Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2018 3(1), 235-255 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Theories of organisational change and survival. - II.1. Functional imperatives: organisational survival "on delivery". - II.2. Power perspectiv...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Åse Gornitzka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu) 2018-05-01
Series:European Papers
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/organising-soft-governance-in-hard-times-unlikely-survival-of-open-method-of-coordination-in-eu-education-policy
_version_ 1818601607507476480
author Åse Gornitzka
author_facet Åse Gornitzka
author_sort Åse Gornitzka
collection DOAJ
description (Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2018 3(1), 235-255 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Theories of organisational change and survival. - II.1. Functional imperatives: organisational survival "on delivery". - II.2. Power perspective: survival as political battle. - II.3. Institutionalisation and survival. - II.4. Institutional perspective - Survival by riding a fashion wave. - III. The OMC in time and context. - III.1. The birth of OMC education: the European Commission's administration as facilitator. - III.2. Dealing with Member States' sensitivity and the politics of education policy. - III.3. Change and reorganisation. - III.4. Soft governance as practices without a label. - IV. Conclusions: why is OMC education an unlikely survivor? | (Abstract) The introduction of the OMC brought a new template for organising EU governance and EU social and economic policy coordination. This Article looks into how the OMC template for organising governance became practice and developed over time in the education sector. Soft governance under the label OMC has had considerable impact on the approach to common decision-making in EU education policy. The OMC template enabled European level policy makers to enter into issues that had largely been off limits to the EU. The actors, especially the Directorate General Education and Culture (DG EAC), used the OMC format to work around the considerable national sensitivity of education. This way of organising governance was normalised as an appropriate approach to cooperation. The substantive effects on Member States' policy and policy output are, on the other hand, limited. Hence, the functional effectiveness cannot explain the survival of the OMC education. Yet, the soft coordination organised under the heading "Education and Training 2010/2020" survived because the practices incrementally gained legitimacy and became routine. The organisation of governance based on the OMC also became the platform upon which the sector could defend and profile its contribution to European integration. Despite the fact that the OMC label was no longer considered a fashionable and effective organisational template on the EU governance scene, the education sector upheld these governance arrangements.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T12:54:04Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e616e6b3cf994bc8966c93dc6bdaebd5
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2499-8249
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T12:54:04Z
publishDate 2018-05-01
publisher European Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu)
record_format Article
series European Papers
spelling doaj.art-e616e6b3cf994bc8966c93dc6bdaebd52022-12-21T22:31:04ZengEuropean Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu)European Papers2499-82492018-05-012018 3123525510.15166/2499-8249/211Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education PolicyÅse Gornitzka0University of Oslo(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2018 3(1), 235-255 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Theories of organisational change and survival. - II.1. Functional imperatives: organisational survival "on delivery". - II.2. Power perspective: survival as political battle. - II.3. Institutionalisation and survival. - II.4. Institutional perspective - Survival by riding a fashion wave. - III. The OMC in time and context. - III.1. The birth of OMC education: the European Commission's administration as facilitator. - III.2. Dealing with Member States' sensitivity and the politics of education policy. - III.3. Change and reorganisation. - III.4. Soft governance as practices without a label. - IV. Conclusions: why is OMC education an unlikely survivor? | (Abstract) The introduction of the OMC brought a new template for organising EU governance and EU social and economic policy coordination. This Article looks into how the OMC template for organising governance became practice and developed over time in the education sector. Soft governance under the label OMC has had considerable impact on the approach to common decision-making in EU education policy. The OMC template enabled European level policy makers to enter into issues that had largely been off limits to the EU. The actors, especially the Directorate General Education and Culture (DG EAC), used the OMC format to work around the considerable national sensitivity of education. This way of organising governance was normalised as an appropriate approach to cooperation. The substantive effects on Member States' policy and policy output are, on the other hand, limited. Hence, the functional effectiveness cannot explain the survival of the OMC education. Yet, the soft coordination organised under the heading "Education and Training 2010/2020" survived because the practices incrementally gained legitimacy and became routine. The organisation of governance based on the OMC also became the platform upon which the sector could defend and profile its contribution to European integration. Despite the fact that the OMC label was no longer considered a fashionable and effective organisational template on the EU governance scene, the education sector upheld these governance arrangements.https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/organising-soft-governance-in-hard-times-unlikely-survival-of-open-method-of-coordination-in-eu-education-policygovernanceopen method of coordinationeducationeuropean unionorganisational changeinstitutionalisation
spellingShingle Åse Gornitzka
Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
European Papers
governance
open method of coordination
education
european union
organisational change
institutionalisation
title Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
title_full Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
title_fullStr Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
title_full_unstemmed Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
title_short Organising Soft Governance in Hard Times - The Unlikely Survival of the Open Method of Coordination in EU Education Policy
title_sort organising soft governance in hard times the unlikely survival of the open method of coordination in eu education policy
topic governance
open method of coordination
education
european union
organisational change
institutionalisation
url https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/organising-soft-governance-in-hard-times-unlikely-survival-of-open-method-of-coordination-in-eu-education-policy
work_keys_str_mv AT asegornitzka organisingsoftgovernanceinhardtimestheunlikelysurvivaloftheopenmethodofcoordinationineueducationpolicy