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From learning to influence: the evolution of collaboration in European Administrative Networks

Francesca Pia Vantaggiato, King's College London
Francesca Pia Vantaggiato, King’s College London

European Administrative Networks (EANs) are a distinctive feature of the EU governance system that aim to foster regulatory harmonization. Even though they have been operational for more than two decades, we know little about how they react to changes in their policy environment. To fill this gap in the literature, Francesca Pia Vantaggiato conceptualizes EANs as dynamic social networks. A Bayesian network model of the Council of European Energy Regulators’ structure shows that the collaboration has shifted from learning (i.e., exchanging information) to a cohesive structure of cooperation aiming to inform and influence EU policy-making. The article thus provides a first step towards conceptualizing and operationalizing the processes of evolution of EANs.