What Makes Economic Differentiation Effective? Insights from the EU Energy Sector, Banking Union and Third-Country Access to the Single Market

Andreas Eisl (1, 2, 3) , Eulalia Rubio (3)

1 CEE - Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée (Sciences Po, CNRS)
2 MaxPo - Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies
3 Institut Jacques Delors

Few studies so far have analysed the effectiveness of differentiation in EU policies. This is surprising given the importance and permanence of many differentiated arrangements, for example in EU economic policy. Insights from three studies on differentiation in the energy sector, the financial sector and third-country access to Single Market highlight the importance of institutional factors. EU economic differentiated arrangements tend to be more effective when: (i) there is a good ‘fit’ between the institutional design and the policy objectives; (ii) there are mechanisms to adapt them over time; and (iii) there are institutional provisions to prevent or mitigate negative side effects for the Union as a whole.

Keywords: European Union; differentiation; economic policy; effectiveness

Domains: Political science

Andreas Eisl, Eulalia Rubio. What Makes Economic Differentiation Effective? Insights from the EU Energy Sector, Banking Union and Third-Country Access to the Single Market. The International Spectator, 2022, Governing Differentiation and Integration in the European Union: Patterns, Effectiveness and Legitimacy, 57 (1), pp.90-106. ⟨10.1080/03932729.2022.2033532⟩. ⟨hal-03602022⟩