Intergovernmental cooperation networks, national policy positions and partisan ideologies: longitudinal evidence from the Council of the European Union

NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS ARE CENTRAL ACTORS IN THE SCRUTINY AND implementation of European Union (EU) legislation. Member state legislatures provide a channel for incorporating public opinion into the governance of the Union. Their importance has become more evident during the 1990s as debate has focused on the democratic deficit and deparliamentarization of European governance.National parliaments are involved in EU decision-making in three ways: they 1) participate in national policy formulation on Union legislation; 2) monitor the behaviour of member state representatives in the Council of Ministers and the European Council; and 3) have functions specifically regulated in the treaties, such as ratification of treaty amendments and implementation of directives. The third function differs from the first two as the treaties impose rights and duties on the national parliaments, whereas there is no EU law on national policy formulation on Union legislation or on the scrutiny of ministers. During the 1996-97 Intergovernmental Conference (ICC) the member states saw no need for such European-level regulation. Thus it is up to each national parliament – within the limits set by member state constitutions and other constraints – to decide how it deals with the challenges brought by EU membership.

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European Union Rights and Values in Human Health

EU Health Law & Policy ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198788096.003.0002 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 16-51

Author(s):

Anniek de Ruijter

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

European Union ◽

National Policy ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

The European Union ◽

Member States ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Eu Fundamental Rights ◽

The Eu

This book looks at the impact of the expanding power of the EU in terms of fundamental rights and values. The current chapter lays down the framework for this analysis. Law did not always have a central role to play in the context of medicine and health. The role of law grew after the Second Word War and the Nuremberg Doctors Trials (1947), in which preventing the repetition of atrocities that were committed in the name of medicine became a guidepost for future law regarding patients’ rights and bioethics. In the period after the War, across the EU Member States, health law developed as a legal discipline in which a balance was struck in medicine and public health between law, bioethics, and fundamental rights. The role of EU fundamental rights protections in the context of public health and health care developed in relation with the growth of multilevel governance and litigation (national, international, Council of Europe, and European Union). For the analysis here, this chapter develops an EU rights and values framework that goes beyond the strictly legal and allows for a ‘normative language’ that takes into consideration fundamental rights as an expression of important shared values in the context of the European Union. The perspective of EU fundamental rights and values can demonstrate possible tensions caused by EU health policy: implications in terms of fundamental rights can show how highly sensitive national policy issues may be affected by the Member States’ participation in EU policymaking activities.

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5. Key Policies

The European Union: How does it work? ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780198807490.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 101-122

Author(s):

John Peterson ◽

Alberta Sbragia

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Monetary Union ◽

Competition Policy ◽

Policy Making ◽

Negative Impact ◽

National Policy ◽

Social Regulation ◽

The European Union ◽

The Common ◽

Policy Types

This chapter examines some of the most important areas of policy-making in the European Union. It first explains how EU policy-making differs from national policy-making before discussing the most important policies aimed at building the internal market and limiting its potentially negative impact on individuals, society, and the environment. The EU’s ‘market-building’ policies include competition policy, trade policy, and the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), while ‘market-correcting’ and ‘cushioning’ policies include the common agricultural policy, the cohesion policy, and environmental and social regulation. The chapter shows how these policies are made and also why and how they matter. It also compares policy types in the EU.

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The evolution of political networks: Evidence from the Council of the European Union

European Union Politics ◽

10.1177/1465116517740228 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 25-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Narisong Huhe ◽

Daniel Naurin ◽

Robert Thomson

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

European Union ◽

Network Theory ◽

Network Evolution ◽

The European Union ◽

Unique Combination ◽

Policy Positions ◽

Political Actors ◽

Political Networks ◽

Over Time

We test two of the main explanations of the formation of political ties. The first states that political actors are more likely to form a relationship if they have similar policy preferences. The second explanation, from network theory, predicts that the likelihood of a tie between two actors depends on the presence of certain relationships with other actors. Our data consist of a unique combination of actors' policy positions and their network relations over time in the Council of the European Union. We find evidence that both types of explanations matter, although there seems to be variation in the extent to which preference similarity affects network evolution. We consider the implications of these findings for understanding the decision-making in the Council.

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Danish European Union Policies

The Oxford Handbook of Danish PoliticsThe Oxford Handbook of Danish Politics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198833598.013.44 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 486-501

Author(s):

Mads Dagnis Jensen ◽

Peter Nedergaard

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Agricultural Policy ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

The European Union ◽

General Picture ◽

Policy Positions ◽

Change Policy ◽

The Common ◽

Political Differences ◽

The Eu

This chapter examines Denmark’s different positions on European Union policies which vary in terms of the degree to which sovereignty has been transferred to the EU. Specifically, it traces trade policy (very high transfer), agricultural policy (high transfer), internal market (moderate transfer), and opt-outs (low transfer) diachronically to illuminate the extent to which positions have changed over time and the underlying factors behind these changes. While the level of politicization varies between the policy areas, and party political differences play a role, the general picture that emerges is interest based. According to this approach, Denmark is positive towards giving up sovereignty regarding policies it benefits from economically, while it is more reluctant towards policies involving the transfer of sovereignty and money that are not offset by net economic benefits. In this chapter, this is demonstrated through an analysis stretching back to the decades before Danish membership to the European Union. Denmark also seems to change policy positions when the economic benefits for the country changes, as seen in the case of the Common Agricultural Policy.

