Based on 18 interviews in Berlin, Paris and Brussels, this article analyses the impact of the EES on the labour market policies in France and Germany. It can be demonstrated that the EES has shaped these policies mostly on the cognitive dimension of influence, while the normative and strategic impacts of the EES are limited. The first result reflects the use of numerous instruments for mutual learning and opportunities for free deliberation. Second, the low importance of the normative dimension can be explained by the openness of the guidelines and by the limited role of “soft pressure”. Finally, the EES was too much locked in bureaucratic routines and was not a truly integrated part of national political life, resulting in a low strategic utility for national actors in political “struggles”.