Are the Visegrad countries independent players in European politics and economics?

2021 ◽  
pp. 839-851
Author(s):  
Anastasia Alekseevna Nevskaya
Keyword(s):  
Negotiation Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
European Values ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
Visegrád Countries ◽  
The Eu

The article examines the degree of independence of the Visegrad Group countries in the European Union in terms of economic prerequisites and actual implementation. It has been suggested that the countries of the Visegrad Group, having reached a certain level of economic prosperity and diversified their foreign economic relations, began to strive to play a more independent role in making integration decisions in the EU, including on issues of basic common European values. This hypothesis is tested on the example of the negotiation process of the EU countries on the adoption of the MultiYear Financial Plan for 2021–2027 and the creation of a Next Generation EU Fund to work together to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main directions of the negotiations, the positions of the participants and the general results are analyzed. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that Poland and Hungary have succeeded in achieving ambivalent language on the issues of linking the allocation of funds to member countries with their provision of the rule of law and observance of other democratic principles. It is shown that in practice the European Commission still does not abandon this linkage. It is concluded that during the EU membership, the Visegrad Group countries have succeeded in demonstrating their economic capabilities, and their ability to influence the solution of common European issues has increased, but the real degree of autonomy of the Visegrad countries within the EU has not reached a qualitatively new level, including and due to contradictions in the positions of countries within the bloc itself.

scholarly journals FDI determinants in Europe and Chinese influence

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
Alena Dorakh
Keyword(s):  
Trade Costs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Vertical Fdi ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Despite recent concerns about the increasing influence of outside investors on the European Union (EU) and Western Balkans, the developed European countries are still a dominant source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region, confirming the benefits of EU membership. At the same time, fast-growing connectivity and lower trade costs in accession and neighboring countries determine the FDI growth from China, particularly via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By applying panel data over 2000-2019 for 34 countries, which form 89% of all European FDI, we first examine FDI patterns around Europe, compare the EU, NMS, and Western Balkans; verify the importance of EU membership for FDI, caused reducing trade costs and improving connectivity. Thus, the new EU member states (NMS) and Western Balkans appear both as a home country and as a pre- entry destination to the EU. Then, we calculate trade costs indices for each selected country and partners over time and find that Europe and China are closely interconnected through trade and FDI. It means that stronger ties with China can be realized for the sample countries at the cost of easing relations with the EU. Finally, incorporating trade costs indices into the FDI model; we evaluate the impact of connectivity on FDI and estimate how BRI affected FDI in Europe. Additionally, we validate that the old framework of horizontal and vertical FDI not representative well and even new complex vertical or export-oriented FDI strategies are shifting today.

3. France: Genuine Europeanization or Monnet for Nothing?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Rozenberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
French Politics ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Institutional System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines France’s paradoxical relationship with the European Union by focusing on the heterogeneity of adaptation to the EU. While public policy and legislation are becoming increasingly Europeanized, the EU has a limited impact on political life and the domestic institutional system. As a result of this mixed situation, the national narratives for supporting French membership of the EU suffer from progressive erosion and Euroscepticism subtly gaining ground. The chapter first considers patterns in France’s EU membership before discussing the impact of EU membership on public opinion and political parties. It then looks at the Europeanization of French politics and the impact of EU membership on French institutions as well as public policy. The chapter argues that France has changed by joining the EU, contrary to what a large body of recent work suggests.

Relations between the european union and the visegrad group of eastern europe: examining the barriers to integraton

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mária Havrilová
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Mass Privatization ◽  
The Eu

The European Community (EC), in particular, took upon itself the role of the key external player in the political and economic restructuring programs in Eastern Europe. It successfully used a combination of aid packages and advice-giving, to frame its political and economic relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. For their part, the Eastern states, hoping for a quick path to a convertible currency and EU membership, fully embraced the free market philosophy by swallowing the bitter pill of shock therapy, mass privatization and deregulation. The Eastern Europeans have gradually come to a significant twofold realization. First, that membership is not likely to be offered any time soon. And second, that there are significant barriers to the strengthening of ties with the EU. <p> The EU eventually responded to the growing pleas for membership by announcing that the special relationship between Western and Eastern Europe would be assured through association agreements pursuant to Article 235 of the Treaty of Rome. Initially, the EU did not intend to make any reference in the Europe Agreements to future membership of the Association countries. <p> A major indicator in the Europe Agreements, which highlights the EU's fundamental concern over its own interests rather than assisting Eastern Europe in the transition process, are the trade provisions. In essence, these maintain significant, potentially long-term barriers to trade between the EC and the East, particularly in sensitive sectors such as steel, textiles and agriculture. A second obstacle to the Associate countries' accession are the relatively weak institutional links created by the Europe Agreements. Convergence of laws is another important condition which needs to be satisfied before membership is granted to the Eastern European applicants. The present approach excludes the Eastern Europeans from exemption from the EU's anti-dumping law; it shuts them out of most of the EU's decision making; and it limits the effectiveness of their attempts to harmonise their legislation with the EU. Taken collectively, it seems certain that these exclusions will seriously restrict the Associates' prospects of rapid integration into the EU. <p> The compromise may involve complicated negotiations between member states and also with potential applicants.

scholarly journals Globalisation Scepticism in the Visegrad Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-451
Author(s):  
Marianna Dudášová
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
Visegrád Countries ◽  
The Eu

