scholarly journals How Covid-19 impacted the European integration processes? The case of EU Cohesion Policy and budget

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-43
Author(s):  
Ida Musiałkowska ◽  
Piotr Idczak
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Financial Framework ◽  
The Times

Purpose: The current pandemic crisis caused by Covid-19 significantly impacted the processes of European integration. The European Union decided to act within and beyond existing competences and instruments to support the efforts of its Member States, along with regional and local authorities, in the fight against Covid-19. Our study sheds light on the instruments and solutions proposed within the framework of the cohesion and budget policy to tackle the problems related to Covid-19 in Europe. The analysis focuses on two strands: 1) EU assistance offered through cohesion policy (CP) instruments toward above areas; 2) the future evolution of EU budget, and therefore integration shifts, provoked by the Covid-19 crisis. Design/methodology/approach: The study analyzes statistical data with regard to the use of instruments of the Cohesion Policy under the Covid-19 pandemic, but also the amendments introduced to legal acts and decision-making processes that refer to the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021–2027. Findings: We notice a strong shift of priorities regarding environment transformation, digitalization, and health protection, reflected in the MFF. The coordinative role of European institutions and the redirection of different financial instruments to health care follows the neofunctionalist paradigm and represents a spillover effect resulting from integration. The crisis analyzed from the institutional perspective is seen as a chance to reform the decision-making process, while on the other hand, as a threat to the inclusive integration of all Member States. Originality and value: The paper is an original contribution on the overall use of both financial and legislative instruments in the times of unprecedented health and economic crisis caused by Covid-19 in the European Union. The text can be a valuable insight for both researchers and practitioners in the field of broadly understood European studies.

scholarly journals Rational Choice Institutionalism and European Integration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Schneider ◽  
Anastasia Ershova
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Rational Choice Institutionalism ◽  
The Eu

Rational choice institutionalism (RCI) conceives of European integration as the outcome of three interplaying forces—interests, information, and institutions. Cooperation in the European Union (EU) is thus based on collective choices among a diverse set of actors ranging from voters to member states that disagree over the potential outcome of the decision-making process, are uncertain about the motives and resources of other players, and are exposed to decision-making rules with varying distributional consequences. RCI distinguishes between two fundamental choices the supranational organization can make. EU actors can in this perspective either decide how the EU should be governed (“decision-making about rules”) or how a policy should be changed with the help of a given rule (“decision-making within rules”). The first perspective deals largely with the intergovernmental conferences during which the European Union has changed the rules that structure the interactions among the member states. The latter viewpoint addresses how the relevant decision makers of the European Union have amended or prevented policy changes alone or in collaboration with other actors. Both perspectives draw on the standard assumptions of the rational choice research program that actors engage into means-ends calculations in a consistent way, process new information efficiently, and are aware of the preferences and rationality of other relevant actors. This implies, in the context of EU decision-making, that the adoption of new rules and polices is the consequence of the strategic behavior of those players who possess the power to influence the collective choice. The application of the RCI approach to EU integration has resulted in a multitude of studies seeking to explain its capacity for institutional reform, policy change, or absorption of new members. While the European Parliament, like any other legislature, concludes its deliberations through voting, other EU decision-making bodies mainly decide either through bargaining or through delegating certain tasks to a subordinate actor. RCI has adopted different workhorse models borrowed from game theory to reflect the variety of decision-making modes: the spatial theory of voting, non-cooperative bargaining theory, and principal-agent models have become the standard approaches to study European integration. RCI research has faced several challenges since becoming a mainstream approach in the study of EU decision-making. The first set of criticism focuses on the axiomatic basis of the RCI research program in general and questions its usefulness for understanding the evolution of an organization as complex and large as the EU. Other objections that are frequently raised refer to the empirical tests of the hypotheses derived from the game-theoretic models. Finally, critics of the approach question the ability of the RCI program to deal with the role of informal institutions.

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of the strategic objectives of European Union for the past programming period 2007-2013 and for the current programming period 2014-2020

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
Miroslav Raicov ◽  
Andrea Fehér ◽  
Tabita Adamov ◽  
Sorin Stanciu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Programming Period

The growing competition between different regions, thus their activities performed under both within and outside the European Union represents a fact of the "globalized" world in which we are living. For many years, the regional disparities in terms of development level and life quality were subject to national policies of the Member States. Many improvements have been observed since the European Union initiated the policy of reducing them. The Cohesion Policy of the European Union has an unique irreplaceable role in the coagulation of integrated development strategies, comprising interventions in different areas, such as infrastructure, research and innovation, employment, education, business, environment protection, climate changes and energy efficiency within a package of coherent policies addressing to regional or even local context, being one of the most visible policies, especially in what regards the relationship with citizens. Thus, the Cohesion Policy target is represented by supporting the process of reducing the disparities between the regions and Member States more developed of the European Union and the ones that are less developed.

