Speak softly and carry a big stick: Hardening soft governance in EU energy and health policies

Bocquillon, Pierre ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7384-4384, Brooks, Eleanor and Maltby, Tomas (2020) Speak softly and carry a big stick: Hardening soft governance in EU energy and health policies. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22 (6). pp. 843-856. ISSN 1523-908X

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Abstract

EU governance is experiencing a shift towards soft governance frameworks that incorporate ‘harder’ elements. Using a qualitative case study approach and an original set of elite interviews, we examine two policy areas – health and energy – where similar such architectures – the European Semester and the Energy Union Governance Regulation – are now core governance tools. Three research questions are addressed: (1) What mechanisms are employed to harden these governance frameworks? (2) What is driving this shift? And, drawing on the more extensive experience of the Semester, (3) What lessons can be drawn for energy policy? We establish the experimentalist nature of these two governance architectures and identify a mix of ‘harder soft governance’ (HSG) mechanisms used in both cases. We show that, although similar in structure, the shift towards HSG frameworks is driven by different factors in each case. The more extensive experience of the Semester in health points to the importance of concrete implementation practices; the power of specificity to strengthen soft commitments; the role of policy coupling as a lever for implementation; the potential influence of strategic entrepreneurs; the role of politicisation in pressuring change; and the significance of periodic revision as windows of opportunity for incremental change.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: energy policy; european union; experimentalist governance; harder soft governance; health policy; european semester,experimentalist governance,health policy,european semester,european union,harder soft governance,energy policy,management, monitoring, policy and law,sdg 3 - good health and well-being,sdg 7 - affordable and clean energy ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2308
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024)
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy
Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics
University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 30 Jun 2020 00:20
Last Modified: 25 Sep 2024 14:47
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/75824
DOI: 10.1080/1523908X.2020.1792860

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