Debating European Union governance in times of crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current article problematises European Union governance arrangements in times of crisis. The debate is built by arguing for a conceptual link between policy learning and indirect governance in the EU. These two frameworks are seen as fundamental theoretical pieces for understanding the EU’s learning journey and the resulting governance mechanisms during and after these major events. Yet, the article shows that none of these two approaches can explain on its own how EU governance evolves because of crises. It is rather by looking at the intersection between indirect governance and policy learning that we get a more complete picture of the EU governance landscape in times of crisis. This theoretical debate builds on recent EU crises and scrutinises the policy-politics link by concluding on the preferred forms of EU indirect governance in times of crisis, while adding insights from the literature on policy learning and entrepreneurship.