Europeanization of Policy

Europeanization most often refers to domestic adaptation to regional integration. It can also denote the diffusion of European values and forms of governance to other parts of the world. In a third meaning, the concept may refer to the emergence of common political standards and patterns throughout Europe. Studies on Europeanization focus on different aspects of the political system: values, institutions, policies, policy styles, and policy procedures. There is no consensus among scholars as to what, more specifically, Europeanization is and where it takes place. This entry focuses on two different ways of defining Europeanization as adaptation to regional integration, because these are the most frequently used definitions. One popular definition is that Europeanization is the impact of the European Union (EU) on domestic policy, polity, and politics. This implies that Europeanization is something that happens within EU member states and others, and Europeanization is thus seen as an outcome of European integration. Another definition derives Europeanization from the interaction between European and domestic policy processes. In this view, Europeanization is seen as a process embedded in the evolution of European integration. These two different ways of defining Europeanization are accompanied by different sets of analytical concepts and generate different research questions.

Europeanization is not a theory of its own, but the increasing number of studies of Europeanization since the end of the 1990s signals a growing interest in the theoretical aspects of the integration process. Even though the intellectual development of this concept has not been particularly tidy, it shows a shift in focus by students interested in theories of European integration from the development of laws, regulations, and institutions on the EU level to changes at domestic levels. In this way, the concept has been used not solely for studies of EU member states but also for states that are not EU members (both future members and other states).