The Sense and Nonsense of the EU Integration Debate

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-282
Author(s):  
Miroslava Scholten ◽  
Daniel Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Current Financial Crisis ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

The current financial crisis in the Eurozone has put the debate on EU integration back on the table. Yet, how does the debate on EU integration, particularly the arguments and ideals used in it, actually influence the process of EU integration? This article wishes to provide some food for thought by arguing the debate’s irrelevance in furthering or hindering the EU integration process. It does so by discussing the role of the debate’s arguments in shaping EU integration and by comparing the EU debate with the one had by the founding fathers of the US. The article shows the debate is beside the point largely because most steps in EU integration are driven by circumstances, events, or national interests, that even when one argument seems decisive it is likely to be elevated over others by circumstances, and that none of the debate’s arguments hold an intrinsic value over others.

scholarly journals An assessment of European integration for the EU-15 (1971-2015)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Constantinos Ikonomou
Keyword(s):  
Integration Process ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Production Union ◽  
Permanent Loss ◽  
The One ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Integration Stage ◽  
The Eu

A long-term assessment of the EU integration process is attempted for the1971-2015 period, by comparing per capita Gross Domestic Product (in constant Purchasing Power Parities) and its change, for EU-15 and non-EU states that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. A growing divergence is found between Greece but also Portugal and the EU southern periphery on the one hand, and Luxembourg, Ireland and Scandinavian states on the other that have benefi ted from EU integration, especially after the Eurozone was formed. Those EU-15 members that have joined the Eurozone have not benefi ted as much as non-members. It is suggested that two types of states can be trapped by the integration process: The relative or absolute losers of the currency zone, like Greece and states like the UK that have benefi ted less from integration, while choosing to remain at an earlier integration stage. Given the mix of monetary and fi scal policies pursued, resolving the former problem will require setting-up a common production union to advance competitiveness and co-operation, while solution to the latter should avoid the risk of disintegration and of the permanent loss of EU membership.

scholarly journals The institutional role of the Albanian Financial Supervisor Authority

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Arber Gjeta ◽  
Valbona Ballkoçi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Market ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Banking Market ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This paper aims to examine, describe and rise critical issues on the role of the Albanian Financial Supervisor Authority within the Albanian financial system. The independence of this institution is examined under the provisions of the Law and secondary legislation as the main authority which guarantee the safeguard of the system and an effective control. The relationship of the Authority with the operators of insurance, financial market and pension funding schemes is driven by the fulfillment of its institutional role: the supervision of a new and unestablished market. The banking market, on the other side, moves from monopoly to competition and there are findings that suggest an oligopoly created in Albania. Thus, the important role of the Authority to foster competition is one of the most important, due to its obligations in the EU integration process. Its institutional role and its prerogatives are examined in order to determine if there is a complete and adequate regulation of the system.

“A Very Eden of the Innate Rights of Man”? A Marxist Look at the European Union Treaties and Case Law

1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (03) ◽  
pp. 581-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustav Peebles
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Commodity Fetishism ◽  
Exchange Value ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Eu

In this paper I approach the European Union Treaties (Rome and Maastricht) and the European Court of Justice's jurisprudence from a Marxist standpoint. I argue that the treaties and case law of the European Union (EU) revolve around the rights of things (commodities), rather than of people. People primarily gain rights within the EU by demonstrating that they embody exchange value and are therefore personified commodities; people are not accorded rights merely for being human. In essence, the treaties and case law have enshrined Marx's notion of commodity fetishism, which Marx asserted to be a social mystification, into transparent law. Focusing on the grand scheme of the treaties' jurisdiction in this manner also illuminates the role of the court as it struggles to balance the demands of capital's self-valorization with fundamental human rights. I then consider the consequences of this balancing act for the EU integration process. I argue that this phenomenon as a whole also carries implications for EU civil society and for notions of legal equality among persons.

scholarly journals Rola programu PHARE w rozwoju przedsiębiorczości w Polsce w latach 1989-2004

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Jakub Sosin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Process Support ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Eu

The article shows the role of the PHARE programme in the development of enterprise in Poland 1989-2004. The programme was introduced in 1989 as the EU help, first only for Poland and Hungary, hence the name built of the first letters of the full English name „PolandHungary Assistance to Restructuring their Economies”. In 1990 countries like Albania, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia joined the programme. Till 2000 seventeen countries in our region benefited from the programme. The programme was divided into some stages: 1989-1991 short-term help, 1991-1994 training and consultancy, 1994-1997 investment support, from 1998 till joining the EU integration process support. It is Poland that has got the most funds from the programme so far (21% of the PHARE budget, till 2000). For the years 2000-2006 a programme called PHARE 2 was created. Ten countries from the middle-eastern Europe benefit from the programme, also the countries that were candidates and from 1st May, 2004 are members of the EU as well as some Balkan countries. This programme had four editions: PHARE 2000, PHARE 2001, PHARE 2002, PHARE 2003 and, depend on the subject of help, appeared under different names. PHARE programme is very wide and diverse. It was evolving during its realization. Funds from many of its components helped to develop enterprise in Poland, directly and indirectly.

scholarly journals The Possibility of a 'Dead Europe': Tsiolkas, Houellebecq and European Mythologies

