Beyond Policy Change: Convergence of Corporatist Patterns in the European Union?

Transcription

1 Beyond Policy Change: Convergence of Corporatist Patterns in the European Union? by Simone Leiber Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne Presentation at the Second Pan-European Conference on EU Politics, ECPR Standing Group on the European Union, Panel EU Minimum Harmonisation in the 15 Member States: Different Worlds of Compliance?, Bologna, June

2 This document contains the summary of a text that will be published as Chapter 12 of the following co-authored book: Complying with Europe? The Impact of EU Minimum Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States by Gerda Falkner Oliver Treib Miriam Hartlapp Simone Leiber Draft version, June 2004 (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press 2005)

3 Manuscript Falkner/Treib/Hartlapp/Leiber Chapter 12: Beyond Policy Change Beyond Policy Change: Convergence of National Public Private Relations? Summary This chapter extends the study of Europeanisation from policy content to patterns of policy-making, specifically to co-operation in policy-making between the major interest groups and the state. Since the beginning of the 1990s, remarkable developments have taken place in EU social policy in procedural terms: EU social partners have become formal co-actors in the EU s legislative procedures. While, so far, research has mainly addressed the emergence and development of interest group structures at EU level (bottom-up perspective), this paper analyses the top-down effects of EU social policy on all 15 member states: Are the national systems of public-private interaction affected by the corporatist policy community at EU level? If so, how? In an exploratory manner, we examine three different ways with potentially contradictory effects in which EU social policy might exert top-down influence on patterns of public-private interaction at the national level. These EU incentives are based on hard binding law on the one hand, as well as soft transmission mechanisms like e.g. best practice diffusion on the other hand. As a yardstick for detecting major changes, we develop a particular typology of co-operation in public policy-making by management, labour and the state. The empirical analysis of 15 member states show a light trend towards convergence, leading to a moderate social partnership model of involving private interests in the making of social policy. Most importantly, this trend is driven by the forced adjustment of the most extreme model of corporatism in the typology (social partner autonomy). While soft incentives were taken up occasionally, hard incentives, which were based on the binding force of EU (case) law, had the most far-reaching effects. This has led to the somewhat paradoxical situation whereby, despite significant progress of EU level social partnership in the field, EU social policy not only promoted the involvement of both sides of industry in domestic policy-making, but also contributed to a weakening of (a certain type of) national corporatism. 1

4 Manuscript Falkner/Treib/Hartlapp/Leiber Chapter 12: Beyond Policy Change If you are interested in receiving draft chapters for feedback, please contact Related articles on specific sub-topics can be found on our project homepage: 2

5 Gerda Falkner, Oliver Treib, Miriam Hartlapp and Simone Leiber (2005): Complying with Europe? The Impact of EU Minimum Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (forthcoming) Table of Contents (updated 15 June 2004) Preface Introduction: Flexible EU Governance in Domestic Practice EU Social Policy: A Successful Combination of Community and Autonomy, or Potentially Dangerous Voluntarism? The Essential Research Questions The Field of Empirical Research Chapter Outline Theorising the Domestic Impact of EU Law: The State of the Art and Beyond Conceptualising Compliance and Non-compliance Earlier Research on Implementation: Our Starting Point Implementation and Europeanisation Studies and the Role of Misfit Compliance and Enforcement Public-private Interaction and Europeanisation Guiding Hypotheses: A Pluri-theoretical Approach What Does a Directive Mean for a Member State? Operationalising Misfit and Costs The Difficult Issues of National Application and Enforcement EU Social Policy over Time: The Role of Directives Competences and Decision Modes The Use of Social Competences Over Time A Rise in Non-binding Acts? Conclusions on the Development of EU Social Policy The Employment Contract Information Directive: A Small but Useful Social Complement to the Internal Market Aim and Content of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Rather Small but Affecting All i

6 4.4 Implementation in the Member States Particularly Interesting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects The Pregnant Workers Directive: European Social Policy between Protection and Employability Aim and Contents of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Improving Health and Safety Protection and Removing General Employment Prohibitions Implementation in the Member States Particularly Interesting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects The Working Time Directive: European Standards Taken Hostage by Domestic Politics Aim and Contents of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Considerable Legal and Procedural Innovations with Varying Practical Significance Implementation in the Member States ParticularlyIinteresting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects The Young Workers Directive: A Safety Net with Holes Aim and Contents of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Modest Reforms for a Small Group of Workers Implementation in the Member States Particularly Interesting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects ii

