Political and Econometric Analysis of Party Systems’ Transformation in the EU

2015 ◽  
pp. 5-17
Author(s):  
E. Gromoglasova ◽  
A. Libman
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Voting ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Average Level ◽  
National Party ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
The Eu

The paper attempts to study how economic situation in the member countries of the European Union in 2005-2011 affected the national party systems' attitude towards the EU and the European integration (the EU cleavage). The authors made suggestion that economic decline could result in growing Euroskepticism. This hypothesis was derived from three main arguments: economic voting theory, suggesting that voters “punish” the ruling parties in case of economic decline; the role the EU plays in determining national economic policy (specifically, strict austerity requirements); the overall international context of global economic crisis. In order to measure the attitude of the national parties towards the EU, the data from the Manifesto Project Database (MPD), a large scale content analysis database of electoral promises (manifestos) of national political parties was applied. Then the authors looked at 41 elections in the EU member states in 2005-2011, for which MPD data are available, and measured the declared position of the parties participating in the elections regarding the EU. In an econometric study, the proxies of national party systems attitudes were regressed on proxies of economic situation in the EU countries, attempting to test the main hypotheses. Specifically, four proxies of attitude towards the EU were used: the share of votes obtained by euroskeptical parties; the average level of Euroskepticism in national party manifestos of all parties participating in elections; the average level of Euroskepticism of the ruling coalition emerging from elections; the average level of Euroskepticism weighted by the share of votes obtained by particular parties. The results of the estimates do not confirm that economic indicators (especially GDP and inflation) have had a significant impact on the Euroskepticism; the results are not robust and vary from specification to specification. The article shows, however, that higher unemployment levels are negatively correlated with Euroskepticism. The authors explain these findings by the predominance of expressive behavior in voting patterns in Europe. Specifically, they argue that voting was driven primarily by identity issue. However, in this case identity should be related not to ethnic or regional features, but to consumption behavior patterns. The results are also placed in a broader context, attempting to link the EU-specific findings to processes observed in other parts of the world. Acknowledgements. The authors appreciate the valuable comments by E.V. Ananyeva, N.Yu. Kaveshnikov, S.P. Peregudov, M.V. Sterzhneva, A.I. Tevdoi-Burmuli and all participants of the section “Processes of Regional Integration in Big Europe” of the 8th Congress of the Russian Association of International Studies. All mistakes and inaccuracies are the authors’ responibility.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Models of Farms in the European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4772
Author(s):  
Hanna Klikocka ◽  
Aneta Zakrzewska ◽  
Piotr Chojnacki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Family Farms ◽  
Agricultural Income ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Standard Output ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

The article describes and sets the definition of different farm models under the categories of being family, small, and large-scale commercial farms. The distinction was based on the structure of the workforce and the relationship between agricultural income and the minimum wage. Family farms were dominated by the farming family providing the labour and their income per capita exceeded the net minimum wage in the country. The larger commercial farms feature a predominance of hired labour. Based on surveys, it was found that in 2016 in the EU-28 there were 10,467,000 farms (EU-13—57.3%, EU-15—42.7%). They carried out agricultural activities on an area of 173,338,000 ha (EU-13—28.5%, EU-15—71.5%). Countries of the EU-28 generated a standard output (SO) amounting to EUR 364,118,827,100 (EU-13—17.2% and EU-15—82.8%). After the delimitation, it was shown that small farming (70.8%) was the predominant form of management in the European Union (EU-13—88.2% and EU-15—79.8%) compared to family farming (18.4%) (EU-13—10.5% and EU-15—29%). In most EU countries the largest share of land resources pertains to small farms (35.6%) and family farms (38.6%) (UAA—utilised agricultural area of farms).

scholarly journals Nothern European Lessons for Eurasian Integration

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
L. S. Voronkov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
The Other ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
The Eu

The paper is dedicated to the differences between the classical instruments for regulating interstate political and trade-economic relations from those used in the development of regional integration processes. Traditionally, the Eurasian Economic Union is compared with the European Union, considering the EU as a close example to follow in the development of integration processes. At the same time, there exist the other models of integration. The author proposes to pay attention to the other models of integration and based on the analysis of documents, reveals the experience of Northern Europe, which demonstrates effective cooperation without infringing on the sovereignty of the participants. The author examines the features of the integration experience of the Nordic countries in relation to the possibility of using its elements in the modern integration practice of the Eurasian Economic Union.

scholarly journals PARTY POSITIONS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE BALTIC STATES: DO THEY COMPETE? DO THEY MIRROR VOTERS’ POSITIONS?

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Tomas Bekišas
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

This paper aims to determine Lithuania’s, Latvia’s, and Estonia’s parties’ positions on the European Union (EU) and to ascertain whether these party positions mirror their voters’ positions on the EU. Analysis suggests that parties in this region have rather varied positions on the EU, with the exception of hard-Eurosceptic views, which are absent in Baltic states’ party systems. This paper also indicates that parties in the Baltic states tend to mirror, with some exceptions, their voters positions on the EU. This suggests that there may be additional factors determining parties’ positions regarding the EU in the Baltics.

