European Union policy-making towards Mercosur

Author(s):  
Arantza Gomez Arana

The European Union (EU) is not a state and is not a traditional International Organization. It is common to characterize it as a hybrid system with a federal component. Since nothing comparable to this exists at this point, understanding the internal system of the EU is crucial. In addition to outlining the internal policy-making of the EU, it is also important to understand the internal system of the Mercosur, particularly given that the Mercosur has tried to replicate the institutional design of the EU. Since its creation in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome, the EU has changed dramatically in a variety of ways in a short period of time. The discussion will examine these changes in relation to the period between 1985 and 2007. In addition to analysing the changes in policy-making over this period of the time it is also important to note that the number of EU member states has quadruplicated since it was created in 1957. It could be argued that this has resulted in a decline in the amount of power held by each individual member state. In 1986 Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal brought a Mediterranean influence into EU politics. This was later balanced out by further enlargement in 1995 which saw Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU. However, the single largest enlargement in the history of the EU took place in 2004 when 10 Central and Eastern Europe countries became EU members. Prior to 2004, this issue was the main focus of the EU external relations since 1989 until it came into effect in 2004. The end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union into several independent republics absorbed EU external relations to the point that it had an effect on other external relations, including external relations with Latin America. The enlargement of the EU in 2007 is not discussed in any detail here because it did not have an impact on the EU policy towards Mercosur.

Author(s):  
Cremona Marise ◽  
Leino-Sandberg Päivi

This chapter is concerned with international agreements of the European Union (EU) in the field of Economic Monetary Union (EMU) (which for simplicity will be referred to as ‘external EMU agreements’). What treaty-making competence does the EU have in this field, how are such external agreements negotiated and concluded, and what types of agreement does the EU conclude? The focus of this chapter is thus a specific aspect of the external relations of the EU as regards EMU. And whereas the external policy-making within (formal and informal) international financial institutions, which was discussed in the previous chapter, ranges across a multiplicity of EU policy fields and competences, EMU-related treaty-making practice relates more specifically to the use of the euro as a common currency. And whereas economic policy is still primarily a Member State competence subject to EU-level coordination, monetary policy, with which these agreements are concerned, is an exclusive EU competence by virtue of Article 3(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Elgström

AbstractUsing role theory as its analytical basis, this article delineates and analyses the specific characteristics of the Chair in the European Union (EU). The focus is thus on the EU Council Presidency and on how expectations surrounding the office impact upon its performance as administrator, agenda manager, broker, leader and representative. The EU's institutional design is marked by a rotating Presidency, by relatively short Presidency periods and by a mix of unanimity and majority voting. These traits influence the ways in which the Chair performs its role. The major argument is, however, that existing structurally based expectations of the Presidency's role (that is, expectations of neutrality and impartiality, of effectiveness and of consensus-seeking) interact with the particular role conceptions that are brought to the office by individual member states to produce both common features and variety in role performance. Empirical illustrations are taken from recent EU Presidencies to highlight continuity and fluctuation in Presidency performances.


This encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource on the European integration process. Under the editorial directorship of Finn Laursen and associate editors Derek Beach, Roberto Domínguez, Sung-Hoon Park, Sophie Vanhoonacker, and Amy Verdun, the publication brings together peer-reviewed contributions by leading researchers on the European Union as a global actor. Topics include the basic treaties, institutions and policies of the European Union and the previous European Communities, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community. It also includes articles on the various conceptual frameworks and theories that have been developed by political scientists to guide research into the integration process and the policy- and decision-making processes with a focus on the roles of the different institutions, the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice of the EU. Additionally, the publication includes articles on the member states as well as external relations and foreign policies of the EU. As a result, the Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics is a vital resource for students, scholars, and policymakers.


Policy-Making in the European Union explores the link between the modes and mechanisms of EU policy-making and its implementation at the national level. From defining the processes, institutions and modes through which policy-making operates, the text moves on to situate individual policies within these modes, detail their content, and analyse how they are implemented, navigating policy in all its complexities. The first part of the text examines processes, institutions, and the theoretical and analytical underpinnings of policy-making, while the second part considers a wide range of policy areas, from economics to the environment, and security to the single market. Throughout the text, theoretical approaches sit side by side with the reality of key events in the EU, including enlargement, the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and the financial crisis and resulting Eurozone crisis, focusing on what determines how policies are made and implemented. This includes major developments such as the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, the reform of the common agricultural policy, and new initiatives to promote EU energy security. In the final part, the chapters consider trends in EU policy-making and the challenges facing the EU.


