State-building and the European Union: Markets, War, and Europe's Uneven Political Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402110473
Author(s):  
R. Daniel Kelemen ◽  
Kathleen R. McNamara

The European Union’s institutional development is highly imbalanced. It has established robust legal authority and institutions, but it remains weak or impotent in terms of its centralization of fiscal, administrative, and coercive capacity. We argue that situating the EU in terms of the history of state-building allows us to better understand the outcomes of EU governance. Historically, political projects centralizing power have been most complete when both market and security pressures are present to generate state formation. With the EU, market forces have had a far greater influence than immediate military threats. We offer a preliminary demonstration of the promise of this approach by applying it to two empirical examples, the euro and the Schengen area. Our analysis suggests that the EU does not need to be a Weberian state, nor be destined to become one, for the state-building perspective to shed new light on its processes of political development.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (01) ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
Laode Muhamad Fathun

This paper describes the phenomenon Brexit or Britain Exit on the future of EU regionalism and its impact on Indonesia. This paper will explain in detail the reason for the emergence of a number of policies Brexit. Brexit event caused much speculation related to Brexit in the European Union. The policy is considered full controversial, some experts say that Brexit in the European Union (EU) showed the independence of Britain as an independent state. Other hand, that Britain is the "ancestor" of the Europeans was struck with the release of the policy, meaning European history can not be separated from the history of Britain. In fact the above reasons that Britain came out associated with independence as an independent state related to EU policies that are too large, as a result of the policy model is very holistic policy while Britain desire is wholistic policy, especially in the economic, political, social and cultural. In addition, the geopolitical location of the EU headquarters in Brussels who also became the dominant actor in a union policy that demands as EU countries have been involved in the formulation of development policy, including controversial is related to the ration immigrants. Other reason is the prestige associated with the currency. Although long since Britain does not fully adopt the EU rules but there is the possibility in the EU currency union can only occur with the assumption that the creation of functional perfect integration.


Author(s):  
Halyna Melnychuk

This article presents important steps and achievements accomplished by the Republic of Moldova towards integration, by analysing its collaboration with the European Union.  The development of relations with the EU is the priority goal that Moldova strives for, which means not only economic, but also political and cultural integration.  The first steps of the Republic of Moldova towards the EU were encouraging.  After years of isolation, this process was difficult and required a lot of efforts.  This is due to many reasons, the most important of which are Russia's political and economic pressure, theunresolved issue in Transnistria, the ideological and geopolitical schisms of the population, some of which see their future with Russia, and the other part with Europe.  Despite the existing problems, cooperation with the EU has yielded tangible results: the EU-Moldova Association Agreement has been signed, the visa regime has been abolished and financial support for the socioeconomic and public sectors is provided.  Moldova, for its part, is making great efforts to form a single political, economic and cultural educational space with the EU, which supports its efforts in the process of European integration.  Its speed and success largely depend on the country itself, its economic and political development.  A strong statepolicymaking aimed at strengthening reforms and stimulating the transition to a market economy in accordance with the international principles is inherent in the future development of Moldova. Keywords: Republic of Moldova, European Union,European Integration, foreign policy, Transniestrian conflict


Since the 1957 Rome Treaty, the European Union has changed dramatically - in terms of its composition, scope and depth. Originally established by six Western European States, the EU today has 28 Members and covers almost the entire European continent; and while initially confined to establishing a "common market", the EU has come to influence all areas of political, economic and social life. In parallel with this enormous geographic and thematic expansion, the constitutional and legislative principles underpinning the European Union have constantly evolved. This three-volume study aims to provide an authoritative academic treatment of European Union law. Written by leading scholars and practitioners, each chapter offers a comprehensive and critical assessment of the state of the law. Doctrinal in presentation, each volume nonetheless tries to present a broader historical and comparative perspective. Volume I provides an analysis of the constitutional principles governing the European Union. It covers the history of the EU, the constitutional foundations, the institutional framework, legislative and executive governance, judicial protection, and external relations. Volume II explores the structure of the internal market, while Volume III finally analyses the internal and external substantive policies of the EU.


2021 ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Renaud Dehousse ◽  
Paul Magnette

EU institutions have frequently been reformed since the origins of what is now the European Union (EU), and particularly so over the past twenty years. This chapter explains why and how this quasi-constant change has taken place. It begins by identifying five phases in this history: the founding, consolidation, relaunch, adaptation, and the current phase of reaction to functional challenges. The chapter then assesses the respective weight of state interests, ideas, and institutions in the evolution of EU institutions. In retrospect, institutional change in the EU appears to have followed a functionalist logic, leading to complex compromises that, in turn, prompt regular calls for ‘simplification’ and democratization.


Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the history of the European Union. It covers the historical rationale for the EU; the aims of the EU; the four stages of economic integration; economic and political difficulties; expansion of membership; institutional developments; legal developments; closer European integration; the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986); the Treaty on European Union (1992); the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997); the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the Treaty of Nice (2001); the Treaty of Lisbon (2007); and the potential process for and impact of ‘Brexit’.


Author(s):  
Anand Menon ◽  
Luigi Scazzieri

This chapter examines the history of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European integration process. The chapter dissects the long-term trends in public opinion and the more contingent, short-term factors that led to the referendum vote to leave the European Union. The UK was a late joiner and therefore unable to shape the early institutional development of the EEC. British political parties and public opinion were always ambiguous about membership and increasingly Eurosceptic from the early 1990s. Yet the UK had a significant impact on the EU’s development, in the development of the single market programme and eastward enlargement. If Brexit goes through, Britain will nevertheless maintain relations with the EU in all policy areas from agriculture to energy and foreign policy. Europeanization will remain a useful theoretical tool to analyse EU–UK relations even if the UK leaves the Union.


