European Employment Strategy was initiated in 1997 and subsumed under Lisbon Strategy and Europe 2020. EES has been held up as EU’s model 'soft' policy-making mode and prototype of 'open method of co-ordination'. This long running 'governance architecture' may soon fundamentally change. EU has undergone significant institutional reform since US subprime mortgage crisis. Economic governance has been a core reform area, with new machinery involved in 'European Semester' and the 'six pack' reforms being key. Then, Communication on EMU’s 'Social Dimension’ has established new scoreboard of social employment indicators to monitor national performance. Closer policy co-ordination, top-down surveillance with Commission’s enhanced role and threat of economic sanctions characterises these developments. This paper concerns EES and its fortunes under new regime. Paper revisits literature on new governance that singles out 'open method of co-ordination' as a new model not a transitional shift towards 'harder' forms of EU co-ordination and policy-making.
