Regulating Collaboration: The Legal Framework of Collaborative Governance in Ten European Countries

A new open access article has been published in the framework of the TROPICO project (Transforming into Open, Innovative and Collaborative Governments), authors are CEU CPS researchers Agnes Batory and Sara Svensson. The article is published in the International Journal of Public Administration (Taylor and Francis Online).

Abstract

Many scholars have considered when and why collaboration between government agencies and societal actors occurs. This article argues that a simple but largely overlooked answer to these questions is that a formal legal or administrative requirement to do so is in place. Therefore, the objective is to substantiate whether there are legal requirements to collaborate and in what type of source and context this obligation applies in ten European countries. The main finding is that collaboration is underpinned by an extensive range of legal requirements in Europe, although imposing these requirements is generally not the main objective.

Keywords: Collaborative governance, regulation, EU countries, legal obligations

The article is available on the journal's website.