scholarly journals Ethnoregionalist Parties in the EU: The European Free Alliance Phenomenon

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Petr Oskolkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
European Level ◽  
Green Party ◽  
Political Group ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Party Family ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
The Eu

The article is focused on the structure and ideology of the European Free Alliance. The research aims at identifying resources and possibilities of the institutionalized transregional and supraregional cooperation of ethnoregionalist parties at the European level. The research was conducted predominantly in the paradigm of structural functionalism, while employing the methods of institutional analysis, QDA (exemplified by program documents and key actors’ rhetoric), network analysis (based on the data of the EU databases). The research resulted in the following conclusions. The EFA has not succeeded in becoming an entirely representative europarty for the respective party family, due to deep discrepancies between ethnoregionalist parties in the domain of ideology, goals, attitude towards European integration, and domestic political opportunities. The attempts to create an integrative ideological platform based on “creative eurofederalism” and “progressive nationalism” may hardly be called successful. Besides, big ethnoregionalist parties prefer to cooperate with bigger and more influential europarties and political groups of the European Parliament. However, in the EP-2019, “Greens-EFA” political group improved its position, even in spite of Brexit. This happened not because of the EFA achievements, but because of the growth in representation of the European Green Party. Though influence and capacities of the European Free Alliance are lower than those of other europarties, it has a significant symbolic meaning as a structure unifying different ethnoregionalist actors.

Participation of Cities in the EU Integration Processes

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
E. Dovbysh
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Development ◽  
European Level ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
European Neighborhood Policy ◽  
Supranational Institutions ◽  
The Eu

Local authorities have to deal with a large part of practical work in promotion of the European integration project. Today, cities together with other actors are involved in the EU political process. This involvement leads to modification and enrichment of the European political space and increases the viability of supranational institutions. Cities extend the range of available channels for representation of citizens’ interests. Participation of cities in the decision-making improves the quality of these decisions and the legitimacy of supranational institutions, which is especially important in the context of the debate on the democratic deficit in the EU. Cities and other subnational actors can be active at the pan-European level and national levels. They use different "access points" at the European level, such as the Committee of the Regions, the European associations of cities, representations of local authorities in Brussels. The role of cities is especially evident in the Europe 2020, Cohesion Policy and the European Neighborhood Policy. European cities are involved in the elaboration of national reform programs. Cities and their associations can offer their assessments and visions of development to the Commission. Participating in the elaboration of national reform programs cities get a chance to influence the agenda of national development. This can indirectly affect the implementation of the Europe 2020 and dynamics of the European integration process as a whole. The participation of subnational actors – regions and municipalities – is important for realization of the Cohesion Policy objectives. Cities are particularly relevant for this policy, because they can become a ground for social conflicts and unrest. New tools, such as JESSICA and Integrated Territorial Investment, pay significant attention to local level politics in Europe. The European Neighborhood Policy has an important local dimension. There are such city-oriented programs as COMUS, The Covenant of Mayors, CIUDAD and projects of cross-border coordination. Examples show that cooperation between cities is successful, if it is based on the mutual interest in solving common problems. The Treaty of Lisbon has opened new opportunities to cities' participation. European institutions are now obliged to consult with the Committee of Regions on the issues that have a strong effect at the local and regional level. However, the involvement of cities into integration practices of the EU is still limited. This is due to both, the fundamental problem of the EU organizational design, and the lack of effective channels for representing urban interests at the European level.

The Media Agenda: The Marginalization and Domestication of Europe

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Voltmer ◽  
Christiane Eilders
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
European Integration ◽  
General Public ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
European Level ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
National Quality ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Eu

This chapter investigates whether the assumption that the media contribute to the communication deficit of the EU is reflected in the empirical pattern of political coverage. In particular, it explores the extent to which German media take a Europeanized perspective on political affairs and whether or not they promote the politics of European integration. The study is based on a content analysis of the editorials of German national quality newspapers covering the period between 1994 and 1998. The findings show that the media under study devote only a very small portion of their attention to European issues, thus marginalizing Europe to an extent that is not warranted by the significance of the European level of governance. If the media do focus on European issues, they predominantly address them in terms of national politics, which is interpreted as a ‘domestication’ of Europe in public discourse. At the same time, the media unanimously support the idea of European integration. This pattern of communicating Europe reflects the élite consensus on European matters in Germany and may have contributed to the alienation of the general public from European politics.

