Network Management in the EU: The European Commission as Network Manager

Abstract

The issue of networks and network governance has become increasingly important within EU-studies. Claiming that networks and network governance is an important aspect of policymaking and implementation within the treaty framework of the EU is by now fairly uncontroversial to the majority of EU-researchers. However, the issue of network management, which is to say the strategies and instruments employed to steer networks, has received limited attention in spite of the fact that most networks rely on the managerial skills of network managers that facilitate the operations of the network from either inside or outside the network itself. In short, network management is very often an integral part of network governance. The aim of the article at hand is to analyse the extent to which policy-making and implementation in the EU is marked not just by network governance, but also by network management. In particular, the article deals with the role of the European Commission as network manager. The intensity and quality of network management have important consequences as regards the efficiency of network governance as well as the democratic legitimacy of network governance.