Showing papers in "Journal of Common Market Studies in 2005"

The Effectiveness of Structural Policy in the European Union: An Empirical Analysis for the EU‐15 in 1995–2001*

Abstract: The main aim of structural policy is to decrease the regional disparities within the European Union (EU). In 2004 ten new member countries joined the EU, and it is expected that this enlargement will cause strong regional disparities within the Union. For this reason the distribution of financial support by structural policy will undergo drastic changes. In this study we consider two main themes. First, convergence of the current EU Member States is empirically tested for the period 1995‐ 2002, and the effect of the structural funds in this context is identified. Structural funds do indeed appear to have had a positive impact, and poorer countries (like Greece) appear to have caught up with the richer countries. The importance of the structural funds in this respect therefore cannot be neglected. Second, we touch on the problem of moral hazard and the substitution effect. It may be expected that receivers of structural funds in some cases are not really eligible and may therefore use the funds inefficiently. Our first and preliminary results seem to indicate that the less clean countries (or as we measure it, more ‘corrupt’ countries) of the current EU15 do not gain less economic growth from the structural funds. The hypothesis that structural funds contributed to fewer interregional disparities within the current 15 European countries cannot be rejected. This may mean the intended plans of channelling a big share of the funds to the candidate countries in 2007‐13 will probably contribute to higher economic growth in these countries.

Europe's Border Relationships and International Migration Relations*

Abstract: This article explores the impact of changed border relationships within and between EU Member States on the increasingly important external dimension of migration and asylum policy. The article distinguishes between types of borders and identifies key patterns in the post-cold war migration politics of Europe. It then links these to new forms of international migration relations between EU states and their neighbours.

Compliance, Competition and Communication: Different Approaches of European Governance and their Impact on National Institutions

Abstract: This analysis focuses on the relationship between supranational regulatory policy and national administrative change. We argue that the potential for change and cross-national convergence varies with the particular governance pattern employed, namely coercion, competition and communication. We identify the behavioural rationalities that guide the national bureaucratic responses and point to certain paradoxes with regard to the extent and direction of change.

Public Opinion in the EU on Immigration from Outside the Community

Abstract: This article explores the impact of symbolic and instrumental variables on European Union opinion on immigration and asylum. Using Eurobarometer surveys from 1988 to 2000, descriptive and multivariate statistics are employed to measure the impact of prejudice, ideology, attitudes towards the EU, unemployment, economic conditions, migration flows, and individual-level demographic characteristics on measures of attitudes towards immigration policy and foreigners. Although standard demographic factors are associated with the dependent variables in the manner expected, there are less compelling or inconsistent effects of individual or macro-level economic variables. The best predictors of immigration positions are attitudinal variables including political ideology, prejudice and evaluations of the EU.

The Europeanization of Welfare - The Domestic Impact of Intra-European Social Security

Abstract: Studies of Europeanization have demonstrated that the impact of European integration differs between Member States and across policies. Although Europeanization research has been expanded and clarified in recent years, we still know relatively little about the factors mediating the national processes of change that thus condition impact. This article examines the impact of European social security integration on national welfare institutions in Denmark and Germany, and it traces the Europeanization process, which may explain the diverging impact of a common input in these two Member States. In order to understand how the same process of integration may cause a diverging impact on national institutions, two sets of mediating factors are examined: firstly, the institutional and de facto exposedness to European integration; and, secondly, the national political, administrative and legal responses to integration. It is argued that these intervening variables are decisive for how common European demands are mediated nationally and are likely to explain impact variations referring to the same cause.

What is European Economic and Monetary Union Telling us About the Properties of Optimum Currency Areas

Abstract: Our understanding of optimum currency area (OCA) properties has changed over time. While all properties can now be discussed in detail, the challenge of weighing and reconciling them remains. Looking ahead, we may be confronted with two distinct paradigms: specialization versus ‘endogeneity of OCA’ that may give rise to a paradox if taken to the extreme. The merits of OCA theory as an organizing device and a research catalyst are underlined, but its limitations are also revealed. Also noted here is the complementarity between empirical studies of OCA properties and progress toward EMU.

