Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Re-interpreting knowledge, expertise and EU governance: The cases of social policy and security research policy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Comparative European Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

This article examines how ideas about what is to be governed, how and by whom, are made sense of in European Union governance. It interrogates the complex relationships of knowledge generation, knowledge circulation, expertise and policymaking in two contrasting policy areas. In social policy, the emergence and later privileging of a discourse of the ‘social investment state’ are traced through the ‘linked ecologies’ (Abbott, 2005) of formal ‘European’ social science research, academic politicians and the Open Methods of Co-ordination. In security research policy, mētis, or practical knowledge (Scott, 1998), has enabled major European corporations to assert a privileged discursive and political position in the ‘linked ecologies’ of formal scientific research, product development and EU policymaking. These two cases demonstrate the partial integration of elite discourses with scientific rationalities into EU governance. In each case, the generation of knowledge and expertise is articulated in governance practices in ways that generate politically specific and limited – but not the same – versions of ‘the’ EU to be governed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott, A. (1988) The System of Professions. An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abbott, A. (2005) Linked ecologies: States and universities as environments for professions. Sociological Theory 23(3): 245–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, R. (2014) Illegality, Inc. Clandestine Migration and the Business of Bordering Europe. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, T., Cantillon, B., Marlier, E. and Nolan, B. (2002) Social Indicators: The EU and social inclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier, J.-C. (2012) Tracing the fate of EU social policy: Changes in political discourse from the Lisbon strategy to Europe 2020. International Labour Review 151(4): 377–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batory, A. and Lindstrom, N. (2011) The power of the purse: Supranational entrepreneurship, financial incentives, and European higher education policy. Governance 24(2): 311–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigo, D., Carrera, S., Hayes, B., Hernanz, N. and Jeandesboz, J. (2012) Justice and home affairs databases and a smart borders system at EU external borders. An evaluation of current and forthcoming proposals. CEPS Papers in Liberty and Security in Europe (52, December.).

  • Boswell, C. (2008) The political functions of expert knowledge: Knowledge and legitimation in European Union immigration policy. Journal of European Public Policy 15(4): 471–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Böhling, K. (2014) Sidelined member states: Commission-learning from experts in the face of comitology. Journal of European Integration 36(2): 117–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borras, S. and Jacobsson, K. (2004) The open method of co-ordination and new governance patterns in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy 11(2): 185–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Büchs, M. (2007) New Governance in European Social Policy: The Open Method of Coordination. Basingstoke: Houndmills/Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Büttner, S.M. (2012) Mobilizing Regions, Mobilizing Europe. Expert Knowledge and Scientific Planning in European Regional Development. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmel, E. (2005) Governance and the constitution of a European social. In: J.H. Newman (ed.) Remaking Governance: Peoples, Politics and the Public Sphere. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 39–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmel, E. (2014) With what implications? An assessment of EU migration governance between Union regulation and national diversity. Migration Letters 11(2): 137–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services (2011) Ex-post Evaluation of PASR Activities in the field of Security and Interim Evaluation of FP7. Security Research Maritime Security and Surveillance—Case Study. Sevenoaks, UK.

  • Cerami, A. and van Huysse, P. (2009) Post-Communist Welfare. Palgrave: Basingstoke.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Coen, D. and Katsaitis, A. (2013) Chameleon pluralism in the EU: an empirical study of the European Commission interest group density and diversity across policy domains. Journal of European Public Policy 20(8): 1104–1119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Commission of the European Communities (2008) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social committee and the Committee of the Regions. Examining the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR). COM(2008) 68 final. Brussels, European Commission. 13 Feb 2008.

  • Commission of the European Communities (2010) Accompanying document to the Communication from the President to the Commission framework for Commission expert groups: horizontal rules and public register. SEC(2010)1360 final. 10 Nov 2010.

  • Commission of the European Communities (2012) Security Industrial Policy. Action Plan for an innovative and competitive Security Industry {SWD(2012) 233 final}. COM (2012) 417 final. Brussels, European Commission.