Recent developments in the European Union revealed significant differences between the Visegrad countries and the remaining members of the EU. The enlargement euphoria of the first decade of the 21st century was replaced by certain enlargement fatigue, manifesting itself not only in concrete governmental policies but also in the public opinion towards the EU. As European integration and globalisation are parallel processes, declining support for European integration must not necessarily be the result of disagreement with specific policies and should be examined in the broader context of globalisation fears and anxieties. The article describes variations in globalisation scepticism between the group of Visegrad countries and the remaining countries of the EU as well as variations within the Visegrad group itself, focusing on the main drivers of economic globalisation – international trade, foreign direct investment, and immigration. The development of public opinion since the financial and economic crisis in 2009 indicates that Visegrad countries should not be treated as a uniform bloc of globalisation sceptics as there are significant differences in opinion between the more pessimistic Czechs and Slovaks and the more optimistic Poles and Hungarians. Their globalisation scepticism also varies across different dimensions of globalisation and is fuelled by different motivations.

scholarly journals Northern Cyprus as an ‘inner neighbour’: A critical analysis of European Union enlargement in Cyprus

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Casaglia
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Enlargement ◽  
Northern Cyprus ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Turkish Cypriot ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This article analyses the impact of Cyprus’s accession to the European Union (EU) on the northern part of the island, and tackles the political actorness of the EU with regard to the enduring Cypriot conflict. Much literature has critically analysed the EU enlargement process, underlining its imperialistic features and its problematic nature. At the same time, scholars have highlighted the EU’s difficulties in acting as a political actor and its impact on situations of ethno-national conflict. This article brings together these critical aspects by analysing them in the peculiar context of Cyprus. It retraces the negotiation process and the Turkish Cypriots’ in/visibility throughout it, and presents research conducted following Cyprus’s accession in three different periods between 2008 and 2015. We propose an interpretation of Northern Cyprus as an ‘inner neighbour’ of the EU, because of its anomalous and liminal status, the suspended application of the acquis communautaire, the unresolved conflict and the ambiguity of the border management of the Green Line, the line of partition between north and south. All these problematic features of Northern Cyprus’s situation are examined in detail to identify the unique position of this entity within the EU. In addition to this, and supporting the importance of a bottom-up understanding of the EU’s normative and symbolic projection, the article presents the opinions of Turkish Cypriot citizens about their expectations before and after 2004, and how their ideas and imaginaries related to the EU have evolved and interacted with the process of Europeanisation.

13. Europeanization and Member State Institutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 301-330
Author(s):  
Hussein Kassim ◽  
Vanessa Buth
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the impact of Europeanization on member state institutions. Membership in the European Union imposes a variety of constraints and burdens on countries, but it also affords important opportunities and makes available significant resources. Integration initially reinforced the decline of national legislatures, but they have fought back in the last decade. National courts have assumed new functions and become part of a wider Community of law. At the same, the precise effects of the EU have varied cross-nationally as the demands of membership have interacted with differing constitutional arrangements, legal traditions, and political cultures. Moreover, national institutions such as governments, parliaments, and courts have left their mark on the EU and determine to a large extent the capacities of the Union as a system. The chapter considers how EU membership has affected national governments, national parliaments, and national courts.

7. Spain: Pragmatic Europeanism or the End of Unconditional Support for European Integration?

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-177
Author(s):  
Ana Mar Fernández Pasarín ◽  
Francesc Morata
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Judicial Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Adaptation ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the different aspects of Spain’s adaptation to the European Union, and more specifically how Europe became a source of benefits and modernization for the country. Spain is the only country among all those which have joined the EU after 1958 whose political parties and citizenry were in full support of acccession. Europeanization has affected most policy areas, particularly economic and social policies in response to EU pressures during the financial crisis. The chapter first considers the pattern of Spain’s relations with the EU before discussing the overall assessment of its EU membership among public opinion and political parties. It then analyses the impact of EU membership on Spain’s political institutions and governance, judicial politics, and policy adaptation in areas such as the Common Agricultural Policy and environmental policy. The chapter concludes by exploring how Spain’s unconditional support for integration has become more conditional since the financial crisis.

scholarly journals Kryzys ukraiński wyzwaniem dla rozwoju relacji gospodarczych Ukrainy z Unią Europejską

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Marta Labuda
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Ukrainian Crisis ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Exploratory Strategy ◽  
The Eu

The Ukrainian Crisis as a Challenge for Development of Economic Relations between Ukraine and European Union The present article is an attempt to look at European economic integration in terms of the Ukrainian crisis that not only Ukraine, but the entire area of Eastern Europe and the European Union must deal with. The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on economic integration of Ukraine with the EU. The research has been based on a mixed methodology due to the interdisciplinary subject of the article. The sequential exploratory strategy has been used. The research proves the Ukrainian crisis contributes to the trade exchange instability and causes disruptions in capital cooperation between the EU and Ukraine. The serious crisis shows how important a solid policy is to integrate this country with the EU.

8. Membership of the European Union

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Webley ◽  
Harriet Samuels
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Parliamentary Supremacy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter, which provides an overview of the relationship between the European Union and the UK, and the impact of this relationship on Parliament’s legislative supremacy, begins by considering the nature of the EU and the sources of EU law. It then examines how EU membership affects the UK legal order, and its implications for parliamentary supremacy, and also discusses what the reform of the EU means for parliamentary supremacy. It considers, briefly, the impact of different Brexit options on the UK’s constitutional framework.

9. Estonia: Excelling at Self-Exertion

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piret Ehin
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Attitudinal Change ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines Estonia’s relations with the European Union. Estonia showed dedication in pursuing integration with the EU as it sought to strengthen statehood in a complex international environment. In the course of its post-communist transition, Estonia’s homegrown reforms gradually gave way to policy change and institution building driven by EU accession conditionality. The small nation’s track record as an EU member state points to continued compliance with EU law and pre-accession demands. However, legal alignment has not always been accompanied by behavioural and attitudinal change. The chapter first provides an overview of Estonia’s integration with the EU before discussing the pattern of its relations with the EU before and after accession. It then assesses the impact of EU membership on Estonia’s public opinion, political parties, political institutions, governance, and public policy.

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