Introduction: European Social Policy and Society after Brexit: Neoliberalism, Populism, and Social Quality

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Steve Corbett ◽  
Alan Walker

The narrow referendum decision for British exit from the European Union (Brexit), and its explosive political consequences, has become a lens through which decades-long tensions in European society can be viewed. The result, which was expected to be a clear Remain victory, has been interpreted as various combinations of: the unleashing of xenophobic and racist anti-immigrant sentiment; a kick back against disinterested elites by ‘left behind’ people; the fermenting of nationalist populism by political and media actors; a clash of cultural values; a rejection of ‘market is all’ globalisation in favour of national borders; or as a reaction against austerity, inequality and insecurity (Corbett, 2016; Goodwin and Heath, 2016; Hobolt, 2016; Inglehart and Norris, 2016; Kaufmann, 2016; Pettifor, 2016; Room, 2016; Seidler, 2018; Taylor-Gooby, 2017). This British-made shock has parallels in and consequences for wider European society. In the Referendum, the EU became an emblematic representation of the distrusted, remote, technocratic elites, who are said to be responsible for an unbelievably large number of societal ills. Meanwhile across Europe there are varieties of Eurosceptic populism and distrust of elites on both the right and left (Ivaldi et al., 2017).

2013 ◽  
pp. 143-146
Author(s):  
Orsolya Nagy

The use of renewable energies has a long past, even though its share of the total energy use is rather low in European terms. However, the tendencies are definitely favourable which is further strengthened by the dedication of the European Union to sustainable development and combat against climate change. The European Union is on the right track in achieving its goal which is to be able to cover 20% its energy need from renewable energy resources by 2020. The increased use of wind, solar, water, tidal, geothermal and biomass energy will reduce the energy import dependence of the European Union and it will stimulate innovation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Maas

Abstract This article surveys some general lessons to be drawn from the tension between the promise of citizenship to deliver equality and the particularistic drive to maintain diversity. Democratic states tend to guarantee free movement within their territory to all citizens, as a core right of citizenship. Similarly, the European Union guarantees (as the core right of EU citizenship) the right to live and the right to work anywhere within EU territory to EU citizens and members of their families. Such rights reflect the project of equality and undifferentiated individual rights for all who have the status of citizen. But they are not uncontested. Within the EU, several member states propose to reintroduce border controls and to restrict access for EU citizens who claim social assistance. Similar tensions and attempts to discourage freedom of movement also exist in other political systems, and the article gives examples from the United States and Canada. Within democratic states, particularly federal ones and others where decentralized jurisdictions are responsible for social welfare provision, it thus appears that some citizens can be more equal than others. Principles such as benefit portability, prohibition of residence requirements for access to programs or rights, and mutual recognition of qualifications and credentials facilitate the free flow of people within states and reflect the attempt to eliminate internal borders. Within the growing field of migration studies, most research focuses on international migration, movement between states, involving international borders. But migration across jurisdictional boundaries within states is at least as important as international migration. Within the European Union, free movement often means changing residence across jurisdictional boundaries within a political system with a common citizenship, even though EU citizenship is not traditional national citizenship. The EU is thus a good test of the tension between the equality promised by common citizenship and the diversity institutionalized by borders.


2020 ◽  
pp. 121-153
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Homewood

This chapter discusses the law on the free movement of persons in the EU. Free movement of persons is one of the four ‘freedoms’ of the internal market. Original EC Treaty provisions granted free movement rights to the economically active—workers, persons exercising the right of establishment, and persons providing services in another Member State. The Treaty also set out the general principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, ‘within the scope of application of the Treaty’. All these provisions are now contained in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Early secondary legislation granted rights to family members, students, retired persons, and persons of independent means. The Citizenship Directive 2004/38 consolidated this legislation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Saila Heinikoski

This article discusses how the right to free movement within the European Union is presented as a matter of obligation, a duty of the other EU member states, in the discourse of Romanian Presidents and Prime Ministers (2005–2015). An examination of speeches and other statements from these politicians illuminates Romanian political reactions during the period when Romania became an EU member state, and reflects perceptions of Europeanness and European agreements. These issues take on an additional contemporary significance in the context of the Brexit negotiations, and they also add to the broader debate on whether EU norms and obligations are seen as being both just and equally applied. By analysing different types of argumentative topoi, I examine the deontological (obligation-based) argumentation employed in the free movement context. Furthermore, I examine to what extent these arguments are invoked in support of the right to free movement and who this right applies to. I argue that for Romanian politicians, deontological free movement arguments are connected to other states’ compliance with European treaties and to demands for equal application of European rules without discrimination, or the delegation of responsibility to others. This manifested itself most frequently in the calls for the EU and its member states to do their duty by treating Romanians equally to other EU citizens.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mor Sobol

