Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/264531 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies [ISSN:] 1468-5965 [Volume:] 60 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [Place:] Hoboken, USA [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 604-633
Publisher: 
Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Hoboken, USA
Abstract: 
Research on EU policy has detected two developments that seem contradictory at first sight. On the one hand, there is evidence of continued rule growth and policy expansion. On the other hand, research points to dismantling, primarily via the backdoor and in comitology. This article investigates how experimentalist governance settings can provide opportunities for policy reduction within an overall expanding policy. Therefore, it focuses on the EU's Ecodesign policy which is characterized by a mix of binding and voluntary measures that qualify as experimentation. Although the voluntary measures contribute to rule growth, they are characterized by lenient standards compared to binding regulation under Ecodesign. In particular, they allow the Commission to follow a strategy of non‐adjustment. The article points to simultaneous expansion and dismantling processes not yet fully covered in previous research. Experimentalist governance poses a crucial element in enabling such developments leading to shallow expansion and allowing for dismantling.
Subjects: 
Ecodesign
environmental policy
EU Commission
experimentalist governance
policy dismantling
policy expansion
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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