Do They Matter? The Perceived Impact of European Administrative Networks

Abstract

European administrative networks (EANs) are presented as key parts of the European Union's (EU) institutional architecture to monitor the national implementation and enforcement of EU legislation. However, their national impact remains little explored. In this article, we examine network members' perceptions of EANs's ability to improve the national enforcement of EU legislation and which factors may explain variation between member states. Our analysis focuses on the application of EU legislation on health and safety at work monitored by the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee. Based on unique survey data and interviews with key respondents, we find that the network is generally perceived as very important for different functions, including for improving the application of EU legislation back home – albeit to different degrees. We show that the position of individual members in the network as well as domestic resources matters for the perception of network impact.