5. Democracy and the EU

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Tapio Raunio
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
European Level ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Input Legitimacy ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the relationship between European integration and democracy. The continuous transfer of policy-making powers from European Union (EU) member states to the European level has raised serious concerns about democratic legitimacy. The chapter assesses the claims that European integration undermines national democracy, and that decision-making at the EU level is not sufficiently democratic. It argues that while significant challenges remain, European integration has definitely become more democratic over the years. But there is perhaps a trade-off, with stronger input legitimacy potentially an obstacle to efficient European-level decision-making. It also underlines the multilevel nature of the EU polity and the importance of public debates about European integration.

Setting the Scene

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Helen Wallace
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
European Level ◽  
The Core ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Future ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Country Characteristics ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

· Changing rationales for European integration. The initial rationales for integration seem less cogent and less resonant. Are they still at the core of the ‘project’? Which newer rationales need to be taken into account? Because of their cogency? Because of their resonance? · Facing up to both internal and external challenges: a huge agenda across political, economic, societal, and security concerns. · Differing narratives. Growth of Euroscepticism and Eurocriticism, though in differing manifestations. How far do these phenomena reflect transversal European factors? How far are they the product of different country characteristics and cultures? Is there a space to construct a shared European narrative? How does the new ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’ fit into this set of issues? · Diverse needs and aspirations. From 6 to 27(8) members with a variety of features political, economic, and societal—and geographic. Is differentiated integration the way forward or are other approaches needed to strike an accepted balance between the country level and the European level of practice? The old discussion of subsidiarity seems no longer to offer potential solutions. The capability to absorb yet more member states is contested. · Can political, economic, and societal concerns be aligned? Initial successes of the EC were very much tied to clever ways in which these different concerns were taken into the process. Can a successor version of pluri-dimensional integration be achieved based on diffuse reciprocity—cross-temporal and cross-sectoral? Or will the EU shift towards a more fragmented version of specific reciprocity based on sector by sector cost–benefit analyses?

scholarly journals Financial supervision in EU countries

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 432-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Maria Cervellati ◽  
Eleonora Fioriti
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Financial Supervision ◽  
European Level ◽  
Financial Systems ◽  
Member States ◽  
Supervisory System ◽  
Markets And Institutions ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
The Eu

Today there are about thirty authorities supervising national financial markets and institutions in the EU-15 countries. The member States have chosen different models for supervising their financial systems. We describe the three main theoretical supervisory models proposed in the literature: vertical, horizontal, centralised. In practice, however, it is difficult to find a pure application of these models, while the actual supervisory systems are the result of the different legal frameworks of the member States and of the way in which their financial systems developed. Moreover, although the Lamfalussy Report can be considered an important step towards a more integrated financial supervisory system at the European level, the supervisory arrangements are still very different among member States. This work provides an analysis of the different systems of financial supervision in Europe: showing how the differences that still exist among their systems make it more difficult to achieve a real European integration in financial supervision

European Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
The Eu

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING OF ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY OF UKRAINE: THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION ASPECT

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-105
Author(s):  
A. A. Prykhodko
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
European Integration ◽  
International Standards ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Third World Country ◽  
Broad Interpretation ◽  
Enforcement Activity ◽  
Cross Border Cooperation ◽  
The Eu

The article analyzes the theoretical and practical aspects of the anti-corruption policy of Ukraine in the context of European integration. Considered that corruption has long been perceived in the EU as a negative phenomenon requiring systematic, strategic and concerted action of a transboundary and transnational character and, in general, a threat to the rule of law. The author concluded that Ukraine will continue to be perceived by a third world country as long as anti-corruption measures are duplicated from one strategic document to another. The anti-corruption strategy of Ukraine should be an early, strategic and systematic tool for the eradication of corruption and the formation of public justice in the context of zero tolerance for such phenomena. Now this is a set of normatively fixed declarative slogans that are consistent with international standards, but are not achievable in practical terms due to the lack of state strategic planning in advance. The new anti-corruption strategy must necessarily include a broad interpretation of all the concepts used in it, including the term “anti-corruption policy”. Taking into account the recommendations of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the author’s vision of the term “anti-corruption policy” has been formed, as a set of principles, tasks, goals and principles of implementation of law-making and law-enforcement activity of public administration within the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms a state implemented by a system of methods, means and measures to combat corruption in priority areas and in accordance with anti-corruption standards and on the basis of transnational national and cross-border cooperation.