Author(s):  
Sharon Pardo

Israeli-European Union (EU) relations have consisted of a number of conflicting trends that have resulted in the emergence of a highly problematic and volatile relationship: one characterized by a strong and ever-increasing network of economic, cultural, and personal ties, yet marked, at the political level, by disappointment, bitterness, and anger. On the one hand, Israel has displayed a genuine desire to strengthen its ties with the EU and to be included as part of the European integration project. On the other hand, Israelis are deeply suspicious of the Union’s policies and are untrusting of the Union’s intentions toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the Middle East as a whole. As a result, Israel has been determined to minimize the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process (MEPP), and to deny it any direct involvement in the negotiations with the Palestinians. The article summarizes some key developments in Israeli-European Community (EC)/EU relations since 1957: the Israeli (re)turn to Europe in the late 1950s; EC-Israeli economic and trade relations; the 1980 Venice Declaration and the EC/EU involvement in the MEPP; EU-Israeli relations in a regional/Mediterranean context; the question of Israeli settlements’ products entering free of duty to the European Common Market; EU-Israeli relations in the age of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP); the failed attempt to upgrade EU-Israeli relations between the years 2007 and 2014; and the Union’s prohibition on EU funding to Israeli entities beyond the 1967 borders. By discussing the history of this uneasy relationship, the article further offers insights into how the EU is actually judged as a global-normative actor by Israelis.


Author(s):  
Roberto Dominguez ◽  
Joshua Weissman LaFrance

The history of the European Union (EU) is closely associated with the development of the United States. As the process of European integration has produced institutions and gained a collective international presence, the United States has been a close observer, partner, and often critic of the policies and actions of the EU and its member states. A steady progression of events delineates this path: the Marshall Plan, origins of European integration, the Cold War, the post–Cold War, 9/11 and its effects on the international system, the Great Recession, and the deterioration of global democracy. All throughout, the EU and the United States have both cooperated and collided with one another, in line with the combination of three main factors: (a) the evolution of the EU as an independent, international actor; (b) American strategies for engagement with Europe and then with the EU; and (c) the adaptive capacity and cohesion of the overall transatlantic relationship. The EU–U.S. relationship is significant not only for the influential role of the EU in world affairs but also because, as opposed to China or Russia, the transatlantic area hosts one of the most solid relationships around the world. Crises surely have been, and will be, a frequent aspect of the intense interdependences on both sides of the Atlantic; however, the level of contestation and conflict is relatively low, particularly as compared with other areas that smoothly allow the flow of goods, services, people, and ideas. Taken altogether, then, the transatlantic relationship possesses a strong foundation: it is integral, resilient, and enduring over a history of diplomatic disagreements and conflicts. The primary question remains just how this steady stream and confluence of shared challenges ultimately will fare in face of evolving crises and systemic disruptors. In any case, the answer is determined by the enduring nature, and foreign policy choices, of the primary actors on each side of the Atlantic.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Schimmelfennig

Institutional democratization has made considerable progress in the history of the European Union (EU). Mainstream theories of democratization, however, fail to capture this process because they are wedded to the nation-state context. This paper therefore proposes a transformationalist theory of democratization beyond the state. EU democratization results from the conflict about the redistribution of political competences between institutional actors in a multilevel system, in which liberal democracy is the shared norm of legitimate authority. To the extent that institutional actors, who push for further integration in order to increase efficiency, undermine existing democratic institutions at the national level, their competitors can put into question the legitimacy of integration by invoking the shared liberal democratic community norms and shame them into making democratic concessions. The normative origins of democracy in the EU are illustrated in case studies on democratic membership conditionality, legislative rights of the European Parliament, and the institutionalization of human rights in the EU.


AGROFOR ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Mrdalj ◽  
Gordana Rokvić ◽  
Petra Nikić Nauth

One of the most challenging issues for the countries that are in the process ofaccession to the European Union is the reform of agriculture, precisely agriculturalpolicy and its compliance with the Common Agricultural Policy of the EuropeanUnion (CAP). The strategic orientation of the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia andHerzegovina is a full EU member status, which is defined with signatory to theStabilization and Accession Agreement in 2008 and confirmed with Applicationfor membership in the European Union, submitted in February 2016. Consideringthe upcoming accession negotiation process, the reformation of agricultural sectoris necessary in all areas of development: production, policy and legal frameworkand institutional development. Until 2015 Republic Srpska made and adopted twokey strategic documents that determine the directions, objectives and measures fordeveloping of agriculture and rural areas. Recently the Republic of Srpska adopteda new strategic plan for the development of agriculture and rural areas for theperiod 2016- 2020. Considering that agriculture budget represents a first indicatorof the countries sector priorities, objective of this paper is to provide analysis ofagricultural policy through the agricultural budget of the Republic of Srpska and itscompliance with Common Agricultural Policy of the EU. Comparative analysis isrelated to the period 2006 – 2014 using EU methodology for the classification ofagricultural measures (pillars and axis). Research results show that the structure ofmeasures and scope of budgetary support, defined within agricultural policy of theRepublic of Srpska is not compatible with Common Agricultural Policy of the EU.


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