Conclusions

Abstract

In setting out to provide a systematic account of the origins and development of European Community (EC) policy-making on higher education I wanted to challenge the dominant assumption of the literature that such policy-making has evolved through ‘Community creep’ and, specifically, rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It is not that I deny the role of the Court, and the opportunities which its rulings provided for institutional policy-makers — issues which have been well covered in European Union (EU)-oriented research and scholarship. But I wanted to explore whether there was not likely to be a plausible explanation which recognised the causal force of the day-to-day process of policy-making, and the role of individuals.