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57461. Implementation and European integration: A review essay

Author:
Ulf Sverdrup
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This article presents some key research questions and discusses some advancements and controversies in the field of implementation studies in the European Union. In addition to calling for the further development of reliable quantitative indicators, the article suggests three issues worth considering. First, research could benefit from paying increased attention to the processes shaping the goals and aspirations in European implementation. Second, we should increase attention to the interplay between different explanatory mechanisms and in particular to the crucial roles of ambiguities and domestic capabilities. Finally, we should increase our interest into the study of outcomes and goal achievements, and thereby also offer critical and refreshing views on the dynamics of the actual European integration, as well as link this branch of research to the general research on legitimacy and democracy in Europe.
Topic:
Development and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

57462. After Hierarchy? Domestic Executive Governance and the Differentiated Impact of the European Commission and the Council of Ministers

Author:
Torbjorn Larsson and Jarle Trondal
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This study offers an organisation theory approach that claims that the differentiated organisational constellation of the European Union contributes to a differentiated Europeanisation of domestic core-executives. It is argued that the European Commission mainly activates the lower echelons of the domestic government hierarchies, notably professional experts within sector ministries and agencies. Furthermore, the European Commission arguably weakens domestic politico-administrative leadership, the Foreign Office and the Prime Ministers Office. By contrast, the Council of Ministers arguably strengthens domestic politico-administrative leadership, the Foreign Office and the Prime Ministers Office. A comparative analysis of the decision-making processes within the central administrations of Norway and Sweden is offered. Based on a rich body of survey and interview data this analysis reveals that multi-level interaction of administrative systems between the European Commission and the Norwegian and Swedish central administrations occur largely outside the control of the domestic politico-administrative leadership, Prime Ministers Office and Foreign Office. In Sweden this tendency is to some extent counterbalanced by the inter-sectorally interlocking effect of the Council of Ministers.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Europe

57463. Synergies and Tradeoffs in International Cooperation: Broadening, Widening, and Deepening

Author:
Jörg Friedrichs, Jordan Mihov, and Maria Popova
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
International cooperation rests on state preferences with regard to the substantive scope, geographical range, and institutional depth of issue-specific devices to over-come collective action problems. Substantive broadening, geographical widening, and institutional deepening are the elixir of life of the European Union. As is familiar from international cooperation more in general, and not only from European integration, this rests upon a complex process of bargaining among states, each of which has its particular preferences. This paper explores two hypotheses about the relationship be-tween preferences on broadening, widening, and deepening. The first hypothesis as-sumes that the relationship is characterized by a virtuous cycle, while the second hy-pothesis assumes that there are tradeoffs rather than synergies. By looking at a sample of 24 distinct case studies from a specific policy field, namely international coopera-tion against drugs, the paper shows that, at least in this particular policy field, state preferences follow a synergetic pattern of broadening, widening, and deepening.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

57464. Economic Integration, EU-US Trade Conflicts and WTO Dispute Settlement

Author:
Fritz Breuss
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
Since its inception in 1995, more than 330 disputes have been raised under the WTO Dispute Settlement System. The major players in world trade–the EU and the USA–are also the busiest users of this instrument. After looking at links between economic integration and WTO involvement and a survey of the actual transatlantic WTO trade disputes, the welfare implications of the four most prominent trade disputes between the EU and the USA ("mini trade wars") are analyzed with GTAP5: the Hormones, the Bananas, the FSC and the Steel cases. The economic analysis reveals that the level of suspension of concessions hardly coincides with the level of nullification or impairment (expressed in lost trade effects) if one considers the overall welfare implications of retaliation with tariffs. The idea of "rebalancing" retaliation is a myth. Tariffs are a very bad instrument of retaliation. Maybe a mechanism of direct transfers or financial compensation would be better.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and World Trade Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

