The coordination of the European Union: exploring the capacities of networked governance

This work is an assessment of the coordinating potential of 'new' modes of governance in the EU. It attempts to develop policy coordination as new focus within EU scholarship and to invigorate and substantially re-orientate the theoretical debate about policy networks in the EU

This work is an assessment of the coordinating potential of 'new' modes of governance in the EU. It attempts to develop policy coordination as new focus within EU scholarship and to invigorate and substantially re-orientate the theoretical debate about policy networks in the EU.

All policy systems are struggling to respond to wicked policy problems like international terrorism, drug crime and unsustainable development, none more so than the European Union (EU) which is renowned for its fluidity, deeply sectorized structures and weak political leadership. As the traditional mode of coordinating - essentially issuing regulation - no longer commands sufficient political support, the EU has turned to what are increasingly termed soft or 'new' modes ofgovernance, which rely upon different actors working together in relatively non-hierarchical networks. New modes of governa