Zbiral, Robert and Princen, Sebastiaan and Smekal, Hubert (2023) Differentiation through flexibility in implementation: Strategic and substantive uses of discretion in EU directives. European Union Politics, 24 (1). pp. 102-120. ISSN 1465-1165

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Abstract

This article analyses the extent to which European Union (EU) directives allow for variation in domestic implementation. Such flexibility in implementation may be used to deal with heterogeneity among member states. Based on an original dataset of 164 directives adopted between 2006 and 2015, we find that the use of flexibility is associated more with efforts to accommodate differences between national policies (substantive use of discretion) than with attempts to facilitate the decision-making process in and between EU legislative institutions (strategic use of discretion). Although flexibility may be used to address some of the same concerns that drive differentiated integration (DI), the situations in which each is most likely to be used are distinct because they approach the divergences between member states differently.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Differentiated integration; discretion; EU directives; European Union; flexibility;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Law
Item ID:	18937
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165221126072
Depositing User:	Hubert Smekal
Date Deposited:	26 Sep 2024 13:43
Journal or Publication Title:	European Union Politics
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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