"17. What the field of eurocracy tells us about European policies."

Résumé En

This chapter looks at some of the consequences of using the concept of the bureaucratic field, and specifically the field of eurocracy, to shed new light on European policies.To this end, the article will proceed in five stages, each situated halfway between theoretical reflection, reflective feedback on experiences and research fields, exploratory avenues or methodological or pedagogical prescriptions. To begin with, we will recall how the conceptualisation in terms of the bu-reaucratic field seems to us to be fruitful for understanding the European institutions, as well as the socio-institutional cartography that it invites us to draw up. We will then show how to operationalise this cartography and move from a cross-sectional vision of the field of eurocracy to the construction of sub-fields of public policy. With the help of two research experiments in different fields - the personnel policy of the European institutions and the paradigm shift in European economic and budgetary policies - we will show how the structural conditions guiding these policies and their changes are established. Finally, we will conclude with a few remarks on the transnational dimension of this field.