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Ongoing Projects

Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies (SUPA)

Horizon Europe, Grant Agreement No. 101177315

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SUPA examines how public administrations in advanced democracies can cope with the continuous growth of rules and the stagnation of administrative capacity. Coordinated by the University of Oslo, the consortium studies rule growth and its administrative consequences in Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, and the European Union.

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At Södertörn University, I lead Work Package 2 on rule-offsetting schemes ("one-in-one-out" and related mechanisms). Around twenty democracies have introduced such schemes to curb rule growth, yet we know little about whether they work, how they are designed, and how they are used in practice. WP2 addresses this gap through a systematic comparative mapping of offsetting schemes across countries, analyses of their effect on rule growth, and over 60 expert interviews with policymakers, business associations and civil society organisations on the politics and practical application of offsetting.

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The work package funds a doctoral position (Miranda Thulin) and a research assistant (Swapnil Vashishtha) at Södertörn University and forms the basis of my ongoing research on regulatory offsetting and better regulation at the EU and national level.

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Project outputs

  • Pircher, Brigitte, & Thulin, Miranda (2026). Regulatory Offsetting in Modern Democracies. A Comparative Analysis of Design, Politics, Implementation and Effectiveness. Report (Deliverable 2.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22081872

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  • Pircher, Brigitte (2026). 'Design-Based Politicization in Non-Majoritarian Institutions: The Case of the European Commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board', Regulation & Governance, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70139

 

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