The Legal Mind of the Internal Market: A Governmentality Perspective on the Judicialization of Monitoring Practices
2014 (English)In: Journal of Common Market Studies, ISSN 0021-9886, E-ISSN 1468-5965, Vol. 52, no 3, p. 461-478Article in journal (Other academic) Published
Abstract [en]
The purpose of this article is to contribute to the understanding of the broader effects of monitoring practices in the European Union. The empirical setting is Solvit, a Commission-initiated network tasked with informal resolution of misapplications of internal market directives by national authorities. All Member States must operate a Solvit centre within their administrations. Using a governmentality approach, the article investigates the normative underpinnings of the technologies deployed by Solvit and the experts which operate them. A survey study of the Solvit network shows the development of an EU identity and a cognitive judicialization which contributes to a depoliticization of issues. This allows Solvit to expand its remit from ex post monitoring to ex ante regulation. While a governance instrument can be designed for a delimited task, a governmentality approach highlights more general mechanisms by which such an instrument's influence and reach may be extended beyond its modest appearances.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014. Vol. 52, no 3, p. 461-478
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-21043DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12110ISI: 000333990400002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84898047538OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-21043DiVA, id: diva2:684273
2014-01-072014-01-072017-12-06Bibliographically approved