The Translation Trap: When Strategic Intent Becomes Allocation Logic in European Governance (RRF, NZIA/CRMA, Horizon Europe)

This paper examines how strategic intent is translated into allocation decisions within European governance systems. It analyzes how policy goals are operationalized through evaluation criteria, scoring models, and funding rules, ultimately shaping how resources are distributed. The paper shows how these translation processes can produce systematic divergence between declared policy objectives and actual funding and allocation outcomes. In complex governance environments, decision-making increasingly depends on how intent is represented in measurable criteria—rather than on the intent itself. Drawing on empirical cases from European policy and funding systems, the paper introduces a framework for analyzing "translation dynamics" in institutional decision-making. It demonstrates how misalignment emerges not from failure of intent, but from how intent is transformed into decision-relevant representations. This paper is part of the Coherence Programme. Further materials and companion papers are available at: https://thecoherenceprogramme.org/