scholarly journals Multi-level governance in a ‘Europe with the regions’

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-775
Author(s):  
Arjan H Schakel

The concept of multilevel governance was introduced to reveal the impact of regions on European Union (EU) policy making in Brussels. In this contribution, I show that multilevel governance also exposes regional involvement in EU affairs within the member states. In contrast to perspectives that focus on formal decision-making by central governments, multilevel governance uncovers significant sharing of authority between governmental actors within and beyond national states even in cases where the formal right to make a decision lies with national governments or the EU legislator. I argue that the concept of multilevel governance is key for understanding developments within a three-tiered EU polity because it directs scholarly attention to the incentives for regions to be involved in EU affairs and for national governments and EU institutions to share their authority with regions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Leino-Sandberg

Legal advisers working in the institutions of the European Union exercise significant power, but very little is known about their work. Notwithstanding the handful of cases where legal matters find their way into the news, legal advice remains invisible in EU policy making. For more than ten years Päivi Leino-Sandberg was a part of the invisible community of EU legal advisers, and participated in the exercise of their power. In this book, she shares her insights about how law and lawyers work in the EU institutions, and what their role and impact is on EU decisions from within the decision-making structure. She draws on interviews with over sixty EU lawyers and policymakers: legal experts who interpret the Treaties within the Institutions, draft legislation and defend the Institutions before the EU Court. Telling the true stories behind key negotiations, this book explores the interplay and tensions between legal requirements and political ambitions.


Res Publica ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Hendrik Vos

The overlapping of the competencies of a number of regional authorities and those of the EU has necessitated an introduction of the regions in the EU policy-making. In this contribution, this phenomenon is combined with the concepts of paradiplomacy and multilevel governance. The present opportunities for regional participation will be looked at and some kind of classification scheme will be proposed. Those opportunities may be classified into four categories, depending on the formal (strict procedures) or informal (no strict procedures) and direct (direct relationship with EU institutions) or indirect (relationship with the EU via the central state) character of the participation. References are made to the Flemish involvement in European decision-making in the environmental field.


Policy-Making in the European Union explores the link between the modes and mechanisms of EU policy-making and its implementation at the national level. From defining the processes, institutions and modes through which policy-making operates, the text moves on to situate individual policies within these modes, detail their content, and analyse how they are implemented, navigating policy in all its complexities. The first part of the text examines processes, institutions, and the theoretical and analytical underpinnings of policy-making, while the second part considers a wide range of policy areas, from economics to the environment, and security to the single market. Throughout the text, theoretical approaches sit side by side with the reality of key events in the EU, including enlargement, the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and the financial crisis and resulting Eurozone crisis, focusing on what determines how policies are made and implemented. This includes major developments such as the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, the reform of the common agricultural policy, and new initiatives to promote EU energy security. In the final part, the chapters consider trends in EU policy-making and the challenges facing the EU.


Author(s):  
Ralf Drachenberg ◽  
Alex Brianson

This chapter examines the process of policy-making in the European Union. It first considers how the EU originally made policy decisions before tracing the evolution of the formal balance between the EU institutions over time, with particular emphasis on the increasing legislative power of the European Parliament. It then describes the Community method, which remains the core of the EU policy process but is now complemented with a range of ‘new governance tools’ designed to produce coordinated member state action through iterated processes of standard-setting, best practice identification, and knowledge transfer. One of these processes is the open method of coordination (OMC). The chapter concludes with an analysis of the implementation of EU policy decisions by and in the member states, along with current trends in EU decision-making after the EU enlargements of the 2000s and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.


Author(s):  
Mark A. Pollack

This chapter surveys seven decades of theorizing about European Union policy-making and policy processes. It begins with a discussion of theories of European integration, including neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, institutionalism, constructivism, and postfunctionalism. It then considers the increasing number of studies that approach the EU through the lenses of comparative politics and comparative public policy, focusing on the federal or quasi-federal aspects of the EU and its legislative, executive, and judicial politics. It finally explores the vertical and horizontal separation of powers in the EU and concludes by looking at the ‘governance approach’ to the EU, with emphasis on multi-level governance and EU policy networks, Europeanization, and the question of the EU’s democratic deficit.


