EU Taxes for the EU Budget in the Light of Sustainability Orientation – a Survey

2017 ◽  
Vol 237 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margit Schratzenstaller ◽  
Alexander Krenek ◽  
Danuše Nerudová ◽  
Marian Dobranschi
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Fiscal Federalism ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Resource System ◽  
The Eu

Abstract EU taxes play a key role in political and economic discussions about the future of the EU own resource system, and their desirability can vary accordingly. It is therefore essential to clearly articulate the goals which are to be achieved by the introduction of this new financing tool. This paper provides a critical review of pros and cons of EU taxes put forward in the literature. Reviewing the conventional fiscal federalism and political economy literature on this topic it can be concluded that there is no convincing (overall) case for funding the EU budget with EU taxes rather than with contributions by Member States which currently make up for the lion’s share of EU own resources. There are, however, some specific issues arising from a sustainability perspective, which could be addressed with the introduction of EU taxes. Departing from a comprehensive concept of sustainability which is based on the economic, the social, the environmental and the cultural/institutional pillar of sustainability, the paper identifies existing sustainability gaps in taxation in the EU. EU taxes if designed accordingly may be suitable instruments to reduce these sustainability gaps and thus to strengthen sustainability-orientation of taxation in the EU.

Social Investment as a Policy Platform

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Vandenbroucke
Keyword(s):  
Social World ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Education Spending ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Broad Consensus ◽  
The Eu

This contribution argues for a truly reciprocal social investment pact for Europe: member states should be committed to policies that respond to the need for social investment; simultaneously, member states’ efforts in this direction—notably efforts by those in a difficult budgetary context—should be supported in a tangible way. Social investment is a policy perspective that should be based on a broad consensus between people who may entertain certain disagreements regarding the level of their empirical and/or normative understanding of the social world. For that reason, the expression of an ‘overlapping consensus’ is used for delineating social investment advocacy. Data on education spending show that we are far removed from a social investment perspective at the European Union (EU) level. This underscores the fact that social investment advocates need to clearly consider the role the EU has to play in social investment progress.

The EU during Brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-34
Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
Member States ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

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.

8. EU Enlargement and Wider Europe

2018 ◽  
pp. 167-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Sedelmeier ◽  
Graham Avery
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
European Neighbourhood Policy ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
European Model ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

The EU has expanded many times and many countries still aspire to join. It has extended the prospect of membership to countries in the Balkans and Turkey and has developed a ‘neighbourhood’ policy towards other countries, some of which may want to join in the future. Enlargement illustrates the success of the European model of integration. It has also provided the EU with a powerful tool to influence domestic politics in would-be members. But enlargement also poses fundamental challenges. It has implications both for how the EU works (its structure and institutions) and for what it does (its policies). The chapter first compares ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ before discussing enlargement as soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at prospective member states: the Balkan countries, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Finally, it examines the European Neighbourhood Policy.

scholarly journals "Core-Periphery" in the European Union – An Economic Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-154
Author(s):  
Ines Kersan-Škabić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

The heterogeneity of economic performances in the EU member states is one of the main reasons for the existence of a “core-periphery” relationship. The goal of this research is to examine various economic indicators to reveal possible divisions between the EU members. This issue emphasized the contribution of rich “core” countries to the imbalances in poorer “peripheral” EU members. By applying cluster methodology and considering the most recent data, two groups of countries were identified, the first comprising 11 countries that form the “centre” or the “core”, and the rest of the EU forming the “periphery”. Considering differences between these countries is necessary and justified for discussions about the future development of the EU that will involve differences between member states.

European Employment Strategy: the right answer for candidate countries?

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Celin
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Positive Elements ◽  
The Future ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu ◽  
New Jobs

It is not easy to gauge the extent to which the European Employment Strategy (EES) has influenced the EU labour market over the last five years but it has surely contributed to the creation of more than 10 million new jobs and 4 million fewer unemployed. However, is this common strategy the right answer for the labour markets of the future member states? This article examines how the candidate countries are adapting to the EES and where they stand as compared to the current EU countries in achieving the Lisbon targets. The article assesses whether the EES is appropriate for the labour markets of the future member states by analysing both the deficiencies and the positive elements of this strategy for these countries, taking into account proposals for a new revised EES adapted to the needs of changing labour markets, globalisation and enlargement.

