The Politics of Ends and Means: Policy Instruments in the European Union - By H. Bähr

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 1147-1148
Author(s):  
HELENA SEIBICKE
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6303
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Bassi ◽  
Valeria Costantini ◽  
Elena Paglialunga

The European Green Deal (EGD) is the most ambitious decarbonisation strategy currently envisaged, with a complex mix of different instruments aiming at improving the sustainability of the development patterns of the European Union in the next 30 years. The intrinsic complexity brings key open questions on the cost and effectiveness of the strategy. In this paper we propose a novel methodological approach to soft-linking two modelling tools, a systems thinking (ST) and a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, in order to provide a broader ex-ante policy evaluation process. We use ST to highlight the main economic feedback loops the EGD strategy might trigger. We then quantify these loops with a scenario analysis developed in a dynamic CGE framework. Our main finding is that such a soft-linking approach allows discovery of multiple channels and spillover effects across policy instruments that might help improve the policy mix design. Specifically, positive spillovers arise from the adoption of a revenue recycling mechanism that ensures strong support for the development and diffusion of clean energy technologies. Such spillover effects benefit not only the European Union (EU) market but also non-EU countries via trade-based technology transfer, with a net positive effect in terms of global emissions reduction.


Author(s):  
Natalia Dominiak

The aim of the article is to discuss issues related to the development of tourism in the context of the possibility of financial support available from cohesion policy funds in the current financial perspective for the years 2014-2020. The particular attention was paid to the multifaceted nature of modern tourism and the directions of changes in the use of EU funds, referring to the completed programming period 2007-2013. An attempt was also made to indicate the significance of tourism in the section of the national economy of Poland and in the European Union, concentrating on its interdisciplinary character. Characteristics of cohesion policy, its goals and principles of functioning were made. The article is of a review nature, which means that the authors’ own materials and empirical material from the literature of the subject were used. The figures were obtained from reports published by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers. It was found out that the amount of allocated funds for cohesion policy among all European Union countries in 2014-2020 is the highest for Poland and amounts to EUR 72.9 billion. There is an increase in the amount of funds allocated from the European Union to Poland, compared to the amount of allocated funds in the 2007-2013 perspective. It was also pointed out that the cohesion policy instruments mentioned above only indirectly contribute to the development of tourism, as the financing for 2014-2020 lacks programs and activities entirely dedicated to tourism.


Author(s):  
Gosia Klatt ◽  
Marcella Milana

This paper considers the changing modes of governance of education policy in the European Union (EU) and Australia through a lens of ‘soft governance’. It considers the increased use of ‘policy instruments’ such as benchmarking, targets, monitoring, data-generation in policy-making in recent decades. It considers the roles these policy instruments play in coordinating education policy in the EU and Australia as well as their intended and unintended consequences. It shows that in the EU, these instruments played a role in strengthening the coordination through the links between individuals and programs, and networking, which is seen as resulting in enhanced creativity in policy solutions, development of new norms and new means for achieving policy goals. While in Australia it seems that the role of these instruments is focused on consolidating the role of the Commonwealth’s oversight and control over what constitutionally is a responsibility of States which adds to several policy tensions already existing in the federal coordination of education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-49
Author(s):  
Maja Kovacevic

