The Adoption of the 'Better Regulation' Model by the European Commission: A Case of Triangular Relationship between the EU, the OECD and the Member-States?

Based on an in-depth field research, this study questions the contemporary issue of the "internationalization of the state" in Europe by analyzing the cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on “public governance” issues. The traditional "realism versus functionalism" debate still shapes an important part of the academic literature devoted to the IO’s activities. The analyses generally focus on the degree of autonomy gained (or not) by the IO towards their member states. My study highlights rather the importance of the interplay between international, transnational and state actors in the very elaboration and international diffusion of “European” public administration standards. Based on interviews with national and international officials and on process-tracing study, the field research analyses the interaction between the OECD (mainly the GOV and SIGMA departments) and the EU (mainly the European Commission) during the setting of the “better regulation” issue on the European agenda (1990’s-2000’s). It is completed by a sub-study on the national representatives in these organizations, which accounts for the national component of the production of “international” recommendations. This study shows the importance of the interinstitutional circulation of ideas between the EC and the OECD in the emergence and progressive use of the initially questionable notion of “regulation” in the European context.