Future Scenarios of the European Union

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigid Laffan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Considerable Change ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Capacity ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Future ◽  
Normative Order ◽  
Functional Areas ◽  
The Eu

Debate on the future of the European Union (EU) never abates because the Union is a polity characterized by considerable change in its internal and external environment. Scenarios are an important tool in mapping possible futures for the Union as they bring underlying trends into focus. Four scenarios on the future of the EU are presented: disintegration, piecemeal adjustment, functional federalism, and a United States of Europe. The political and policy battle concerning the future of the Union is between scenario piecemeal adjustment, the dominant response to the crisis and to events on Europe’s borders, and functional federalism, defined as more integration but in defined fields. Piecemeal adjustment represents a Union that muddles through, incremental reform, whereas functional federalism represents a Union that garners sufficient political capacity to be more strategic in particular functional areas. Systemic disintegration is regarded as unlikely, but partial disintegration may occur because of the exit of the United Kingdom, challenges to a number of EU regimes, and the threats to the Union’s normative order from some member states. A united states of Europe, is highly unlikely as the member states are not in favor of transforming the Union into a state-like federation. The degree of contestation about the future of the EU precludes a transformation of the system at this juncture. Three intervening factors will have a major impact on the future of the EU: the profound changes in the global environment, turbulent politics in the member states, and the Franco-German relationship as a source of leadership in the Union.

The Future of Intra-EU Investment Arbitration: Intra-EU Investment Arbitration under the ECT post Achmea

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-177
Author(s):  
Sahra Arif
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
The Future ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Opposite View ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

The Achmea judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) found that arbitration clauses in bilateral investment treaties (BITS) between Member States of the European Union are incompatible with European Union law. Following this, Member States attempted to invoke this judgment in relation to similar intra-EU arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Tribunals established under the ECT have however generally rejected the applicability of the Achmea judgement. While the EU Commission and the majority of Member States concluded that this judgment also precludes intra-EU ect arbitrations, a few Member States held the opposite view. The future of intra-EU ECT arbitrations therefore seems fragile in the least. A closer analysis of the decisions of ECT Tribunals, and the relationship between obligations under European Union law and international law however argues that the future of such intra-EU ECT arbitrations is not as fragile as it may seem.

Prospects for Europe in the third quarter

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Single Currency ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Third ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

Subject Prospects for Europe in the third quarter. Significance For the rest of June and the third quarter, the EU will grapple with the future positions within the bloc of two member states, the United Kingdom and Greece. The period will see the resolution, one way or another, of the immediate crisis in Greece's relations with its international creditors. The way in which this takes place will have profound implications for the future of the single currency.

scholarly journals Sailing the seven seas

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-216
Author(s):  
Gijsbert Vonk
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Member States ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
The Social ◽  
Security Relations ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Eu

The purpose of this final contribution is to offer a broad schematic overview of ‘mechanisms’ that can be used to strengthen the social security protection of persons moving in and out of the EU. Seven mechanisms have been selected for discussion: national unilateral standards, EU unilateral standards, bilateral agreements, EU coordination of bilateral agreements, EU third country agreements, multilateral co-operation and global standards. The existence of this plethora of mechanisms, each with its own merits and shortcomings, casts a shadow over the possibility of a uniform EU regime for external social security relations. Any attempt to introduce such an approach can immediately be contradicted by alternative approaches and mechanisms which can be used both by the EU and by the individual Member States. It is suggested that more coherence in external EU social security coordination can perhaps be found in a conceptual way, by layering the seven mechanisms in a logical manner.

Crisis? What Crisis? EU Enlargement and the Political Economy of European Union Social Policy

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Sykes
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

This article considers the character of EU social policy and in particular the linkages between the EU's economic and social strategies. Arguably, the most recent enlargement of the EU represents a turning point for the future of EU social policy, though there is disagreement about its future if not so much about the causes of this crisis. The article concludes that the future political economy of EU social policy and indeed of the EU itself may be subject to fundamental changes.

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