The Open Method of Co-ordination and the Analysis of Mutual Learning Processes of the European Employment Strategy: Methodological and Theoretical Considerations

The purpose of this paper is solely to address two interlinked methodological and theoretical questions concerning the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), using the European Employment Strategy as a case: First, what is the most appropriate approach to learning in the analyses of the processes of the European Employment Strategy (EES)? Second, how is mutual learning processes diffused among the Member States? In answering these two questions the paper draws on a social constructivist approach to learning thereby contributing to the debate about learning in the political science literature. At the same time, based on this concept of learning, it is concluded that the learning effects of the EES are probably somewhat larger than what is normally suggested, but that successful diffusion still depends on a variety of contextual factors.