The Security Challenge of Small EU Member States: Interests, Identity and the Development of the EU as a Security Actor*

Abstract: How are small EU Member States affected by the development of the European Union (EU) as a security actor? This article argues that the European integration project emerged as an almost ideal security organization for the region’s small states after the cold war, but that subsequent development challenges important aspects of the security identity and interests of small EU Member States. Even though the EU continues as an attractive security organization for most small states in the region, they must now reconsider some of their most basic strategic choices in order to meet the challenges and maximize influence over future developments.

Securitization or Securing Rights? Exploring the Conceptual Foundations of Policies towards Minorities and Migrants in Europe*

Abstract: Minority and migration issues tend to be framed either in terms of security and control or rights. Rather than lamenting the securitization of these issues in the academic and policy debate and advocating a focus on rights as an alternative, this article calls for the re-conceptualization in terms of a ‘security-rights nexus’. It is argued here that minority and migration issues and their conceptual interlock have a clear security dimension, but that these concerns are best addressed through rights-based policies. Through an analysis of the policy approaches of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the EU, this article traces two related dimensions of the ‘security-rights nexus’, namely the increasing linkages between policies towards minorities and migrants and between security and rights. Both institutions' emphasis on ‘integration’ in minority and migration policies reflects the two interrelated dimensions of the ‘security-rights’ nexus.

How Symmetric are the Shocks and the Shock Adjustment Dynamics between the Euro Area and Central and Eastern European Countries

Abstract: We use a structural vector autoregression model to identify and compare demand and supply shocks between euro area countries and central and eastern European countries (CEECs). The shocks and the shock adjustment dynamics of these countries are also compared to western European EU countries that have not yet adopted the euro. Focusing on the period 1993-2001, we find that there are still considerable differences in the shocks and in the adjustment process to shocks between the euro area and the CEECs. However, there are indications that the differences between several individual CEECs and the euro area have declined recently.

Is Europe Becoming the Most Dynamic Knowledge Economy in the World

Abstract: The article discusses the condition and perspective of the European Union in the knowledge economy and the feasibility of the goal given by the European Council at the summits held in Lisbon (March 2000) and Barcelona (March 2002), that is, to increase European RD and intra-European distribution of resources and capabilities. A set of technological indicators is presented to show that Europe is still consistently behind when compared to Japan and the US, especially in R&D investment and the generation of innovations. A small convergence occurs in the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs), the sector most directly linked to the concept of the ‘new economy’. In the field of knowledge collaboration, Europe takes opposing paths in the business and academic worlds. Within Europe, the level of investment in scientific and technological activities is so diverse across countries that it does not merge into a single continental innovation system.

Language Disenfranchisement in the European Union

Abstract: This article introduces the notion of language disenfranchisement which arises if the number of EU working languages is reduced and some EU citizens are denied the use of their own language for official purposes. We use data on language proficiency in the EU and show that, in spite of the widespread knowledge of English, the retention of French and German as working languages is essential to avoid a high degree of disenfranchisement of EU citizens. We also argue that, even though French is the second leading language within the EU, the recent enlargement could change that situation.

A research agenda for the study of migrants and minorities in Europe

Abstract: I. Definitions and Policy RelevanceMigration and minority policy issues are now at the forefront of the political debate in Europe. Both issues denote a dynamic and rapidly changing set of sensitive political, economic and social questions that affect domestic and international policy-making. They have developed a distinctly European and EU dimension, and the parallel processes of EU constitution-making and enlargement have underscored the relevance of these issue areas. The current political context in Europe – between the first and second round of the EU’s eastward enlargement and at a time when the whole notion of an EU constitu-tion and future enlargement (in particular in the case of Turkey) have been called into question by the French and Dutch rejections of the Constitutional Treaty – makes discussion about minority and migration issues particularly relevant. This special issue places these issues in a set of research trends and tries to define a new research agenda.The terms ‘migrant’ and ‘minority’ share an underlying definitional impreci-sion that blurs the respective fields of study and policy-making as well as the linkages between the two. Moreover, some countries (e.g. the UK) explicitly refer to migrants as ‘ethnic minorities’, thereby adding to the confusion. This special issue adopts sufficiently broad definitions of ‘migrants’ and ‘minori-ties’ to facilitate dialogue beyond narrow specialized circles without, however, glossing over meaningful distinctions. Thus, the term ‘ethnic minorities’ can subsume a range of migrant groups, while the term ‘national minority’ is reserved for established minorities claiming minority rights (e.g. forms of