Renewable Energy in the EU: Revision of Priorities

2014 ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
N. Kaveshnikov
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Energy Policies ◽  
The Eu

The article analyses the EU policies of promoting renewable energy sources (RES), including the role of state subsidizing and the change of EU policy in 2013. First EU actions in this area were implemented in late 1990s. In mid 2000s the European Commission developed integrated approach of the encouragement of renewables. Promotion of RES was integrated with other areas of the EU energy policies in the framework of the Climate and Energy Package in 2007. The paper evaluates EU achievements and development of particular types of RES in the EU in 2000s. A comprehensive comparative analysis of the cost of different types of RES and the use of incentive measures in the European Union and EU member states is carried out. The conclusion is made that despite the impressive technological progress the renewable energy, with rare exception, is still uncompetitive with the traditional sources of energy in terms of costs. A large-scale state support was the reason for the rapid development of renewables in the EU. Article investigates distorting effects of RES subsidies on the market price of electricity. Feed-in tariffs, investment grants, quotas and tax benefits were the most widespread forms of direct and indirect RES subsidies in the EU. During the economic crisis, these subsidies have become a heavy burden for the budgets of the EU countries and population. Now the EU is modifying its strategy on RES in order to reduce the volume of subsidies. In 2013 European Council substantially changed the priorities of the EU energy policies: instead of «sustainable energy» it accentuated the need to provide a “competitive energy”. Strategic decision to reform the existing methods of RES subsidizing and to develop an «economically reasonable» support scheme was made. The reduction of subsidies will inevitably lead to a sharp reduction in the rate of growth of renewables and the failure to achieve previously agreed EU targets.

The Institutional and Constitutional Aspects of the Arab Maghreb Union and the Dispute on Western Sahara as an Obstacle: What Role does the European Union Play in Promoting Maghreb Regional Integration?

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-318
Author(s):  
Mohamed Riyad M. Almosly
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
English Language ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Sahara ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Cooperative Methods ◽  
Single Approach ◽  
The Eu

The current era is witnessing a proliferation of challenges of a transnational character that do not recognize the geographical limits of sovereign States, such as human traficking and pollution. Therefore, States have to establish new regional cooperative methods to find effective solutions for these challenges. Although the Maghreb States (i.e. Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) have been suffering from the negative impacts of such challenges over the last few decades, they have not yet created an effective regional cooperative framework. In this respect, since its establishment in 1989 among the Maghreb States, the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU, Union) has not been successful in stimulating Maghreb regional integration. The current study addresses a topic that has not yet been fully exploited by legal studies in the English language. It examines, first, the genesis and institutional structure of the AMU as well as the constitutional aspects of the 1989 AMU Treaty; second, the role of the EU’s multilateral and bilateral instruments in promoting Maghreb regional integration; and third, the dispute on Western Sahara between Morocco and the Polisario Front and its effect on Maghreb regional integration. The article concludes that Maghreb regional integration has so far failed due to the institutional and constitutional limits of the AMU Treaty and the political division among the Maghreb States resulting from the Western Sahara conflict. In addition, the EU so far has not followed a consistent and single approach in promoting the Maghreb integration nor did it play any role in solving the dispute on Western Sahara.

scholarly journals LIMITS AND RISK OF DEVELOPING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN POLAND

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1/2017) ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Stanislaw Miecznikowski
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Bond Yields ◽  
Financial Perspective ◽  
European Standards ◽  
Barriers To Growth ◽  
The Eu

Low investment and other mistakes made in the process of transport development has led to the situation where even the infrastructure of the most developed transport branches does not correspond to European standards. Underdevelopment of transport infrastructure in Poland has become one of the main barriers to growth and modernization of the country. Well-developed transport infrastructure is an important determinant of socio-economic development. Over 25 years after the start of the economic transformation in Poland, the condition of transport infrastructure in this country remains unsatisfactory. However, since the accession to the European Union, the development of transport infrastructure in Poland has improved significantly. Funds from the EU have contributed significantly to this progress. The current financial perspective may be the last chance for Poland to get EU funding for transport infrastructure development in such a large scale. Therefore, it is particularly important that the allocated funds are fully absorbed. For this to happen, project beneficiaries should be able to obtain funds for their own contributions. The increase in bond yields related to rating downgrade, weakening banks or shifting funds from investment to consumption may weaken Poland’s ability to take advantage of opportunities arising from EU funds.

scholarly journals Particularities of the European Union enlargement process

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea Bucur
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
European Union Enlargement ◽  
And Function ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
The Eu

