Public Policy Making in the European Union

Ever since the so-called “governance turn” in EU studies, the EU is being treated as a polity in its own right that, despite its non-state nature, produces relevant public policies with considerable impact on peoples’ lives in and beyond the EU. The debate over the past decades has focused strongly on the matter of policy performance (compliance with EU law), policy change in the participating states (Europeanisation), policy formulation on the EU-level (democratic governance), as well as a great number of policy-focussed studies (a front-runner being the intense research on EU environmental policy). Against this background, the panel invites recent research on: the EU as policymaker and the EU’s policymaking practices, the wider impacts of EU policymaking, and specific policy-case studies. Papers should speak to each other by applying standard public policy heuristics and theories to further explore the specific mode of public policy making in and by the EU.