Unit Four EU Policy-making process

STEP 4. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

Once a policy is formally decided, the implementation phase is the stage when policy is finally put into practice. Implementation is in fact the translation of a policy into action (Barrett 2004). In a multilevel system as the EU, where the policy process involves several players and policy-making venues, implementation is very complex. It goes through different levels, from the EU to the Member States. In this sense the EU is a decentralised implementation system, which takes place both at the supranational and national level, involving a large variety of actors and implementation traditions.