Multi-level Steering and Institution Building: The European Union’s Approach to Research Policy

Source: European Educational Research Journal, Volume 11 No. 4, 2012, pages 570–585.

In this article, the author attempts to understand the role and objective of the European Union (EU) steering university-based research policy in relation to national and other global actors, despite its being outside of the EU’s direct jurisdiction.

The author argues that while the open method of coordination (OMC) was developed for such situations, the complex nature of universities and research policy has meant that such steering does not stop with the OMC and occurs on multiple levels using a variety of governance tools.

The author suggests that despite strong globalising trends, the EU does more than to echo and promote these trends at the national and sub-national levels, but also attempts to structure the research environment in a complex heterogeneous way.