Showing papers in "Journal of Common Market Studies in 2002"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that by thinking beyond traditional conceptions of the EU's international role and examining the case study of its international pursuit of the abolition of the death penalty, we may best conceive of the European Union as a normative power Europe.
Abstract: Twenty years ago, in the pages of the Journal of Common Market Studies, Hedley Bull launched a searing critique of the European Community’s ‘civilian power’ in international affairs. Since that time the increasing role of the European Union (EU) in areas of security and defence policy has led to a seductiveness in adopting the notion of ‘military power Europe’. In contrast, I will attempt to argue that by thinking beyond traditional conceptions of the EU’s international role and examining the case study of its international pursuit of the abolition of the death penalty, we may best conceive of the EU as a ‘normative power Europe’.
2,034 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that research need not be hampered by competing definitions as long as their meaning, the phenomena in focus, the simplifying assumption used, the models of change and the theoretical challenges involved, are clarified and kept separate.
Abstract: Is ‘Europeanization’ as disappointing a term as it is fashionable? Should it be abandoned, or is it useful for understanding European transformations? Five uses are discussed and it is argued that research need not be hampered by competing definitions as long as their meaning, the phenomena in focus, the simplifying assumption used, the models of change and the theoretical challenges involved, are clarified and kept separate. The research challenge is one of model building, not one of inventing definitions. While it is premature to abandon the term, its usefulness may be more limited than its widespread use could indicate. Europeanization may be less useful as an explanatory concept than as an attention–directing device and a starting point for further exploration.
854 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss two options, closer co-operation and a combination of differentiated "framework directives" with the open method of co-ordination, to overcome the constitutional asymmetry between market efficiencies and policies promoting social protection and equality.
Abstract: European integration has created a constitutional asymmetry between policies promoting market efficiencies and policies promoting social protection and equality. National welfare states are legally and economically constrained by European rules of economic integration, liberalization and competition law, whereas efforts to adopt European social policies are politically impeded by the diversity of national welfare states, differing not only in levels of economic development and hence in their ability to pay for social transfers and services but, even more significantly, in their normative aspirations and institutional structures. In response, the ‘open method of coordination’ is now being applied in the social-policy field. It leaves effective policy choices at the national level, but tries to improve these through promoting common objectives and common indicators, and through comparative evaluations of national policy performance. These efforts are useful but cannot overcome the constitutional asymmetry. Hence there is reason to search for solutions which must have the character of European law in order to establish constitutional parity with the rules of European economic integration, but which also must be sufficiently differentiated to accommodate the existing diversity of national welfare regimes. The article discusses two such options, ‘closer co-operation’ and a combination of differentiated ‘framework directives’ with the open method of co-ordination.
819 citations
TL;DR: The European Union is legitimate as discussed by the authors and its institutions are tightly constrained by constitutional checks and balances: narrow mandates, fiscal limits, super-majoritarian and concurrent voting requirements and separation of powers.
Abstract: Concern about the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’ is misplaced. Judged against existing advanced industrial democracies, rather than an ideal plebiscitary or parliamentary democracy, the EU is legitimate. Its institutions are tightly constrained by constitutional checks and balances: narrow mandates, fiscal limits, super–majoritarian and concurrent voting requirements and separation of powers. The EU’s appearance of exceptional insulation reflects the subset of functions it performs — central banking, constitutional adjudication, civil prosecution, economic diplomacy and technical administration. These are matters of low electoral salience commonly delegated in national systems, for normatively justifiable reasons. On balance, the EU redresses rather than creates biases in political representation, deliberation and output.
604 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop an approach to link conceptually the two dimensions of Europeanization by focusing on the ways in which Member State governments both shape European policy outcomes and adapt to them.
Abstract: Europeanization is a two-way process, which involves the evolution of European institutions that impact on political structures and processes of the Member States. This article develops an approach to link conceptually the two dimensions of Europeanization by focusing on the ways in which Member State governments both shape European policy outcomes and adapt to them. Member States have an incentive to ‘upload’ their policies to the European level to minimize the costs in ‘downloading’ them at the domestic level. But they differ in both their policy preferences and their action capacities. Accordingly, Member States have pursued different strategies in responding to Europeanization. The article draws on evidence from the field of EU environmental policy-making to illustrate when Member States are likely to engage in pace-setting, foot-dragging or fence-sitting. It concludes with some considerations on whether pace-setting, foot-dragging and fence-sitting give rise to interest coalitions, which pitch Member States of diverse levels of economic development against each other.