The European integration model has proven to be so far a successful one, with a high consideration from the other countries of the world and their attempts to replicate its components and to learn from its experience of regional integration is perhaps the most sincere form of appreciation. Contemporary global economy knows various other models of economic integration, but none of the existing forms of regional integration was not up to the achievements of the EU which is distinguished primarily by the stage reached and function and<br />its ability to create unity in the context of diversity. Irreversible process, and currently ongoing, and designed to produce positive results in perspective, the enlargement is one of the most significant factors of European construction success, always accompanying its history, marking the development, institutional structure, mode of cooperation and its policies. For these reasons, the present paper aims to approach the European integration model by the factors that influenced the enlargement and also by the course of events that are reflected in so-called “waves” of EU enlargement.

scholarly journals A historical and judicial approach on the transformation of the European Communities, the predecessors of the European Union, into an institutional model across the region

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
Mihail Poalelungi ◽  
◽  
Mihai Poalelungi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Level ◽  
Broad Area ◽  
Institutional Governance ◽  
Institutional Model ◽  
The Eu

The process of European integration has never followed a clear path and the current EU predecessors had never been by far the only efforts of the regional integration in Europe. Created in the 1950s, the European Communities as today’s EU predecessors, have overdue emerged in a very broad area populated by international organizations and various cooperation institutions. This organization, only by matching economic and political challenges, succeeded in becoming the most important cooperation forum between European states. Although in the early 1950s the Western European states could often choose between various forms of regional cooperation, today the EU is frequently seen as the only available at the European level option and the only model of institutional governance.

scholarly journals Latin American public opinion vis-à-vis regional integration (1995-2018)

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (199) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
María Victoria Alvarez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
National Level ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Economy ◽  
The Eu

Literature on opposition to regional integration has concentrated on the European Union (EU). So far, very few systematic attempts have been pursued to explain opposition to regional integration in Latin America or to identify its main influential factors. Based on Latinobarometer surveys, two main findings emerge from this paper. First, it confirms that opposition to regional integration is not a generalised attitude among Latin Americans. Secondly, the way in which citizens across Latin America evaluate regional integration is strongly influenced by the same predictors as in the EU. Together, citizens’ assessments of economic performance (both at the individual and national level) enjoy a preponderance to account for their position regarding regionalism. Others variables, i.e. age, ideological position, and level of education have a more limited explanatory value while occupation is not significant. Thus, economic variables such as citizens’ perceptions of their national and individual economy have proven to be directly linked to support for/opposition to economic integration.

Ukraine and the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giselle Bosse
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Limited Participation ◽  
Crimean Peninsula ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Eu

In early 2014, a series of dramatic crises in Ukraine generated headlines around the world. Most scholarly attention was placed on the tensions between the West and Russia, and the emergence of a new Cold War, especially following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its military incursion in eastern Ukraine. The relations between Ukraine and the European Union (EU) have often been reduced to debates on whether the EU was to blame for the conflict, having “sleepwalked” into the Ukraine crisis by focusing on technical trade issues and failing to recognize the delicate geopolitical context. Other analysts pointed to the EU’s pursuit of regional hegemony, which has failed to recognize Russia’s legitimate geopolitical and economic interests in Ukraine. In practice, Ukraine-EU relations have been more complex and nuanced, certainly when considering that Ukraine already declared its ambition to “return to Europe” and to seek EU membership with its proclamation of independence, in 1991. Ukraine-EU relations are perhaps best understood along four levels of inquiry. The first is domestic dynamics in Ukraine. Since the end of the Cold War, all Ukrainian governments have underlined the “Europeanness” of Ukraine and have also by and large followed a pro-EU course in their foreign policies, including the government under pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. However, Ukraine’s European choice has often been limited to foreign-policy declarations. Even the pro-European and reform-oriented governments that led Ukraine after the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Maidan Square protests struggled to introduce far-reaching reforms because of the power of the “iron triangle” of oligarchic rule, corruption, and financial instability. The second line of inquiry concerns Ukraine-Russia relations. Since gaining independence, Ukraine’s strategy has been one of limited participation in Russia’s post-Soviet regional integration initiatives in order to safeguard its independence. However, Russia always used “sticks and carrots” vis-à-vis Ukraine to further its own policy objectives, ranging from offering gas-price discounts to cutting off gas supplies, imposing import bans on Ukrainian produce, and, since 2014, threatening and using the military to force Ukraine to acquiesce to its demands. A third line of inquiry is the EU’s policy toward Ukraine, based on bilateral relations and cooperation through the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership. The EU has approached Ukraine as one among several neighbors in its attempt to build a ring of well-governed countries along its borders. Although the EU’s enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe generated more interest in Ukraine, member states have consistently ruled out EU membership for Ukraine. A fourth theme of inquiry is that of EU-Russia relations in the wider international context. Throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, the EU clearly prioritized good political and economic relations with Russia over its relationship with its neighbors in the East, including Ukraine. Even when Russia annexed Crimea and when evidence of the role of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine had become impossible to ignore, the EU struggled to find a common stance on Russia.

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