The European Union (EU) and China are on a quest to establish themselves as global actors. Still, both powers first need to create a stable neighbourhood that will not threaten their interests. Consequently, in 2004 the EU launched the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), while in 2013 China’s Peripheral Diplomacy (CPD) was introduced. Against this background, this article aims to conduct a comparative analysis of both initiatives. Specifically, as there is a wide agreement that the ENP has failed to generate any impact on the EU’s periphery, the research question is: To what extent could the CPD transcend the problems of its European counterpart? The article posits that both policies are rather similar in their inability to strike the right balance between protecting core interests and acknowledging the neighbours’ needs. Thus, it is likely that the CPD, just like the ENP, will remain a policy with big potential but without effective results.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-257
Author(s):  
William Walters

Social scientific interest in "social Europe" pales in compar- ison with the attention that has been directed toward the economic and political dimensions of the European Union (EU). This is perhaps hardly surprising; for much of its relatively short history, the system that is today the EU has been almost exclusively economic in its focus. Only since the 1980s has the project of European integration acquired a significant social dimension. Given this imbalance, Robert Geyer provides a welcome and timely addition to the litera- ture.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Anna Doliwa-Klepacka

Abstract The principle of multilingualism in the legal system of the European Union is one of the key elements that guarantees, among others, the right of access to EU legislation. It is particularly important not only in the sphere of the direct application of the EU law, but also in the sphere of access to information during the lawmaking procedures at the EU institutions. A special case is, however, a stage of preparing a draft legislative proposal by the European Commission. The EU member states agree to limit the use of official language version to the working documents for “working” languages of the Commission, i.e. English, French and German. In practice, English and French are the most widely used languages for the working arrangements in the preparation of the draft legislation, mainly due to costs of the necessary translations and an effectiveness of this stage. This article presents a course of the stage of the drafting a legislative proposal by the Commission and illustrates the scope of work partly exempted from the obligation to ensure the full application of the principle of equivalence of all the official languages of the European Union.


10.12737/5251 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-74
Author(s):  
Габриэлла Белова ◽  
Gabriela Belova ◽  
Мария Хаджипетрова-Лачова ◽  
Maria Hadzhipetrova-Lachova

The authors analyze certain cases considered in recent years by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of European Union in Luxembourg and associated with providing of asylum to the third country nationals. In individual EU member states there are huge differences in the procedures and protective mechanisms for asylum seekers in their access to work, as well as in the use of mechanism of forced detention. Due to accession of the EU to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the EU should comply the standards set by the Council of Europe. The authors analyze the new approach of the Strasbourg Court in decision MSS v. Belgium and Greece unlike other "Dublin" cases. They also consider certain new judgements of the Court of European Union in Luxembourg, some of which were accepted in order of urgent prejudicial production.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Māris Jurušs

Abstract There are significant losses in tax revenues across the European Union (EU). National governments lose billions of euros in the revenues from non-paid taxes and other illegal activities. The fight against aggressive tax planning, tax fraud and illegal activities is on the agenda of the EU, OECD and all the national governments. However, due to the size of tax losses it should not be treated just as tax evasion, but rather as tax terrorism! Therefore, the author has set criteria when tax evasion should be named as “tax terrorism” as well as designed the principles for tackling tax terrorism and other ways of non-payment of taxes. The tax evasion could be treated as “tax terrorism” in case of international evasion from taxes by organized groups of persons for criminal purposes as well as when it creates significant losses in government revenues. The term “tax terrorism” would have impact to communication and cause response of society and politics, therefore it would have more social and political consequences.


Author(s):  
Maciej Mróz

The previous model of the Polish-Ukrainian relations has come to an end, while the new one is in the phase of statu nascendi. The fundamental contradiction of the basic interests of Kiev and Warsaw has worked out and is still relevant up to date. While Ukraine is looking for ways to integrate with the EU and needs a strong Europe, putting on Paris and Berlin, and thus ipso facto focusing on strengthening the European community, Poland has entered the path of euro-skepticism and quasi-Jagiellonian policy. The concept of a good change has triggered the most serious reorientation in foreign policy of Poland over the last quarter of a century. The amazement of the outside observers, also in Ukraine, might be aroused by the fact that Polish Eastern policy has been pursued by the same circle of experts under the previous government of the PO–PSL coalition as well as under the current government of the PiS-led united right. After several years of the right-wing rule the Ukrainian analysts see the growing degradation process of Poland’s significance in Europe, its increasing confrontational tendencies towards countries outside the European Union, including relations with Ukraine. Primarily, it is a political dimension, though, it can be perceived also as a symbolic dimension and symbols mean a lot in politics. Key words: Poland; Ukraine; European Union; NATO; United States of America; Russian Federation; Intermarium; Germany.


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