Policy transfer in European Union governance : regulating the utilities / Simon Bulmer... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bulmer, Simon.

Series:

Routledge advances in European politics ; 44.

Routledge advances in European politics ; 44

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public utilities--Government policy--European Union countries.

Public utilities.

Public utilities--Government policy.

European Union countries--Economic policy.

European Union countries.

Economic policy.

Policy sciences.

Physical Description:

xvi, 221 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

This new book presents a clear conceptual framework for understanding the transfer of policy ideas between EU states, together with an empirical study of regulatory change within European utilities. Policy transfer is a new instrument for understanding EU policy-making. This volume shows how the nature of institutions, interdependence between trans-national and national jurisdictions and social systems relate policy actors across geographical boundaries, identifying four basic types of EU policy transfer and learning: 'uploading' - how member states compete to shape the EU agenda in line with their own institutional arrangements and policy preferences; 'downloading' - how states adapt to changing EU incentives and constraints; 'socialization' - how EU policy norms are internalized in the belief systems of domestic actors; 'information exchange' between national actors in the course of EU interactions leading to a horizontal diffusion of policy ideas.

The authors use an institutionalist perspective to show how these forms of policy transfer operate across the diverse systems of governance found in the EU. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of European Union politics and policy, comparative public policy and political economy.

Contents:

Utilities regulation as a focus of research 1

The concept of policy transfer 4

EU policy transfer 6

1 EU governance and policy transfer 11

Types of policy transfer and learning 12

Policy transfer and EU governance 17

Policy transfer to the member states 25

Global conditioning of policy transfer 28

2 The external environment 32

The impact of technological innovation 32

Corporate ownership and structure 37

International trends 46

International Actors 50

3 Negotiated policy transfer 55

Air transport 56

Telecommunications 69

Electricity 81

4 EU regulatory regimes 96

Air transport 97

Telecommunications 113

Electricity 122

5 Domestic regulatory regimes 136

The institutional context of domestic reform 136

Institutional design of national regulatory regimes 154

Learning from each other? 165

Regulatory regimes across the EU 171

The impact of globalization 180

Negotiated policy transfer 181

Hierarchical policy transfer 184

Facilitated policy transfer 185

The importance of timing and tempo 186

The role of the UK model 187

Policy transfer and EU governance 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [192]-213) and index.

ISBN:

041537488X

9780415374880

OCLC:

70866899