This article explores the link between policy instrumentation and policy change at the EU level. It is based on a comparative analysis of policy instruments and their development in European urban and environmental policies. The analysis is based on an original dataset, retracing the evolution of European policy instruments in both areas over the past three decades, and asks how and by whom they were chosen and combined. Challenging the existing literature on new policy instruments and new forms of EU governance, our longitudinal analysis indicates that the traditional focus on new or innovative policy instruments is of limited explanatory power. Our approach shows how EU policies and policy-making are informed by the politics of choice and the combination of policy instruments.