430 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop an approach to link conceptually the two dimensions of Europeanization by focusing on the ways in which Member State governments both shape European policy outcomes and adapt to them.
Abstract: Europeanization is a two-way process, which involves the evolution of European institutions that impact on political structures and processes of the Member States. This article develops an approach to link conceptually the two dimensions of Europeanization by focusing on the ways in which Member State governments both shape European policy outcomes and adapt to them. Member States have an incentive to ‘upload’ their policies to the European level to minimize the costs in ‘downloading’ them at the domestic level. But they differ in both their policy preferences and their action capacities. Accordingly, Member States have pursued different strategies in responding to Europeanization. The article draws on evidence from the field of EU environmental policy-making to illustrate when Member States are likely to engage in pace-setting, foot-dragging or fence-sitting. It concludes with some considerations on whether pace-setting, foot-dragging and fence-sitting give rise to interest coalitions, which pitch Member States of diverse levels of economic development against each other.
365 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, different reasons that have been used in mobilizing for enlargement are examined and an analytical distinction is made between three different types of reasons: pragmatic, ethical, political and moral.
Abstract: Why does the European Union (EU) enlarge and why does it make certain prioritizations amongst applicants in the enlargement process? In this article, different reasons that have been used in mobilizing for enlargement are examined. An analytical distinction is made between three different types of reasons: pragmatic, ethical–political and moral. The conclusion is that ethical–political reasons, which testify to a sense of kinship–based duty, are particularly important in mobilizing for enlargement to incorporate central and eastern Europe and thus also central to an appreciation of prioritizations in the EU’s enlargement policy.
299 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the role of strong publics, which are institutionalized bodies of deliberation and decision-making, in modern democracy and argue that they are important to modern democracy as they subject decision making to justificatory debate.
Abstract: This article explores the democratizing role of strong publics, which are institutionalized bodies of deliberation and decision-making. Strong publics are important to modern democracy as they subject decision-making to justificatory debate. This article evaluates selected aspects of the institutional nexus of the EU in order to see if they qualify as strong publics. The focus is on comitology, the European Parliament and the Charter Convention. These bodies vary in their status as strong publics, but to various degrees they all inject the logic of impartial justification and reason-giving into the EU system.
222 citations
TL;DR: The concept of external sovereignty can help us understand contemporary policy disagreements between Europe and the United States as mentioned in this paper, and it can also be used to understand why the US is one of the staunchest defenders of the concept of sovereignty.
Abstract: The concept of sovereignty can help us understand contemporary policy disagreements between Europe and the United States. Ironically, the US, from which the first republican critique of the concept of sovereignty emanated, has now become one of its staunchest defenders. Meanwhile, the European Union has moved away from the classical conception of external sovereignty. The success of the European Union could enable it to serve as a model for more troubled regions, for which insistence on classical sovereignty is a source of conflict. More ominously, transatlantic differences over sovereignty could increase tension and conflict between democracies, thus undermining world order in the long run.
176 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that narratives of projection are key to the EU's global influence and that, in this particular sense, the idea of Europe as a civilian power is more relevant than ever.
Abstract: The original comparative mission of JCMS testifies to the propensity of the EU, since its inception, to project its model on to the rest of the world. This article argues that narratives of projection are indeed key to the EU’s global influence and that, in this particular sense, the idea of Europe as a civilian power is more relevant than ever. But such narratives require our engagement with their reflexive nature: what is usually projected is not the EU as is, but an EUtopia. At a time when both the EU and the international trade system are undergoing crises of legitimacy, EU actors can learn a lot from the remedies suggested for the global level by such an EUtopia.
148 citations
TL;DR: The European Commission is actively promoting the precautionary principle as a ‘key tenet’ of Community policy, as well as a general principle of international law as discussed by the authors, but this promotional effort is likely to fail or to produce unanticipated and undesirable consequences.
Abstract: The European Commission is actively promoting the precautionary principle as a ‘key tenet’ of Community policy, as well as a general principle of international law. This article explains why this promotional effort is likely to fail or to produce unanticipated and undesirable consequences. The principle has a legitimate but limited role to play in risk management, for example whenever there is an imminent danger of irreversible damage. As a general approach to risk regulation, however, it suffers from a number of shortcomings: it lacks a sound logical foundation; it may distort regulatory priorities; it can be misused to justify protectionist measures; it undermines international regulatory co-operation; and it may have undesirable distributive consequences. What is perhaps an even greater cause for concern is that the principle, as interpreted by the Commission, tends to favour a double standard for what is permissible internationally and in intra-Community relations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on five hard constitutional choices which Europe will face: the constitutional significance of enlargement; the "pure" constitutional issue, namely the significance of form; the issue of Europe's social solidarity as a defining identity marker and the question of whether it should, therefore, be constitutionalized thereby taking it out of day-to-day politics; the problem of policing rather than defining the demarcation of competences between the Union and Member States; and, finally, the tricky issue of a human rights policy for Europe.
