Connecting internal and external dynamics in European intersectoral policy coordination – the case of education and employment

Intersectoral policy coordination has garnered considerable atten-tion in the study of the European Commission (EC) over the pastfew decades. Within the EC, a logic of hierarchy and a logic of policyportfolios coexist, often leading to a conflictual and complex rela-tionship. While the literature has extensively explored the internaldynamics of the EC, there has been less focus on the role of externaldynamics in influencing intersectoral policy coordination. Thispaper addresses this gap by examining the case of European policycoordination in education and employment and how both internaland external dynamics can hinder or facilitate policy coordinationwithin the EC. Based on the analysis of interviews with EC actors andvarious EU policy documents, the paper discusses how these inter-nal and external dynamics have affected policy coordination, high-lighting elements of both positive and negative coordination.