The Europeanization of Media Discourse: A Study of Quality Press Coverage of Economic Policy Co‐ordination since Amsterdam*

Abstract: The article seeks to contribute to the debate about the Europeanization of publicized discourse as a key factor in the underpinning of legitimate and effective governance in Europe. It explores the degree to which two sets of European Union legal provisions for the co-ordination of national employment and fiscal policies have led to an adaptation of media discourses in selected Member States over time. Overall, the study finds only a modest degree of Europeanization with regard to media attention, representation of foreign voices and thematic convergence, but notes important differences between the two selected governing modes and to a lesser degree between the selected countries. It puts forward a number of hypotheses to explain why fiscal policy co-ordination led to more Europeanization of media discourse as compared to the softer governing mode in the area of employment policy.

'Exit' in deeply divided societies : regimes of discrimination in Estonia and Latvia and the potential for Russophone migration

Abstract: Hirschman’s model of ‘exit’ envisages that mass migration can communicate feedback to a state and elicit modifying policy behaviour. The regimes of discrimination against Russophones in Estonia and Latvia are examined to demonstrate that in certain conditions of inter-ethnic conflict the model does not work as predicted. In deeply divided societies the mass migration of a minority can be intentionally promoted by a majority regime of discrimination and thus does not perform a feedback function. Equally, in such conditions migration may operate as a safety valve to release the build up of minority antagonisms against the discriminatory regimes. The cases of Estonia and Latvia also illustrate the limitations of international conditionality from the EU and OSCE to prevent anti-minority policies, when there is a lack of international commitment and when governing elites resist. Given the lack of political will in Estonia and Latvia to modify the regimes of discrimination, and the poor prospects for integration or assimilation, the article predicts a significant out-migration by Russophones to other EU member states when restrictions on freedom of movement are eased after the transitional period.

Mapping EU Studies: The Evolution from Boutique to Boom Field 1960–2001*

Abstract: This article employs original data sets to map the development of EU studies since its inception and to assess that development within the broader context of trends in west European studies. Dissertation and article data are used to chart the contours of three eras of EC/EU studies that have unfolded since 1960. The article addresses the extent to which the transformation of EU studies from boutique to boom field since the 1990s has entailed diversification as well as expansion of the EU scholarly community – a geographic diffusion of expertise and training (accelerated on both sides of the Atlantic by substantial increases in funding for EU research), an increase in attention to EU issues by comparative politics specialists drawn to the study of‘an ever closer union', a proliferation of new topical subfields, an increase in the number of journals publishing significant articles on the EU, and a reshaping of the relationship between American and European scholars specializing in EU studies.

Migrating Towards Minority Status: Shifting European Policy Towards Roma*

Abstract: During the 1990s, European policy towards Roma evolved from concern about migration toward rhetoric about rights. In this article we trace that shift across two OSCE reports. Following rhetorical-action models, we show how the EU’s commitment to enlargement and ‘common values’ compelled it to elaborate an internal approach to minority protection. Concerns about migration persist, but Europe now has to consider how to integrate Roma as minorities.

