Title: Professions and European integration: a case study of architects and psychologists

Authors: Thomas Le Bianic, Lennart G. Svensson

Addresses: Universite Paris-Dauphine, IRISES-CNRS, Place du Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75775 Paris cedex 16, France. ' Department of Sociology, Goteborg University, PO Box 720, 40530 Goteborg, Sweden

Abstract: Professional education and labour have been nationally deregulated in the past decades. On the EU-level there is, however, a dynamic integration and re-regulation away from |hard tools| and a growing importance of |soft regulation|. The aim of this article is to study the development of methods for integration concerning professional education and work, taking into account the role of EU authorities as well as professional bodies, which are increasingly organised on an EU-basis. This is performed by using architects and psychologists as case studies illustrating contrasted situations. The concept of integration is covering processes as regulation, standardisation and networking. On the EU-level, there is an integration and re-regulation of professions by a European elite participating in federations with great potential for professional integration. Their opportunity structure has increased at the same time as the regulation has turned into mere soft standardisation with bottom-up participation rather than top-down, hard regulation.

Keywords: European Union; EU; professional integration; regulation; professions; federation; meta-organisations; architects; psychologists; professional education; professional work.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2010.031203

International Journal of Public Policy, 2010 Vol.6 No.1/2, pp.1 - 15

Published online: 25 Jan 2010 *

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