Differential Europe within a nation: Europeanization of regulation across policy areas

Abstract

This study examines varying levels of Europeanization of regulation across policy areas in the same national setting, drawing on the case of Turkey. It analyses institutional adaptation at both de jure and de facto levels regarding regulatory institutions and practices, focusing on two distinct policy areas: competition and telecommunications in Turkey. Suggesting that the interactions between the forms of conditionality at the EU level and the institutional capacity at the agency level will shape outcomes, it argues that higher levels of Europeanization will be achieved when firm conditionality meets with strong institutional capacity. It puts forward that Europeanization is less likely in policy areas where conditionality is not firm and where coalitions between the losers of reform and strong institutional veto players undermine institutional capacity building. The study, then, explores both the process of Europeanization beyond Europe and its limits when it is obstructed by domestic politics, interests and institutions.