PROGRAMME ON EUROPEAN
POLICY-MAKING Department of Political Science
University of Helsinki

The theoretical framework of the network analysis. Traditional research based on international political theory has proved insufficient in the 1990s for research into the complex European Union decision-making structures. A new policy-oriented research tradition developed in the 1980s and 1990s stresses the network-like character of European Union decision-making. Network analysis both of the ad hoc -type networks formed in the processes of making decisions of considerable importance and of the more enduring relationships between actors within decision-making processes of certain policy sectors can be conducted. These strategies produce the best results when used in conjunction with each other and both strategies will be applied in this research.

European telecommunication policy

The background to the research. Telecommunication is an important industry whose significance will only increase in the next century. At the moment telecommunication is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Its rapid growth and technical development has forced the European Union to rapidly reorganise the control and co-ordination of its telecommunication policy.

Since 1987 European Union telecommunication policy has been characterised by a tendency to liberalise the telecommunication field. Despite efforts at liberalisation there still are considerable differences between the member states. Telecommunication competition is most advanced at the moment in Finland, Sweden and Great Britain. Germany follows the British and the Scandinavian countries at a somewhat slower pace. Spain, Greece, Portugal, Austria and Ireland show the slowest development. In these countries there is only very limited competition and former monopolies still dominate the market.

The member states' divergent aims and schedules for deregulation create tensions the European telecommunication policy. At the same time one can perceive some degree of slowing of deregulation on the part of the European Union. The current research will use comparative and comprehensive research to examine first the interests of the groups central to the European Union telecommunication policy and of the member states with regard to its development, and secondly, the influence of European Union institutional factors on its formulation of the European telecommunication policy. The research will thus also describe the change in both the formal and informal structures of telecommunication policy in the 1980s and the 1990s and predict the outcomes of the goals for deregulation in the year 2000. One has to bear in mind, however, that the reform of the European Union administrative structures, the Eastern enlargement of the European Union and global competition can create great and unexpected pressures on development of the European telecommunication policy, making any predictions difficult.

Research questions. The research will aim to answer the following questions:

• What issues divide the member states in the area of telecommunication policy?
• What kind of coalition and confrontation will arise between the member states, telecommunication companies and vested interests?
• How do the potential coalitions organise themselves in the complex decision-making system of the European Union (within its local, regional, national and supranational levels)?
• What is the influence of these coalitions on decisions on telecommunication?
• How does the European Union institutional structure affect the realisation of the aims of telecommunication policy?
• Has the transformation of the telecommunication directives into national legislation and their actual implementation in national administration succeeded?
• What threats and opportunities does European Union level decision-making bring to the Finnish telecommunication policy, industry and operators?
• What means of influence does Finland have in the formation of the European Union telecommunication policy?

The methods and framework of the research. The European Union telecommunication policy is a complex subject for research and requires consideration of both the national decision-makers and the supranational actors in the European Union. Telecommunication decision-making thus forms a whole, analysis of which can be difficult by the means of traditional research. This project is thus mainly based on network analysis, enabling description of the complexity of European Union decision-making. It also enables simultaneous examination of both national and European Union level decision-making.

The research will proceed as follows: first, the central actors and controversies within the European union telecommunication policy will be identified; secondly, all the central actors will be interviewed; and finally, empirical analysis of the data and European Union telecommunication as a whole will be undertaken.

European Union Agricultural policy

The background of the research. When the European Economic Community was founded in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, the foundation was also laid for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. As a result of the CAP European Union agricultural expenditure has been quite high and over-production has become a considerable problem. Agriculture is thus in a crucial position in the European Union as integration has proceeded a long way in this policy sector, and as agricultural expenditure accounts for 53 per cent of the European Union budget.

The principal actors in the field of agricultural policy are the Agricultural Council and the Commission. The European Parliament has little say in agricultural issues. As the agricultural policy is the most developed form of supranational decision-making in the European Union the member states have lost a significant share of their power to the Union in this area. The Common Agricultural Policy thus offers a fertile ground for research into the complex nature of the decision-making structure of an highly integrated policy area.

Common Agricultural Policy decision-making. The logic of the decision-making of the European Union agricultural policy cannot be understood merely by investigating the European Union level decision-making, as the member states are in quite a powerful position with regard to the European Union and its institutions in this field. The relations between the European Union and its member states thus need to be central to research.

A characteristic feature of European Union decision-making is the central and visible role of the interest groups whose operation is particularly active in agricultural policy. The relations between these groups, the European Union institutions and the national interest organisations and the public sector is important in capturing the overall picture of the factors influencing decision-making.

In the future the role of the CAP will be of even greater concern, specifically in the context of the Eastern enlargement of the European Union. Other questions affecting the CAP are the influence of the GATT Uruguay round negotiations on the trade in agricultural products, increasing the efficiency and the competitiveness of European agriculture and the issues of development of rural areas and environmental protection.

The implementation of the research, the research questions and methods. In the first phase a comparative analysis of agricultural policies of the member states will be carried out. Thereafter the research will attempt to answer the question of how the member states have organised the implementation of CAP and how they have succeeded in implementing agricultural directives. An assessment of the factors influencing implementation will also be made. In the second stage the research will examine agricultural policy decision-making, the interest groups seeking to influence decision-making in Finland and selected member states, and specifically the efforts of national actors to influence European Union decision-making in agricultural policy. In the final stage European Union decision-making in agricultural policy will be examined from the point of view of European Union officials, national representative bodies and the representatives of the European level interest organisations. The research will try to answer the following questions: how much do the European Union officials influence decisions, how are the positions adopted by the member states transmitted to European union decision-making, and what is the role of the interest organisations operating at the European level?