scholarly journals Integrationists, Critical Europeanists and Pessimist Europeanists: Attitudinal mindsets on the EU among German students

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Teney ◽  
Juan Deininger ◽  
Josefine Zurheide
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

We investigate the mindsets on the EU of students enrolled in a German university. We conducted an online survey among students of a German university (N=730) and asked them closed questions on the EU enlargement, the allocation of authority at the EU level, the way democracy works at the EU level and an open question on their wish for the future of the EU. We then ran a latent class analysis of the recoded answer categories from the open question and of our set of closed questions. Our three-class solution highlights variation in support of the EU among students. Indeed, while the vast majority of the respondents show highly supportive attitudes toward the EU, we can distinguish between “Integrationists” (in favour of pursuing the EU integration project; 68% of the sample), “Critical Europeanists” (supportive of the EU but dissatisfied with the way democracy works at the EU level; 20,50% of the sample) and “Pessimist Europeanists” (supportive of the EU but afraid of the implosion of the EU; 11% of the sample). A further analysis of the narratives provided by members of each class to the open question enables us to shed light on variation within each latent class. In particular, we find variation (1) in the dimensions and policies the EU should further integrate according to the Europeanists, (2) in the types of EU institutions to be further democratised and strategies to improve the democratisation of the EU regime according to the Critical Europeanists and (3) in strategies the EU should follow to avoid its implosion according to the Pessimist Europeanists. Our study highlights the importance of the use of non-standardised measures and mixed-methods data collection for grasping citizens´ mindset on the EU in its multidimensionality and complexity.

scholarly journals Backdoor Nationalism

2010 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon E. Fox ◽  
Peter Vermeersch
Keyword(s):  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
European Unification ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

AbstractContrary to expectations, the EU’s eastward expansion in 2004 did not sound the death knoll of nationalism in the region; rather, it signalled its reinvention and, in some respects, reinvigoration. In this paper, we examine three ways in which nationalism has been redefined in Hungary and Poland in the context of EU enlargement. First, consensus on the desirability of European unification has lessened the importance of left/right party divisions; in its place, the “nation” has provided a fulcrum for inter-party contestation. Second, EU integration has provided nationalists in the region with a backdoor for realising old nationalist ambitions of national reunification across the porous borders of the EU. Third, we examine the way radical nationalist organisations in Hungary and Poland increasingly define themselves in opposition to the EU.

AN EXPLORATION OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN TEENAGERS’ USE, CONSUMPTION AND DIGITAL PRODUCTION

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina-Maricica Seserman ◽  
Daniela Cojocaru
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
Media Consumption ◽  
The Way

Today’s teenagers have a very close relationship with ICTs and the digital space related to them, as they have impacted the way the youth constructs their sense of self and the tools they use to perform their carefully constructed identity. One key element which influences the way one constructs their views by themselves is within the boundaries set by their biological sex and therefore through the behaviors associated with their asigned gender. Through the symbolic interactionist lense, or more specifically through Goffman's dramaturgical theory on the manner in which one presents him/herself in society, this paper looks at the manner in which teenagers use social media platforms and at the way they consume and create digital content in order to present their gender identity. The way teenagers consume and produce digital content differs and depends on how they interpret their ideals of femininity and masculinity, which are afterwards reproduced in the content they post on their social media pages. Therefore this research is an attempt to understand what are the factors teenagers take in account when consuming and producing content. What gender differences can be observed in regards to new media consumption? What difference can be observed in online activity behaviors between males and females? How do they feel about their gender identity concerning fitting in with their peer group? A mix-methodological approach was engaged in the data collection process. In the first stage of the research highschool students (n=324) from the city of Suceava (Romania) participated in taking an online survey. The initial intent was to meet with the young respondents in person, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic this was deemed impossible. For the second stage of data collection, six of the participants who took the online survey were invited to participate in a focus group designed to grasp a better understanding of the results from the previous stage. The discovered findings uncover engaging gender similarities and differences in social media consumption and the type, subject, matter and style in which they posted their content, but also in regards to the performance of the self between the online and offline space.

scholarly journals The European Administration as a Facilitator of the European Integration Process: Organizational and Ethical Implications from the Proliferation of European Union Agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 78-94
Author(s):  
Giorgio Oikonomou
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Sharp Increase ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
European Court ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Eu

The purpose of this study is to explore the evolution of EU administration by focusing and critically examining the role of EU agencies in advancing the European integration project. The research question deals with identifying the factors that account for the formulation of EU agencies and the reasons behind their sharp increase in numbers since the 2000s. The tasks are to analyse critical EU agencies’ parameters such as their typology, the policy area they deal with, origin of their resources and funding, and their output. In addition, transparency and accountability issues accompanying the proliferation of EU agencies are also considered. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of the European administration as expressed by the establishment of various types of agencies since 1975 thereafter. Methodologically, the research utilizes quantitative data based on annual EU budgets as well as official reports and policy papers issued by main EU institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, European Court of Auditors) and agencies, analyzing them from a historical perspective. As a result, it is argued that the proliferation of EU agencies has advanced the process of European integration, namely the EU enlargement and expansion in new policy areas following successive reforms of the Treaties. However, concerns regarding accountability and transparency issues remain in place.

