Towards a policy convergence in Europe?: General approaches in the Netherlands, Switzerland and France

International audienceEverywhere policies are being developed to increase the access of the disabled to public transport. Comparative analysis of these policies is useful in two respects: content and process, i.e. what to achieve and how to achieve it. The first type of analysis is not unusual, the second type is. Given the general effort and the intensity of international contacts, it would not be strange to expect a convergence in policies but perhaps more so with regard to content than to process. Administrative traditions may differ widely between countries, There is extensive theorising on policy convergence. The essence of the theory is presented and the different policy levels at which convergence may occur are made operational for accessible transport policies. The policies of three European countries (France, the Netherlands and Switzerland) are compared at the level of policy instruments. It shows that in all these countries a range of instruments is used. But there are remarkable differences in the relative importance of these instruments. Both France and Switzerland rely strongly on legal instruments (law and regulations), but the Netherlands more on the transfer of information (not enforcing but convincing). Both the Netherlands and Switzerland support their policies with subsidies for adapting the infrastructure. France seems to present it as a national duty which regional actors have to fulfil. The effectiveness of these strategies is not assessed