The Introduction of the Open Method of Coordination in the European Enlargement Policy: Analysing the Impact of the New PHARE/Twinning Instrument

Tulmets, Elsa. (2005) The Introduction of the Open Method of Coordination in the European Enlargement Policy: Analysing the Impact of the New PHARE/Twinning Instrument . European Politican Economy Review 3(1):pp. 54-90.

Abstract

The article develops the thesis that the EU Commission borrowed some features from the open method of coordination (OMC) in order to implement the 1997 reform of the fifth EU enlargement policy. Contrary to the thesis of enlargement conceived as a unilateral policy, I use tools of historical and sociological institutionalism to show the relative institutional impact of one of the main instruments of the 1998 pre-accession strategy – the PHARE institutional Twinnings – not only on candidate countries, but also on member states. As Twinnings might be regarded as a new instrument of external governance, their implementation also illustrate the limits of the use of the OMC in EU’s external relations. This article is divided into four parts: a first part presents the way the OMC was adapted to the EU enlargement and cooperation policy. A second part focuses on the impact of the launching of Twinning on two member states, Germany and France, which are the two main European donor countries to CEEC, and its limits in terms of consistency and coordination. A third part details the impact of Twinning on two candidate states during the 1997-2004 period, Estonia and Hungary, and the sometimes limited adaptation processes resulting from the use of the OMC in cooperation projects. Drawing on these conclusions, a fourth part explains how Twinning might be seen as an instrument of mutual socialisation between administrative elites of member and candidate states.