7 8 The Parental Leave Directive: Compulsory Policy Innovation and Voluntary Over-Implementation Aim and Contents of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Policy Innovation for Some, Qualitative Improvements for Many Implementation in the Member States Particularly Interesting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects The Part-time Work Directive: A Facilitator of National Reforms Aim and Contents of the Directive The European-level Negotiation Process Misfit in the Member States: Legal Innovation for Many, Modest Practical Relevance for All Implementation in the Member States Particularly Interesting Cases Timeliness and Correctness of Transposition National Problems with Application and Enforcement General Assessment of the Directive s Effects Voluntary Reforms Triggered by the Directives Soft-Law Elements in the Directives: Valuable or in Vain? The Individual Directives: Any Follow-up to Soft Law? Employment Contract Information: Lack of Soft Law Pregnant Workers: No Soft-law Effect Working Time: Two Recommendations without Much Effect Young Workers: Soft Law Implemented as Soft Law Parental Leave: Soft Law with Effect in a Majority of Member States I Part-time Work: Soft Law with Effect in a Majority of Member States II Patterns Across Countries and Directives Recommending that Soft Law Be Complied with Over-implementation of Compulsory Minimum Standards The Individual Directives Compared Employment Contract Information: One Significant and Four Minor Cases Pregnant Workers: One Significant and Three Minor Cases Working Time: No Significant, but Four Minor Cases Young Workers: Two Major and Three Minor Instances iii

8 Parental Leave: Three Significant and Four Minor Cases Part-time Work: Two Major, No Minor Instances Patterns Across Countries and Directives Minimalism Revisited Exemptions: Used or Disregarded? Upholding Higher National Standards in the Field of EU Recommendations Lowering Prior Standards Conclusions: Less Minimalism than Expected The EU Commission and (Non-)Compliance in the Member States State of the Art Supranational Enforcement Competences Fit between Transposition Performance and the Commission s Enforcement Policy Effect of Infringement Procedures on the Implementation Process Beyond Policy Change: Convergence of National Public Private Relations? Operationalising Europeanisation Effects on National Public Private Relations Effects of EU Social Policy on National Public Private Relations The Upstream Phase: Social Partner Involvement and the National Preparation of EU Decision-making The Downstream Phase: Social Partner Involvement and the Transposition of EU Directives The Most Visible Cases: Changing Modes of Public Private Interaction Europeanisation Effects below the Level of Category Shifts Conclusions: Moderate Convergence of National Social Partnership Implementation across Countries and Directives Costs and Overall Misfit in Comparative Perspective Timing and Correctness of Transposition Correctness of Transposition Who is Misbehaving? The Importance of Monitoring and Enforcement Why Do Member States Fail to Comply? Testing the Hypotheses Suggested in the Literature Implementation Problems as a Result of Opposition through the Backdoor? iv

9 14.2 Domestic Agency Loss and Unintended Consequences as a Cause for Transposition Difficulties? Facilitating Smooth Adaptation through Effective and Widespread Consultation in the Upstream Phase? Improving Compliance by Writing Clearer Directives? The Failure of the Misfit Hypothesis Qualitative Mismatches as a Partial Explanation for Implementation Problems Planting New Trees Versus Rearranging Old Forests The Failure of the Veto Player Argument The Limited Explanatory Power of Effective Administrative Coordination and Efficient Regulatory Procedures The Irrelevance of Administrative Watchdog Mechanisms The Partial Significance of Insufficient Administrative Resources The Impact of Social Partner Involvement Ideology Versus Misfit: Parties (Sometimes) Do Matter Too Domestic Issue Linkage as an Obstructing and Facilitating Factor Making Sense of Compliance Patterns: A Typology Three Worlds of Compliance : Typical Modes of Reacting to Adaptation Requirements Fifteen Countries in our Three Worlds of Compliance The World of Law Observance The World of Domestic Politics The World of Neglect Outlook Conclusions: Myth and Reality of Social Europe Beyond the State of the Art An Approximation of the Living and Working Conditions? How Voluntarist is EU Social Policy? Voluntarist Elements in our Directives The Patchwork Character of EU Social Policy How to Improve EU Social Policy? Some Recommendations Improving the Quality of Legal Texts Increasing Visibility, Awareness and Enforcement Efforts Avoiding Misfit in the Politics or Polity Dimension? Excluding Member States that Already Essentially Comply? Less Detailed Framework Directives? Can Non-binding Rules Suffice? Overall Effort Should Be Worthwhile v

10 16.5 Outlook References vi