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492. Digital Single Market. SMEs and the Juncker Investment Plan for the European Union
- Author:
- Juan Antonio Pavón Losada
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Fundación Alternativas
- Abstract:
- A few months ago (25/11/2014), the European Commission disclosed the mechanism for its much-heralded €315 billion investment plan, revealing how a a scarce €21 billion of initial public money is intended to lift fifteen times as much in capital. In March 2015, EU finance ministers agreed upon delivering on the commitment they took at the European Councils in October and December 2014, to wind-off Juncker's flagship investment plan. The idea was to create a new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), with €5 billion coming from the European Investment Bank and an €8 billion guarantee from existing EU funds designed to secure a further contribution of 16 billion Euro from the institutions. The €8 billion guarantee will come over a three-year period from the Connecting Europe Facility (€3.3 billion); Europe’s research programme Horizon 2020 (€2.7 billion) and socalled “budget margin”, or unused funds, worth €2 billion. On the one hand, the EFSI plans to generate investments into the European economy of about €315 billion, by providing guarantees for higher-risk projects which aim at developing telecommunications and transport infrastructure, energy efficiency projects, research, education and innovation activities to finally generating about 240 billion in long-term investments, showing a timid responsiveness for the claims against austerity over the past years. On the other hand, the alternative purpose of the Fund is to provide financing to SMEs to enhance the viability of new venture capital injections, loan guarantees, securitisations and seed financing designed to offer micro-loans to SMEs, to fund start-ups or offer mid-cap companies venture capital, projected to generate €75 billion for those SMEs and mid-cap firms over the period 2015-2017. In addition, the Commission aims to attract private investors to the Fund. Nevertheless, private investors seem sceptical about investing and assuming greater risks when the returns are not guaranteed. In fact, the basis for most longterm infrastructure or energy efficiency projects will most likely remain public funding -his is especially true of the newer EU member states, where the private sector is not strong enough-. In fact, the EU executive believes that more financing can be provided by individual member states. Two ways are being discussed: Capital contributions, which are not limited to the respective Member State and may entail voting rights and a claim on the fund´s return (if any); and that participation in investment platforms that can be restricted to the Member State itself. As an incentive, this amount will be then discounted from the calculations of their deficits within the European Semester. There is a rising concern between Member States that the new fund will turn into a parallel EU budget -where voting rights could be purchased- not subject to enough democratic control, since this is fund is expected to be managed by Commission and the EIB and. In order to prevent such situation, the Commission has announced that the fund will not consider to make investments on the basis of geographical distribution, but rather based on quality and viability. This may convince member states who fear the introduction of a parallel budget, but it might also raise problems of transparency and for those countries who wish to contribute voluntarily to the EFSI. Several alternatives to the current functioning of the EFSI -that still need to pass the European Parliament filter- has been tabled: e.g. the possibility that the EFSI regulation could establish mandatory national contributions in order to increase the credibility of the ratio 1:15; also, transforming the fund into a permanent financing system with legal personality, so it could access financial markets for funding; and that but not least, turning the EIB's contribution to EFSI into a regularly one rather a one-off, as it has been agreed so far. In any case -often accused of relying on leverage private investment unrealistic projections, lacking ambition, means and clear goals- this Juncker's investment plan goes along with several batteries of measures seeking to facilitate a boost in business activity, removing the obstacles hampering private investment in Europe.
- Topic:
- Infrastructure, Budget, European Union, and Investment
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Brussels
493. A More European Russia for a More Secure Europe; Proposals for a new European Union strategy towards Russia
- Author:
- Javier Morales
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Fundación Alternativas
- Abstract:
- The conflict in Ukraine, which has caused more damage to relations between the West and Russia than any other event since the end of the Cold War, is a focal point of instability that threatens the wellbeing of the EU. The time has come to renew the Union’s strategy towards Russia, an effort that will entail not only the thorough analysis of long-term European objectives needed to make EU policy more efficient and bring it into line with European interests and values, but also a recognition of diplomatic blunders made at the onset of the Ukrainian crisis. Rather than entering into a new Cold War focused on Russian containment, the EU should accept Moscow as the great power that it is and a potential partner in the construction of a space of shared security. The best way to ensure long-term continental security and stability would be for Russia to increasingly feel and become more a part of Europe and for Europe to make a sincere effort to get to know its Russian neighbour better.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe
494. Eurasian Economic Union and the Difficulties of Integration: The Case of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
- Author:
- Ivan Babin and Elizaveta Egorova
- Publication Date:
- 03-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The Ukrainian crisis of 2013, followed by the annexation of Crimea, has redistributed the balance of power among the political players of the world arena. Moreover, since Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012, the concept of a shared neighborhood between the Russian Federation and the European Union (EU) becomes a strategic challenge not only for both but foremost for those post-Soviet republics struggling between two strategic decisions: to accept Russian protection or to choose Western development. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the forthcoming 2015 Eurasian Economic Union’s (EEU) economic and political perspectives, on South Ossetia and Abkhazia’s economic attractiveness, the sentiment inside those breakaway regions of Georgia and the Russian Federation standpoint in resolving or maintaining the situation in the disputed territories.
