The EU and the implementation of international law: the case of ‘sea-level bureaucrats’

Is the European Union (EU) influencing national bureaucracies' implementation of international law? This paper reports findings from interviews with ship inspectors and their superiors about European training aimed at harmonization.

The maritime sector's highly institutionalized global regime may constitute an unlikely case for European influence over national bureaucrats for historical, institutional and economic reasons. This examination of ‘sea-level bureaucrats’ shows how European executive capacity is acquired at the national level even in this sector, adding to our insights on implementation and compliance in European governance.

We find evidence that inspections seem Europeanized, and together with research on other sectors, this indicates the development of a new, international, multi-level administrative order with stronger traits of direct implementation. In it, the EU may have developed into an interpretative filter for national implementation of global maritime safety rules.

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