Europeanization and Multilevel Governance – Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain – By I. Bache

Abstract

Europeanization and Multilevel Governance – Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain , by I. Bache ( Lanham/New York : Rowman & Littlefield , 2008 , ISBN 9780742541337 ); xii + 193pp. , £21.99 pb . For long simply a ‘simple polity’, Britain has recently undergone profound changes in governance. This book investigates the extent to which EU cohesion policy has promoted multi-level governance (MLG) and assesses which seemingly associated changes can be attributed to Europeanization. It considers how formal, high-profile developments such as devolution, and informal or lower-profile phenomena, such as the proliferation of agencies and quangos, can really be explained by EU integration – perhaps to dispel the easy, false assumption that all attributes of MLG are the result of Europeanizing forces. First the building blocks: after applying Schmidt's (2006) refinements to Lijphart's twofold democracy model – they allow for varying degrees of regionalization, representation and statism – Bache provides his own ‘substantial revision’ of Risse, Cowles and Caporaso's (2001) three-step approach to Europeanization, thereby offering a more nuanced categorization of the extent and depth of potential domestic change. Recognizing weaknesses in the distinction between type I features (regional powers extended through devolution) and type II features (sideways movement of power to non-state actors) of MLG, he proposes policy networks as a conceptual complement to provide a bridge to Europeanization. Such refined theoretical grounding over five chapters provides solid foundations for the examination of cohesion policy in Britain in chapter 7 (1989–97) and chapter 8 (1997–2006). Highlighting how forces of change were present before EU cohesion policy, the book proceeds by examining the administrative impacts of policy principles such as ‘partnership’, ‘additionality’ and ‘programming’ in the early days of Structural Fund reform post-1988, while also making clear that these very notions were fed up from Member States. The evidence suggests that not all MLG has been due to the EU, whose impact, where identified, manifests itself via type II institutional architecture. The book delivers valuable, refined theoretical insight, applicable for policy analysis in other domains. The authoritative examination of key developments in policy, from the creation of the ERDF in 1975, through the Thatcher, Major and Blair administrations, deepens our understanding of the broader, ongoing process of British institutional reform. It is the culmination of 15 years of work on British politics and over 200 interviews with policy-makers. Further empirical chapters on the role of trade unions in partnerships for implementation, and operational programmes engaging regional networks, would have made welcome reading. As Bache asserts, the prerequisite for any attempt to grasp the prospects for MLG through Europeanization in Britain is a British understanding of ‘sovereignty’– itself no mean feat. After compound analysis, Britain may not be such a simple polity after all.