Policy shaping and decision making : Malta in the 2007-2013 council negotiations on EU cohesion policy

Abstract

Policy making in the European Union is frequently described as being a complex affair. One way of analysing policy making is by diving the Union's policy cycle into stages, which is known as the 'stages approach'. Policy shaping and decision making are the second and third stages, respectively, of the Union's policy cycle. This dissertation examines closely policy shaping and decision making, and also enters into the theoretical approaches regarding such stages. It emerges that, although the 'stages approach' has its critics, it can nonetheless be very useful when carrying out a policy analysis in a particular area of policy. The two stages are in this dissertation applied to a specific area of Union policy making - cohesion policy. The dissertation also undertakes a case study, for the purpose of applying the policy shaping and decision making in a 'real-life' context. The case study examines Malta's participation in the negotiations in the Council on one of the Commission's proposed cohesion policy regulations, with the aim of determining what arguments Malta made on the particular proposal, and whether Malta was successful in shaping certain provisions of such regulation according to its needs. From this examination, it emerges that, Malta, being a small member state, had a modest success in having its arguments taken into consideration in the forming of the final regulation, as adopted by the Council.