EUROPEANIZATION: SIMPLY A TOP-DOWN PROCESS?

Year 2011, Volume: 19 Issue: 1, 135 - 151, 28.06.2011

Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang

https://doi.org/10.29228/mjes.148

Abstract

There have been intense, wide-ranging, and confused debates about what Europeanization is in the field of European studies. Many interpret Europeanization from a ‘top-down’ perspective with an emphasis on the unidirectional impacts of European integration on member states. However, it is argued in this article this ‘top-down’ logic ignores the two-way interaction between domestic and EU level, and how European politics, policies and polities can be shaped by the domestic level. It is argued that Europeanization should not be understood solely as the effects of EU level on member states. It shows that the nature of Europeanization can be best captured with the combination of three approaches: downloading, uploading and crossloading. Hence, the article recommends an incorporated approach and its model that has the potential to provide a full understanding of what Europeanization is.

Keywords: Europeanization, downloading, uploading, crossloading, topdown, bottom-up, European studies.

Keywords

Avrupalılaşma, indirme, yükleme, çapraz yükleme, yukarıdan aşağıya, aşağıdan yukarıya, Avrupa çalışmaları

EUROPEANIZATION: SIMPLY A TOP-DOWN PROCESS?

Abstract

There have been intense, wide-ranging, and confused debates about
what Europeanization is in the field of European studies. Many interpret
Europeanization from a ‘top-down’ perspective with an emphasis on the
unidirectional impacts of European integration on member states. However,
it is argued in this article this ‘top-down’ logic ignores the two-way
interaction between domestic and EU level, and how European politics,
policies and polities can be shaped by the domestic level. It is argued that
Europeanization should not be understood solely as the effects of EU level
on member states. It shows that the nature of Europeanization can be best
captured with the combination of three approaches: downloading,
uploading and crossloading. Hence, the article recommends an
incorporated approach and its model that has the potential to provide a full
understanding of what Europeanization is.

Keywords

Europeanization, downloading, uploading, crossloading, topdown, bottom-up, European studies.

References

• George, S. (2001) ‘The Europeanization of UK Politics and Policy-Making: the Effect of European Integration in the UK’, Queen’s Papers on Europeanisation, No 8/2001, Belfast: Queen’s University Belfast: http://www.qub.ac.uk/pais/Research/PapersSeries/, (accessed 25 February 2011).
• Zatezalo, M. (2007) ‘The Dual Nature of Europeanization: Divergent National Mechanisms to Common Monetary and Securities Markets Policy’, http://essay.utwente.nl/58085/1/scriptie_Zatazalo.pdf.