- Topic:
- Security, Imperialism, European Union, and Annexation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Crimea
495. Russia vs. EU/US through Georgia and Ukraine
- Author:
- David Matsaberidze
- Publication Date:
- 03-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- This paper aims to analyze the construction and transformation of the post-Soviet security perspectives of Georgia and Ukraine in the context of the post-Soviet Russian foreign policy in the “near abroad,” quite often termed the “legitimate sphere” of Russian influence by high-ranking Russian officials. This inquiry covers the panorama of the foreign policy in post-Soviet Russia across the FSU, from the early 1990s through to the present, where Georgia and Ukraine’s independent and pro-Western orientation are the main issues securitized for the Russian Federation. Accordingly, the maintenance of territorial integrity has become a security priority for Georgia since the early 1990s and will most likely be Ukraine’s top concern after the Crimean occupation by the Russian Federation in March 2014 and the subsequent developments in Eastern Ukraine. Therefore, it could be claimed that post-Soviet Russian and Georgian/Ukrainian security strategy (following peaceful revolutions) represent a zero-sum game.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Imperialism, Military Strategy, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Georgia
496. International Investment Law and the European Union: Towards a New Generation of International Investment Agreements
- Author:
- Catharine Titi
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- For about half a century, the European investment treaty model has been associated with European Union (EU) member states’ bilateral investment treaty practice, often referred to as their ‘best practices’. Member state bilateral investment treaties, which are liberal instruments strongly protective of investor interests, have remained relatively unchanged over the years, in contrast with their North American counterparts, which have come to represent a new type of investment treaty, cognizant for the first time of the contracting parties’ right to regulate. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the exercise of the EU’s new competence over the conclusion of treaties covering foreign direct investment, Europe marks its distances with the old approach of the member states and appears eager to set its own ‘model’. While broadly in harmony with the new generation of North American investment treaties, the nascent EU policy aims to improve international investment law in innovative ways, targeting both substantive and procedural protections, and leading to a yet newer generation of international investment treaties. The present article explores this new EU standard, which is set to change the face of international investment law as we know it.
- Topic:
- International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Foreign Direct Investment, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe and European Union
497. International Investment Law and the European Union: A Reply to Catharine Titi
- Author:
- Martins Paparinskis
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Reasonable people might disagree whether the European Union (EU) is likely to make a significant and commendable contribution to international investment law. This article addresses two issues of relevance for this discussion. First, it considers the appropriateness of evaluating evelopments in international investment law in terms of balance between investor protection and the right to regulate. Second, the contribution of the recent EU practice is briefly examined, finding it less interesting and innovative than one might have expected.
- Topic:
- International Law, European Union, Regulation, and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and European Union
498. La pérennité du supranationalisme intergouvernemental, paradoxe de l’élargissement (The “Enlargement paradox”: Intergovernmental Supranationalism Survives despite the Winds of Change)
- Author:
- Tanja Mayrgündter
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- In the last decade, the EU has been challenged by major phenomena, such as the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the economic and financial crisis. Unlike other policy areas, where the logic of action and institutional interplays have consequently changed, enlargement constitutes a “paradox”, having largely been resistant to such impact factors. That is, “intergovernmental supranationalism” has remained the dominant feature of the enlargement polity, politics and policy. Even though the overall result has not changed, there has been change in the configuration among the intergovernmental and the supranational elements. That is, while on the one hand intergovernmental forces have increased, on the other hand, all three dimensions have primarily been hit by the “technicality turn”, consequently fostering the supranational momentum. Finally, an overall new balance has been reached under the “old” intergovernmental supranational umbrella.
- Topic:
- Politics, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Political Science
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Global Focus, and European Union
499. Promoting Dialogue and Solutions: What European Legislators Think of Turkey
- Author:
- Aybars Görgülü, Mehmet Ünlü, Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, and Zerrin Cengiz
- Publication Date:
- 11-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Full membership to the European Union (EU) has been a major foreign policy aspiration for any government leading Turkey in the past three decades. Accordingly, Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999 and accession negotiations started in 2005. Despite this positive momentum, Turkey is pretty far from full membership perspective as of mid-2015. A decade after the start of the accession negotiations, both sides seem quite busy with their internal problems and the official negotiation process is left into limbo. Although the current political climate does not offer an optimistic look, Turkey’s full membership aspirations are still present. It is clear that Turkey’s membership is different from any previous accession especially due to the size and the demography of the country. However, it should be noted that Turkey deserves a fair treatment and evaluation from the Union if the membership criteria are fully met. Here we face the question of how to tackle socio-cultural prejudice and discrimination with regards to Turkey’s accession process.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, European Union, and Discrimination
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and European Union
500. The EU’s Niche in the South Caucasus: Old Partners, New Challenges
- Author:
- Daniel Khachatryan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Daniel Khachatryan is a Hrant Dink Foundation fellow at the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) within the framework of the Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process Programme financed by the European Union. Khachatryan’s academic background includes studies at Yerevan State University, University of Oslo and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. In this article, Khachatryan dwells upon the possible steps to be taken by the EU towars the South Caucasus in order to define its role in the region by focusing on the recent developments in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Daniel Khachatryan, Avrupa Birliği tarafından finanse edilen ve Hrant Dink Vakfı’nın yürütmekte olduğu “Ermenistan-Türkiye Normalleşme Süreci Destek Programı” kapsamında bursiyer olarak TESEV’de çalışmaktadır. Erivan Devlet Üniversitesi, Oslo Üniversitesi ve Tufts Üniversitesi’nde eğitimini tamamlamış olan Khachatryan bu makalesinde Azerbaycan, Ermenistan ve Gürcistan’daki gelişmelere odaklanarak Avrupa Birliği’nin Güney Kafkasya’daki yeri ve rolünü tanımlamak için atması gereken muhtemel adımlara ve mekanizmalara değinmektedir. Makale yalnızca İngilizce olarak yayınlanmıştır.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, Territorial Disputes, European Union, and Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and South Caucasus