Abstract
This article assesses the contribution of soft, informal modes of governance to the creation of the Single Electricity Market in the European Union. It provides a detailed analysis and assessment of the so-called Florence Forum, an informal regulatory body or network designed to coordinate national rule-making in view of achieving a truly integrated internal market in electricity. I argue that the Florence Forum, like other informal modes of governance, should not be assessed in isolation but as integral part of the larger framework of EU decision-making. This perspective reveals that informal or soft modes of governance are often combined with formal avenues of EU decision-making. These combinations, such as transnational informal dialogue “in the shadow of supranational hierarchy”, can enchance the overall effectiveness of EU decision-making.