Information technology and economic recovery in Western Europe

This article sets out to analyse the response of West European governments and of the European Community to the challenge of information technology (IT). European countries have joined the race among industrial nations to restructure their economies around the industries of the future (micro-electronics, computers and advanced telecommunications). The race is currently led by Japan and the United States with Western Europe following a poor third. In order to catch up, West European governments have for some time pursued national strategies and are now attempting to develop a common approach with the assistance of the European Commission. This attempt has been bedevilled, however, not only by national chauvinism, but by conflict between the ambitions of governments and the goals of private sector strategies. Eureka - Europe's response to America's Strategic Defence Initiative - marks a step towards resolving such differences. But as this article suggests, it will not resolve the deeper tensions between the major aims of current policies: the concentration of research and production resources while also creating an open and fully competitive market for IT in Western Europe.This article is part of a wider project on new technology policies in Western Europe, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and directed by Professor J.J. Richardson. The main findings will be published in Information Technology and the State, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.     

Coping with transnationalism in Northern Europe

This report communicates findings on the management techniques devised to cope with the effects of transnationalism in Northern Europe. The most important aspect of this collective policy coordination effort is extensive and intensive interactions among governmental elites across national boundaries. Recently, an effort has been made to increase central, cabinet control of these trans‐Nordic activities. The national bureaucracies remain the most crucial actors while the regional officials have an influence on outcomes to the extent that they can mobilise political commitments or transgovernmental coalitions.