Introduction

What role does collaborative governance play in transnational governance processes? With few exceptions (Bohman, 2005; Slaughter, 2002; de la Porte and Natali, 2009) the bulk of the collaborative governance literature focuses on local governance (Gray, 1989; Hirst, 1994; Fung and Wright, 2003; Ansell and Gash, 2008). However, an increasing amount of research on multi-level governance in the European Union (EU) suggests that collaborative governance takes place at all levels of governance in the EU as well as between the levels (Bache and Flinders, 2004; Benz and Papadopoulos, 2006). Despite some variation between policy areas, a wide range of public and private stakeholders interact in governance processes that lead to the formulation and implementation of EU policies both at the EU level and between the EU and the member states (Münch, 2010, 3).

The interactive character of the policy process is illustrated by the many policy arenas in which the EU Commission, other EU institutions, member state representatives and stakeholder organisations meet. A prominent example is the extensive web of policy committees and the procedures associated with the ‘Open Method of Coordination’ (OMC) (Ansell, 2000; Pollack, 2003; Esmark, 2011) that play a key role in EU employment policy as well as in other policy areas where the EU does not have authoritative powers. Although the interactive character of the policy processes of these policy areas is well documented, we know little about the collaborative quality of these interactions.

This chapter aims to assess the collaborative quality of the interactive policy processes in the area of EU employment policy. Employment policy is particularly relevant in this context because the policy ambitions are high and because specific institutional arrangements have been put in place to promote interactive governance. Rising levels of unemployment in many parts of the EU in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008 have pushed employment further towards the top of the policy agenda in the EU, and lacking formal powers, the EU seeks to govern by means of interactive forms of governance, for example, the OMC that accommodates interaction between the EU, member state representatives and the social partners (Lange and Alexiadou, 2007; Borrás and Ejrnæs, 2011; de la Porte and Pochet 2012).