The Environmental Challenges of EU Enlargement

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Čavoški
Keyword(s):  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Institutional Economic ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Weakest Link ◽  
Accession Countries ◽  
The Eu

Although the implementation of the acquis is a crucial element of the EU integration process, it is recognised as its ‘weakest link’. The implementation deficit is especially apparent with the EU environmental acquis, both in the existing member states and the accession countries. Most recently, following the accession of Croatia, the EU faces prospective enlargement to other Western Balkans countries. The author argues that there are specific problems in implementing the environmental acquis in accession countries and that the case of Serbia, or other countries of the Western Balkans, is not particularly unique. The case study used to support this argument is the implementation of the waste acquis in Serbia as it represents a highly demanding and costly policy area for national authorities and the country faces extensive legal, institutional, economic and financial challenges in implementing the environmental acquis.

scholarly journals Revisiting patterns in EU regulatory social policy: (still) supporting the market or social goals in their own right?

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Hartlapp
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Process Integration ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
The Common ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The Eu

AbstractDespite the fact that economic concerns are the main driver of the EU integration process, integration does carry a substantial social dimension. Yet, it remains an open question whether this social dimension ‘only’ supports the market or whether goals such as social justice, solidarity and employment conditions are independent of or even work against goals of market efficiency. To address this question the paper presents an original dataset on all 346 binding EU social policy acts adopted since the Union’s founding. In a descriptive approach, I contrast instruments and dynamics in areas and subfields connected more closely to the common market with those more directly constituting a social dimension in its own right. On this basis, I argue that the shape of EU social policy has substantially changed, strengthening its market-supporting dimension while weakening policy focused on its social dimension. The paper opens up for discussion possible political dynamics driving these patterns.

Enlargement Policy and European Union Politics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Gateva
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern Enlargement ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Enlargement has always been an essential part of the European integration. Each enlargement round has left its mark on the integration project. However, it was the expansion of the European Union (EU) with the 10 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), Cyprus, and Malta, unprecedented in scope and scale, which presented the EU with an opportunity to develop a multifaceted set of instruments and transformed enlargement into one of the EU’s most successful policies. The numerous challenges of the accession process, along with the immensity of the historical mission to unify Europe, lent speed to the emergence of the study of EU enlargement as a key research area. The early studies investigated the puzzle of the EU’s decision to enlarge with the CEECs, and the costs and benefits of the Eastern expansion. However, the questions about the impact of EU enlargement policy inspired a new research agenda. Studies of the influence of the EU on candidate and potential candidate countries have not only widened the research focus of Europeanization studies (beyond the member states of the Union), but also stimulated and shaped the debates on the scope and effectiveness of EU conditionality. Most of the analytical frameworks developed in the context of the Eastern enlargement have favored rational institutionalist approaches highlighting a credible membership perspective as the key explanatory variable. However, studies analyzing the impact of enlargement policy on the Western Balkan countries and Turkey have shed light on some of the limitations of the rationalist approaches and sought to identify new explanatory factors. After the completion of the fifth enlargement with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the research shifted to analyzing the continuity and change of EU enlargement policy and its impact on the candidate and potential candidate countries. There is also a growing number of studies examining the sustainability of the impact of EU conditionality after accession by looking into new members’ compliance with EU rules. The impact of EU enlargement policy on the development of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and comparative evaluations of the Union’s performance across the two policy frameworks have also shaped and expanded the debate on the mechanisms and effectiveness of the EU’s influence. The impact of the Eastern enlargement on EU institutions and policymaking is another area of research that has emerged over the last decade. In less than two decades, the study of EU enlargement policy has produced a rich and diverse body of literature that has shaped the broader research agendas on Europeanization, implementation, and compliance and EU policymaking. Comprehensive theoretical and empirical studies have allowed us to develop a detailed understanding of the impact of the EU on the political and economic transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. The ongoing accession process provides more opportunities to study the evolving nature of EU enlargement policy, its impact on candidate countries, the development of EU policies, and the advancement of the integration project.

