Mechanisms of Policy Learning in the European Semester: Pension Reforms in Belgium

Abstract

In response to the crisis of the Eurozone, the European Union has re-organized policy coordination with the European Semester. Today the Semester is the core EU fiscal and economic coordination mechanism. Its presence raises discussions over its capacity to foster knowledge, due to its structure and mechanisms of policy learning. More generally, since its launch in 2011, the European Semester has kindled a vibrant debate on its effects on national policy-making and in particular, whether it could promote policy learning among national actors. By analysing the case of pension reforms in Belgium, the author identifies the specific outcomes of the European Semester’s mechanisms of influence. We find learning effects at work in the European Semester, and qualify the conventional proposition that the strength of European Union policy coordination lies only in its coercive power.