  • Commission of the European Communities (2014) The final implementation report for the EU Internal Security Strategy 2010–2014. COM(2014) 365 final. Brussels, CEC. 20 June 2014.

  • Commission of the European Communities (2016) Launching a consultation on a European Pillar of Social Rights. COM(2016) 127 final. Strasbourg. 8 March 2016.

  • Council of the European Union (1997) Treaty establishing the European Union (consolidated version of the Treaty of Amsterdam).

  • Council of the European Union (2008) Report of the mission for flexicurity. Implementation of the common principles of flexicurity within the framework for the 2008–2010 round of the Lisbon Strategy. 17407/1/08 REV 1(en). Brussels, CEU. 12 Dec 2008.

  • Daly, M. (2012) Paradigms in EU social policy: A critical account of Europe 2020. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 18(3): 273–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, M. (1999) Governmentality. Power and rule in Modern Society. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degryse, C., Jepsen, M. and Pochet, P. (2013) The Euro crisis and its impact on national and European social policies. ETUI Working Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2342095 or doi:10.2139/ssrn.2342095.

  • de la Porte, C. and Pochet, P. (2003) Building Social Europe Through the Open Method of Coordination. Brussels: PIE Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunlop, C.A. and James, O. (2007) Principal–agent modelling and learning: The European commission, experts and agricultural hormone growth promoters. Public Policy and Administration 22(4): 403–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G., Gallie, D., Hemerijck, A. and Myles, J. (2002) Why We Need a New Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • European Organisation for Security (2009) White Paper. EU Maritime Surveillance Issues linked to Security. “Sea4All” Approach. Brussels, EOS Border Surveillance Sub-Working Group.

  • European Organisation for Security (2013) Global Position on Horizon 2020. Brussels: EOS.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Security and Research Innovation Forum (2009) ESRIF Final Report. Brussels.

