Malin Stegmann McCallion

Multi-Level Governance in Sweden?

Abstract This article examines whether multi-level governance (MLG) as a practice has been established in Sweden. It does so by dividing multi-level governance into vertical and horizontal dimensions. The article argues that there is a multi-level policy process within Swedish regional policy and that a degree of network governance has been introduced in Sweden through the Regional Growth Programmes and regional partnerships. Regional partnerships also demonstrate how the horizontal and vertical aspects of MLG have become inter-twined. However, the article concludes that vertical MLG has not yet been fully introduced in Sweden because there is no new regional level. However, with the recommendations of the Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities, a new regional level in Sweden may not be too distant.Abstract This article examines whether multi-level governance (MLG) as a practice has been established in Sweden. It does so by dividing multi-level governance into vertical and horizontal dimensions. The article argues that there is a multi-level policy process within Swedish regional policy and that a degree of network governance has been introduced in Sweden through the Regional Growth Programmes and regional partnerships. Regional partnerships also demonstrate how the horizontal and vertical aspects of MLG have become inter-twined. However, the article concludes that vertical MLG has not yet been fully introduced in Sweden because there is no new regional level. However, with the recommendations of the Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities, a new regional level in Sweden may not be too distant.

Usages of Europe and Europeanisation: evidence from the regionalisation of Sweden

Abstract This article explores the recent regionalisation of Swedish governance – both policy and structure – in order to explore some of the aspects of research on Europeanisation that scholars in the field have recently signalled as especially problematic. We pay particular attention to the role of political cleavages, conflict and contestation, and to the construction and use of policy discourses surrounding European integration as a means of affecting domestic political change. Using the concept of ‘usages of Europe’ from French political sociology, we trace the development of a network of actors which eventually succeeded in constructing EU membership as a tipping point in what had long been intractable domestic debates around regionalisation in Sweden, and argue that an understanding of the discursive uses of EU membership is vital if scholars are to appreciate how the EU can ‘hit home’ even in the absence of strong formal powers.

Swedish Awkwardness à La Carte? The Difference a Question Mark Can Make

This chapter explores Sweden’s engagement in the European integration process, both before and after joining the EU in 1995. It explores Sweden’s relationship with the integration process through three dimensions: economic, identity and political/security. The chapter finds that depending on the dimension explored, the awkwardness label sits somewhat uncomfortably however it also becomes clear that Sweden can indeed be an awkward partner in the European integration process, although the label fits better with some policy areas, and at certain points in the integration process, more than with others.

Introduction: Awkward Partners in the North?

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of awkwardness in regional integration, showing how it can apply both to states and to the relationship between states and their respective regional organisations and processes. We apply the terminology and variables developed by Philomena Murray, Baogong He, and Alex Warleigh-Lack in their 2014 article to the cases of our five Nordic states and sketch the relationship between the five states studied in this volume and European integration. We close the chapter by presenting the structure of the volume and introducing its following chapters.

How to have your cake and eat it too: Sweden, regional awkwardness, and the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR)

ABSTRACT Our study draws on an investigation of Sweden’s participation in the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) to ask what it can reveal regarding how ‘awkward’ states in regional integration – those regularly considered by their partners to be beyond the regional mainstream – can secure their preferences nonetheless. We test the independent variables of ‘awkwardness’, by focusing on the ongoing work of officials charged with making the EUSBSR work in practice. We thereby seek to add to existing macro-level analyses of Sweden’s place and position in the European Union that tend to focus on ‘big picture’ matters. Our findings suggest that Swedish actors working within the various agencies and institutions associated with the EUSBSR have been able to offset their country’s perceived awkwardness by developing a reputation for everyday effectiveness and reliability. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that under certain conditions awkward states can offset this status, and, in the words of the everyday metaphor, have their cake and eat it too.