Convergence, divergence, or multiple steady states? New evidence on the institutional development within the European Union

Author(s):  
Linda Glawe ◽  
Helmut Wagner
2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402110473
Author(s):  
R. Daniel Kelemen ◽  
Kathleen R. McNamara

The European Union’s institutional development is highly imbalanced. It has established robust legal authority and institutions, but it remains weak or impotent in terms of its centralization of fiscal, administrative, and coercive capacity. We argue that situating the EU in terms of the history of state-building allows us to better understand the outcomes of EU governance. Historically, political projects centralizing power have been most complete when both market and security pressures are present to generate state formation. With the EU, market forces have had a far greater influence than immediate military threats. We offer a preliminary demonstration of the promise of this approach by applying it to two empirical examples, the euro and the Schengen area. Our analysis suggests that the EU does not need to be a Weberian state, nor be destined to become one, for the state-building perspective to shed new light on its processes of political development.


Author(s):  
Anand Menon ◽  
Luigi Scazzieri

This chapter examines the history of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European integration process. The chapter dissects the long-term trends in public opinion and the more contingent, short-term factors that led to the referendum vote to leave the European Union. The UK was a late joiner and therefore unable to shape the early institutional development of the EEC. British political parties and public opinion were always ambiguous about membership and increasingly Eurosceptic from the early 1990s. Yet the UK had a significant impact on the EU’s development, in the development of the single market programme and eastward enlargement. If Brexit goes through, Britain will nevertheless maintain relations with the EU in all policy areas from agriculture to energy and foreign policy. Europeanization will remain a useful theoretical tool to analyse EU–UK relations even if the UK leaves the Union.


AGROFOR ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Mrdalj ◽  
Gordana Rokvić ◽  
Petra Nikić Nauth

One of the most challenging issues for the countries that are in the process ofaccession to the European Union is the reform of agriculture, precisely agriculturalpolicy and its compliance with the Common Agricultural Policy of the EuropeanUnion (CAP). The strategic orientation of the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia andHerzegovina is a full EU member status, which is defined with signatory to theStabilization and Accession Agreement in 2008 and confirmed with Applicationfor membership in the European Union, submitted in February 2016. Consideringthe upcoming accession negotiation process, the reformation of agricultural sectoris necessary in all areas of development: production, policy and legal frameworkand institutional development. Until 2015 Republic Srpska made and adopted twokey strategic documents that determine the directions, objectives and measures fordeveloping of agriculture and rural areas. Recently the Republic of Srpska adopteda new strategic plan for the development of agriculture and rural areas for theperiod 2016- 2020. Considering that agriculture budget represents a first indicatorof the countries sector priorities, objective of this paper is to provide analysis ofagricultural policy through the agricultural budget of the Republic of Srpska and itscompliance with Common Agricultural Policy of the EU. Comparative analysis isrelated to the period 2006 – 2014 using EU methodology for the classification ofagricultural measures (pillars and axis). Research results show that the structure ofmeasures and scope of budgetary support, defined within agricultural policy of theRepublic of Srpska is not compatible with Common Agricultural Policy of the EU.


Author(s):  
Richard Robinson ◽  
Michael M. Stanciu

During the last 20 years of the Communist regime in Romania, the road network was allowed to fall into decline. But since 1993 Romania’s plans for accession to the European Union have led to an increased emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency of the road transport system, and plans have been prepared and implemented for restructuring the road sector. Progress in the restructuring is charted in the areas of road sector financing, management, and regulatory and institutional development. Efficiencies have resulted from greater specificity of operations and increased use of competition. There have been remarkably few losses resulting from this process. The approach adopted in Romania provides a simple framework that has potential for application throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and perhaps more widely, for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of road network management arrangements.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (36) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Pascual Sáez ◽  
Santiago Álvarez-García ◽  
Daniela Castañeda Rodríguez

AbstractThis paper provides new evidence of the impact of government spending on economic growth in the European Union countries. Governments can adjust their levels of spending in order to influence their economies, although the relationship between these variables can be positive or negative, depending on the countries included in the sample, the period of estimation and the variables which reflect the size of the public sector. The results obtained based on regression and panel techniques suggest that government expenditure is not clearly related with economic growth in the European Union countries over the period 1994-2012.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (S2) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montse Moharra ◽  
Mireia Espallargues ◽  
Nadine Kubesch ◽  
Maria-Dolors Estrada ◽  
Antoni Parada ◽  
...  

Objectives: The aim of this study was to support health technology assessment (HTA) capacity building in Member States of the European Union with limited experience or without institutionalized HTA. The main output is a Handbook on HTA Capacity Building.Methods: The methods used were worldwide surveys of (i) HTA organizations, (ii) information management units, and (iii) HTA educational programs. The results of two surveys (i & ii) were combined with expert opinion to produce the Handbook on HTA Capacity Building.Results:Survey of HTA organizations (n = 41, response rate 35 percent). Most of the organizations were established by the government (61 percent), and all were not-for-profit. Working on HTA (80.5 percent) and doing research (63.4 percent) were the main lines of activity. Survey on information management units (n = 23, response rate 23 percent). Most (74.2 percent) of the responding HTA agencies reported having personnel dedicated to HTA information services. Survey on HTA educational programs (n = 48, response rate 60 percent). In total, nine Master of Science (MSc) programs were identified (three MSc in HTA and six MSc in HTA-related areas). Handbook on HTA Capacity Building. A group of twenty experts from thirteen countries developed the handbook. It consists of nine chapters focusing on HTA institutional development (structural setup, work processes, and visibility).Conclusions: Setting up organizational structures and establishing effective HTA programs that guide key policy decisions is a challenging task. There are no standard models or pathways. “One size fits all” is not a useful principle because of the wide systemic and cultural differences between countries. The Handbook on HTA Capacity Building includes approaches for overall institutional development, especially in formulating objectives, setting up structures, and defining work processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 559-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artjoms Ivlevs ◽  
Roswitha M. King

For decades, countries aspiring to join the European Union (EU) have been linked to it through migration. Yet little is known about how migration affects individual support for joining the EU in prospective member states. We explore the relationship between migration and support for EU accession in the Western Balkans. Using data from the Gallup Balkan Monitor survey, we find that prospective and return migrants, as well as people with relatives abroad, are more likely to vote favorably in a hypothetical EU referendum. At the same time, only people with relatives abroad are more likely to consider EU membership a good thing. Our results suggest that migration affects attitudes toward joining the EU principally through instrumental/utilitarian motives, with channels related to information and cosmopolitanism playing only a minor role. Overall, we show that migration fosters support for joining the EU in migrants’ origin countries and that joining such a supranational institution is likely to foster political and institutional development of migrants’ origin countries.


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