The Kelsenian Model of Constitutional Review in Times of European Integration – Reconsidering the Basic Features

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-37
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kustra-Rogatka
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Centralized Control ◽  
Constitutional Treaty ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
The Eu

Summary The paper deals with the changes in the centralized (Kelsenian) model of constitutional review resulting from a state’s membership of the EU, which unequivocally demonstrates the decomposition of the classic paradigm of constitutional judiciary. The main point raised in the paper is that European integration has fundamentally influenced on the four above-mentioned basic elements of the Kelsenian model of constitutional review of legislation, which are the following: the assumption of the hierarchical construction of a legal system; the assumption of the supreme legal force of the constitution as the primary normative act of a given system; a centralised model of reviewing hierarchical conformity of legal norms; coherence of the system guaranteed by a constitutional court’s power to declare defectiveness of a norm and the latter’s derogation. All its fundamental elements have evolved, i.e. the hierarchy of the legal system, the overriding power of the constitution, centralized control of constitutionality, and the erga omnes effect of the ruling on the hierarchical non-conformity of the norms. It should be noted that over the last decade the dynamics of these changes have definitely gained momentum. This has been influenced by several factors, including the “great accession” of 2004, the pursuit of formal constitutionalization of the EU through the Constitutional Treaty, the compromise solutions adopted in the Treaty of Lisbon, the entry into force of the Charter, and the prospect of EU accession to the ECHR. The CJEU has used these factors to deepen the tendencies towards decentralization of constitutional control, by atomising national judicial systems and relativizing the effects of constitutional court rulings within national legal systems. The end result is the observed phenomenon, if not of marginalisation, then at least of a systemic shift in the position of constitutional courts, which have lost their uniqueness and have become “only ones of many” national courts.

Zastosowanie analizy sieci społecznych w badaniach elit parlamentarnych (na przykładzie eurodeputowanych z Polski)

2014 ◽  
pp. 8-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Swacha
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Graphical Presentation ◽  
Relational Network

The purpose of this article is to present the possibilities of using social network analysis (SNA) in the study of the European Parliament elite. This study focuses on organisational connections between Polish members of the European Parliament (seventh term). Official organisational relationships of Polish MEPs include common membership in: political groups, authorities of parliamentary committees and delegations, Parliament’s Bureau, Conference of Presidents, Conference of Committee (and Delegation) Chairs. UCInet and Netdraw programmes were used to calculate SNA’s basic measures and to prepare graphical presentation of relational network created by the Polish MEPs. On this basis main characteristics of the network were presented and MEPs who had the best network locations were distinguished.

The Concept of Europeanization and Possibilities of its Application to the Analysis of Ukraine-EU Relations

2017 ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Natalia Popova
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Member States ◽  
External Governance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Eu Studies ◽  
The Eu

The concept of Europeanization has become quite fashionable in EU studies in recent years. It is often used for the analysis of the relations between the EU and non-member states. The aim of the article is to examine the possibilities of its application in explaining the relationship between the EU and Ukraine. The structure of the article is as follows: firstly, the concept of Europeanization is defined considering such two disputable issues as distinguishing among concepts of Europeanization and European integration as well as Europeanization and EU-ization. Next, the evolution of the theoretical research of Europeanization and definition of this concept are analyzed. Two main mechanisms of Europeanization (conditionality and socialization) are examined. The author considers main approaches to the analysis of the "external" Europeanization emphasizing the concept of "external governance". Three groups of factors which influence the effectiveness of Europeanization are briefly analyzed. And finally, the peculiarities of application of the Europeanization concept to the Ukraine-EU relations are outlined. Keywords: EU, Ukraine, Europeanization, EU-ization, ‘external’ Europeanization, conditionality, socialization, concept of ‘external governance’

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