Work Programme Research Group 6

CONNEX Work Programme 2 (Months 19-36, Jan 2006-Jun 2007) RG 6:

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CONNEX Work Programme (Months 1-18, Jul 2004-Dec 2005) RG 6:

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Project Team 1: Interactive methodology for analysing Democratic Network Governance WP1: work package description Responsible: Peter Bogason This work package is designed to develop interactive research methods, and to apply them to the analysis of democratic network governance. It should be understood as a possibility to broaden the methodological repertoire as the various other projects of CONNEX unfold. To use interactive research means that the research object becomes an active part of the research process in a reflexive role instead of just being examined as a passive partner: the practitioners are involved as “equal partners” in the sense that they - if asked - can act just as reflexive as scientists, and they can help them avoid pitfalls due to the relative ignorance of the researcher. Thus, this WP will take stock of the principles of interactive research (Cf. “Mode 2”) and will try to identify a number of democratic network governance stakeholders in order to examine the possibilities of doing interactive research with them. The final goal of this WP is to try to apply the principles of Mode 2 research to a EU policy from the local level to Brussels, and to carry out interactive research in a number of member countries.

Project Team 2: Soft Modes of Governance and the Private Sector WP2: work package description Responsible: Klaus Dieter Wolf, Thomas Conzelmann This work package will deal with the EU increasing use of “new” modes of governance, defined by a high degree of public-private interaction and a low degree of “hard” obligation of policy rules – up to the point where public regulation exists merely as a potential avenue overshadowing exercises in private self-regulation. More precisely, two questions will be asked concerning such governance arrangements, namely:  What are the conditions (incl. motives) for forming and entering into such arrangements, both on the side of the European Union and on the side of private actors? How can stability of such arrangements and an acceptable degree of compliance be secured? A further research interest (that will not, however, be tackled during the first project phase) includes a further systematic analysis of the importance of the institutional background conditions that exist within the European Union.

Project Team 3: The open method of coordination (OMC) in the enlarged EU: dilutor of integration or guarant of subsidiarity? WP3: work package description Responsible: Jörg Monar, Jim Rollo This work package will examine the open method of coordination (OMC), developed as a “soft” method of integration operating through general political guidelines, policy benchmarking and peer group review, in the context of enlargement. Among the key questions which will be addressed are: is the Lisbon process going to be fully vindicated in the light of post-enlargement diversity in the economic policy domain? Will migration from central and eastern Europe increase or decrease the case for using the OMC in the social policy domain? Is the OMC a viable method also for the domain of justice and home affairs where post-enlargement diversity and the resilience of national legal systems and approaches to law and order provide powerful obstacles to „hard“ integration?

Project Team 4: Evolution of a polycentric administrative space WP4: work package description Responsible: Sabino Cassese This work package will focus on the position of the State in the new European administrative order. To this end it will study European public administration, with regard to the new organization models and instruments of cooperation, and examine closely the relation between European administrative law and national administrative systems. The current meaning of sovereignty and the new role of public institutions in a globalising world will form the broader context in which these elements will be analysed. The various techniques used to structure the European administrative space (comitology, European administrative networks, European agencies, role of soft law) will be analysed and a comparative analysis, leading to a critical assessment, offered. The purpose of this WP is to provide a detailed analysis of the administrative bodies of the EU: the powers they have, their organisation and functioning and their contribution to the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European governance.

Project Team 5: Accountability and credibility WP5: Rules and delegation in Europe / work package description  Responsible: Jacques Le Cacheux The aim of this work package is a state of the art reflection on the reasons, be they  economic, political or strategic, which have led to the overwhelming influence of two related concepts, now instrumental in the emergence of an efficient and democratic Europe: accountability and credibility. Two directions will be investigated: first, the rules vs. discretion debate, with a special focus on the credibility of the European framework for economic and monetary governance and, second, questions related to the compatibility of the institutional process with credible commitments, with a special focus on the understanding of the relationship between the institutional capacity of each member state to influence the course of European integration and its ability to “opt out” of that process, whether partially or absolutely. Interactions with members of Research Group 2, devoted to “Democratic governance and multilevel accountability”, will be encouraged and will aim at enhancing policy relevance of research and improving the dissemination of research results.