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Manganas
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Perpetual Peace ◽  
The One ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
The Eu

This article posits that two constituent mythologies sustain and drive the EU integration process. The first is the tension between the twin narratives of “perpetual peace” and “perpetual suffering.” The second fundamental mythology of the EU project is the tension between the narratives of Europe as on the one hand “authentic” and as “cosmopolitan” on the other. Both of these constituent mythologies are essential in forming what is emerging as a pan-European, Europtimist raison d’etre. This article posits that two recent novels, the Australian Christos Tsiolkas’s Dead Europe (2005) and the French Michel Houellebecq’s The Possibility of an Island (2006) subvert these two mythologies and in the process undermine the legitimacy of recent works of Europtomist scholarship.

scholarly journals "When you marry a Serb, then you do not have any problems". Foreigners in Serbia - introduction to anthropological analysis

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Marija Brujic
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
German Woman ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Individual Strategies ◽  
The Eu

Although according to some scholars, Serbia does not have great immigration potential, there is more and more research within social science?s framework about immigrants in Serbia. However, the majority of these papers focus on current ?migration crisis? and, in relation to this, asylum seekers and irregular migrants. Therefore, this paper has had manifold aims. Firstly, the paper has drawn attention to the anthropological study of foreigners who live and work in Serbia. Secondly, it has revealed some of the problems they had been confronted with in reality. Within this framework, the focus was on highly qualified female foreigners from the EU countries who came for love or/and work which is a topic that does not occupy a prominent place in anthropological research in Serbia. However, with regard to the EU-integration of Serbia and Europeanization of migratory policies, the research of personal experiences of foreigners living in Serbia could signify the gaps in migrants? integration policy and in the adaptation of migration strategies. Thus, in this research were used in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in 2016 in Belgrade as a method of collecting data and the ?bottom-up? approach. As a result, in this paper were analyzed narratives of a German and a British woman about their everyday experiences connected with their residing and working status. Their narratives showed their struggle with Serbian bureaucracy and related to this, how they legalized their ?migratory status?. Furthermore, in the analysis of the micro context the term ?ethnography of particular? was used, an approach developed by Lila Abu-Lughod in order to, one the one hand, avoid generalization and, on the other, to focus on individual life histories, which is an approach usually used in socio-anthropological studies. In particular, the paper stresses the relevance of individual strategies used for regulation of residence of foreigners in Serbia. Both British and German woman are married to Serbs, have no children, speak The Serbian language, socialize mainly with the Serbs and live and work in Belgrade. While German woman came during Milosevic?s regime in 1999, the British woman came in 2002. Although they did not suffer from ?professional deskilling?, which is typical for female migration in general, they both had to prequalify in order to find a job in Serbia. However, they both found it was easier to regulate their residence status through family, not working, visa, especially before new legal documents concerning foreigners? status were introduced. For instance, the most important legal document adopted as part of EU-integration process are Law on Foreigners (2008), Law on Migration Management (2012) and Law on Employment and Work of Foreign Citizens (2014). Foreigners living in Serbia represent the important group as many of them either work or use their pensions in Serbia. Therefore, having in mind the importance of Europeanization of migratory strategies in Serbia within Europeanization of Serbia and EU-integration process in general and possible migration of EU nationals to Serbia, this paper discussed the importance of individual (working) migration to Serbia on a micro level.

scholarly journals Jan Hornat: Transatlantic Democracy Assistance. Promoting Different Models of Democracy.

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-73
Author(s):  
Veronika Bílková
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Democracy Assistance ◽  
Constructivist View ◽  
The Us ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

The approaches of EU institutions and the US to democracy assistance often vary quite significantly as both actors choose different means and tactics. The nuances in the understandings of democracy on the part of the EU and the US lead to their promotion of models of democratic governance that are often quite divergent and, in some respects, clashing. This book examines the sources of this divergence and by focusing on the role of the actors’ "democratic identity" it aims to explain the observation that both actors use divergent strategies and instruments to foster democratic governance in third countries. Taking a constructivist view, it demonstrates that the history, expectations and experiences with democracy of each actor significantly inform their respective definition of democracy and thus the model of democracy they promote abroad. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in democracy promotion, democratization, political theory, EU and US foreign policy and assistance, and identity research.

scholarly journals The Pandemic and the Crisis in the System of International Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Al. A. Gromyko
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
The Eu

The research is focused on several key problems in the system of international relations influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shown that the events caused by it and broadly identified as a coronacrisis have a direct impact on the world economic contradictions (pandenomica) and political ones, including the sphere of security. These particular aspects are chosen as the main objects of the research. The author contends that the factor of the pandemic has sharpened the competition between regional and global players and has increased the role of a nation- state. In the conditions of transregional deglobalisation, regionalism and “protectionism 2.0” get stronger under the banners of “strategic vulnerability” and “economic sovereignty”. A further weakening of multilateral international institutions continues. The EU endeavours to secure competitive advantages on the basis of relocalisation, industrial and digital policies and the Green Deal. The article highlights the deterioration in the relations among Russia, the US, the EU and China, the unfolding decoupling between Washington and its European allies, which stimulates the idea of the EU strategic autonomy. An urgent need for the deconfliction in Russia – NATO interaction is stated.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document