Rethinking the Open Method of Coordination: Mutual Learning Initiatives Shaping the European Research Enterprise

Abstract

Since 2000, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) has become a policy approach increasingly used in the European policy making process. By focusing on research policy, this study examines the ways in which the OMC and the mutual learning initiatives have influenced the wider policy discourse in the European Union. The paper argues that it is important to think about the contributions of the OMC in research policy in more broad and fundamental ways. This theory-guided study takes an empirical approach to the OMC, providing significant evidence on mutual learning effects analyzed in terms of developing an authentic dialogue, shaping policy discourse, shaping policy networks and facilitating collaborative learning. The analysis reveals that the OMC changes the ways in which the representatives from the Member States and the European Commission contribute to research policy, leading to a promising foundation for further policy enhancement.