MARC SCHATTENMANN
OPEN METHOD OF COORDINATION (2006 APSA)
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exclusive. In the case of direct taxation, the OMC is part of a policy package containing two direc-
tives (Radaelli 2003: 22)
Still, for most cases, the community method (CM), the open method of coordination (OMC),
and intergovernmental cooperation (INTGOV) are alternative modes of governance, i.e. politicians face
a choice
over the instruments they want to use. Clearly, the OMC occupies an “intermediate place
between intergovernmental cooperation and the adoption of common rules” (Working Group 2001:
5; cf. Council of the European Union 2000: 6). In terms of its integrative nature and binding force,
one can situate the various versions of the OMC on a continuum that runs from the EU regulation
as the strongest form of integration to its weakest form, intergovernmental cooperation outside the
EU structures.
Figure 1. Situating the OMC in the context of European policy-making procedures
2.3.2.
The policy-maker’s choice
If the open method indeed presents an alternative to the community method on the one side and
intergovernmental cooperation on the other, a number of interesting questions ensue.
First among these is the question: Why did states opt for the OMC in the past? As Dermot
Hodson has noted, “in the burgeoning literature on the open method, opinions are divided over
policy-makers’ true motivations for this particular mode of governance at this particular time” (Hod-
son 2004: 235). Some answers focus on the positive aspects of the OMC and provide a functionalist
explanation: here, the OMC is seen as particularly well suited to advancing common interests while
respecting autonomy and diversity of member states (De Búrca and Zeitlin 2003: 3 f.). Others are
more critical and suspect that one particular economic policy coalition required a ‘modern’ sounding
set of instruments to overcome hostility to a US-type reform agenda or wanted to displace the
Commission as the central standard-setting organization (Chalmers and Lodge 2003: 17). Whatever
Open Method of Coordination
EMU
employment research
pensions
Community Method
Regulation Directive
Intergovmtl. Cooperation
outside EU
inside EU
e.g. CFSP
e.g. Bologna
Process
WEAK
STRONG: integrative force, binding character
Convention