Article Gold Open Access 2023

Forming a supranational boundary-spanning policy regime–European intersectoral coordination in education and employment

Journal of Education and Work
Journal · Vol. 36 · Issue 7-8 · pp. 524-541
Abstract

While European governance of individual policy sectors has received considerable academic scrutiny, less attention has been paid to the development of intersectoral coordination. This paper charts the emergence of a supranational boundary-spanning policy regime (BSPR) in education and employment in Europe. By looking at issues, ideas, interests and institutions, we gain a deeper understanding of the conditions for the emergence and further institutionalisation of European intersectoral coordination in education and employment from the 1990s onwards. The study relies on semi-structured interviews with European policy-makers in education and employment and EU policy documents. We analyse how endogenous and exogenous factors frame (policy) issues that contribute to the emergence and further strengthening of intersectoral coordination, the extent to which ideas for European education and employment stress intersectoral policy designs, how interests support or hinder intersectoral work, and which institutions are developed with an intersectoral reasoning. We find that endogenous forces (rather than exogenous ones) played a significant role in the emergence of a European BSPR in education and employment. Structural aspects and policy instruments (institutions), alongside ideas and interests, then contribute to the institutionalisation of the European BSPR in education and employment. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Training employment education Labour market European Commission Boundary-spanning policy regime Europeanisation intersectoral coordination

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Zollikofen, Switzerland
Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Hertie School, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
1 Abbott, Kenneth W., Two Logics of Indirect Governance: Delegation and Orchestration, British Journal of Political Science, 46, 4, pp. 719-729, (2016)
2 How to Strengthen the European Semester, (2017)
3 Social Policy in the European Union, (2015)
4 Antunes, Fátima, Economising education: From the silent revolution to rethinking education. A new moment of Europeanisation of education?, European Educational Research Journal, 15, 4, pp. 410-427, (2016)
5 Armingeon, Klaus, Active labour market policy, international organizations and domestic politics, Journal of European Public Policy, 14, 6, pp. 905-932, (2007)
6 Bauer, Michael W., The quiet transformation of the EU Commission cabinet system, Journal of European Public Policy, 30, 2, pp. 354-374, (2023)
7 Beerkens, Eric, The emergence and institutionalisation of the European higher education and research area, European Journal of Education, 43, 4, pp. 407-425, (2008)
8 Béland, Daniel, Ideas, institutions, and policy change, Journal of European Public Policy, 16, 5, pp. 701-718, (2009)
9 Béland, Daniel, Ideas as coalition magnets: coalition building, policy entrepreneurs, and power relations, Journal of European Public Policy, 23, 3, pp. 428-445, (2016)
10 Bohlinger, Sandra, Ten years after: the ‘success story’ of the European qualifications framework, Journal of Education and Work, 32, 4, pp. 393-406, (2019)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
3
Times Cited (Scopus)

References 10
Document Identifiers