1. Why EU institutions matter:

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Dermot Hodson ◽  
Uwe Puetter ◽  
Sabine Saurugger
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
New Institutionalism ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Institutional Politics

The European Union (EU) cannot be understood without reference to its institutions. But scholars differ on the questions of what precisely EU institutions are, what they do, and why they matter. This chapter defines EU institutions as decision-making bodies. It refers to the notion of EU institutional politics as the sphere of informal and formal rules, norms, procedures, and practices that shape such decision-making. The chapter explores how different theoretical traditions—international relations, integration theory, new institutionalism, the separation of powers, governance, public policy and administration approaches, and critical perspectives—think about EU institutions. Drawing on these traditions, this chapter encourages readers to think about EU institutions along five dimensions: intergovernmental versus supranational, international versus transnational, separated versus fused power, leaders versus followers, and contested versus legitimate. Seeing how the Union’s decision-making bodies move within and between these dimensions offers a deeper understanding of why EU institutions matter.

1. Theorizing EU institutions: Why they matter for politics and international relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot Hodson ◽  
John Peterson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
New Institutionalism ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
The Eu

This edition examines why and how European Union institutions matter. It discusses the origins and development of EU institutions as well as their structures, functions, and powers. It also considers how a particular institution fits into the EU’s long wider institutional system, which theories help us best to understand the institution, and how the institution is likely to be changed by the EU’s long constitutional crisis and continued turmoil over the euro. This chapter provides a brief history and a taxonomy of EU institutions and considers the crises confronting EU institutions, including the referendum vote in the United Kingdom in 2016 to leave the EU. It also describes three competing theoretical approaches to the study of EU institutions: integration theory, the new institutionalism, and the separation of powers tradition. Finally, it looks at debates about the accountability of EU institutions.

The Governance of the European Union: A New Institutionalist Approach

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Bulmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Community ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
System Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Comparative Public Policy ◽  
Policy Perspective

ABSTRACTThe analysis of European integration has tended to use a toolkit drawn from international relations. But since the revival of integration in the mid-1980s, the governance of the European Community and European Union has increasingly come to resemble that of a multi-tiered state. Accordingly, this article analyzes the governance of the European Union from a comparative public policy perspective. Using new or historical institutionalism, three levels are considered. In the first part, attention is focused on the EU's institutions and the available instruments of governance. The second part examines the analysis of governance at the policy-specific or sub-system level, and puts forward an approach based on governance regimes. The final part considers the institutional roots of the persistent, regulatory character of governance in the European Union.

Public Policies

2020 ◽  
pp. 509-525
Author(s):  
Joan Subirats ◽  
Ricard Gomà
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Policy Style ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Operational Aspects

The objective of this chapter is to trace and present the main characteristics of the public policy system in Spain, incorporating policy change over time, as well as the policy style that has characterized its different stages. The transition between Francoism and democracy generated significant continuities and discontinuities both in the decision-making processes and in the actors’ system. The full incorporation into the European Union also involved significant changes in content, processes and networks. Finally, the impacts of the 2007 crisis and the effects of globalization and technological change also generated significant disruptions that will also be incorporated. The chapter will distinguish the conceptual, substantive, and operational aspects of the public policy system in Spain, as well as the main elements of the multilevel government. This aspect is especially complex in the Spanish case, given the combination of Europeanization of policies and the very remarkable regional decentralization generated by 1980.

scholarly journals Small and medium size states in international relations and in European Union

2010 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-112
Author(s):  
Dusko Lopandic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relation ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Context ◽  
Additional Influence ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Eu

The position of small and medium size countries in international context has been studied. The main criteria of power in international relation is still the military and economic force, despite the fact that the size and resources of a country is not equivalent to its actual international influence. With the imposition of Vilsonian principles and with the creation of UN, the position of small and medium size countries has been somehow improved. It becomes even more favorable in the context of a well defined State coalition, which provides with some additional instruments of power. The European Union is the best example of a coalition providing a good framework for small and medium countries. In this article, six specifics mechanisms providing additional influence to small and medium size countries of the EU have been identified. They include the specificity of the EU legal system, decision making, the functioning of the EU bodies, the process of 'europeisation' etc.

scholarly journals A Presidência rotativa do Conselho e a governança multinível europeia: a peça-chave no processo de decisão intergovernamental

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
José Magone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
Small States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
Legislative Processes ◽  
Crucial Part

In the post-Lisbon constitutional architecture, the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers of the European Union remains a vital part of intergovernmental decision-making. Its leadership activity is mainly behind closed doors to avoid the politicization of legislative processes. This study aims to contextualize the presidency as a crucial part of European integration due to its position between formal and informal processes. Informality gives the presidency time to create consensus and be flexible in its negotiation. Despite large countries’ attempts to reduce the importance of the rotating presidency, small states have resisted this temptation. In this contribution, the rotating presidency is seen from the point of view of European integration theory which is discussed in depth. Some notes follow on what can be expected in terms of the behaviour of the German and Portuguese presidencies in the new 2020-21 team presidency cycle.

