The Europeanization of National Policies in Comparison: Spain as a Case Study

Abstract Europeanization is a relatively new concept which is used in the study of national political and policy transformation in relation to the dynamics of EU integration. Reviewing the relevant literature, the authors contend that the construction of the analytical framework concerning Europeanization is still incomplete, basically because there has been a tendency to disregard structural differences between various public policies. Assuming that the patterns and forms of Europeanization are different depending on the objectives and structural specifications of each type of policy, namely regulatory, re-distributive and distributive, the article tests the validity of this hypothesis in the empirical analysis of three public policies in Spain–environmental, regional and technology policy. The conclusions pinpoint similarities and differences in the process of Europeanization. The distinct nature of the three policies when examined, mainly in terms of who bears costs or receives benefits, indicates that sectoral differences in the patterns of Europeanization are quite relevant. However, other and more general similarities between the three policy areas can be identified-namely the strong evidence that all of them have been at least touched by the powerful process of European integration. A further research agenda is drawn up on the basis of these empirical findings.