Destination Nowhere: Restructuring Olympic Airways/Airlines

Abstract

The domestic impact of the EU entails a mix of policy instruments emanating from ‘Brussels’. Some are ‘hard’ laws, such as EU directives or policy rules set by treaties. Others involve policy coordination with ‘soft’ instruments of sharing best practice and/or the Commission urging preferred solutions. Domestic actors must distinguish between these instruments to determine their constraints. They must also judge how ‘hard’ law instruments might be used by the Commission to promote domestic reforms drawn from ‘soft’ agendas. To politicians and the public, what ‘Europe’ expects in terms of domestic policy and practice can be a matter of some confusion.