The European Union is a regulatory state. Through the adoption of common European legislation, it seeks to enable the member states to reach policy goals that they cannot reach on their own, such as market integration and environmental protection. In order to reach these outcomes, the EU is highly dependent on the capacities and expertise of the member states, which generally bear the responsibility for implementation. The member states, or rather the legislative, administrative and judicial actors within them, are to comply with EU law. This means that they must transpose, operationalize, apply and enforce EU legislation on their territory. In doing so, they use their national political, administrative and legal institutions, resources and instruments.

At the same time, compliance with and implementation of EU law does not materialize automatically. The process of policy delivery is characterized by manifold hurdles and gaps, as it is contingent on resources, administrative capacities and political priorities of the member states. As noted by the European Commission and academic observers, policy implementation and enforcement are weak links in the process of European integration, which ultimately threaten problem-solving.

In this course, students develop an in-depth understanding of the EU’s system of EU policy delivery. Students learn to describe, understand and assesses its design, functioning and effectiveness. In doing so, they make use of theoretical insights into compliance and implementation, derived from the fields of International Relations and Public Administration. In assessing the system’s functioning, students utilize and critically engage with key normative principles. In studying EU policy delivery, they focus on both the institutions and behaviour of domestic governmental actors- primarily parliaments, governments, regulatory agencies and subnational authorities. Finally, they identify and assess the working of key EU instruments for improving EU policy delivery, such as the infringement procedure, European Administrative Networks and decentralized enforcement.