ABSTRACT
During the late '90s, under the label of the "Lisbon Strategy," the European Union (EU) established a series of co-ordination initiatives for social policies. Prompted by the European Commission (EC)'s active involvement and with the help of effective political entrepreneurs, this led to the widespread use of "Open Methods of Co-ordination" (OMCs), and particularly the European Employment Strategy (EES). When the first version of the EES was launched in 1997, its national political dimension did not escape the German press. This chapter examines how and to what extent they have been evaluated and what these evaluations tell us about the broader relationships between evaluators, power and politics. When the first version of the EES was launched in 1997, its national political dimension did not escape the German press. The ideational nature of the EES derives directly from the fact that the co-ordination of employment policies is not supported by any significant source of funding or actual field implementation.
