Level of Europeanization and Policy Outcomes

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is a decision-making, polycentric political community, with double-layer boundaries and constitutionally and procedurally plural decisions. Likewise, it may be assumed that the existence and the peculiar functioning of European-level policy-making governance, the increase in number of its structures, and its multilevel character may result in a new policy regime. The institutionalization-Europeanization level of the organizational field may become indispensable in determining which type of policy network and what styles of policy are established, or in influencing the degree of responsiveness and accountability, quality and intensity of interaction between the actors involved, the degree of territorial and functional consistency established in the Member States, and the decision-making skills of the EU itself. The aim of this work is to develop and evaluate basic assumptions, by means of an exploratory survey, focusing on the policy outcomes (as dependent variable) of the institutionalization-Europeanization of the common security policy (as independent variable).