"Regional policy and the European Commission: policy entrepreneur or Brussels bureaucracy?"

Deeken, John. (1993) "Regional policy and the European Commission: policy entrepreneur or Brussels bureaucracy?". In: UNSPECIFIED, Washington, DC. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

[From the Introduction]. I argue that the development of regional policy within the EC, especially after 1975, confirms the Sandholtz/Zysman thesis, including the central role of the Commission. Changes in the policy environment provided the Commission a base with which to pursue an entrepreneurial strategy of garnering broad consensus on regional policy from member states, and then restructuring the policy to enhance the prospects for economic union-- the ultimate policy goal of the Commission. To draw out this argument, I will first describe the broad mission of regional policy within the EC, which the Commission utilized in its entrepreneurial role. Second, I will present the changes in the policy context that enabled the Commission to advance its strategy. Third, I will sketch a brief policy history of EC regional aid, focusing on changes in 1979, 1984, and 1988 to highlight the Commission's role, tactics, and ultimate success. I conclude with some observations about how this entrepreneurial thesis may fit in the larger context of integration theory.

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