Rules or Values? Production of Knowledge and the Question of Institutionalization in European Drug Cooperation

Abstract

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has a significant role in the creation of a European knowledge base in the drugs field. This article analyzes the regulative, cognitive and normative mechanisms by which this network functions, and discusses in what sense these mechanisms contribute to an institutionalization process in the network. A study among civil servants and experts with EMCDDA experience from Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands shows that action within the network is based on rules and routines. The national administrative surroundings are still the primary source of identification and constitute the main institutional basis for compliance. In this sense the national level supplies EMCDDA with institutional resources whereby the network functions. A common knowledge-base is an important part of integration in the EU, but in this instance the institutionalization process is in an early stage.