Description: This paper critically explores how a new form of European Union governance, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), impinged on education policy in the devolved United Kingdom. The first part of our paper analyses key characteristics of the OMC. The 'OMC' is a new 'soft law' governance tool which does not rely on formally legally binding rules. Instead it draws on 'new public management' techniques such as benchmarking, exhange of information and best practice, as well as mutual learning. We inquire as to why this new governance tool is now also applied to the field of education policy, having been previously utilised in the field of European Employment Strategy and for tackling social exclusion. In particular, we engage with the claim that the OMC in the field of education policy can facilitate an 'integrated' approach towards economic and social renewal in the EU. We highlight potential policy conflicts in OMC education initiatives between measures aimed at enhancing competitiveness of the EU economy and social justice concerns. The second part of our paper explores in more detail the specific regulatory practices of the OMC, in particular benchmarking, for instance through the EU Concrete Future Objectives for Education Systems. We assess whether there is support for the claim that the OMC can be sensitive to national education cultures and traditions while at the same time achieving common EU objectives and co-ordinating activity across the EU. In the third and final part of our paper we discuss whether the EU OMC 'fits' with the devolved education system in the UK. Are there indications that OMC measures will be interpreted and applied quite differently in Scotland, Northern-Ireland and Wales, as this has been the case with OMC measures in the field of social exclusion? We will also analyze whether the fact that the UK already has a system of performance indicators for assessing education services helps or hinders the implementation of OMC performance standards in the UK. Methodology: Documentary analysis Sources: - European Union documents - National education policy documents - Literature