Abstract: The Convention on the Future of Europe is likely to produce a constitutional prototype for Europe. In this article I focus on five hard constitutional choices which Europe will face: the constitutional significance of enlargement; the ‘pure’ constitutional issue, namely the significance of form; the issue of Europe’s social solidarity as a defining identity marker and the question of whether it should, therefore, be constitutionalized thereby taking it out of day–to–day politics; the issue of policing rather than defining the demarcation of competences between the Union and Member States; and, finally, the tricky issue of a human rights policy for Europe.
TL;DR: The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as discussed by the authors aims at locking EMU members into a fiscal discipline commitment while allowing for flexibility to cushion cyclical fluctuations, based on the experience of the Maastricht-induced fiscal consolidation.
Abstract: The Maastricht Treaty is ten year old. Its fiscal rules played a key role in kick starting and sustaining the budgetary retrenchment efforts in European Union countries in the run up to EMU. The experience of the Maastricht-induced fiscal consolidation shows that the political economy dimension of the rules is key for their success. It remains to be seen whether the Stability and Growth Pact, which complements the Treaty, aims at locking EMU members into a fiscal discipline commitment while allowing for flexibility to cushion cyclical fluctuations. In order to succeed in this undertaking, EU governments and institutions have to bank on the political economy “drive” which made Maastricht a success while tackling a number of open issues in the implementation of the Pact.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how European institutions can impede deeper integration of the European Research Area (ERA), and present an analytical framework that distinguishes three pathways of institutional resistance to change, and applies the framework to the case of EU research policy.
Abstract: Explanations of the failure of integration are a natural preserve of intergovernmentalism. It is not difficult to blame the failure to integrate on recalcitrant states — and they are in fact often largely responsible. This article examines how European institutions can impede deeper integration. It sets out an analytical framework that distinguishes three pathways of institutional resistance to change, and applies the framework to the case of EU research policy. In the face of American scientific and technological superiority, European leaders have long articulated the goal of better research policy co-ordination. But distinct national research policies persist; no significant supranational integration has taken place. The institutionalization of EU research policy in the framework programme (FP) — a funding stream for researchers alongside much larger national programmes — is part of the reason. Since the 1980s, increasingly large and complex programmes have absorbed the administrative and political energies of the Commission and generated clienteles attached to the status quo. European institutional legacies, and not simply national interests, have undercut efforts to create a ‘European Research Area’ marked by the better co-ordination and integration of national policies.
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that these constraints could be alleviated by setting the available policy instruments in a co-ordinated manner in order to achieve a macroeconomic policy mix at the euro area level that is conducive to higher growth and employment.
Abstract: The formation of economic and monetary union (EMU) has created a framework for economic policy-making in Europe which is unique in history. While the single monetary policy is oriented towards a Union-wide objective, namely the maintenance of price stability, the other policy areas – involving fiscal and wage policies – largely remain the competence of national governments and other national actors, such as the social partners. Against this background, calls for enhanced macroeconomic policy coordination between monetary policy, on the one hand, and fiscal and wage policies, on the other hand, have come about as a result of the perception that the new institutional framework in EMU places constraints on the different policies. It is argued that these constraints could be alleviated by setting the available policy instruments in a co-ordinated manner in order to achieve a macroeconomic policy mix at the euro area level that is conducive to higher growth and employment.1 The central message I wish to convey here, however, is that there are no convincing arguments in favour of attempts to co-ordinate macroeconomic policies ex ante in order to achieve an overall policy mix favourable to growth and employment. On the contrary, attempts that extend beyond the informal exchange of views and information give rise to the risk of confusing the specific roles, mandates and responsibilities of the policies in question. They thereby reduce the transparency of the overall economic policy framework
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the implementation of the EU's political conditions by new democracies in post-communist Europe and show the different saliency in accession countries of problems related to the political conditions, but common to both is the dynamic created by the advance of negotiations for membership.
Abstract: European integration’s impact on democratization in post–authoritarian societies has usually been considered in the academic literature to be of significance in the long term, in helping to firm up regime consolidation. It is important, however, to consider impacts which come earlier through the accession process. This is shown by focusing on the implementation of the EU’s political conditions by new democracies in post–communist Europe. The two case studies of Slovakia and Romania show the different salience in accession countries of problems related to the political conditions, but common to both is the dynamic created by the advance of negotiations for membership. At the same time, negative effects may be present, coming from the intense pressure to join. Overall, integration effects vary between levels of democratic consolidation, being greater at the institutional than the societal level.
