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AUP/Mendeltje Keulen 15-02-2006 11:37 Pagina 1 Mendeltje van KeulenMendeltje van orGoing Dutch Going Europe Going Europe or Going Dutch How the Dutch Government Shapes European Union Policy Mendeltje van Keulen (1975) is senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. She holds MA degrees in European politics Mendeltje van Keulen and public administration from the University of Twente and the postgraduate College of Europe in Bruges. At the Clingendael European Studies Programme, she co-ordinates training courses and research projects concerning the European Union, its policies and decision-making. How can a national government influence the making of European Union (EU) policies? In times of increasing impact of the European Union on national politics and policies, the relevance of this question is undisputed. This book discusses relevant academic insights from the EU studies literature and presents a framework for analysing the shaping capacity of a national government in the EU. The empirical part discusses the ambitions and capacity of the Dutch government’s EU policy throughout the 1990s and presents a reconstruction of the negotiations around two EU internal market directives. It thereby offers to academics and practitioners a clear oversight of the state of play of EU studies literature and the relevant moments and instruments for the shaping of new EU policies in Brussels and in the national capitals of its member states. isbn 90 5356 874 3 ™xHSTAPDy568743z Amsterdam University Press Amsterdam University Press Going Europe or Going Dutch How the Dutch Government Shapes European Union Policy Mendeltje van Keulen Voor mijn ouders Lay-out: Birgit Leiteritz, Den Haag Cover design: René Staelenberg, Amsterdam Tekening omslag: Tom Janssen ISBN 90 5356 874 3 NUR 654 © Mendeltje van Keulen / Amsterdam University Press, 2006 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever. Voorzover het maken van kopieën uit deze uitgave is toegestaan op grond van artikel 16B Auteurswet 1912 jº het Besluit van 20 juni 1974, Stb. 351, zoals gewijzigd bij het Besluit van 23 augustus 1985, Stb. 471 en artikel 17 Auteurswet 1912, dient men de daarvoor wettelijk verschuldigde vergoedingen te voldoen aan de Stichting Reprorecht (Postbus 3051, 2130 KB Hoofddorp). Voor het overnemen van gedeelte(n) uit deze uitgave in bloemlezingen, readers en andere compilatiewerken (artikel 16 Auteurswet 1912) dient men zich tot de uitgever te wenden. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. GOING EUROPE OR GOING DUTCH HOW THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT SHAPES EUROPEAN UNION POLICY PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente, op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. W.H.M. Zijm, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 30 maart 2006 om 16.45 uur door Mendeltje van Keulen geboren op 28 april 1975 te Amersfoort Promotoren: Prof. dr. J.H. de Wilde Prof. dr. J.J.A. Thomassen Co-promotor: Prof. dr. J.Q.Th. Rood Table of Contents Acknowledgements Figures and tables Chapter 1. Opening the black box 1 1. Introduction 1 2. Why study governments in the EU? 2 3. About definitions and scope 7 4. Organisation of the book 14 Chapter 2. Governments in European integration theory 17 1. A tale of two why-questions 17 2. Neofunctionalism 18 3. Intergovernmentalism 25 4. Discussion 30 Chapter 3. Governments in the theoretical new Europe 33 1. Introduction 33 2. Integration theory on the move from ‘why’ to ‘how’ 33 3. Multi-level governance: the messy state 35 4. How Europe hits home: studies of Europeanisation 39 5. A new ‘opportunity-structure’ for national governments 46 6. Discussion 58 Chapter 4. Designing a framework for analysis 61 1. Introduction 61 2. Relevant variables: a literature review 62 3. Fitting variables into a framework 67 4. Discussion 86 Chapter 5. How the Netherlands shapes EU-policy 95 1. Introduction 95 2. Stable core values in the Netherlands’ EU policy 96 3. The growing doubts of a founding father 100 4. The shaping potential of the Dutch government 103 5. Relevant developments in the 1990s 107 6. Discussion 110 Chapter 6. Research design for the case-studies 115 1. Introduction 115 2. In search of a research method 115 3. Intensive process tracing and analysis 119 4. Sources and methods of data collection 127 Chapter 7. Shaping the Gas Directive 131 1. Introduction 131 2. The decision context: backgrounds 132 3. Identifying key actors 134 4. A bird’s eye view on the decision-making process 141 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues 146 6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts 153 7. Discussion 159 Chapter 8. Shaping the Biopatent Directive 165 1. Introduction 165 2. The decision context: backgrounds 166 3. Identifying key actors 168 4. A bird’s eye view on the shaping process 172 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues 178 6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts 183 7. Discussion 189 Chapter 9. Discussion and Conclusions 195 1. Introduction 195 2. Discussing the Dutch government’s shaping capacity 195 3. Confronting results with theory 204 4. Avenues for further research 211 5. To conclude 218 References 221 Appendix: The EU Policy Process in Brussels and The Hague 237 Nederlandse samenvatting 245 About the author 253 Acknowledgements The story of this study began in the same place where I write these concluding words: at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’. The EU and its policies are a key interest of the research and training institute in the white, 17th century mansion in The Hague. As a trainee, I joined the Institute’s ‘Task Force for Policy Analysis’ (now the Clingendael European Studies Programme) and assisted in a survey concerning the 1997 EU Council Presidency of four Dutch government ministries – the results of which already hinted at the problematique central to this study. I further explored the ins and outs of European Union policies at the College of Europe in Brugge, in an unforgettable year of study and fun with fellow ‘Europhiles’. Back at Clingendael, from 2000 onwards, this PhD. project started to materialize. Over the years, many people have contributed to this dissertation in various ways, a few of whom deserve particular mention here. Countless government officials and academics have shared their knowledge; experiences and anecdotes relating to national and EU level politics and policy-making, during courses and seminars at Clingendael and other venues. They will perhaps not all have realised how shamelessly their honesty has been exploited for the sake of this study – and I am indebted to the comments of all these anonymous people. Many respondents with direct or indirect involvement in the two case- studies, in particular government officials of the Ministries of Economic and Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the EU and colleagues from the Clingendael International Energy Programme have been very co-operative in introducing the intricacies of EU policymaking and (inter-) national energy and biotechnology regulation. The fruitful discussions with many colleagues in academia, including Leo Huberts, Monika Sie Dhian Ho, Adriaan Schout, Alfred Pijpers and Ellen Mastenbroek have influenced my thinking about earlier drafts and related topics. As members of the dissertation committee, Tanja Börzel, Liesbet Hooghe, Jaap de Zwaan, Jan Jacob van Dijk, Ramses Wessel and Nico Groenendijk played a crucial role in the final stages of drafting this manuscript. In 1997, Jaap de Wilde, for whom I then worked as a University assistant, helped me to ‘get into’ Clingendael. As academic supervisor and friend, Jaap has inspired me over the years to combine serious quality work with a smile – and to be bothered only by those things in life you can actually change. Working with my colleagues and friends at Clingendael, in particular with Suzan Nollen, Rob Boudewijn and Jan Rood, has been – and still is – a pleasure. Even when hard times hit, we somehow always manage to keep up the spirit, an experience that has ‘shaped’ me both professionally and personally. Birgit Leiteritz and Elisabeth Houpt deserve special thanks for their assistance in editing this manuscript. Finally, I owe much to dear friends from various phases in my life: secondary school (JvO), university (UT), the College of Europe, and our life in Den Haag. Of all them, I thank Jolieke Mesken and Jan Andries Wolthuis, my ‘paranimfen’ – for walking at my side not only during the defence ceremony, and Rogier Kuin – for reasons best known to us both. This book is dedicated to my parents, for their encouragement and love. Den Haag, February 2006 Mendeltje van Keulen Figures and Tables Figure 1 Mechanisms of ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ EU-member-state interaction Figure 2 Commission, Parliament and Council interaction in EU policy- making Table 1.1 Perspectives on governments within the EU Table