The peer review procedure: some thoughts on the analysis and dissemination of good practices in the framework of the European Employment Strategy

The purpose of the peer review programme - created in 1999, and in 2005 incorporated into the mutual learning programme of the European Employment Strategy - is to identify and evaluate good practices by Member States and to promote their transferability within the European Union. But is it possible to isolate a good practice and to transpose it? On the basis of specific examples this article draws attention to the numerous inconsistencies that emerge between the supposedly universal register of the EES and the great variety of national registers through which it is interpreted. These findings lead to an adjustment of the expectations placed in mutual learning. The article goes on to show that the identification of good practices reflects, in considerable measure, a wish on the part of the Member States to make their national employment policies appear legitimate, implicitly raising, at the same time, some questions about the actual feasibility of a Community model.