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In spite of an approval of the financial perspectives 2007-2013 and the economic boom of the euro zone, "crisis" has not left the EU. It is installed in the institutions, but also and especially it has infected the spirits of European citizens. An article that treats the pros, cons and influences of the EU enlargement from 15 to 25 states, discussing the attitudes of single member states regarding for example immigration, the treatment of files and common questions, pluralistic votes that render difficult processes now that the Rhine-model (a BENELUX and Franco-German alliance) no longer has the upper hand. Furthermore is discussed European Parliament and Justice Court, both influenced in their functioning by the enlargement of the EU. Belgium's future role lies in seeking alliances with same-spirited member states, and to fill in the EU's delivery-gap regarding citizen demands for more justice, freedom and security, and a more uniform Europe as regards energy and foreign policy. References. O. van Zijl

Dutch socioeconomic concertation has experienced some transformative changes in its modus operandi in recent years, which has given the 'Polder Model' a new lease on life for the time being. Building on an older tradition of sharing political space with civil society organizations, the recent liberal-social democratic government coalition, with Mark Rutte at the helm (2012-2017), has been able to enact a surprisingly successful structural reform agenda in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Governing in times of significant economic, social and political uncertainty, it is no mean feat that the Rutte II administration – de facto a minority government – is the first Dutch coalition to complete its term since the administration under Wim Kok (1994-1998). After the foundational Social Accord (the so-called Mondriaan Akkoord) in April 2013, a series of reform agreements were reached in the policy areas of education, housing, healthcare, industrial and energy policy. For each of these more meso-level accords, a variety of civil society organizations participated that were beyond the traditional social partners of business and labor. Over time these seemingly ad hoc, open and non-hierarchical agreements materialized in a trajectory of cumulatively transformative policy change. The political tactic of the Rutte II government stands out in comparison with the halcyon Dutch miracle era of the Polder Model in the 1980s and 1990. We explain the new modes of Dutch socioeconomic policy concertation and its political tactic as a kind of rallying around existing institutional arrangements to bring the contested political and social center together behind a major adjustment strategy, including retrenchment, compensatory social meas­ures and investments, when reform output and outcomes are fundamentally uncertain. Whether the new Polder Model will prove robust remains an open question. Recently, new multiple party covenants were negotiated in the textile and banking industry. Meanwhile a number of issues concerning regional labor market regulation and work-life balance reconciliation have yet to be resolved.

The energy transition reflects fundamental changes in energy supply. During that transition, society also expects the high-quality nature of the energy supply to be maintained. The energy transition is therefore confusing and makes people have to deal with uncertainty. They not only experience changes in the energy supply, but also a change from a consumption paradigm (purchasing of energy) to an exploitation paradigm (self-generating and consumption of energy). The objective of the research is to gain insight into whether and how parties (public, private, citizens) are able to involve everyone in a community in the development of renewable energy production and consumption. The thesis' presents the 'analysis framework for steering on public value in sustainable development'. The framework shows what parties do to support the ambition of renewable energy for everyone. It is based, amongst others, on Elinor Ostrom's 'institutional analysis and development framework', on Mark Moore's work on public value, and on the collaborative governance philosophy, in particular Ansell & Gash's 'contingency model of collaborative governance'. The framework provides an instrument for recording and analyzing the input of diverse disciplines in public value creation and in this way combines policy development and system development. The ambition of 'renewable energy for everyone' implies that renewable energy is to be viewed as a 'common-pool resource', one type of goods according to Elinor Ostrom's typology of goods. It has two characteristics. One characteristic is that the use of a good by one is at the expense of the possibilities for the other to also use that good. The other characteristic is that excluding a party from a good is considered to be socially undesirable or unacceptable, and may therefore incur social costs. The analysis framework illustrates that public administrators are committed to ensure access to and developers are committed to unlock renewable energy. For evaluation purposes a 'two-dimensional public ...