Právně ekonomické aspekty kritéria právního státu jako podmínky pro přidělení prostředků z rozpočtu EU

2021 ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Tereza Čejková
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
The State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Financial Framework ◽  
The Impact

After expressing concerns about the state of democracy and civil rights in Poland and Germany in recent years, the European Commission proposed to implement the so-called rule of law condition in the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework scheme, under which EU budget funding would not be allocated to those Member States which do not comply with the condition. This work will examine the financial and legal aspects of this condition and assess the impact of its application on the economy of the European Union.

scholarly journals Back to the member states? Cohesion Policy and the national challenges to the European Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Crescenzi ◽  
Ugo Fratesi ◽  
Vassilis Monastiriotis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Member States

scholarly journals Don’t cry for me Britannia: The resilience of the European Union to Brexit

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narisong Huhe ◽  
Daniel Naurin ◽  
Robert Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Spatial Model ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

We assess the impact of the United Kingdom’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union on the Council of the European Union, where Brexit is likely to have the clearest observable implications. Using concepts and models from the spatial model of politics and network analysis, we formulate and test expectations regarding the effects of Brexit. We examine two of the most prominent datasets on recent decision-making in the European Union, which include data on cooperation networks among member states before and after the 2016 referendum. Our findings identify some of the political challenges that Brexit will bring, but also highlight the factors that are already helping the European Union’s remaining member states to adapt to Brexit.

How to Sharpen a Dull Sword – The Principle of Subsidiarity and its Control

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 733-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Ritzer ◽  
Marc Ruttloff ◽  
Karin Linhart
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Constitution ◽  
National System

The Treaty Establishing a European Constitution seems to have failed. The problems continue to exist: a centralizing tendency is inherent in the European Union like in supposedly every federal or supra-national system. This is why, for years, there has been a growing demand for a barrier against the subtle loss of competence for the Member States and their sub-national units, which also potentially threatens the acceptance of the Union's legal acts and therefore the progress of European integration overall.

State and Church in the European Union

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Major Significance ◽  
European Culture ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Church Relationships ◽  
The University

Churches as essential components of European culture have major significance for European integration. A Europe, bound by common constitutional traditions, cultures and traditions of its Member States, their national identity and the principle of subsidiarity, will have to respect the deep-rooted systems of State and Church relationships in its Member States. The volume presents in its third edition a broad comparison of different systems of State and Church relationships in the Member States of the European Union. It includes the new Member States and gives an account of the new developments throughout Europe. The volume shows the implications of European integration on the position of the Churches. It is of interest to all working in the field of State-Church relationship as well as to public and church institutions. The volume has been produced in association with the European Consortium for State-Church Research. The authors are experts in the field from the different Member States of the European Union, presenting the relevant systems of their home countries. The editor is a former professor at the University of Trier.

scholarly journals Euro-sceptical or Euro-phile? A critical analysis of the jurisprudence of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the process of European integration and decision-making

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bernadette Sangmeister
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
German Federal Constitutional Court ◽  
German Federal Constitutional

<p>On 14 January 2014, for the first time in its history, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) decided to refer a decision to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This referral, which concerned the issue of the legality of the European Central Bank’s bond-buying practices, must be seen as “historic” with regard to European integration and the relationship between European Union law and German constitutional law, forming part of important decisions of the FCC in this field since its first euro-critical judgment, Solange I, 40 years ago. Considering the high influence the German Federal Constitutional Court has had on the process of European integration, this paper aims at identifying and critiquing the lines of argumentation developed by the FCC in recent years in the field of European integration and decision-making before and after the Lisbon judgment in 2009, paying particular attention to the currently suspended OMT Decision proceedings in order to answer the question if a shift in the jurisprudence of the FCC from a euro-sceptical to a euro-phile approach has taken place.</p>

scholarly journals The geopolitical dimension of gas security in the European Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 45-73
Author(s):  
Remigiusz Rosicki
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Member States ◽  
Supply Disruptions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Selection Of

The objective scope of the analysis performed in the text encompasses the energy security in the European Union and its member states, and includes the perspective of geopolitical conditions. The geopolitical conditions should be understood as a variety of relations between geographical conditions and decision-making processes concerned with energy security. The main objective of the text is to present a selection of theoretical problems encountered in the study of energy security, as well as to link them with such issues as gas import dependence and the risk of gas supply disruptions, mainly from the Russian direction. In order to elaborate the objective scope of analysis, the following research questions are presented: (1) To what extent do geographical conditions determine decision-making processes in the energy policy pursued by the European Union?; and (2) To what extent do geographical conditions determine threats to the security of gas supplies to the European Union and its member states? The text is chiefly an overview, but the theoretical part loosely makes use of the premises of the research program concerned with the integration of knowledge as part of the studies of energy security and energy transitions, presented by E. Brutschina, A. Cherp, J. Jewell, B. K. Sovacool and V. Vinichenka. Additionally, knowledge contained in the literature on energy and gas security has been synthesized and enriched with a critical approach, and the author’s own assessments and conclusions.

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