scholarly journals Variegated Europeanization and urban policy: Dynamics of policy transfer in France, Italy, Spain and the UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Carpenter ◽  
Moneyba González Medina ◽  
María Ángeles Huete García ◽  
Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado

This paper explores the dynamics of urban policy transfer in the European Union (EU), critically examining the process of Europeanization in relation to urban issues. The paper takes a comparative approach, analysing the evolution of urban policy and Europeanization in four member states: France, Italy, Spain and the UK from the 1990s up to the current Cohesion Policy period (2014–2020). Using an analytical framework based on three dimensions of Europeanization (direction, object and impact), we examine the extent to which urban policies are moving towards an integrated approach to sustainable urban development, as supported by the EU. The paper highlights the contradictions between processes of convergence through Europeanization, and path-dependent systems and trajectories that forge alternative paths. In doing so, it advances wider debates on the impact of Europeanization in a neo-liberal context by arguing that member states more likely to be affected by Europeanization are those most impacted by national austerity measures. A process of ‘variegated Europeanization’ is proposed to capture the differential practices taking place within the EU with regard to the circulation of the EU’s approach to urban policy.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-197
Author(s):  
Jakub Gábor

AbstractThe United Kingdom has left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Discussions that preceded such a move were conducted in three dimensions: they pertained a post-Brexit relationship between the UK and EU, future conduct within the UK and the one within the EU. Whilst public discourse has been dominated by the first two, this paper approaches the third one – on how Brexit has affected relationships between remaining 27 EU Member States. Stemming from the calculation of Banzhaf indices, it assesses the impact of Brexit on the voting power of remaining Member States in the Council of the EU – arguably the most important body within the EU institutional architecture – and identifies which countries are going to record the most significant gains and losses in this respect.


Author(s):  
Anthony Salamone

As Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson was a prominent campaigner for a ‘Remain’ vote in the European Union referendum of June 2016. Following the 2017 general election, meanwhile, Davidson repositioned herself as someone who could – aided by 13 Scottish Tory MPs in the House of Commons – influence the Brexit negotiations and nudge the UK Conservative Party towards a ‘soft’ rather than ‘hard’ deal with the EU. This chapter considers the impact of Brexit on the Scottish Conservatives during the leadership of Ruth Davidson in four dimensions: Brexit’s distinct Scottish political context, its electoral consequences, the conduct of Brexit within the UK, and the Brexit negotiations themselves. It concludes with reflections on the future prospects for the Scottish party in light of all four dimensions.


Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini

This chapter analyses the European Union during Brexit, explaining how the EU institutions and Member States reacted to the UK’s decision to leave the EU. It outlines how they went about this in the course of the withdrawal negotiations. The EU institutions and Member States managed to adopt a very united stance vis-à-vis a withdrawing state, establishing effective institutional mechanisms and succeeding in imposing their strategic preferences in the negotiations with the UK. Nevertheless, the EU was also absorbed during Brexit by internal preparations to face both the scenario of a ‘hard Brexit’—the UK leaving the EU with no deal—and of a ‘no Brexit’—with the UK subsequently delaying exit and extending its EU membership. Finally, during Brexit the EU increasingly started working as a union of 27 Member States—the EU27—which in this format opened a debate on the future of Europe and developed new policy initiatives, especially in the field of defence and military cooperation.


Author(s):  
Jeremy Horder

This chapter examines three major examples of financial crime: fraud, bribery, and money laundering. The importance of financial crime, and of vigorous prosecution policies in relation to it, should not be underestimated. Fraud accounts for no less than one third of all crimes captured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The European Union Parliament has estimated that corruption costs the EU between €179 and €990 billion each year. Finally, the Home Office estimates that the impact of money laundering on the UK economy is likely to exceed £90 billion. An understanding of these crimes, and in particular the way that they reflect corporate activity, is nowadays essential to the study of criminal law.


Author(s):  
Tamás Szabados

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is gradually undergoing multilevel transformation in the European Union (EU). Hardening of the initially voluntary CSR approach of the EU is progressively taking place in an interaction between the law of the Member States and EU law. Domestic solutions can serve as a model for EU legislation. In this progress, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, granting considerable flexibility both to companies and the Member States, can indeed be seen as an intermediate stage and it is expected that, under the impact of human rights due diligence requirements recently imposed on companies by Member States, more substantive obligations will also be introduced at an EU level in the future.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e025025
Author(s):  
George Garas ◽  
Isabella Cingolani ◽  
Vanash M Patel ◽  
Pietro Panzarasa ◽  
Ara Darzi ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo evaluate the role of the European Union (EU) as a research collaborator in the UK’s success as a global leader in healthcare research and innovation and quantify the impact that Brexit may have.DesignNetwork and regression analysis of scientific collaboration, followed by simulation models based on alternative scenarios.SettingInternational real-world collaboration network among all countries involved in robotic surgical research and innovation.Participants772 organisations from industry and academia nested within 56 countries and connected through 2397 collaboration links.Main outcome measuresResearch impact measured through citations and innovation value measured through the innovation index.ResultsGlobally, the UK ranks third in robotic surgical innovation, and the EU constitutes its prime collaborator. Brokerage opportunities and collaborators’ geographical diversity are associated with a country’s research impact (c=211.320 and 244.527, respectively; p<0·01) and innovation (c=18.819 and 30.850, respectively; p<0·01). Replacing EU collaborators with US ones is the only strategy that could benefit the UK, but on the condition that US collaborators are chosen among the top-performing ones, which is likely to be very difficult and costly, at least in the short term.ConclusionsThis study suggests what has long been argued, namely that the UK-EU research partnership has been mutually beneficial and that its continuation represents the best possible outcome for both negotiating parties. However, the uncertainties raised by Brexit necessitate looking beyond the EU for potential research partners. In the short term, the UK’s best strategy might be to try and maintain its academic links with the EU. In the longer term, strategic relationships with research powerhouses, including the USA, China and India, are likely to be crucial for the UK to remain a global innovation leader.


