The open method of coordination (OMC) is a relatively new intergovernmental means of governance in the European Union, based on the voluntary cooperation of its member states.
Rather, the method's effectiveness relies on a form of peer pressure and naming and shaming, as no member state wants to be seen as the worst in a given policy area.
However, the OMC differs significantly across the various policy areas to which it has been applied: there may be shorter or longer reporting periods, guidelines may be set at EU or member state level and enforcement mechanisms may be harder or softer.
The OMC was first applied in EU employment policy, as defined in the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997, although it was not called by this name at the time.
Since then it has been applied in the European employment strategy, social inclusion, pensions, consumer care, immigration, asylum, education and culture and research, and its use has also been suggested for health as well as environmental affairs.
EMU and in particular the Stability and Growth Pact as well as the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (which were introduced as an instrument to realise the goals set down in the Lisbon Agenda) can be considered a sort of “proto-OMC” with comparatively hard sanctioning mechanisms.
18 months later the EU released a joint report on social inclusion where the member state's approaches were compared and contrasted and recommendations were given.
When comparing the EES and social inclusion OMC, Pochet (2005: 43) notes that the first seems to go more in a direction of centralization, naming and shaming without any broad discussion about the content on the European level (top-down).
One key difference was the treaty status of the employment OMC which forced the Italian authorities to comply - this component was lacking for social inclusion.
As member states increasingly face common concerns in healthcare (such as demographic ageing), the application of the OMC has been discussed.
In March 2004 the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the commission to present a proposal for the use of the OMC in health and long-term care.