  • Feldman, G. (2012) The Migration Apparatus. Security, Labor and Policymaking in the European Union. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrera, M. (1996) The ‘southern model ‘of welfare in social Europe. Journal of European Social Policy 6(1): 17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrera, M., Hemerijck, A. and Rhodes, M. (2000) The Future of the European Welfare State: Managing Diversity for a Prosperous and Cohesive Europe. Report for the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. Lisbon: Portuguese Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, F. (2003) Reframing Public Policy. Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. and Sturdy, S. (2014) Introduction: Knowledge in Policy—embodied, inscribed, enacted. In: R. Freeman and S. Sturdy (eds.) Knowledge in Policy. Embodied, Inscribed, Enacted. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 1–20.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1998) The Third Way. The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, A. and Sverdrup, U. (2008) Who consults? The configuration of expert groups in the European Union. West European Politics 31(4): 725–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, A. and Sverdrup, U. (2010) Enlightened decision-making. The role of scientists in EU Governance. Politique Européenne 32(3): 125–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Group of Personalities (2004) Research for a Secure Europe. Luxembourg: Official Publications of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, P. and Jonsson, S. (2014) Eurafrica. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsson, K. (2005) Between deliberation and discipline: soft governance in EU employment policy. In: U. Mörth (ed.) Soft Law in Governance and Regulation: An Interdisciplinary Analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, J. (2009) Lost in translation: The social investment perspective and gender equality. Social Politics 16(4): 446–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, J. (2010) Diffusing ideas for after neoliberalism. The social investment perspective in Europe and Latin America. Global Social Policy 10(1): 59–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jepsen, M. and Pascuale, A.S. (2005) The European social model: An exercise in deconstruction. Journal of European Social Policy 15(3): 231–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jessop, B. (1999) The changing governance of welfare: Recent trends in its primary functions, scale, and modes of coordination. Social Policy and Administration 33(4): 348–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunz, R., Lavenex, S. and Panizzon, M. (eds.) (2012) Multilayered Migration Governance. The Promise of Partnership. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuus, M. (2014) Geopolitics and Expertise. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavenex, S. (2009) The external governance of EU internal security. European Integration Online Papers 31(1): 83–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lendvai, N. (2008) EU integration and the transformation of post-communist welfare: Traversing a ‘quantum leap’? Social Policy and Administration 42(5): 504–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. (ed.) (2006) Children, Changing Families and Welfare States. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marlier, E., Natali, D. with van Dam, R. (eds.) (2010) Europe 2020. Towards a More Social EU?. Brussels: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz, J. (2013) Expert groups in the European Union: A sui generis phenomenon? Policy and Society 32: 267–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. (2002) Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-politics, Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. (2011) Carbon Democracy. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monar, J. (2010) Experimentalist governance in justice and home affairs. In: C.F. Sabel and J. Zeitlin (eds.) Experimentalist Governance in the European Union. Towards a New Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 237–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Normand, R. (2010) Expertise, networks and indicators: The construction of the European strategy in education. European Educational Research Journal 9(3): 407–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, P. (1998) Irresistible forces, immovable objects: Post-industrial welfare states confront permanent austerity. Journal of European Public Policy 5(4): 539–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radaelli, C. M. (1995) The role of knowledge in the policy process. Journal of European Public Policy 2(2): 159–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radaelli, C. M. (1999) The public policy of the European Union: whither politics of expertise? Journal of European Public Policy 6(5): 757–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raveaud, G. (2007) The European employment strategy: Towards more and better jobs? Journal of Common Market Studies 45(2): 411–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robert, C. (2010) Who are the European experts? Profiles, trajectories and expert ‘careers’ of the European Commission. French Politics 8: 248–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robert, C. (2012) Expert groups in the building of European public policy. Globalisation, Societies and Education 10(4): 425–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabel, C.F. and Zeitlin, J. (2010) Learning from difference: The new architecture of experimentalist governance in the EU. In: C. F. Sabel and J. Zeitlin (eds.) Experimentalist Governance in the European Union. Towards a New Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. C. (1998) Seeing Like a State. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seabrooke, L. and Tsingou, E. (2014) Distinctions, affiliations, and professional knowledge in financial reform expert groups. Journal of European Public Policy 21(3): 389–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skjaerseth, J.B. and Wettestad, J. (2010) Making the EU Emissions Trading System: The European Commission as an entrepreneurial epistemic leader. Global Environmental Change 20: 314–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souto-Otero, M. (2013) Is ‘better regulation’ possible? Formal and substantive quality in the impact assessments in education and culture of the European Commission. Evidence & Policy 9(4): 513–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souto-Otero, M., Fleckenstein, T. and Dacombe, R. (2008) Filling in the gaps: European governance, the open method of coordination and the European Commission. Journal of Education Policy 23(3): 231–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, D. (2004) Transfer agents and global networks in the ‘transnationalization’ of policy. Journal of European Public Policy 11(3): 545–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, D. (2013) ‘Shades of grey’: The World Bank, knowledge networks and linked ecologies of academic engagement. Global Networks 13(2): 241–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor-Gooby, P. (Ed.). (2004) New Risks, New Welfare: The Transformation of the European Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, W. and Haahr, J.H. (2005) Governing Europe. Discourse, Governmentality and European Integration. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanow, D. and Schwartz-Shea, P. (eds.) (2014) Interpretation and Method: Empirical Research Methods and the Interpretive Turn. New York: M.E.Sharp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeitlin, J. (2010) Towards a stronger OMC in a more social Europe 2020: A new governance architecture for EU policy co-ordination. In: E. Marlier and D. Natali (eds.) Europe 2020: Towards a More Social EU?. Brussels: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Emma Carmel

Authors
  1. Emma Carmel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma Carmel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Carmel, E. Re-interpreting knowledge, expertise and EU governance: The cases of social policy and security research policy. Comp Eur Polit 15, 771–793 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-016-0079-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-016-0079-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation