This paper examines a particular mechanism of European education policy governance, the Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC). The OMC draws on 'new public management' techniques, such as benchmarking, exchange of information and best practices as well as mutual learning. It aims to achieve commonly agreed EU objectives while at the same time remaining sensitive to national education cultures and traditions. The paper draws on documentary research and interviews with EU level actors involved in the development of the education OMC. Our analytical starting point is the idea that education policy across the European Union is becoming Europeanised. We perceive policy making in the EU as an interactive process between Member States (MS) and European Union actors. Member States co-construct and shape the formation of policies that finally become labelled as 'European'. These European policies are - to varying degrees - institutionalised within the logic and practice of domestic political systems. This process of 'mutual adaptation' and 'co-evolution' frames how we understand and research the OMC (Radaelli 2004). This paper focuses on the evolution and development of OMC education activities by EU level actors. In particular the paper addresses two main questions. First, what reasons do EU level actors provide for using the OMC for the development of education policies? What is the significance of discourses of innovation and 'newness' in promoting the OMC in education policies? Second, how are they trying to get Member States' support for the OMC? What discourses do EU level actors invoke for promoting the diffusion of the OMC to the various levels of education policy making and implementation in the Member States? What do EU level actors perceive as the main points of commonality and resistance to the adoption and diffusion of the OMC to various levels of national policy? What do they consider as the necessary organisational infrastructure for the successful adoption of the OMC by national and sub-national actors?Interviews Radaelli C (2004) Europeanisation: solution or problem?, European Integration online papers (EioP) Vol.8, No.16 http://eiop.or.at/cgi-bin/erpa-search.pl?cmd=search&datefrom=2004&dateto=2004&format=EIoP&site=EIoP (accessed 27 October 2006)European Journal