Catching up with change: The transformation of governance in the European Union

Abstract Looking at the transformation of governance in the process of European integration confronts us with a puzzle. Member states have accepted an incremental transfer of sovereignty and regulatory power. Empirical evidence, however, gives proof of a rather unrestricted vitality to shape policies according to national preferences. In European policy‐making the balance between private and public interests seems to have shifted to the detriment of the latter. At the same time the very properties of the European polity enable public actors to escape capture. In order to gain a better understanding of the transformation of governance it might be helpful to take a different approach. It is not the change in terms of shifting power relations between different levels of government or between different categories of actors which is of interest, but changes in the practice of governing and the understanding of what governance is about.