The EU as a Norm Entrepreneur in Education Policy: An Analysis of the Diffusion of European Ideas and Policies

Abstract

In recent years, new challenges such as growing labour mobility,¹ rising market inequalities, skill-biased technological change, demographical change and growing public debts have increasingly affected the capacity of European welfare systems to effectively engage in social and economic policy-making (see, for example, Wulfgramm, Bieber and Leibfried, 2016). Public provision and regulation of social policies, however, is a core determinant to foster European social cohesion and thus, the legitimacy of the European Union (EU) as one of the most powerful regional organizations.² One of the core social citizenship rights is the access to education. These rights enable members of a society to participate in economic, social and cultural prosperity and thus are intended to decrease social inequality. As the EU also considers itself a social union, education policy has come to the centre of cooperation attempts (Hill et al. 2012). In addition, as a response to recent challenges such as the economic and financial crisis starting in 2007, the EU has developed the ‘Europe 2020 Growth Strategy’ to foster the regional economy with a view to promoting social cohesion, employment and productivity (COM 2012). Therefore, the Commission proposed five EU targets to be reached by 2020, one of which concerns education mat-ters.³ In particular, higher education (HE) is at the heart of this strategy: universities play a key role in ensuring that Europe becomes a ‘smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy’ (COM 2010).