The last years have seen a trend toward the institutionalization of cooperation (in an 'international regime') both internationally and in the European context. The EU itself can be seen as an aggregation of regional regimes that are embedded in a higher order (or competing) regime. Which consequences this institutional embedding has for the "institutional architecture of the EU" has rarely been the subject of scientific investigation. Questions about the institutional development of, as well as processes of institutional adaptation in or to, the EU in the context of globalization are the focus of this project. The theoretical framework is provided by the 'reflexive institutionalist' approach.
The project resulted in an successful proposal on "Governance in an Expanded Multi-Level System", carried out 2000-2004 at the MZES.
