Show the money first! Recent public attitudes towards the EU in Italy

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolò Conti ◽  
Vincenzo Memoli
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
The Eu

In the recent past, attitudes towards the EU have become problematic in many member states. Even those countries that traditionally were more optimistic have actually experienced important declines in their popular backing of the European integration process. We examine the public attitudes towards the EU that have recently emerged in Italy, a country where support for EU membership has declined substantially. Making use of recent data and novel research techniques, the article sheds light on the explanatory power of different theoretical perspectives to explain these attitudes. Utilitarianism has emerged as the key explanatory factor, whereas other theories appear much less relevant in the Italian context.

Germany, Europe, and the Politics of Constraint

2003 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
European Public ◽  
German Model ◽  
Shaping Power ◽  
The Eu

The process of European integration is marked both by continued deepening and widening, and by growing evidence of domestic disquiet and dissent. Against this background, this book examines three key themes: the challenge to the power of member states – as subjects of European integration – to determine the course of the integrationist project and to shape European public policies; the constraints in the domestic political arena experienced by member states as objects of European integration; and the contestation over both the ‘constitutive politics of the EU’ and specific policy choices. These three themes – power, constraint, and contestation – and their interdependence are explored with specific reference to Germany. The main findings call for a revision of the ‘conventional wisdom’ about Germany's Europeanization experience. First, while Germany continues to engage intensively in all aspects of the integration process, its power to ‘upload’ – ‘hard’ and ‘soft’, ‘deliberate’ or ‘unintentional’, ‘institutional’ or ‘ideational’ – appears in decline. Germany's capacity to ‘shape its regional milieu’ is challenged by both changes in the integration process and the ever-more-apparent weaknesses of the ‘German model’. The traditional regional core milieu is shrinking in size and importance in an enlarging Europe, and Germany's milieu-shaping power is being challenged. Second, the coincidence of enabling and constraining effects is being progressively replaced by a discourse that notes unwelcome constrictions associated with EU membership.

scholarly journals At the origin of Italian Euroscepticism

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Brunazzo ◽  
Bruno Mascitelli
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Italian Politics ◽  
The Eu

The dominant narrative about the virtue of European integration is no longer the mantra of Italian politics. Alongside those parties who inherited the traditional ‘Europhile’ position, one can find parties whose support toward the EU is uncertain (like Forza Italia) or openly questioning the integration process (such as the Lega, Fratelli d’Italia and the Movimento 5 Stelle). Moreover, Euroscepticism in Italy reflects a deep change in the public opinion towards the EU: the consistent traditional supportexpressed by the Italians has of recent become more volatile and even critical. This article provides a brief look at changes in Italian positions on European integration, with a focus on the sentiments of both public opinion and the political elites, particularly after the Italy’s entry into the Eurozone in 1998.

Public Administration Reform in Ukraine in the Face of European Integration

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (0) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Olesia Radyszewska
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Administration System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One

The purpose of this study is to present selected aspects of complex issues of transformations in the public administration system of Ukraine, and changes of administrative law in the context of the European integration process. The author, on the one hand, points to new possible duties of public administration bodies created by the European integration process, and, on the other hand, raises attention to new challenges facing the public administration reform, in particular in the candidate states to the European Union, such as Ukraine. The author establishes strong links between the public administration reform and the European integration process. It is of great importance if an aspiring EU member is to prepare its administration well for the challenges of EU membership.

scholarly journals Current Challenges of European Integration - 12th Network Europe Conference, 9 – 10 November 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
André S. Berne ◽  
Jelena Ceranic Perisic ◽  
Viorel Cibotaru ◽  
Alex de Ruyter ◽  
Ivana Kunda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Majority Vote ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Massive Influx ◽  
The Common ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Eu

Crises are not a new phenomenon in the context of European integration. Additional integration steps could often only be achieved under the pressure of crises.  At present, however, the EU is characterised by multiple crises, so that the integration process as a whole is sometimes being questioned. In 2015, the crisis in the eurozone had escalated to such an extent that for the first time a member state was threatened to leave the eurozone. Furthermore, the massive influx of refugees into the EU has revealed the shortcomings of the Schengen area and the common asylum policy. Finally, with the majority vote of the British in the referendum of 23 June 2016 in favour of the Brexit, the withdrawal of a member state became a reality for the first time. Even in the words of the European Commission, the EU has reached a crossroads. Against this background, the twelfth Network Europe conference included talks on the numerous challenges and future integration scenarios in Europe. 

The Party System: Structure, Policy, and Europeanization

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oskar Niedermayer
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Party System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
System Properties ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Eu

The German party system has changed since the 1980s. The relatively stable ‘two-and-a-half party’ system of the 1960s and 1970s has become a fluid five-party system. This development can generally be attributed to changes on the demand and supply sides of party competition and to the changing institutional framework. The European integration process is part of this institutional framework and this chapter deals with the question of whether it has influenced the development of the party system at the national level. To systematically analyse the possible impact, eight party-system properties are distinguished: format, fragmentation, asymmetry, volatility, polarization, legitimacy, segmentation, and coalition stability. The analysis shows that one cannot speak of a Europeanization of the German party system in the sense of a considerable impact of the European integration process on its development. Up to now, the inclusion of Germany in the systemic context of the EU has not led to noticeable changes of party-system properties. On the demand side of party competition, this is due to the fact that the EU issue does not influence the citizens' electoral decisions. On the supply side, the lack of Europeanization can be explained mainly by the traditional, interest-based pro-European élite consensus, the low potential for political mobilization around European integration, and the marginal role of ethnocentrist–authoritarian parties.