The European Union (EU) is a unique player in the Western Balkans, where it has employed a wide array of foreign policy instruments since the 1990s such as diplomacy, trade, financial assistance, civilian missions, military missions, and enlargement, which is the EU?s most successful foreign policy tool. The region is an inspiring case for studying the EU?s transformative power. The undeniable success of the EU?s Enlargement Policy in influencing transitions of Central and Eastern Europe countries has inspired research of the Europeanization, or the EU?s transformative power in relation to candidate countries, and its impact on their political and economic reforms during the accession process. Since then, the EU?s global transformative power has been in crisis. The European Neighbourhood Policy was reviewed in 2015, aiming not any more towards the transformation of neighbouring states, but rather at fostering their resilience. Similarly, the 2016 Global Strategy for the European Union?s Foreign and Security Policy set the principled pragmatism as a guideline. Moreover, the EU?s transformative power towards member states is questioned after two initiatives to trigger Article 7 TEU procedures against Poland and Hungary. What about the Europeanization of the Western Balkans? Despite the fact that the EU has been the main driver of change, the Europeanization of this post-conflict region has been slow. According to Freedom House, after substantial progress from 2004 to 2010, the Western Balkans has declined six years in a row, and its average Democracy Score in 2016 is the same as it was in 2004. With the exception of Albania, the scores of all countries are declining, not improving. The EU?s security-democratisation dilemma strongly affects its transformative power in the Western Balkans. By prioritising effective government rather than democratic governance, the EU has helped stabilise non-democratic and corrupt regimes rather than transforming them, legitimising Balkan "stabilitocrats".


2019 ◽  
pp. 341-353
Author(s):  
Marcel Kordos

The possibility of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union has never been more realistic and up-to-date since joining the European Communities (EC) as it is today. The UK is facing a unique situation. At present, this depends solely on the capabilities of European and British government officials, who negotiate the terms of withdrawal and future cooperation between the two entities. The main goal of this paper is based on the British – Slovak trade relations development analysis to figure out their impact within the Brexit consequences on the future Slovak economy and its current status in international economic relations. The paper also provides a basic overview of Brexit process and its possible impact on the EU's further functioning. Basic data will be drawn from generally accepted institutions, evaluating the UK and Slovak trade and economic performance. To accomplish this goal, methods such as analysis and comparison to illustrate the UK-Slovak foreign trade development, synthesis and logical deduction to discuss the Brexit impact on Slovak economic environment in the future are to be used; data from scientific and professional publications, periodical and non-periodical press. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis, which showed that because of the size of economic relations between Slovakia and the United Kingdom and the number of goods and services being exported to the UK, the «hard» Brexit will be very unfavourable for Slovak foreign trade due to the possible tariffs being imposed. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that it can cause a significant weakening and slowdown in the Slovak economy. Either way, the upcoming Brexit process, that is the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union, would have a major impact not only on British, European but also on the world economy. The impact of Brexit on Slovakia's economy will not only be in reducing the possible growth of the economy, but also in employment and price increases. Keywords: EU single market, Britain's withdrawal from the EU, foreign trade policy instruments analysis, international economics, Slovak economy slowdown prediction, Slovak foreign trade commodity structure analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 362
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Gehringer ◽  
Jörg König

This paper studies the process of business cycle synchronization in the European Union and the euro area. As our baseline methodology we adopt rolling window correlation coefficients of various economic indicators, observed since 2000. Among the indicators, we distinguish between real economic indicators, like the real GDP growth and unemployment, and nominal indicators, like inflation and government budget. Given the direct implication of this kind of analysis for the common monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB), special attention is paid to the pattern of business cycle synchronization in the core and peripheral members of the euro area. Our analysis of quarterly data covering the first two decades of the euro area shows that there was a certain synchronization tendency in the first years of the common currency. However, the European debt crisis halted the economic integration within the European Union and—even more so—within the euro area. Since the ECB can to a large extent intervene only with “one-size-fits-all” monetary policy instruments, this renders increasingly cumbersome the conduct of stabilisation policies within the euro area.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. De Santis ◽  
C. Jona Lasinio

In this paper we test the narrow Porter hypothesis on a sample of European economies in the period 1995–2008. We focus on the channels through which tighter environmental regulation affect productivity and innovation. Our findings suggest that the “narrow” Porter Hypothesis cannot be rejected and that the choice of policy instruments is not neutral. In particular, market based environmental stringency measures seem to be the most suitable to stimulate innovations and productivity growth. Consistently with the strategic reorientation of environmental policies in the European Union since the end of the eighties, our results indicate that the EU might privilege the market based instruments in order to meet more effectively the 2030 targets, especially through the channels of innovation and productivity enhancement.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document