Commission entrepreneurship and EU employment policy – The fate of a former darling. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mailand, Mikkel
• Is Part Of: European journal of industrial relations. Volume 27:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 249
• Page End: 267
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Europe 2020 -- European Commission -- European Employment Strategy -- European semester -- policy entrepreneurship -- social Europe; Industrial relations -- Europe -- Periodicals; 331.094105
• DOI: 10.1177/0959680120963531
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6801

Abstract

An ongoing disagreement between researchers of EU decision-making processes is about who primarily drives the development – the Commission or the member states. The present article addresses this issue within the context of EU employment policy, a cornerstone in Social Europe. Research has often pointed to a gradually weakening and subordination of these policies to economic policies. However, recent in-depth studies have found a progressive 'socialization' taking place in the European Semester. In this article, it is argued that Commission entrepreneurship has been relatively successful and that the Commission stands out as the most important actor in a partial comeback of EU employment policy, which has taken place since the 2010s.