Paper Titles & Abstracts

In the EU context there are increasing calls for greater 'policy integration', both horizontally (inter-sectoral, within the same governance level) and vertically (across governance levels). However, to date much of the policy literature has tended to focus on the (national) interplay of horizontal policy integration (HPI), and within the specific domains of environmental policy, transport policy and spatial planning policy. In contrast, relatively little attention has been given to the notion of vertical policy integration (VPI). EU employment and workforce development policies are becoming central delivery 'features' of the Europe 2020 vision. At the same time, policy-makers at all levels (EU, national and local) are struggling to make sense of, and respond to, the employment and workforce development implications of the 'knowledge era'. There are also new key multi-level governance challenges around ensuring strategic coherence, assimilating different national priorities, and accommodating very different sub-national development needs. This paper presents a framework for understanding vertical policy integration in a multi-level governance environment. This draws on both top-down and bottom-up approaches to policy integration, and builds on research into the cases of the EU and Greater Birmingham, to discuss the challenges of vertical policy integration in relation to the design, development and implementation of EU employment policy, and with a particular focus on its implications for the local level.