57465. Turkey's Reform Effort Reconsidered, 1987-2004

Author:
Kivanç Ulusoy
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This article aims to develop a coherent explanation of the impact of the EU on Turkey's politics between 1987 (the year Turkey applied for EU membership) and 2004, providing a more profound analysis of Turkish political transformation within the framework of its relations with the EU. It integrates Moravcsiks' work on the human rights regime in post-war Europe with Risse's theory on communicative action in world politics to provide an alternative explanatory framework for recent political transformation in Turkey. It will be argued that the main dynamics driving recent democratisation in Turkey were its newfound location within the European human rights regime—a result of having been granted the right to individual petition to the European Court of Human Rights just before its 1987 membership application—and the increasing power of European argument as an alternative way of resolving domestic political conflicts in Turkey.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

57466. Unity and diversity - European style

Author:
Johan P. Olsen
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This paper argues that contemporary European developments provide a window of opportunity for learning about how political community and authority is possible in spite of enduring diversity. The paper explores sources of political unity and how institutions mediate between diversity and unity. The theoretical discussion is then applied to two European puzzles and it is asked whether there is a "European way" to manage unity and diversity and, more generally, what lessons can be drawn from the European case.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

57467. The political organization of Europe: Differentiation and unification

Author:
Johan P. Olsen
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
Students of political development try to understand how territorial systems of government arise and disintegrate. They ask how political order and unity is fostered, maintained and lost and under what conditions political community, stable boundaries and legitimate institutions are possible among component units (individuals, groups, organizations, states) that are different in many respects.
Topic:
Development, International Organization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

57468. When and Why the Council of Ministers of the EU Votes Explicitly

Author:
Helen Wallace, Fiona Hayes-Renshaw, and Wim van Aken
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This paper reports newly collected empirical data sets on explicitly contested voting at ministerial level in the Council of Ministers of the European Union. These data sets cover the period 1994-2004, with more detail for the years 1998-2004. They provide us with rather steady patterns of explicitly contested voting across the period in terms of: proportions of decisions taken where contested voting was recorded; the different levels of contestation by country; and the issue areas in which explicit voting occurred more often. The data sets draw on the material available on the Council's own website, but they have been supplemented by hand-collected data, in particular as regards issue areas and types of decision. Once arranged appropriately the data sets will be posted on the web, so that other researchers can have access to the material. The initial analysis of the data is reported in the second edition of Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, The Council of Ministers, Palgrave, forthcoming, Chapter 10. The data show that explicit voting on agreed decisions at ministerial level is rather rare, that in nearly half the roll calls dissent is expressed only by singleton member states, that nearly half the cases concern 'technical' decisions on agriculture and fisheries, and that Germany more often votes 'no' or abstains than any other member state. The data confirm that ministers generally endorse collective decisions by consensus, even on the 70% or so cases where they could activate qualified majority voting (QMV). To the extent that voting takes place in these latter cases, it occurs implicitly rather than explicitly, operates mostly at the level of officials rather than ministers, and is not recorded systematically in publicly accessible form. These patterns are consistent with earlier accounts based on qualitative interview evidence.
Topic:
International Relations, International Cooperation, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

57469. No Exit from the Joint Decision Trap? Can German Federalism Reform Itself?

Author:
Fritz W. Scharpf
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
Germany's unique institutions of a 'unitary federal state', long considered part of the country's post-war success story, are now generally perceived as a 'joint decision trap' impeding effective policy responses to new economic and demographic challenges at both levels of government. Nevertheless, a high powered bi-cameral Commission set up in Autumn 2003 failed to reach agreement on constitutional reforms. The paper analyses the misguided procedural and substantive choices that explain the failure of reform, and it discusses the possibility of asymmetric constitutional solutions that might enhance the capacity for autonomous action at both levels.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Demographics, and Economics
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

57470. A Coordinated Approach to Regulation and Civil Liability in European Law: Rethinking Institutional Complementarities

Author:
Fabrizio Cafaggi
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
Civil liability is a much older regulatory device than administrative regulation. The emergence of a regulatory state is a relatively new phenomenon. Within regulatory States different modes of regulation and administrative tools have developed, including the extensive use of the private law.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe