Assessing EU Performance in the ILO: Preliminary sketches of a feasible methodology

摘要

The paper is a preliminary sketch of a larger research project assessing the performance of theEuropean Union (EU) in the International Labour Organization (ILO), submitted to the EuropeanSocial Foundation in March 2009. The focus is primarily on identifying the relevant actors, policydomains, the interaction effects between them, and a variety of research questions, rather than onpresenting a comprehensive theoretical argument. Nevertheless, through the elaboration of the researchdesign two hypotheses emerge, one concerning the nature of the EU as an actor, the other concerningthe impact of the EU in the ILO. The first hypothesis is that the performance of the EU cannot beunderstood without understanding the roles played by diplomats and practitioners upstream (Brussels)and downstream (Geneva) in the coordination process. Predictive (positivist) theories based on rationalchoice modelling or power and influence do not provide adequate explanatory frameworks, and insteadhistorical and sociological institutional theories that focus on individual actors within institutionalsettings yield insightful results. The second hypothesis is that EU performance – broadly understood tobe its ability to translate a set of EU policy objectives into policy outputs by the ILO – is potentiallydetrimental to the overall objectives of the ILO in many policy domains. Rather than confirmingwidely shared assertions that the EU and ILO are highly compatible social partners, the opposite isproposed. In the event that this hypothesis is shown to be valid, the assessment of EU performancebecomes considerably harder because of the need to assess the net performance of the EU against itsdetrimental effects on the ILO.