TL;DR: The Treaty of Nice introduced a triple majority requirement for Council decisions as mentioned in this paper, which required not only a qualified majority (slightly larger than before), but also an absolute majority of Member States and a 62 per cent majority of the total population of EU countries.
Abstract: The Treaty of Nice introduced a triple majority requirement for Council decisions. In order to be valid, Council decisions require not only a qualified majority (slightly larger than before), but also an absolute majority of Member States and, at a country’s request, a 62 per cent majority of the total population of EU countries. We explain why this significant modification of the rules occurred and what the likely consequences are. The triple majority requirement was introduced because the approaching enlargement of the EU differentiates for the first time between the three majoritarian criteria (weighted votes in the Council, majority of countries, and majority of the population). Different countries have insisted on each of these criteria and the final outcome is an explicit incorporation of all three. The likely outcomes of this change in rules are increased difficulty of legislative decisions, a shift of veto powers in favour of the Council, an increased role for the judiciary, and a further bureaucratization of the EU.
TL;DR: The authors examines debates on institutional reform in the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2000) that culminated in the Nice summit, and the effects of various proposals, and examines the main issues were the indirect power Member States acquired through blocking minorities and how the outcome could be presented at home.
Abstract: The article examines debates on institutional reform in the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2000) that culminated in the Nice summit, and the effects of various proposals. The main issues were the indirect power Member States acquired through blocking minorities and how the outcome could be presented at home. The changes were rather modest, with two exceptions. A new population criterion gives Germany greater blocking power than the other large countries and preserves the possibility of three large countries together blocking in an EU of 27 members. Spain’s voting weight increased substantially. The new blocking possibilities will affect the relative bargaining position of countries rather than the Union’s decision-making capability.
TL;DR: The European social agenda has developed significantly as a result of the process initiated at the Lisbon Council in March 2000 as discussed by the authors, and the challenges for Member States, and for the EU as a whole, to develop the next national action plans and promote social inclusion at a European level.
Abstract: The European social agenda has developed significantly as a result of the process initiated at the Lisbon Council in March 2000. The first part of the article examines the challenges for Member States, and for the EU as a whole, to develop the next national action plans and promote social inclusion at a European level. The second part seeks to place the discussion in a wider context, stressing the integration of social and economic policy, and the impact of the EU world-wide.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the uncritical use of the principal-agent model may lead to faulty judgements about the actual degree of Commission autonomy in EU public policy-making.
Abstract: The principal–agent model (PAM) has produced valid hypotheses for conceptualizing actor relationships, but its disadvantage — as an economic concept transferred from the field of industrial organization and the theory of the firm to that of European integration — is often overlooked. This article argues that, when applying the concept, researchers interested in the empirical analysis of the EU policy process should be aware of some sensitive points concerning both ‘internal’ consistency and ‘external’ theoretical constraints. Drawing on a case study of the EU poverty programmes, three behavioural patterns —‘discourse framing’, ‘lobby sponsoring’ and ‘stretching’— are identified. These all indicate how the uncritical use of PAM may lead to faulty judgements about the actual degree of Commission autonomy in EU public policy–making.
TL;DR: The European security and defence policy signifies a fundamental shift away from the civilian nature of the European Union, and its institutional relationship with Nato as discussed by the authors, and change has been complex and controversial.
Abstract: The European security and defence policy signifies a fundamental shift away from the civilian nature of the European Union, and its institutional relationship with Nato. Change has been complex and controversial. A ‘militarized’ EU requires an appropriate culture and organization, as well as policies and policy tools, if it is to achieve strategic space and well–defined relations with other international institutions. None of these is yet fully in place. Clear outcomes cannot be immediately anticipated or expected, and these will depend upon both the political will of European states and the United States.
TL;DR: In this article, the monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the implications of enlargement of the monetary union to up to 27 Member States are analyzed.
Abstract: Despite the economic and political success of its launch, the challenges ahead for the euro are formidable. This article analyses some of these challenges, focusing particularly on the monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and on the implications of enlargement of the monetary union to up to 27 Member States. The monetary policy strategy and inflation target of the ECB are criticized for being unrealistic and possibly damaging to the ECB’s credibility. It is shown that unless the mechanisms for taking interest rate decisions are rethought, there are risks that the wrong decisions will be taken after enlargement.
