The cascade of fear:policy implementation and financial management reform in the European Commission

The complexity of managing European Union (EU) spending programmes is the subject of much comment but relatively little academic analysis. Using a multi-disciplinary analytical framework drawn from the management, policy and social sciences, this fieldwork-based case study examines the reform of financial management within the European Commission. In constructing an agent focussed narrative of a specific reform episode, it contributes to a growing literature on public management reform analysed from this perspective and also to the lightly developed field of EU financial management