Varieties of Europeanisation and the National Regulatory State

Abstract

The notions of ‘regulatory state’ and ‘Europeanisation’ have become increasingly current in recent years. This article analyses the extent to which the national regulatory state has been Europeanised, focusing in particular on network industry regulation in four European Union (EU) member states, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Sweden. It does so in three steps. First, four dimensions of Europeanisation are discussed, pointing to: different institutional constellations in which Europeanisation takes place, different Europeanisation ‘triggers’; institutional consequences of Europeanisation at the national level; and, finally, different dynamics of Europeanisation. Second, the article surveys regulatory reform in four EU member states, suggesting that national diversity remains prominent, whether in terms of organising network regulation, processes of reform or the utilisation of particular regulatory instruments to enhance transparency. Finally, the article considers the impact of the four dimensions of Europeanisation on the national regulatory state in network regulation. It suggests that, far from transforming national regulation, Europeanisation is associated with many different phenomena, allowing for continued national diversity and adding to existing policy cleavages.