Applying the rules of the European Health Union (EU-Apply)

This project combines and contributes to two emerging research agendas. Recent research has identified a ‘responsiveness trap’ where more policies are adopted, but less is invested in policy delivery and implementation (Adam et al. 2019; Limberg et al. 2020). In addition, EU studies take a growing interest in investigating ‘EU law in action’, the role of street-level bureaucrats and decentral enforcement to capture and explain the uneven outcomes of EU law (Börzel and Buzogány 2019; Dörrenbächer 2017; Hartlapp 2014; Martinsen et al. 2019). In combination, these approaches are useful to capture how accumulation of policies may impinge implementation in a multi-level setting. The focus here, however, remains on the regulators. EU-Apply explores the other side of the compliance relationship, shifting focus onto how the regulated experience and take up EU law when targeted by it.

A sub-sample of regulations and directives is selected based on their degree of complexity and discretionary executive provisions. For this sub-sample, WP II then analyses target group rule application, relying on a combination of interviews and survey data. To better zoom in on the relationship between policy accumulation and application, we hold the intermediate (national) level constant by studying application in a single country; Denmark. The choice of a single country allows us to do in-depth case studies at the regulatory micro-level. However, during the course of research, the scope may be extended and compare beyond the selected member state should this prove fruitful.