Translation Dynamics in Public Policy and Governance: A Replicable Method for Observing How Concepts Become Decision Criteria in European Programmes (Recovery and Resilience Facility, Galileo, Erasmus+)

How policy language becomes the rules that actually decide outcomes. Policy defines concepts—but systems act on criteria. This paper traces how EU policy concepts become operational rules, indicators, and verification signals. As meaning is translated into measurable forms, decision systems begin to operate on those representations rather than on the original intent. The paper shows that this process is structured, traceable, and comparable across programmes—revealing where alignment is preserved and where it is lost. About the Coherence ProgrammeThe Coherence Programme studies why institutions drift despite appearing aligned. It shows that decisions are made not on intent itself, but on how intent is translated into criteria, metrics, and allocation rules. Using the Operating Spine, the programme traces how purpose becomes action across governance layers, making drift and coherence directly observable within decision systems. The research applies to public institutions, capital allocation, and AI-mediated environments, where the durability of decision rules determines long-term institutional reliability.Programme citation: Mertens, R. E. U. (2026). The Coherence Programme: A Conceptual Overview and Entry Point to the Research Programme. Resources: Coherence Programme OSF repository and https://thecoherenceprogramme.org Version 1.00: First public release.Version 1.01: Minor conceptual clarifications, consistency improvements, reviewer-informed refinements, and editorial updates across the programme.