This paper examines EU policy as a regional form of global governance which impacts and transforms state power. It will present preliminary research and analysis on the Open Method of Coordination as a new form of EU governance and its impact on education policy. Our analysis will draw on documentary research that will examine the practices of the OMC, such as benchmarking. The OMC was first developed in the context of the EU's employment and social inclusion policies. It intends to be 'the appropriate tool for an integrated approach towards achieving economic and social renewal' (Regent 2003). It is now, however, also utilised in the linked policy field of education. The OMC should help to meet the EU Concrete Future Objectives for Education Systems. Its 'benchmarking' system will contribute to the realisation of these objectives across the EU at the local level (COM 2001, 59 final; Dale 2003). Education policy as an EU policy field requires exactly the kind of regulatory tool which the OMC tries to be. It aims to respect national differences in the organisation, values and political arrangements for education, while at the same time achieving common EU objectives and coordinating activity across the EU. Moreover, education policy is a new field to which the OMC is now being applied and it is fundamental to the EU Commission's aim to achieve social justice. The OMC will radically challenge how education policy is governed in the EU. Member States no longer enjoy exclusive sovereignty over education policy. Furthermore, the OMC's emphasis on the local implementation of a benchmarking system opens up interesting questions about its application in devolved education systems, such as that in the United Kingdom.