2020 ◽  
pp. 096977642097061
Author(s):  
George Petrakos ◽  
Alexandra Sotiriou

Almost 30 years since the Maastricht Treaty and 20 years since the introduction of the euro, it is clear that the European Union (EU) has lost its appeal to wider constituencies and citizen groups that realize that the promises for convergence and prosperity have not been delivered. Rising dissatisfaction and Euroscepticism (expressed both in the ballot box and in Eurobarometer reports) is evident even in traditional pro-EU countries of the European core. As this long decade comes to an end, incidents (or accidents) like these ones, either in the form of open discontent, or in the form of rising populism, will exert pressure on the EU policy agenda that will either increase the frequency of deadlocks and inefficiency in policy making or will eventually lead to an honest effort to address the roots of these phenomena. This paper examines the drivers behind these two incidents (and the ones that may follow) and the limits of the current market and policy integration arrangements in the EU, arguing that a new policy agenda addressing the real weaknesses of the Union is inevitable if disintegration is to be avoided. Luckily enough, some elements of this new policy agenda may already be here.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Weiss ◽  
Ruth Wodak

The fight against unemployment has been declared a top priority of European Union (EU) policies. Indeed, if mass unemployment is the major political problem in Europe, then the legitimacy of the EU as a political union will crucially depend on how this problem is dealt with. In this article we follow precisely the question of how the problem is dealt with in EU policy-making processes. Two forms of political spaces, an advisory group working ‘behind closed doors’ and the European Parliament, are compared. A socio-linguistic analysis of texts produced in the respective bodies reveals the many tensions in the development of supranational employment policies. Particular emphasis is placed on the rhetoric of globalization and competitiveness as being constitutive of the neo-liberal discourse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Andrii Falkovskyi ◽  
Olga Dzhezhik

In the scientific discourse of the XXI century, the concept of modern Europe is being reformed under the influence of reforming the activities of the European Union. Scientific publications and research are conducted based on a study of the policies of the European Union countries, EU institutions and structural elements, and the problems that arise in the process of activity and development. The concept of modern Europe is a general term that embraces European values, the European standard of living, European policy, and European priorities, giving the concept of European studies a stable association with the European Union. In this context, the main causes and consequences for the scientific discourse, political practice, and future development of European countries must be considered. Neoinstitutionalists have attempted to analyse institutions based on atomistic methodology. Institutional transformations, processes of intra-European integration and enlargement of the EU, discussions on membership and exit from the EU raise issues of identity and development of governance in Europe. Europeanisation can be seen as a discourse, governance, and institutionalisation. The first interpretation emphasizes that modern Europe is a discourse, not only ideological but also administrative. In this sense, Europeanisation can be a means of expression of institutional globalization through domestic policy. In the article, the hypothesis is put forward and proved that the interpretation of the concept of modern Europe directly correlates with the future development of the European Union and its members. The dissemination of exclusive practices will help to spread the ideas of radical “Eurosceptics”, which could lead to the collapse of the European Union. The inclusive aspect of the concept of Europe is represented by the ideas of “Europeists” who, based on the common history, culture, mentality of the peoples of Europe, substantiate the positive influence on the state development of integration, non-state cooperation, and extrapolation of EU norms and principles into the new territories of Europe. There are three main reasons for shaping the concept of Europe as the boundaries of EU policy: The consolidation of political positions of the European Union and its growing role as an actor in world politics; Essence of the EU enlargement concepts; Features of development within the European community. The modern concept of Europe is considered in the context of a modern multi-level governance model. Therefore, Europeanisation is the interaction of different layers of interests, including structures of regional, multi-level governance, legitimacy of domestic and foreign policy. The impact of the multi-level governance system on the functioning of public administration systems in the Member States and neighbouring countries is considered. Four approaches are identified based on the analysis of relationships between different levels of governance. The necessity of formulating new theoretical paradigms defining the relations between the Member States and the technocratic institutions of the EU, as well as between the Europeanised system of national agencies and the ministries overseeing their activities, has been proved.


Author(s):  
Fiona Hayes-Renshaw

This chapter examines how European Union policies are made. Most EU legislation is now adopted according to the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, under which the Council and the European Parliament have equal powers. The basic policy-making rules laid down in the Treaties have been supplemented over the years by formal agreements and informal understandings between the main actors in the decision-making institutions. EU policy-making is open to criticism on grounds of democracy, transparency, and efficiency, but it continues to deliver an impressive amount and array of policy outcomes. The chapter considers the basic rules and principal actors involved in EU policy-making and how the policy-making process works in practice. It also asks whether the EU policy-making process is democratic, transparent, and efficient before concluding with an assessment of the theory and practice underlying the process.


Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Owen Parker ◽  
Ian Bache ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Charlotte Burns

This chapter focuses on the so-called organized interests, whose interaction with the formal European Union (EU) institutions is a central component of the EU’s decision-making process. The term ‘interest group’ refers to a range of organizations outside of the formal institutions that seek to influence decision making. They provide a link between state actors and the rest of society, also known as ‘civil society’. The chapter first considers the general growth of interest group activity at the European level before discussing the types of group that try to influence EU policy making and the forms of representation open to interests. It then explores the strategies and tactics that interest groups use to try to influence the different institutions. Finally, it analyses the issue of regulating interest group access to the EU institutions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document