The Netherlands and European Integration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Segers
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Polished Surface ◽  
Constitutional Treaty ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Fortress Europe ◽  
The Veil ◽  
The Eu

Why did the Netherlands take part in the process of European integration from the beginning? How did that happen, and what consequences did it have? At present, questions like these linger immediately beneath the polished surface of the official narratives of economic rationalism and idealistic instrumentalism that dominate narratives about the Netherlands’ role as founding member of European integration. The clear no-vote in the 2005 referendum on the constitutional treaty for the EU and the outbreak of the Euro-crisis in 2010 have pulled the veil away from these underlying issues. As one of the founders of today’s European Union, the Netherlands has been a key player in the process of European integration. The Dutch like to think of themselves as shapers of European integration—matching their image in historiography—but the history of their participation in the European project often tells a very different story. Yes, as founders of the EU, the Dutch actively co-shaped European integration, but often in ways not unveiled in the official and rather consistent post facto narratives. In the past decades, governments in The Hague often steered an erratic course in European integration, trying to reconcile high hopes for instrumental free trade arrangements and transatlantic community with a deep-seated anxiety over the potential emergence of a small, continental, and politicized “fortress Europe.” This is a story that is both less known to the public and less prominent in the existing historiography.

scholarly journals Artikel

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-394
Author(s):  
Jenny Cisneros Örnberg ◽  
Hildigunnur Ólafsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
International Pressures ◽  
The Eu

The growth of the EU internal market has made it more difficult to maintain effective national regulation in the area of public health. The EEA agreement and EU membership of the Nordic countries resulted in the abolition of all of the monopolies on alcohol except at the retail level. The article examines how the Nordic alcohol retail monopolies have developed and reacted to national and international pressures on their activities from the mid 1990s to 2006. The article also analyzes what effects the changing surroundings of the Nordic alcohol monopolies have had on the monopolies' present tasks, positions and political aims. The method used in this study is document analysis and interviewing. The material analysed includes annual reports of the Nordic alcohol monopolies, their web pages, reports and brochures, and the laws and regulations pertaining to the monopolies. The article shows that the monopolies have worked purposefully to make themselves popular with the public, with an increased focus on customer service. These changes are based upon both international pressures and changes in perspective within politics in general, where a slow transition from a collectivist solidarity perspective to a more individualistic lifestyle perspective can be discerned.

scholarly journals Public Opinion in Europe toward the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Ringlerova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political system that unites more than twenty-five European countries. European integration began to facilitate economic cooperation. Over time, it evolved into both an economic and political union. The progress in European integration accelerated in the 1980s and the 1990s. As a result, the European Union was established in 1993 and assumed more political power. The process of establishing the European Union was slowed by the results of a referendum in Denmark, which at first did not approve the treaty establishing the EU. This referendum made it clear that public support for European integration could no longer be taken for granted and that public attitudes toward the EU are crucial for the European Union’s future development. In other words, the era of permissive consensus ended and it became clear that public opinion has become a powerful force in the development of European integration. Since then, public opinion has had a clear influence on the direction of European integration in a number of ways. Examples of this influence include the rejection of the single European currency in Sweden, the failure of the Constitution for Europe, and, most notably, the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the EU. Public opinion has influenced European politics in other ways as well. For example, national political elites, acting at the European level, are constrained in their decisions by public opinion at home. The importance of understanding public opinion toward the EU has given rise to a lively research program. In their quest to understand citizens’ attitudes toward the EU, researchers first had to conceptualize the key concepts in this field, in particular the meaning of public support for the EU. Following this, scholars began to investigate why people support or oppose the European Union, which became the most widely studied topic in this field. In addition, studies have examined public support for specific European policies, determinants of voting in EU-related referendums, public support for EU membership in countries outside the EU, and the extent to which public opinion matters for policymaking in the EU. All these topics are included in this annotated bibliography. The section devoted to General Introductions and Review Articles lists review articles and textbook chapters that provide a quick overview of the topic as a whole. The next section, What Is Public Support for the EU and How Do We Explain It?, digs deeper into the concept of public support for the EU, asking how the concept is defined and what explains support for the EU. The following three sections deal with public opinion toward specific EU policies (Public Opinion toward Specific EU Policies), public support for the EU in nonmember states (Public Support for the EU in Candidate Countries and Other Nonmember States), and the question of public opinion’s influence on policymaking in the EU (Does Public Opinion Matter for Policymaking in the EU?). The second-to-last section is devoted to referendums on European matters (Referendums: Explaining the People’s Vote, Explaining Brexit). The last section (Data Sources) looks at data sources that can be used in the study of public attitudes toward the EU.

scholarly journals The Czech paradigm of european integration: problems and perspectives

2018 ◽  
pp. 42-64
Author(s):  
Svitlana Motruk Svitlana Motruk
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Main Stage ◽  
Structural Reforms ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Integration Problems ◽  
The Eu

On the basis of a wide range of documents from the European Union and Czech Republic, the article analyses preconditions, main stage and consequences of the integration with the EU, the features of the Czech integration model, its legislative basis and institutional mechanism. The author emphasizes that the transition into a full-fledge EU member in May 2004 was the result of a long, complicated and painful process of the «European Come Back», which started in the early 1990’s and allowed the state’s government to solve a number of problems. In particular, the author argues that the Czech government managed to have improved the macroeconomic situation, to accelerate structural reforms and to adapt the national legislation to the EU legislative system. The Czech experience proves that the EU membership may have both advantages and disadvantages. The article draws special attention to the results and consequences of the Czech EU membership. Numerous facts provided in the paper allow to evaluate the state’s gains from the integration processes and to emphasize the key trends, main challenges and new opportunities for the country. Last but not least, the article studies the causes of multivariance and discrepancy of the European integration prospects, the low level of trust among the Czechs towards the EU, stable strengthening of European skepticism, the factors that had an impact on the results of the last parliamentary and presidential elections of 2017 and 2018 respectively.

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