The concept of competitiveness has been at the center of the European and global policy debates for at least two decades. It is a complex concept which can be used to justify deregulation and the promotion of competition as well as to justify subsidies and more intervention by governments to promote the interests of companies. This conflict of perspectives is generally not well understood, in spite of its centrality for many political conflicts globally and within the EU.
The conflicting perspectives can be found within various epistemic communities which develop shared, but conflicting conceptions of competitiveness and what is appropriate for governments to do. On one side are networks in areas like competition and trade policy, who want to open up for fair competition and also warn about the distorting impact of state subsidies (aid). On the other side are networks pointing to the role of the state as organizer of key inputs to firms (often from universities), such as R&D and an educated labor force. There is general agreement within the WTO that precompetitive subsidies for R&D is OK and that general subsidies for firms is not OK, but where (and how) is the line actually drawn?
The focus of the paper will be on the transnational networks where positions are formed through interaction across national borders. These networks are believed to have a more or less informal impact on national as well as international policies, primarily by forming the perceptions of what is appropriate. While intergovernmental bargaining is still important, the networks influence the agendas of the governments.
I want to study more specifically how national representatives interact in transnational networks and what kind of relation they have to one another, when they are expected to coordinate domestically, simultaneously, across the networks.
