Should practices of non-governmental actors in climate policy be adopted across the board in EU policies?

Abstract

The ‘Europe 2020’ strategy – the document representing the supranational European development policy agenda – introduced two main innovations for the coordination of climate change issues within the EU: quantified target setting and a new governance framework – the “European Semester.” To design and assess the effectiveness of the new approach as regards EU climate change policy, multilevel, multi‐stakeholder and integrated (across policy sectors) coordination mechanisms have been elaborated. In this new “hybrid governance” model, there is communication between the formal (e.g., laws, authorities, official rules, official standards) and the informal institutions (e.g., codes of conduct, shared values, behavioral norms, belief systems) as partners to achieve common goals. Hybrid governance represents evolution in other policy areas as well. The article presents the evolution of “hybrid governance” in the human resource development policy of the EU, based on the history of the European Social Fund’s (ESF) management. The analytical focus is on the processes strengthening partnership – rather than on outcomes – in order to capture the similarities and differences in ESF and climate change policy-making. The article argues that the first period of the ESF management served as a good methodological example for climate change management design. While in the first decade of the new millennium similar approaches in consultation and involvement were introduced in both policy areas, in the recent years there have been differences in the implementation of these approaches. The conclusion of the article argues that the two policy areas should cooperate closely together in the further elaboration of partnership management solutions in order to increase the efficacy of consultations. The mutual learning between them can be useful in other policy areas as well. In the framework of European citizens' initiative (Initiative) Internet-based solutions have made it possible for EU citizens to be directly associated with the EU administration. Based on the experience of the first years of the Initiative, social and climate policy issues are the main concerns of EU citizens. As a consequence of the Initiative, further development is expected in the hybrid governance of the two examined areas.