The Translation Trap: When Strategic Intent Becomes Allocation Logic in European Governance (RRF, NZIA/CRMA, Horizon Europe)

Alignment at the level of rules can hide divergence from actual policy intent. Policies define broad goals—but decisions are made on what those goals become. This paper shows how strategic intent in EU governance is translated into criteria, rules, and signals that ultimately determine allocation. As intent is converted into forms that are measurable and comparable, what cannot be expressed in those terms drops out of decision-making. The result: systems that appear fully aligned in their metrics while drifting from underlying policy purpose. Using EU programmes, the paper demonstrates how this drift becomes visible directly in governance artefacts. About the Coherence ProgrammeThe Coherence Programme studies…