2. Europeanization: Concept, Theory, and Methods

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo R. Graziano ◽  
Maarten P. Vink
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
New Institutionalism ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Mediating Factors ◽  
Concept Theory

This chapter explores a number of fundamental issues that arise when studying Europeanization. It first explains what Europeanization is and what it is not, why some parts of political life seem more affected by the process of European integration than others, and how to interpret variation between member states of the European Union. It then considers the theoretical debates about the relevance of Europeanization, focusing on new institutionalism, goodness of fit, mediating factors, and domestic compliance. It also provides examples of Europeanization studies and shows how to design a good Europeanization study. Aside from Europeanization, the chapter examines public opinion and parties, political institutions and governance, and public policy, along with methodological issues such as operationalization, the use of counterfactuals, and different qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches.

1. Union Institutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-36
Author(s):  
Robert Schütze
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
European Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Democratic Institution ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Eu

This chapter discusses the four major European Union institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Court. The provisions dealing with the EU institutions are split between the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Directly elected by the European citizens, the Parliament constitutes not only the most democratic institution; it is also the most supranational institution of the EU. Ultimately, each of the EU institutions is characterized by its distinct composition and its decision-making mode. Importantly, the EU is not based on a strict separation of functions between its institutions but follows a ‘checks and balances’ version of the separation-of-powers principle. This means that various EU institutions share in the exercise of various governmental functions.

scholarly journals Secrecy, Efficiency, Transparency in EU Negotiations: Conflicting Paradigms?

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Leino
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
External Influence ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Eu

This contribution considers how the values of transparency and efficiency are realised in the context of “EU negotiations” both in the internal and the external sphere. Legislating comes with a presumption of openness in the EU, while international negotiations have traditionally been assumed to require secrecy. However, irrespective of the basic paradigms, the institutions often appear to follow a rather simple rationale that secrecy makes better decisions, both in internal and external affairs. Similar efficiency concerns seem to relate to protecting the procedure of decision-making from external influence. Therefore, the fundamental trade-off between democratic accountability and efficiency in the external and internal fields might not be all that different: efficiency is linked with secrecy, and comes at a cost for participation and openness. I explain how the two paradigms—openness and transparency in legislative work and secrecy in international negotiations have recently developed, and how the values of openness and efficiency have been addressed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its recent jurisprudence. This discussion witnesses to a possibility that the old secrecy paradigm might be about to break in international relations while a new transparency paradigm in EU legislative work is struggling to emerge.

4. The Council of the European Union:

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-105
Author(s):  
Uwe Puetter
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
State Governments ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Upper Chamber ◽  
Dual Mandate ◽  
Legislative Decision

The Council is an institution of day-to-day policymaking in which the interests of member state governments are represented by cabinet ministers who meet, according to their policy portfolio, in different Council configurations and within the Eurogroup. According to the Treaty of Lisbon, the Council has a dual mandate. It acts as a legislative organ as well as an executive and policy-coordinating institution. This dual role is reflected in the organization and meeting practices of the different Council configurations. Those groupings of ministers dealing primarily with executive decisions and policy coordination tend to meet more often and are regarded as being more senior than those formations of the Council which engage predominantly in legislative decision-making. As a legislative institution, the Council has increasingly acquired features of an upper chamber in a bicameral separation of powers system, working in tandem with the European Parliament. In contrast, Council decision-making relating to executive issues and policy coordination in important policy domains, such as economic governance and foreign policy, is closely aligned with the European Council. In these areas, the Council can be considered to constitute, together with the Commission, a collective EU executive.

Kryzys w Unii Europejskiej a tożsamość europejska

2016 ◽  
pp. 110-136
Author(s):  
Zbigniew B. Rudnicki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Model ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
International Identity

The aim of this article is to show what impact the crisis in the European Union, along with the crisis in the euro zone at the forefront, had on European identity, interwoven with the identity of the European Union to such an extent that these terms are often handled as equivalent. Developments and crises situations which exert an influence on European identity were presented with respect to areas of particular importance that affect the way the European Union is identified within the community and abroad. Following issues were discussed: implications of the crisis for the European Union’s international identity, for the European social model (welfare state), for transnational identity (in internal relations) and for unity and solidarity in the European Union. In the conclusion, it is stated that the economic, political and social crises had undermined the gradual development of European / European Union identity among citizens and had an impact on its image in international relations.

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