Implementation of Joined-up Governance for Solving Youth Employability Issues in Estonia: Matching EU Pressures and Civil Servants’ Perceptions

This article focuses on the supply side of joined-up governance in youth policy. Theoretically, the article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of how the challenge for more intense cooperation has altered the roles of central government in local policy implementation, and how civil servants adapt to this new situation. Empirically, the analysis represents a case study of the provision of integrated labour market services for youth in Estonia, focusing on one-stop-shop Pathfinder service centres. We analyse the EU’s impact on pushing national governments to apply a joined-up approach in youth policy. We study how joined-up thinking is reflected in national policy strategies and institutional arrangements, and then compare this institutional framework to intersectoral cooperation practices and perceptions of civil servants toward joined-up governance for solving youth issues. The analysis revealed that joined-up governance in Estonia is supported by the relevant domestic and European policy strategies and is accepted by civil servants as a more efficient way to provide youth employability services. Although the readiness of actors for cooperation has been seen as the main premise for joined-up governance, there was also a clear expectation that cross-sectoral joined-up working should be initiated firstly at the ministerial level, as it would then be easily transited to the local level.