A new article by Carlos Mendez has been published in the journal European Planning Studies. It traces the emergence of a new 'experimentalist governance architecture' in EU Cohesion policy, based on the Lisbon agenda, and assesses its effectiveness.
Following trends in other EU policy areas, the core features of the architecture are the joint setting of objectives, (semi-)autonomous implementation, the use of performance reporting and peer review mechanisms and the periodic revision of policy objectives.
Based on a review of empirical studies, it argues that the new architecture has been instrumental in driving Cohesion policy and governance change - although a direct and exclusive EU-driven effect is not always easy to discern. More fundamentally, if finds that the effects on mutual learning have so far been weak and argues that a more structured and robust assessment and peer review process is needed.
Mendez C (2011) The Lisbonization of EU Cohesion Policy: A Successful Case of Experimentalist Governance? European Planning Studies, 19(3), 519 - 537.