The research explores the impact of both internal and external institutions on the development of European Union (EU) education policy and the extent of this impact, through the examination of the historic development of European education. In particular, the research attempts to assess the varying degree of influence of, on the one hand, EU institutions such as the European Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and, on the other, external institutions such as the OECD and UNESCO.

Due to the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative approach was considered to be the most appropriate, with a focus on mobility policy as a case study through which to explore the influence of these institutions. As a shared policy focus of these institutions, mobility policy lends itself more readily to exploratory analysis, allowing for a more focused examination of the manner in which the four institutions have impacted on development of European education policy. The empirical data was generated by means of seven semi-structured interviews.

The findings of the research tend to suggest a leading role for the European Commission in the development of European education. Moreover, they reveal the catalytic impact of the ECJ during the 1980s. In addition to that, the findings also reveal the, albeit relatively minor, important influence of external institutions in the historical development of European education. More significantly, the findings indicate the growing importance of external institutions, mainly the OECD, in the more recent policy developments in the field of European education

The analysis presented in the research has implications not only for studies of European policy making, but also has relevance for broader political science discussions regarding the varying roles of globalisation and institutions in shaping regional public policy.