The Open Method of Coordination and the New Governance Patterns in the EU

The aim of this article is to establish an analytical framework for studying the impact of the open method of coordination (OMC) on three levels of political action within the EU, namely the policy, politics and polity. First, the article examines the novelties of the OMC vis-à-vis the soft law tradition in the EU, and looks at how the three dominant logics of co-ordination are linked to diverse modes of hte IMC. The subsequent sections focus on teh potential impact of the OMC on the policy and politics dimensions of the EU. Theoretically inspired assumptions about policy learning and partial delegation of power are teh driving forces behind the inquiry. The article then scrutinizes the potential constitutional dimension of the OMC. Finally, it discusses the theoretical challenges that the OMC poses for our understanding of hte EU as a polity and the concept of integration.