The Challenges of Linking Pay and Promotion: Repeated Reforms of the European Commission Staff Appraisal Process

In response to the 1999 crisis caused by the mass resignation of the European Commission, the Commission introduced a series of administrative reforms based in large part on New Public Management models. A centerpiece of those reforms was a new staff appraisal process linking numeric ratings with promotions, which was designed explicitly to change the management culture of the Commission. Of all parts of the reform, this was by far the most controversial. This paper traces the long arc of reform, as the original reform was replaced with a second version that was even more rigid and complex, leading to a third reform, in 2012, which returned the Commission in large part to the status quo ante, abandoning numeric ratings and the formal link to promotions. I analyze the reasons for the reforms and the problems and unintended consequences of each. In conclusion, I link this saga of repeated reforms to the broader literature on the effectiveness of attempts to change organizational culture through formal structural reforms.

An Academic Medical Center's Expansion to the European Union: A Case Study of UPMC's Joint Projects in Italy and Ireland

This case study examines the expansion of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to Italy and Ireland in the European Union. The authors use international business theory to help understand why US Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) are beginning to go abroad and, through semistructured interviews with UPMC officials, they examine the market entry issues UPMC faced when expanding to Italy and Ireland. The authors also explain why UPMC’s first successful foreign ventures took place in the European Union. They conclude with comments on several of the strategic issues that AMCs should address if they wish to successfully expand overseas.

General Principles of EU Law: The Ghost in the Platonic Heaven in Need of Conceptual Clarification

General principles are en vogue in EU law – and in need of conceptual clarification. A closer look at several concepts of principle in legal philosophy and legal theory sheds light upon the concept of general principles in EU law. A distinction between an aprioristic model of principle and a model of principle informed by legal positivism may contribute to clarifying the genesis of a (general) principle in EU law, as well as its nature and functions. This paper demonstrates that an evolution has taken place from a reliance on seemingly natural law inspired reflections of general principles via the desperate search to ground general principles in various kinds of sources based on a more or less sound methodology towards an increasing reliance on strictly positivistic approaches. Against this backdrop, general principles are likely to lose significance where there are other norms while retaining an important yet uncontrollable role where the traditional canon of sources is silent.

The Shaping of EU-Mercosur Relations: From Altruism to Pragmatism and Liberalism to Illiberalism

Deeply-embedded norms of liberalism and protectionism alongside EU policies focusing on promoting development and regional integration have shaped EU-Mercosur relations. These stand in stark contrast to the policies of the US, the historic hegemon in the region. This paper utilizes historical institutionalism to understand how the liberal tenets of EU competition policy and the protectionism of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have affected EU-Mercosur relations. Particular foci include Spain’s role in spearheading efforts to promote EU-Latin American relations and the way EU competition policies directed against monopolies in Europe spurred increased investment in Latin America, especially the Southern Cone. The latter prompted the EU to forge closer ties with Mercosur, encouraged cooperation and development programs and spurred regional integration and liberal trade regimes in Latin America.