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kees Groenendijk

AbstractSeveral States require immigrants from outside the EU to participate in language or integration courses after arrival. In recent years, some EU Member States made passing a language test (Netherlands and Germany) or participating in a language course (France) a condition for a visa for family reunification for immigrants from certain third countries. Denmark and the UK introduced a similar requirement in 2010. The focus of his article is on three aspects: the political debate, the legal constraints and the effects. Firstly, the development of the pre-departure integration strategies is analyzed. What was the rationale behind the introduction and does is vary between Member States? Secondly, the legal constraints of EU and international law are discussed. Finally, the results of the first studies evaluating this policy instrument are presented. Is pre-departure a good predictor for immigrant’s ability to integrate? Does it actually assist integration, and what are the unexpected or counterproductive effects?


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-149
Author(s):  
Tatyana Muravska ◽  
Alexandre Berlin

Abstract The European Union (EU) signed Association Agreements on 27 June 2014 with Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The Association Agreement (AA) is the EU’s main instrument to bring the countries in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) closer to EU standards and norms. For the citizens of the EaP countries to benefit from these agreements, a more in-depth knowledge of the EU and the EU Member States is required to be reflected in a comparative approach to European Union studies. We examine these implications on the need to expand and adapt, the content and approach to research and teaching European Union studies, with the transdisciplinary approach becoming increasingly dominant, becoming a modern tool for research in social sciences. This contribution aims to offer insight into the implementation of transdisciplinarity in the methodology of education and research as it is determined by current increasing global challenges. This approach should serve as a means of integrating a number of main goals as part of learning, teaching and research processes: strengthening employability of young people and preparing them for citizenship. We discuss the need for modernizing European studies in the EU Member States that could serve as an example for the EU Eastern Partnership countries. We conclude that the theoretical approach to European and related studies of other disciplines and their practical implications should always be transdisciplinary in nature and benefit from direct in-situ exposure and should be fully integrated in university curricula


Author(s):  
Sylwia Kurszewska ◽  
Andrzej Stępniak

The fifth enlargement in 2004, from 15 to 25 countries, was the biggest in the Union’s history. The European Union currently consists of 28 Member States. One of them started the process of exit from the EU and is due to leave the EU at the end of March 2019. Free movement of workers is one of the reason. Time when 10 countries will celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of their accession to the UE and one country leave it after 46 years, may be a good time for confrontation with the media message about this topic and diligent research on the short-term and long-term effects of labour migration. There are different views on the free movement of people from the EU. Europeans generally see this freedom as one of the most positive results of the EU, however there are countries with more positive results of labor migration and some where it is seen rather like a problem than an opportunity. Hungarians and Poles – depended on their resourcefulness, ingenuity and spirit of enterprise – benefit from being a part of developed single market. Experiences of both countries are different due to many factors. The same with the UK and other UE member states. However, the EU has now faced a serious problem of the immigration from outside Europe. Opinions of members states are highly divided about this topic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
Jakub Borowski ◽  
Jakub Olipra ◽  
Paweł Błaszyński

Abstract The decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union (EU) is unprecedented, especially considering the recent trend in the global economy toward economic integration. There is a multitude of research concerning the implications of economic integration; however, research in the field of disintegration is scarce. Brexit serves as an interesting case study to investigate the effects of economic disintegration. The implications for trade are especially fascinating as trade liberalization is one of the most important benefits of economic integration. Existing studies focus mainly on Brexit’s impact on the UK’s exports and imports, while less attention has been paid to Brexit’s effects on the trade of other countries. The main objective of our research is to estimate Brexit’s influence on Polish exports. We present several possible scenarios of future trade relations between the UK and the EU and assume that, at least in the nearest-future post-Brexit scenario, trade under the World Trade Organization rules is most likely. This will result in the imposition of tariffs on trade between the UK and the EU members, including Poland. In our research, we used the real exchange rate of the Polish zloty against the British pound as a proxy for the changes in price competitiveness of Polish exports due to the imposition of tariffs. We find that in the first year after Brexit, the dynamics of Polish exports to the UK will decrease due to the imposition of customs duties by 1.3 percentage points (pp) and by 0.1 pp when it comes to total Polish exports. This paper contributes to the discussion on the effects of disintegration on trade. We propose a new method for assessing changes in trade volume due to increase of trade barriers.


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