Going Europe or Going Dutch?: How the Dutch Government Shapes European Union Policy (Clingendael Dissertations)

The European Union has a huge impact on the government and policies of its member states. It is thus surprising that the ways in which national governments attempt to shape EU policies is a topic seriously understudied. This book discusses relevant academic insights and presents a framework for analysing national interest representation. The empirical part discusses the EU policy of the Dutch government throughout the 1990s and presents a reconstuction of the negotiations on two internal market directives. It thereby offers both for academics and practitioners a clear oversight of the making of European poliices and the relevant moments and instruments for national interest representation. Table of Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Figures and tables......Page 10 1. Introduction......Page 12 2. Why study governments in the EU?......Page 13 3. About definitions and scope......Page 18 4. Organisation of the book......Page 25 1. A tale of two why-questions......Page 28 2. Neofunctionalism......Page 29 3. Intergovernmentalism......Page 36 4. Discussion......Page 41 2. Integration theory on the move from ‘why’ to ‘how’......Page 44 3. Multi-level governance: the messy state......Page 46 4. How Europe hits home: studies of Europeanisation......Page 50 5. A new ‘opportunity-structure’ for national governments......Page 57 6. Discussion......Page 69 1. Introduction......Page 72 2. Relevant variables: a literature review......Page 73 3. Fitting variables into a framework......Page 78 4. Discussion......Page 97 1. Introduction......Page 106 2. Stable core values in the Netherlands’ EU policy......Page 107 3. The growing doubts of a founding father......Page 111 4. The shaping potential of the Dutch government......Page 114 5. Relevant developments in the 1990s......Page 118 6. Discussion......Page 121 2. In search of a research method......Page 126 3. Intensive process tracing and analysis......Page 130 4. Sources and methods of data collection......Page 138 1. Introduction......Page 142 2. The decision context: backgrounds......Page 143 3. Identifying key actors......Page 145 4. A bird’s eye view on the decision-making process......Page 152 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues......Page 157 6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts......Page 164 7. Discussion......Page 170 1. Introduction......Page 176 2. The decision context: backgrounds......Page 177 3. Identifying key actors......Page 179 4. A bird’s eye view on the shaping process......Page 183 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues......Page 189 6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts......Page 194 7. Discussion......Page 200 2. Discussing the Dutch government’s shaping capacity......Page 206 3. Confronting results with theory......Page 215 4. Avenues for further research......Page 222 5. To conclude......Page 229 References......Page 232 Appendix: The EU Policy Process in Brussels and The Hague......Page 248 Nederlandse samenvatting......Page 256 About the author......Page 264 A discussion of relevant academic insights and a presentation of a framework for analysing national interest representation.