Assessing the Open Method of Coordination ─ Institutional Design and National Influence of EU Social Policy Coordination

Based on the findings of a large-scale, comparative research project, this book systematically assesses the institutional design and national influence of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) on Social Inclusion and Social Protection (pensions and health/long-term care), at the European Union (EU) level and in ten EU Member States. Besides offering novel empirical and theoretical insights on the operation and impact of the OMC, the book presents an up-to-date perspective on the future of the social policy coordination within the Europe 2020 Strategy. The book is required reading for anyone concerned with understanding the contribution of new forms of governance to the past and future development of Social Europe.

Egidijus Barcevicius is Director for Research and Policy Advice at the Public Policy and Management Institute, Lithuania, and Lecturer at Vilnius University, Lithuania.

J. Timo Weishaupt is Junior Professor for the Sociology of the Welfare State at University of Mannheim, Germany.

Jonathan Zeitlin is Professor of Public Policy and Governance and Jean Monnet Chair in European and Transnational Governance at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has published extensively on the Open Method of Coordination and EU governance, including The Open Method of Co-ordination in Action: The European Employment and Social Inclusion Strategies; Changing European Employment and Welfare Regimes: The Influence of the Open Method of Coordination on National Reforms; and Experimentalist Governance in the European Union: Towards a New Architecture.