TL;DR: The English School of international relations has rarely been used to analyse European integration as discussed by the authors. But, as we argue in this article, there may be considerable value in adding the English School to the canon of approaches to European integration studies in order to contextualize European integration both historically and internationally.
Abstract: The English School of international relations has rarely been used to analyse European integration. But, as we argue in this article, there may be considerable value in adding the English School to the canon of approaches to European integration studies in order to contextualize European integration both historically and internationally. The concepts of international society, world society and empire in particular may be used to reconfigure the current debate about the nature of EU governance and to compare the EU to other regional international systems, as well as to reconceptualize the EU’s international role, and in particular the EU’s power to influence affairs beyond its formal membership borders. Conversely, analysing the EU with the help of these English School concepts may also help to refine the latter in the current attempts to reinvigorate the English School as a research programme.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the impact of EU enlargement on regionalization in the Czech Republic and concluded that the EU's impact has been both limited and highly ambivalent.
Abstract: This article examines the impact of EU enlargement on regionalization in the Czech Republic. It asks whether pre-accession preparations for EU regional policy have promoted regionalization and governmental decentralization in the Czech Republic, a question prompted by the debate about EU regional policy and regionalization in the current Member States. After reviewing Czech preparations for EU regional policy and the administration of pre-accession structural aid programmes, it concludes that the EU’s impact on regionalization in the Czech Republic has been both limited and highly ambivalent. The article thus confirms the findings of previous research on EU enlargement and regionalization in the candidate countries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the impact of integration on the democratic polity, i.e., the constellation of institutions, procedures and rules of parliamentary democracy, and the political dynamics that flow from them.
Abstract: Since 1957, a far–reaching transformation of politics within the Member States, commonly described as Europeanization, is said to have taken place. This article contributes to the literature on this phenomenon by focusing on the impact of integration on the democratic polity — that is, the constellation of institutions, procedures and rules of parliamentary democracy, and the political dynamics that flow from them. The empirical analysis is based on Arend Lijphart’s path–breaking research on democracy. I discover that core features of the democratic polity across Europe have proved strikingly resilient in the face of the transformational effects of integration. An exception can be found among the newest democracies in the EU, which exhibit signs of modest convergence. Both of these findings are consistent with institutionalist theory. My conclusions suggest the presence of tangible limits to the reach of integration, and give cause for optimism about the continuing relevance of democratic institutions at the national level.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse to what extent business cycles in US and German states have become more synchronized and by examining whether synchronization in OECD countries is affected by trade intensity and exchange rate stability.
Abstract: Will further integration make business cycles in EMU countries more similar? This article answers the question by analysing to what extent business cycles in US and German states have become more synchronized and by examining whether synchronization in OECD countries is affected by trade intensity and exchange rate stability. Using long-run data for the US we find only mixed evidence for synchronization. However, post-war data for Germany suggest that business cycles behave more similarly over time. The evidence for OECD countries is mixed: trade intensity has led to more, and exchange rate stability to less, synchronization.
TL;DR: In this article, the legal status and policy implications of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union are explored, and it is argued that the Charter has legal value, despite the fact that it has not been incorporated into Community law.
Abstract: This article aims at exploring the legal status and policy implications of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It is argued that the Charter has legal value, despite the fact that it has not been incorporated into Community law. This is so to the extent that it consolidates existing law. The additional symbolic value of the Charter grounds the claim that it will have concrete policy impacts. It will have an effect on the weighting of social and economic goals of the Union, on its external trade and development policy, on the enlargement process (Article 49 TEU), and on the potential application of sanctions to Member States (Article 7 TEU).
TL;DR: The European Union has combined a belief in institutional engineering with the experience that comprehensive reform is difficult to achieve as discussed by the authors, and a simple model of institutional engineering, assuming predetermined political will, understanding and power is not likely to capture processes of comprehensive reform in complex and dynamic political orders like the EU.
Abstract: The European Union has combined a belief in institutional engineering with the experience that comprehensive reform is difficult to achieve. The long-term development has been in a consistent direction. Yet, the history of the Union is one of founding acts and deliberate institution-building, as well as informal and gradual institutional evolution where common practices have been codified into formal-legal institutions. Institutional arrangements are contingent and malleable, but not necessarily in a voluntaristic way. A simple model of institutional engineering, assuming predetermined political will, understanding and power, is not likely to capture processes of comprehensive reform in complex and dynamic political orders like the EU. This does not deny that there are several options for deliberate intervention in existing structures. EU reformers may both reduce the need for reform and make reform more feasible.