Fritz Sager, Eva Thomann, Christine Zollinger, Céline Mavrot
Confronting theories of European integration: A comparative congruence analysis of veterinary drugs regulations in five countries

Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 2014: 16, issue 5, pp. 457-474
ISSN: 1387-6988 (print); 1572-5448 (online)

This study moves beyond current perspectives of European Union implementation research to paint a comprehensive picture of the fine-tuning of domestic regulations beyond compliance. It compares the hitherto unexplored veterinary drug regulations of four member states, France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom, with those of the non-member Switzerland. It links causal mechanisms back to three differing theoretical assumptions about European integration. These theories are confronted using congruence analysis in a comparative case study design. Evidence is found for historical institutionalism and for the domestic politics hypothesis. The assumption of a neo-functionalist development of regulations is only weakly supported.