The European Commission as Political Entrepreneur – The Europe 2020 Strategy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/jpgs.2023.2.01Keywords:
European Commission, Economic Crisis, Europe 2020, Smart and Sustainable Growth, Political EntrepreneurAbstract
This study deals with the European Commission Communication Europe 2020, which was a direct result of the global economic crisis that began in 2007-2008. The focus is to explore how the Commission gained an extended role as political entrepreneur by launching the Europe 2020 Strategy and turning crisis into a window of opportunity. Europe 2020 was a Commission initiative to deal with the crisis by promoting smart, sustainable and socially inclusive development beyond the narrow scope of economic growth. The Commission addressed the economic crisis as an existential threat to European economy, but also to wealth, health integration and stability. It is argued that the crisis management of the Commission, was, in times of weakened member-state capacities, a result of political entrepreneurship.
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