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.

Free Movement of Services versus National Labour Law and Industrial Relations Systems: Understanding the Laval Case from a Swedish and Nordic Perspective

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 493-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mia Rönnmar
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
European Court Of Justice ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
Free Movement Of Persons ◽  
The Eu

European integration, the internal market and free movement of persons and services are important aspects of EC labour law and EU industrial relations. As a result of EU enlargement and the emphasis on free movement within the EU, the problems of posting of workers, low-wage competition and social dumping are high on the agenda. This is illustrated by the epochal and much-debated Laval and Viking cases from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Financial Contributions by the EU to UN Peace Operations

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Presutti
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Eu

The UN has recently embarked in a comprehensive debate concerning the reform of its peace and security response. Improved financing mechanisms and other support modalities are called for. Currently, the EU is engaged in a strategic and operational cooperation framework with the UN, but only its Member States contribute troops, civilian police, and funding to the UN peace operations. This article explores the feasibility and potential benefits for the maintenance of international peace and security of an enhanced role of the EU as an entity in funding UN peace operations and other activities related to them. It first contends that this development would increase the effectiveness of the EU foreign policy. It then analyses the institutional and legal challenges that it would raise in the UN setting. It finally concludes that using this financing tool to invigorate the EU leadership in foreign policy would benefit the European integration project.

Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
Novel Theory ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. At no time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so insecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault by Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. This book examines the role of public opinion in the European integration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion that stresses the deep interconnectedness between people’s views about European and national politics. It suggests that public opinion cannot simply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather that it consists of different types. This is important because these types coincide with fundamentally different views about the way the EU should be reformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types also have very different consequences for behaviour in elections and referendums. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because the Eurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. As the economic and political fates of member states have diverged, people’s experiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systems have also grown further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences that this book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Euroscepticism unlikely to be successful.

Neither here, not there: Bulgaria and Romania in current European politics☆

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Bojkov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
The Eu

The article analyses the process of EU enlargement with reference to the progress that Bulgaria and Romania have made within it. It is argued that leaving them out of the wave of accession finalised in May 2004 for ten of the candidate states, has placed them in a situation of double exclusion. Firstly, their geographical belonging to the region of Southeast Europe has been rendered non-essential by their advanced position within the EU enlargement process. Secondly, their achievement in economic and political transition has been removed from the progress of the ten states, which joined the EU in May 2004 by delaying the time of their accession. As a result, any efforts in regional cooperation and integration between Bulgaria and Romania on one hand, and other Southeast European states on the other, have been effectively cancelled. Moreover, in current European politics, the two countries have come to serve the unenviable role of exemplifying on the part of the European Union how progress is being awarded and hesitation punished.

scholarly journals Economic determination of Serbian foreign policy: The crucial importance of European integration for economy of Serbia

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-27
Author(s):  
Goran Nikolic
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Strategic Partner ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
Commission Staff Working Document ◽  
The Eu

The most important part of the economic cooperation between Serbia and the EU, in addition to the inflow of foreign direct investments, loans, remittances (and donations), which predominantly come from the EU countries, is the exchange of goods and services. From 2000 there has been significant growth of trade between Serbia and the EU; merchandise exports and imports increased at double-digit rates over the past 16 and half years. In the same period, the share of EU in Serbian trade has not significantly changed, except for the effects of the three EU enlargement (2004, 2007, 2013), and is almost two-thirds. Having in mind that the countries of CEFTA, excluding Moldova, is likely to join the EU in the next decade, it is clear that the importance of trade with the EU would increase, at least nominally. In the last European Commission staff working document (2016) for Serbia is emphasized that the new government programme included Serbia's EU accession as a priority goal. Besides that, Serbia is only moderately prepared in the area of public administration reform. According to this report, Serbia will need to align its foreign and security policy progressively with the European Union's common foreign and security policy in the period up to accession. The EU is a key strategic partner of Serbia because of its huge global economic, technological and political significance. The EU is not just a very important partner, it is, in a way, a reference point for Serbia, as the modernization of the country, which is a natural priority for Serbian elites, is virtually inseparable from European integration and full membership in the EU.

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 Wpływ wyjścia Zjednoczonego Królestwa z Unii Europejskiej na wspólną politykę bezpieczeństwa i obrony UE

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Kubin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Common Security

The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (so-called Brexit) is one of the most important events in the process of European integration. It has a lot of extremely remarkable implications – both for the EU and for the United Kingdom. Among other, Brexit will affect the security of the United Kingdom and the EU. The aim of the study is to answer the research question: how will Britain’s exit from the EU influence the EU common security and defence policy? In order to answer this question, the factors that are most relevant to the United Kingdom’s significance for the EU’s security and defence policy will be identified. This will show how the EU’s potential of the security and defence policy will change, when the UK leaves this organisation. The most important conclusions are included in the summary.

16. Trade Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 363-387
Author(s):  
Alasdair R. Young
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Negotiations ◽  
The World ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Eu

This chapter introduces the importance of EU trade policy both to the European integration project and to the EU’s role in the world. It explains how different aspects of trade policy are made. The chapter also charts how the emphasis of EU trade policy has shifted from prioritizing multilateral negotiations to pursuing bilateral agreements. It considers how the EU has responded to the apparent politicization of trade policy within Europe and to the United States’ more protectionist and unilateral trade policy. It also considers Brexit EU trade policy and how trade policy complicated Brexit. It argues that there has been considerable continuity in EU trade policy despite these challenges.

5. Governance Approaches

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Guy Peters ◽  
Jon Pierre
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Multilevel Governance ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Eu Governance ◽  
European Governance ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the European Union’s capacity to govern effectively. It argues that the creation of governance capacity for the institutions within the EU is the goal of much of the process of integration. While European integration is to some extent an end in itself, it may also be the means for attaining the capacity to govern a large territory with complex economic and social structures. The chapter first explains what governance is before discussing various criticisms levelled against it and how governance works in Europe. It then outlines a number of propositions about European governance, focusing on multilevel governance, the role of governance in output legitimization, and the claim that European governance remains undemocratic, is highly segmented, and is transforming. The chapter proceeds by looking at changes in European governance styles and policy issues, along with their implications for European integration. Finally, it explores the consequences of enlargement for EU governance.

The Agri-Environment Regulation EU 2078/92: The Role of the European Commission in Policy Shaping and Setting

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Jones ◽  
J R A Clark
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Agricultural Policy ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Environmental Considerations ◽  
Council Regulation ◽  
Policy Communities ◽  
Environment Regulation ◽  
The Eu

We examine the role of the European Commission in the formulation and negotiation of a Council regulation on agri-environmental policy (EU 2078/92). We show how this regulation was shaped largely by political opportunism and financial and administrative realities, rather than by stringent environmental considerations and targets, We also reveal how the debate over EU 2078/92 has been dominated by only a few actors at supranational and national levels, and identify the key role played by the European Commission at all stages of the progress of the regulation through the route ways of the European Union's (EU) decisionmaking process. Of further interest is the way in which well-established agricultural policy communities have attempted to keep a tight rein on the development of the regulation in order to prevent this new policy area from being infiltrated by nonagricultural interests. For such interests, the regulation provided an opportunity to penetrate the long-established policy network surrounding agriculture in the EU.

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