Energy Regulators

“…Regulators derive practical benefits from networking activities, such as the possibility of pooling resources (Vestlund, ) or using peer connections to compensate for a lack of resources (Vantaggiato, ). Regulators use networks to achieve institutional goals, such as increased autonomy (Bach and Ruffing, ; Ruffing, ) or to further their domestic preferences at the supranational level (Newman and Bach, ).…”