Participation of Implementing Agencies in European Administrative Networks

Abstract:

European administrative networks are an important part of the functioning of the EU, mainly because of their role in bridging the gap between policy implementation knowledge and the policy‐making activities of the European Commission. However, the extent to which implementing agencies actually participate in these networks, and which conditions explain network participation, have not yet been investigated.

This article fills this gap by studying the conditions under which implementing agencies are expected to make more use of European administrative networks. Therefore, we turn to the participation of domestic implementing agencies in an administrative network during the common agricultural policy's post‐2013 reform. Relying on a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, this case indicates that longer EU membership, in combination with a large staff and domestic implementation issues, contributes to more active participation of implementing agencies in administrative networks.