1. Understanding EU policies
Slides to support Chapter 16 of The Government and Politics of the European Union, 7th ed., by Neill Nugent

2. The origins of EU policies
• Treaties are often seen as key determinants of EU policy, but we should not exaggerate this:
provision for a Common Transport Policy was in the EEC Treaty, but there has been little progress towards one
environmental policy was not given treaty status until the SEA, but from the early 1970s environmental policies were formulated and legislation approved
• Commission leadership is important.
• Member states have to perceive the benefits as outweighing the costs.

3. The varying extent of EU involvement
Extensive: trade, agriculture, fishing, monetary (for eurozone members)
Considerable: market regulation
Shared: regional, competition, industrial, foreign, environmental, equal opportunities, working conditions, consumer protection, movement across external borders, macroeconomic (esp. for euro members), energy, transport, cross border crime
Limited: health, education, defence, social welfare
Virtually none: housing, civil liberties, domestic crime

4. The varying nature of EU involvement
Heavy reliance on legal regulation: trade, agriculture, fishing
Considerable reliance on legal regulation: regional, competition, consumer protection, working conditions, equal opportunities, market regulation
Mixture of regulation and cooperation: industrial, environmental, transport, macroeconomic, energy
Some regulation, more reliance on cooperation: social welfare, energy, law and order
Mostly inter-state cooperation: health, education, foreign, defence

5. EU’s policy portfolio: Key features
1. Just about every area of public policy is covered to at least some degree.
2. Most policy responsibilities are shared with the member states.
3. There are only limited responsibilities in most areas of significant public expenditure.
4. It is constantly expanding.
5. It increasingly embraces differentiated integration: multi-speed and ‘a la carte’.
6. There is a strong emphasis on regulatory policies.

6. Why do regulatory policies predominate?
There is strong demand for regulatory policies, especially in the internal market context.
There is a ready supply of such policies because:
of their ‘technical’ nature;
the EU does not have to bear the implementation costs
institutional opportunism by the Commission.
See the writings of G. Majone on this.

7. Differing regulatory regimes
Regulation was for a long time a ‘top-down’ process.
However, it became rather less so from the early 1980s with the ‘new approach’ emphasis.
In recent years, regulatory activity in the EU has come to take on even less hierarchical and looser forms. Witness:
the new EU-level regulatory agencies
new collaborative arrangements between the Commission and national bodies
the development of self-regulation in some sectoral areas

8. Reasons for the increasing variations in, and loosening of, EU regulatory modes
Policy ‘failures’
Wishes to regulate policy activities in areas where traditional regulatory instruments are not seen to be appropriate
The attempted movement into policy areas that touch directly and openly on national policy preferences and traditions
Enlargement
Commission ‘overload’

9. Difficulties in developing spending policies
Spending policies are mostly seen as being ‘naturally’ national policies e.g. health, education, welfare.
The importance of ‘subsidiarity’ since the early 1990s.
Governments are generally reluctant to lose control of public income and expenditure.
‘Winners’ and ‘losers’ are more obvious than with regulatory policies.
Restraints imposed by EMU.
Germany has become less willing to be the ‘paymaster’.

10. The policy portfolio: Future prospects
• There is no shortage of areas where further policy development is needed and is possible:
The internal market
CFSP/ESDP
AFSJ
• There is little appetite for significantly expanding ‘spending’ policies.
• Increased differentiation seems likely.