ABSTRACT
The Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) builds on Cohen et al.’s (1972) concept of organized anarchy and proposes that under conditions of ambiguity – defined as systems or situations characterized by problematic preferences, unclear technology, and fluid participation – policies are made on the basis of temporal sorting rather than rational problem-solving. As will be argued below, these features capture European Union (EU) policy processes astonishingly well (Peters, 1994; Richardson, 2001; Zahariadis, 2008).
