Sectoral Policy Networks in EU Politics

Abstract

The present book seeks to show how an approach based on the concept of the policy network can further enhance our understanding of EU politics.1 By placing the emphasis on interactions between a variety of policy actors, it argues, one can better capture the complexity of the EU polity, and the role of institutional change within. Laying the ground for the empirical investigation that follows, this chapter shows how the concept of the policy network may fit into accepted perspectives on regional integration. A general model is sketched and central issues are raised concerning the relationship between policy networks and international political integration. In a second section, approaches used to compare policy networks in the areas of comparative politics and political sociology are presented, and their respective merits assessed. An analytical grid is then designed in a third section to compare the sectoral networks under scrutiny, be they domestic or transnational in scope.