Since the 1957 Rome Treaty, the European Union has changed dramatically - in terms of its composition, scope and depth. Originally established by six Western European States, the EU today has 28 Members and covers almost the entire European continent; and while initially confined to establishing a "common market", the EU has come to influence all areas of political, economic and social life. In parallel with this enormous geographic and thematic expansion, the constitutional and legislative principles underpinning the European Union have constantly evolved. This three-volume study aims to provide an authoritative academic treatment of European Union law. Written by leading scholars and practitioners, each chapter offers a comprehensive and critical assessment of the state of the law. Doctrinal in presentation, each volume nonetheless tries to present a broader historical and comparative perspective. Volume I provides an analysis of the constitutional principles governing the European Union. It covers the history of the EU, the constitutional foundations, the institutional framework, legislative and executive governance, judicial protection, and external relations. Volume II explores the structure of the internal market, while Volume III finally analyses the internal and external substantive policies of the EU.


Author(s):  
Thomas Faist

Europe, and the European Union in particular, can be conceived as a transnational social space with a high degree of transactions across borders of member states. The question is how efforts to provide social protection for cross-border migrants in the EU reinforce existing inequalities (e.g. between regions or within households), and lead to new types of inequalities (e.g. stratification of labour markets). Social protection in the EU falls predominantly under the purview of individual member states; hence, frictions between different state-operated protection systems and social protection in small groups are particularly apparent in the case of cross-border flows of people and resources. Chapter 5 examines in detail the general social mechanisms operative in cross-border forms of social protection, in particular, exclusion, opportunity hoarding, hierarchization, and exploitation, and also more concrete mechanisms which need to be constructed bottom-up.


Author(s):  
Andrea Lenschow

This chapter focuses on the European Union’s environmental policy, the development of which was characterized by institutional deepening and the substantial expansion of environmental issues covered by EU decisions and regulations. Environmental policy presents a host of challenges for policy-makers, including the choice of appropriate instruments, improvement of implementation performance, and better policy coordination at all levels of policy-making. The chapter points to the continuing adaptations that have been made in these areas. It first considers the historical evolution of environmental policy in the EU before discussing the main actors in EU environmental policy-making, namely: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and environmental interest groups. The chapter also looks at the EU as an international actor.


Author(s):  
Ralf Drachenberg ◽  
Alex Brianson

This chapter examines the process of policy-making in the European Union. It first considers how the EU originally made policy decisions before tracing the evolution of the formal balance between the EU institutions over time, with particular emphasis on the increasing legislative power of the European Parliament. It then describes the Community method, which remains the core of the EU policy process but is now complemented with a range of ‘new governance tools’ designed to produce coordinated member state action through iterated processes of standard-setting, best practice identification, and knowledge transfer. One of these processes is the open method of coordination (OMC). The chapter concludes with an analysis of the implementation of EU policy decisions by and in the member states, along with current trends in EU decision-making after the EU enlargements of the 2000s and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.


2020 ◽  
pp. 239965442096523
Author(s):  
Thomas Borén ◽  
Patrycja Grzyś ◽  
Craig Young

This paper develops perspectives which seek to spatialize authoritarian neoliberalism through arguing for greater engagement with the politics of urban cultural policy formation in the neglected context of post-socialist East and Central Europe. Through analyzing the politics of urban cultural policy-making in Gdańsk, Poland, the paper spatializes authoritarian neoliberalism by exploring how relations between the urban and the national, and between the urban and the supranational, shape urban cultural policy, drawing upon literatures on political economy, policy mobilities, cultural policy research, and the concepts of authoritarian neoliberalism and the relational-territorial nexus. Gdańsk is a liberally run city, strongly aligned with the European Union (EU), opposed to the authoritarian neoliberal national level politics in Poland. The paper analyses urban-national tensions and relationships between Gdańsk and the EU to unpack the contested spatial nature of authoritarian neoliberalism.


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