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Customized Implementation of European Union Food Safety Policy pp 21–47Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Moving Beyond (Non-)compliance: Conceptualizing Customization

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Part of the book series: International Series on Public Policy ((ISPP))

Abstract

The concept of “customization” captures the extent to which member states adapt centrally decided policies during transposition. This chapter introduces the concept and its measurement. I discuss how research on “gold-plating” has treated fine-grained differences in transposition beyond compliance. I argue that this perspective tends to be both normatively and empirically one-sided. Hence, I propose that this diversity be conceptualized more generally as a phenomenon of vertical regulatory change. Accordingly, we can measure these changes along the dimensions of density and stringency, without simultaneously addressing the question of compliance. Comparatively measuring customization poses challenges in terms of data availability, casing, and measurement equivalence. The concept of customization can “travel” beyond the European Union, and across both quantitative and qualitative research approaches.

This chapter draws in parts from Thomann, E. and A. Zhelyazkova. 2017. Moving beyond (non-)compliance: the customization of European Union policies in 27 countries. Journal of European Public Policy 24(9): 1269–1288. Reprinted with the permission of Taylor & Francis Ltd., http://www.informaworld.com.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As opposed to indirect legal reform requirements (Treib 2014, pp. 23–24).

  2. 2.

    Even in Thomann (2015a), I sought to separate the question of diversity in implementation from questions of non-compliance. The original concept of customization I proposed presupposed compliant transposition and only conceptualized situations in which member states added to EU rules. However, as Asya Zhelyazkova and I have argued (2017), I believe this conceptualization was too narrow. In this study, I only analyze cases of correct transposition where compliant member states go beyond the market-correction of EU minimal standards. However, Switzerland has implemented some rules more loosely than those stipulated by (or required by) the EU; and in principle, customization could, of course, result in non-compliance.

  3. 3.

    They may also simultaneously pose unnecessary burdens on businesses.

  4. 4.

    The literature on policy instruments features more dimensions that, depending on the research setting, might also be interesting to account for. For example, “formal intensity” refers to the consequentiality of non-compliant behavior (Adam et al. 2015). “Explicitness” refers to the degree to which policies formulate a direction of desired behavioral change (Thomann 2018). Extending the concept of customization to include these dimensions seems entirely plausible; however, I will leave this to future research.

  5. 5.

    Additionally, formal intensity includes domestic enforcement measures, administrative and procedural capacities that influence the probability of effectively achieving substantial requirements and the consequentiality of non-compliant behavior (Adam et al. 2015; Knill et al. 2012). Customization occurs during legal transposition. Changes in formal intensity are therefore only captured if the EU Directive explicitly contains relevant provisions and in this study these changes are measured in terms of their restrictiveness at the legal transposition stage.

  6. 6.

    I am particularly indebted to Asya Zhelyazkova for her patience and useful exchanges when exploring these issues.

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    Eva Thomann

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Thomann, E. (2019). Moving Beyond (Non-)compliance: Conceptualizing Customization. In: Customized Implementation of European Union Food Safety Policy. International Series on Public Policy . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92684-1_2

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