EU Youth Strategy and fsQCA

This chapter suggests the usage of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) for the research of different influences of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). This method allows the combination of different theoretical research strands while acknowledging that there is no perfect causality of the research questions – and that different combinations of certain assumptions might be best to explain certain outcomes. Following some established approaches of Europeanisation research and general comparative policy analysis, four conditions are described that might be needed to explain the differential impact of the EU Youth Strategy (EUYS) in the EU member states. Secondary data out of obligatory national EUYS-questionnaires and statistical publications is used to create a new dataset to put the fsQCA-approach to the test. Based on the questionnaires, the analysis is done for two different periods (2010–2012 and 2013–2015). The results are mixed: for Eastern European States, the used theoretical assumptions seem to have played a role at least in the second period; and for both periods, a rather high degree of EUYS-influence on national youth policies can be found within the data. Nevertheless, a clear causality is yet to be found. The results of this chapter are therefore the starting point for the two case studies in the following chapter.