A significant amount of scholarly attention has focused on explaining variation in implementation of EU outputs. Most studies have concentrated either on the factors determining compliance with Directives or on the processes leading member states to applying soft law provisions (OMC mostly). Little attention has however been paid to the determinants of the implementation of soft law. Hence the focus of this paper: why do member states implement EU outputs if they have no legal obligation to do so? The present study delves into the implementation of a soft instrument, the European fund for the integration of foreigners, and explains member states’ response to it through a policy-specific mechanism. I show that when there is little possibility of oversight from above, government preferences are not constrained by Commission but by public opinion and organized civil society. Empirical evidence is drawn from the application of time-series-cross-section methods to an original dataset.

Why implement without a tangible threat? The effect of a soft instrument on national migrant integration policies / P.G. Van Wolleghem. - In: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES. - ISSN 0021-9886. - 55:5(2017), pp. 1127-1143. [10.1111/jcms.12553]

Why implement without a tangible threat? The effect of a soft instrument on national migrant integration policies

P.G. Van Wolleghem
2017

Abstract

A significant amount of scholarly attention has focused on explaining variation in implementation of EU outputs. Most studies have concentrated either on the factors determining compliance with Directives or on the processes leading member states to applying soft law provisions (OMC mostly). Little attention has however been paid to the determinants of the implementation of soft law. Hence the focus of this paper: why do member states implement EU outputs if they have no legal obligation to do so? The present study delves into the implementation of a soft instrument, the European fund for the integration of foreigners, and explains member states’ response to it through a policy-specific mechanism. I show that when there is little possibility of oversight from above, government preferences are not constrained by Commission but by public opinion and organized civil society. Empirical evidence is drawn from the application of time-series-cross-section methods to an original dataset.
implementation; immigration; integration; European Integration Fund
Settore SPS/04 - Scienza Politica
2017
2017
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/466521
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