Ever more soft law? A dataset to compare binding and non-binding EU law across policy areas and over time (2004–2019)

Bartolomeo Cappellina, Anne Ausfelder, Adam Eick, Romain Mespoulet, Miriam Hartlapp, Sabine Saurugger and Fabien Terpan
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Bartolomeo Cappellina: Centre Emile Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
Anne Ausfelder: Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, 9166Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Adam Eick: Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, 9166Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Romain Mespoulet: PACTE, 55551Sciences Po Grenoble, Grenoble, France
Miriam Hartlapp: Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, 9166Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Sabine Saurugger: PACTE, 55551Sciences Po Grenoble, Grenoble, France
Fabien Terpan: CESICE, 55551Sciences Po Grenoble, Grenoble, France

European Union Politics, 2022, vol. 23, issue 4, 741-757

Abstract: What characterizes European Union soft law and what are its implications for the EU multilevel system? What is the proportion of hard and soft law in EU policy? Which types of soft law act are adopted in different policy sectors? This article introduces the conceptual and analytical framework that encompasses the EfSoLaw dataset and explains its methodology, advantages, and limitations. This dataset unites information on thousands of EU hard and soft law acts from seven different policy sectors, drawn from over fifteen years (2004–2019) and from various sources (EUR-Lex, DGs, agencies). We present implementation options of the dataset making it exploitable for other scholars and we propose hypotheses to explain the variation in the adoption of soft law in different policy sectors.

Keywords: Comparison; database; European Union law; soft law (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:23:y:2022:i:4:p:741-757

DOI: 10.1177/14651165221111985

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