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Corporate Governance in EU Agencies: The Europol Case

International Journal of Operations Management ◽

10.18775/ijom.2757-0509.2020.14.4004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 33-44

Author(s):

Eugenio Orlandi

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

The Political ◽

The European Union ◽

International Convention ◽

Intergovernmental Cooperation ◽

Council Decision ◽

The Board Of Directors ◽

Research Questions ◽

The One

There is a trend in government to establish semi-autonomous public organizations, “Agencies”, to carry out public tasks, implement policies, regulate markets and policy sectorsor deliver public services. Once an Agency is established, it is necessary to ensure proper governance. Object of this paper is to answer three Research Questions. RQ1: “Is EU Agencies governance subject to change over time”? If the answeris “Yes”, a second question (RQ2) pops up: ‘Why EU Agencies’ governance is subject to change?” Last but not least, change has to be implemented. The topic is developed in relation to the choice made by the European Union,the one-size-fits-all modelthat makes the work of controllers simple. Are we sure that such a model“is the best choice for EU Agencies’ governance?” (RQ3). If RQ1 is self-evident, more interesting are RQ2 and RQ3 because explain the nature of change (Why) and How change was introduced. In this quest, the tasks assigned to the Board of Directors and the Executive Directorare mapped against Agencies’ mission. In the case of the European Police Office, in eight years three founding acts-an international Convention, a Council decision and a Regulation - have changed the tasks of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Directorin line with the evolution of the political scenari: from intergovernmental cooperation to a policy assigned by the Lisbon Treatyto the European Union.

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Resistance against the Court of Justice of the European Union

International Journal of Law in Context ◽

10.1017/s174455231800006x ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 258-274 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Andreas Hofmann

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

National Policy ◽

Case Law ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Considerable Heterogeneity ◽

Multiple Strategies ◽

Court Of Justice ◽

Multiple Processes ◽

Practical Effect

AbstractThis contribution reviews different forms of resistance against the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). While backlash is rare, various forms of pushback are more common than accounts of the CJEU's apparent success suggest. It is not uncommon that national policy-makers, administrations and the judiciary fail to comply with individual rulings. Moreover, Member State authorities have developed multiple strategies to limit the practical effect of controversial lines of CJEU case-law. The availability of ‘work-arounds’ that national authorities can live with shields the CJEU against significant backlash. At the same time, the multiple processes of pushback in the Member States lead to an outcome of considerable heterogeneity.

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European Union’s external strategies for the rights of the child

Childhood ◽

10.1177/0907568219853869 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 386-406

Author(s):

Johanna von Bahr

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Original Data ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

Comparative Approach ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Positions ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Rights Of The Child ◽

Non Governmental Organizations

This article offers the first quantitative analysis of European Union external strategies for children’s rights. Drawing on original data, it finds that European Union diplomatic pressure and economic aid have increased over time but that the European Union still lacks independent policy positions on children’s rights. European Union strategies target states to different degrees and international non-governmental organizations are favoured over domestic organizations. Findings suggest that the European Union is becoming a more significant actor of child rights governance, underscoring the value of a comparative approach.

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Bargaining in the European Union and Shifts in Actors’ Policy Positions

European Union Politics ◽

10.1177/1465116504040445 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 47-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Javier Arregui ◽

Frans Stokman ◽

Robert Thomson

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Positions ◽

And Shifts

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Adaptation and Integration through Policy Re-categorization

Journal of Public Policy ◽

10.1017/s0143814x03003076 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 157-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Trygve Ugland

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

European Union ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Public Policies ◽

National Policy ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Coherence ◽

The Relationship ◽

Frequent Observation ◽

The Eu

This comparative study analyses how the state alcohol monopoly systems in Finland, Norway and Sweden were affected by interaction with the European Union (EU). Pressures from the EU, as well as the contrasting domestic responses in this process, are viewed in relation to how these institutions were integrated in terms of consistency, interdependence and structural connectedness. The article goes beyond the frequent observation that external scrutiny and pressures challenge national policy coherence to show that domestic public policies also may emerge more coherent and integrated. It is suggested that the relationship between the way public policies are integrated, categorized and re-categorized provides important insights towards our understanding of the dynamics of public policy.

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