Steering Group as a Resource

Members of steering groups are appointed by the Member States. Members of steering groups represent line ministries and corresponding institutions of the sub-national levels responsible for particular policy area, with a clear purpose to participate in the implementation of EUSBSR within a Policy Area (PA) or Horizontal Action (HA). It is essential that a steering group member – both as a national institution and an individual – commit to working for the entire macro-region, in practice bridging the gap between national/subnational thematic agenda, and the EUSBSR policy objectives. Thus, steering groups are instrumental for alignment of thematic policy throughout the levels. This is their essential task and unique role within the Strategy, which creates value for both the national and the macro-regional levels.

Steering group work is tightly connected with the work of National Coordinators (NCs) and Policy Area Coordinators (PACs)/Horizontal Action Coordinators (HACs). Together with PACs/HACs, they develop and implement PA/HA plans (thus working for the macro-regional level). Together with National Coordinators, steering group members aim to integrate the national perspective and implementation in the home country (working for the home country’s benefit).  Besides, members of steering groups is also bringing national/ subnational discussions and developments to share with the steering group.

Steering group - function 1. Macro-regional implementation: scoping and development of a Thematic Area

A steering group is, as the name suggests, a central executive and decision-making body for the PA/HA. With the base in the home country’s thematic agenda, the steering group defines a set of common, macro-regional priorities and scope of implementation, with the purpose of shaping and creating the PA/HA Action Plan, thereby applying both perspectives – policy and action-on-the ground. The steering group elaborates a shared understanding of the added value of the PA/HA – for the macro-region and for respective home country – and decides on appropriate formats to deliver this value, thus developing a PA/HA Action Plan. Subsequently, the steering group adopts a bespoke monitoring & evaluation system for the PA/HA, and later carries out monitoring and evaluation activities, with a view of assessing the impact of the PA/HA. The steering group supports and empowers PACs/HACs in every-day work.

Steering group - function 2. National implementation: policy alignment across levels / ‘policy loops’

Alignment of thematic policies across the levels - macro-regional, national, sub-national - is a result of coordinated work of the national/subnational steering group members and the NC unit. These two roles are highly interdependent in this task; together, they build the so called ‘policy loops’ between the EUSBSR and the home country. Essentially, these ‘policy loops’ are information flows that connect the home country thematic policy work with policy proposals ‘produced’ by the PA/HA in the macro-regional space. The steering group member actively engages thematic stakeholders and their respective policy channels in the home country (following multi-level governance (MLG) principle), through policy dialogues and consultations. By doing this, the numerous ‘policy loops’ can be tuned for better alignment across the policy and stakeholder levels, and more stakeholders of the home country get connected to the Strategy’s implementation formats. Working in this way also provides natural arenas for communication of the macro-regional value added.

Thus, steering group is to integrate two developmental perspectives – that of the development of the Policy Area / Horizontal Action (through assuming steering responsibility) and that of the enabling of policy alignment across stakeholders and policy levels (through creating and expanding ‘policy loops’)

More information can be found here.