EU enlargement policy and human rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 345-364
Author(s):  
Beáta Huszka ◽  
Zsolt Körtvélyesi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
New Members ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Eu

The enlargement policy of the European Union (EU) aims at integrating new members following an accession path. EU conditionality policy is a delicate balancing exercise between keeping the partner countries on the accession path and upholding fundamental values. Enlargement countries are now concentrated, with the exception of Turkey, in the Western Balkans. A key challenge is that the current leaderships in many of these states are shifting their countries increasingly in an authoritarian direction. The EU now faces a situation of establishing illiberal regimes in the region and so far seems to lack the willingness and the tools to engage and counter this. The chapter finds that human rights conditionality seems to allow for less-than-honest domestic compliance, where the EU’s requests are (mis)used to boost the power of domestic leadership. The stated principles of the EU can clash with the state’s actual performance for various reasons, including the prioritization of more direct economic interests or security goals. Conditionality tends to remain shallow as it is built on conditions that are easy to implement and measure but remain largely formal (for example, setting up an institution, adopting legislation). In the case of the Western Balkans, our research findings indicate that the enlargement process can result in favouring strong leaders who can deliver, even if the same ‘strength’ puts human rights compliance at risk. The greatest danger is that EU integration can end up legitimising the violation of human rights by the authorities.

European Union Enlargement Policy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Gateva
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern Enlargement ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Enlargement has always been an essential part of the European integration. Each enlargement round has left its mark on the integration project. However, it was the expansion of the European Union (EU) with the 10 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), Cyprus and Malta, unprecedented in scope and scale, which presented the Union with an opportunity to develop a multifaceted set of instruments and transformed enlargement into one of EU’s most successful policies. The numerous challenges of the accession process, along with the enormity of the historical mission to unify Europe, lent speed to the emergence of the study of EU enlargement as a key research area. The early studies investigated the puzzle of the EU’s decision to enlarge with the CEECs, and the costs and benefits of the Eastern expansion. However, the questions about the impact of EU enlargement policy inspired a new research agenda. Studies of the influence of the EU on candidate and potential candidate countries have not only widened the research focus of Europeanization studies (beyond the member states of the Union), but also stimulated and shaped the debates on the scope and effectiveness of EU conditionality. Most of the analytical frameworks developed in the context of the Eastern enlargement have favored rational institutionalist approaches highlighting a credible membership perspective as the key explanatory variable. However, studies analyzing the impact of enlargement policy on the Western Balkan countries and Turkey have shed light on some of the limitations of the rationalist approaches and sought to identify new explanatory factors. After the completion of the fifth enlargement with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the research shifted to analyzing the continuity and change of EU enlargement policy and its impact on the candidate and potential candidate countries. There is also a growing number of studies examining the sustainability of the impact of EU conditionality after accession by looking into new members’ compliance with EU rules. The impact of EU enlargement policy on the development of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and comparative evaluations of the Union’s performance across the two policy frameworks have also shaped and expanded the debate on the mechanisms and effectiveness of the EU’s influence. The impact of the Eastern enlargement on EU institutions and policy making is another area of research that has emerged over the last decade. In less than two decades the study of EU enlargement policy has produced a rich and diverse body of literature that has shaped the broader research agendas on Europeanization, implementation, and compliance and EU policy making. Comprehensive theoretical and empirical studies have allowed us to develop a detailed understanding of the impact of the EU on the political and economic transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. The ongoing accession process provides more opportunities to study the evolving nature of EU enlargement policy, its impact on candidate countries, the development of EU policies, and the advancement of the integration project.

scholarly journals EU equality law after a decade of austerity

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 163-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Benedi Lahuerta ◽  
Ania Zbyszewska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The Social ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
Policy Proposals ◽  
The Eu

This article discusses the evolution of European Union (EU) legislation and policymaking methods during the 10 years since the onset of the financial and economic crisis in 2007/2008. In the EU, this period has been characterized by politics of stimulus, austerity, and recovery. Against the backdrop of longer term developments in equality law, we consider how the crisis context influenced this field’s evolution. Through the analysis of a range of legislative and policy proposals, we show that the progressive softening or hybridization of equality law over this period has gone hand in hand with the stronger articulation of equality objectives in terms of a “business case.” While this approach appears to have enabled the proliferation of policy and legal instruments and expanded the reach of equality law into areas where the EU has limited competence to legislate, it has also elevated instrumental economic goals for action at expense of human rights or social rationales. This longer term tendency is also present in the recently adopted European Pillar of Social Rights, and the accompanying policy documentation, which have been hailed as carrying potential to infuse more coherence and to rebalance the social and economic rationales that the EU integration project has unevenly promoted over the years. Mindful that it is still too early for conclusive judgments, we suggest, however, that the transformative possibilities the Pillar carries are likely to be undermined by its soft and economically oriented thrust.

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