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432. The Double Asymmetry of European Integration Or: Why the EU Cannot Be a Social Market Economy
- Author:
- Fritz W. Scharpf
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Judge-made law has played a crucial role in the process of European integration. In the vertical dimension, it has greatly reduced the range of autonomous policy choices in the member states, and it has helped to expand the reach of European competences. At the same time, however, “Integration through Law” does have a liberalizing and deregulatory impact on the socioeconomic regimes of EU member states. This effect is generally compatible with the status quo in liberal market economies, but it tends to undermine the institutions and policy legacies of Continental and Scandinavian social market economies. Given the high consensus requirements of European legislation, this structural asymmetry cannot be corrected through political action at the European level.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
433. Report of the workshop on "The Mediterranean: opportunities to develop EU-GCC relations?
- Author:
- Christian Koch
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Within the framework of the al-Jisr Project on EU-GCC Public Diplomacy and Outreach Activities and with the support of the European Commission, the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Gulf Research Center organized a two-day workshop focusing on how the Mediterranean region can become a field of cooperation between the EU and GCC countries. The event brought together 30 policy officials and specialists to deliberate on questions such as: should the Mediterranean become a dimension in the EU-GCC political dialogue; where are the potential synergies when it comes to the role of energy; what ways and means of financial and economic cooperation present themselves to promote investment and development; and where do political and strategic interests between the EU and the GCC converge or diverge in the Mediterranean. A final roundtable served as a wrap-up for discussion with a focus on policy recommendations.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Oil, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Middle East
434. The value of power, the power of values: a call for an EU Grand Strategy
- Author:
- Sven Biscop (ed.)
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- In its 2003 European Security Strategy (ESS), the EU has a grand strategy, embracing all instruments and resources at the disposal of the Union and the Member States, but a partial one. The ESS tells us how to do things – in a preventive, holistic and multilateral way – but it is much vaguer on what to do: what are the concrete objectives and priorities of the EU as a global actor?
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
435. Two new leaders in search of a job description
- Author:
- Piotr Maciej Kaczyński and Peadar ó Broin
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The first permanent European Council President and second High Representative for EU foreign policy have been chosen. After weeks of speculation, the question of who will occupy the roles has now been answered: Herman Van Rompuy will take office as European Council President on 1 January 2010; and Catherine Ashton will be appointed the EU's foreign affairs chief on 1 December 2009. The presidency of the European Council has until now been performed by the head of State or government of the member state holding the rotating presidency, but the Lisbon Treaty clearly stipulates that from its entry into force, the President of the European Council may not hold national office. The position of a High Representative had previously existed, but the function has been significantly re-written by the Lisbon Treaty. So, in addition to new faces, there are also new unknowns. The question of precisely what powers the President and High Representative will exercise remains largely unknown, as it is not yet clear how they will perform as individuals and in tandem. Nevertheless, the Treaties give at least a general indication of the powers these two leaders will wield.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
436. Understanding Klaus: The Story of Czech Eurorealism
- Author:
- Mats Braun
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- It is somewhat ironic that Czech eurosceptics managed to delay the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty at a time when they seem to be in decline as a political force. President Klaus and his allies are becoming increasingly isolated within Czech political circles and lack the support of any established political party other than the Communists. The twin pressures of domestic vote utilisation and socialisation at the EU level are making Czech eurorealists within the Civic Democratic Party less eurosceptic. It is still too early to speak of any complete change within the party, however, and any evidence of a reorientation of the party's EU policy remains ambiguous.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Lisbon
437. The Treaty of Lisbon and the Czech Constitutional Court: Act II
- Author:
- Ivo Slosarcik
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- In October 2009, the lion's share of media and political attention given to the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty in the Czech Republic has been devoted to the antics of the President, Václav Klaus. However, it is important to point out that the process is being delayed not only by the President's reservations and requests for a Czech (quasi)opt-out from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, but also by the pending review of the Treaty by the Czech Constitutional Court (CCC), which is set to give a second ruling on the Lisbon Treaty on November 3 rd, having delivered its first decision in autumn 2008.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Czech Republic
438. Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism: The EU as a Model of Regional Integration
- Author:
- Thomas Risse and Tanja A. Börzel
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
- Abstract:
- The European Union (EU) perceives itself as a model for regional integration, which it seeks to diffuse by actively promoting the development of genuine (intra-) regional economic and political cooperation, the building of issue-related regimes, and the creation of joint institutions for consultation and decision-making in its neighbourhood and beyond as well as between the world regions and the EU.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Government, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
439. Structuring the European Administrative Space: Channels of EU Penetration and Mechanisms of National Change
- Author:
- Eva G. Heidbreder
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
- Abstract:
- The author provides an analytical model to capture mechanisms of supranational impact on national public administrations. The aim is to understand how we can perceive a European administrative space given the persistent diversity between member states. In face of the overly complex subject matter, it is argued that a typology that presents ideal types of interaction modes between supranational and national levels of administration provides in fact a suitable pragmatic approach to understand the potential impact of European integration on national civil services. Scrutinizing which mechanisms of possible influence-taking the European Union (EU) invokes shows that administrative integration does actually not suggest overall convergence. Instead the shared administrative space works precisely because it preserves state-sensitive diversity. Only in the context of enlargement did the EU need to present a single model to the candidate states and thus the notion of an ever more converging single administrative space was invented. Despite the external promotion of a single model, the driving dynamic of the emerging European administrative space remains increased cooperation and common administration that respects and sustains differences between independent national public administrations. The theoretical framework and empirical application therefore provide a first step for further research to tackle how supranational integration changes national public administration.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
440. Bringing the Mass Media in: The Contribution of the Mass Media for Understanding Citizens' Attitudes towards the European Union
- Author:
- Silke Adam
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
- Abstract:
- Economic considerations, identity related considerations and cueing theory are used for explaining citizens' attitudes towards the European Union. Yet, all of this research has failed to show how elite cues on interests and identities actually reach the citizens. As a consequence, the author argues that domestic mass media as the most widely used source for citizens' information about the European Union has the potential to fill this missing link. Mass media actively construct reality by promoting ideas (agenda-setting and framing) and thereby shaping processes of socialization and persuasion. In this article the author discusses theoretical concepts of how mass media might affect citizens' attitudes, summarizes what we know about the role of domestic mass media in the course of EU integration, derives research desiderates and finally shows why knowledge on the link between mass media and citizens is paramount to understand the future of EU integration.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, Regional Cooperation, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- Europe