This article addresses two key questions about the convergence of education policies in the European Union (EU). How does the open method of coordination (OMC), a new governance instrument for the Europeanisation of education policies, change existing national education policy making and how can the OMC and national responses to it be researched? The authors argue that the OMC brings to national policy making a particular set of ideas about education, such as an emphasis on the contribution of education to building competitive economies and a new public management approach. The authors further suggest that the significance of such policy ideas in national education policy making can be best analysed through a combination of sociological institutionalism and discourse analysis. Hence, 'implementation' of EU education measures - which have been developed through policy learning - should be understood as a combination of a 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' policy-making process that links EU and national levels. Finally, the article suggests - on the basis of a preliminary exploration of the implementation of education OMC measures in the United Kingdom and Slovenia - that education OMC policy ideas resonate to varying degrees in 'old' and 'new' member states.
COBISS.SI-ID: 29621597
The open method of coordination (OMC) holds great potential to improve various (qualitative and quantitative) aspects of education policies in EU member states. Due to its soft/non-obligatory way of infl uencing policy, it is particularly interesting to investigate to what extent its potential is actually put to good use in member states and which factors determine whether member states actually achieve the Lisbon StrategyŽs goals. Bearing in mind the lack of empirical evidence for the OMCŽs infl uence on national education policies, and considering the theoretical assumptions of soft modes of governance, Europeanisation processes and policy learning, this article identifies the potential of the OMC, and analyses its (possible) impact on education policy in Slovenia. Here, the article limits itself to the lifelong learning policy and seeks to discover the extent to which the OMCŽs potential in this regard is taken advantage of in Slovenia. The article concludes that, although relatively good results are visible in National/EU Progress Reports, its full potential has not been exploited. The authors explain that good quantitative goals are achievable for member states even without respecting the qualitative goals related to good governance. In order to make use of all of the potential, more knowledge about the OMC in Slovenia would be required.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30584925
The book considers the findings of research carried out into the dynamics of political and paradigmatic changes in the development of Slovenia’s environmental policies under the influences of: a) a variety of political and paradigmatic impacts through intergovernmental cooperation (global, regional and European in the EU context); and b) the domestic relationships between governmental and nongovernmental public policy actors during Slovenia’s process of democratisation and European integration. Based on these research findings, the book critically reflects on the actual politicoparadigmatic and politicosystemic responses to the pressing challenges of the modern world.
COBISS.SI-ID: 259396608
The main aim of this book is to study the reception of the OMC in Slovenia. There are two ways that the reception of the OMC and the ability to exploit the various dimensions of its potential are important: firstly, in order to achieve the quantitative goals of the Lisbon Strategy; and secondly, the qualitative goals, for example including the greater convergence of different policy fields and a greater degree of democratic governance in the EU. The OMC’s potential in the area of employment and education policies reveals a considerable capacity for strengthening horizontal and hierarchical interactions and for achieving the future convergence of decisions and actions. In the book we apply theoretical arguments concerning the implementation of public policies, soft modes of governance, Europeanization processes and policy learning, as well as the opinions of those actors dealing with the OMC in employment and education at both the national and EU levels.
COBISS.SI-ID: 258975488
This article aims to identify the potential of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) to promote the participation of civil society in the policy-making process in the fields of employment and education in Slovenia. Our analysis reveals that both EU factors as well as national factors determine the role of the civil society in the OMC processes. At the EU level, neither of the two policy fields requires a (large-scale) harmonisation of national legislation with the European framework and they both place competence at the national level. Thus, national actors play the OMC game only "as much as it is required". This leads to a very weak political will for making (extensive) policy changes at the national level. In relation to domestic factors, the existing structure or policy style is only marginally relevant to the participation of the civil society in the OMC processes. It seems that the (in)capability of civil society is closely linked to the extent/ limits of their knowledge about the OMC's potential and opportunities. In the field of educational policy, the participation of civil society is further limited by lack of the financial resources.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31818845