Symbolic Politics or Effective Burden‐Sharing? Redistribution, Side‐payments and the European Refugee Fund

Abstract: Explicitly redistributive EU policy instruments are rare. This article seeks to account for the recent establishment of the European refugee fund (ERF), and assess its effectiveness in ‘promoting a balance of efforts in receiving and bearing the consequences of displaced persons’. It argues that the decision to create the ERF can be interpreted as an act of partly solidaristic, but mostly symbolic, EU politics. The ERF’s redistributive rules are characterized by a side-payment logic in which countries that possess the greatest potential (or most credible threat) to cause difficulties in other areas of EU policymaking are most influential when it comes to the distribution of EU spoils. While this logic can facilitate moves towards further integration, it undermines the achievement of the EU’s redistributive objectives.

The Development of Rights‐based Social Policy in the European Union: The Example of Disability Rights*

Abstract: This article examines the development of non-discrimination rights in the EU, with particular reference to disability. It outlines the origins of Article 13 TEC, which extended the competence of the Community institutions to combat discrimination, and traces the history of other initiatives in the disability policy area. Programmatic and juridical methods of promoting equality are described and compared. The analysis considers both the different institutional obstacles to programmatic and juridical methods, and the different consequences for the substantive content of policy of pursuing programmatic and juridical approaches.

The European Union and the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Normative Power Europe in Action?*

Abstract: The claim that the EU played a leadership role at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development is examined using the concept of normative power Europe. We examine how the EU operationalized the concept of sustainable development before questioning whether the EU represents a normative power in the field of sustainable development. In doing so, we address two key concerns. First, we question the depth of the current EU's commitment to sustainable development. Second, we raise a number of important theoretical questions regarding Ian Manners' broader application of the concept of normative power Europe.

The Stability and Growth Pact: Theorizing a Case in European Integration

Abstract: This article looks at the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as a case study in European integration. Applying the theoretical lenses of various European integration approaches (intergovernmentalism, domestic politics, neofunctionalism and an ‘expertocratic’ approach) it seeks to explain the creation of the SGP as well as its subsequent implementation. The findings show that these approaches are able to illuminate different parts of the process. The article thus argues that only an eclectic combination of the approaches provides a satisfactory theoretical explanation of the SGP as a fundamental element of the rules-based economic and monetary union (EMU) regime.

Electing the European Parliament: How Uniform are 'Uniform' Electoral Systems?

Abstract: In 2002 agreement was reached on new uniform electoral procedures for European Parliament elections. This article does two things. First, it provides a comprehensive account of the rules under which the EP was elected in 2004, revealing a high degree of continuing variability in the existing electoral systems across all 25 Member States. Second, it addresses the question: if the electoral systems vary in form, do they also differ significantly in their effects?

The Genesis of European Rights

Abstract: Supranational rights in Europe originated in the ECSC free movement provisions. In a political compromise, these provisions were included at the insistence of the Italian delegation, although the other Member States delayed in implementing them. Examining the genesis of European rights recasts EU citizenship from a contemporary phenomenon dating only from the Maastricht Treaty to the most recent expression of the same tensions and compromises that have characterized the entire history of European integration.

European Integration and the Transnational Restructuring of Social Relations: The Emergence of Labour as a Regional Actor?*

Abstract: Informed by a neo-Gramscian perspective able to conceptualize transnational class formation, this article assesses whether European trade union organizations have developed into independent supranational actors, or whether they are merely secretariats in charge of organizing the co-operation of their national member associations. The first hypothesis is that those trade unions which organize workers in transnational production sectors, are likely to co-operate at the European level, because they have lost control over capital at the national level. Trade unions, organizing workers in domestic production sectors, may be more reluctant because their sectors still depend on national protection. The second hypothesis is that trade unions are more likely to co-operate at the European level if they perceive such an engagement as furthering their influence on policy-making in comparison with structural possibilities at the national level. Additionally, in line with the critical dimension of neo-Gramscian perspectives, it will be assessed whether European co-operation implies acceptance of neo-liberal economics, or whether unions continue to resist restructuring.

The New Transatlantic Agenda at Ten: Reflections on an Experiment in International Governance*

Abstract: The 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) represents anovel experiment in international governance, linking the institutions of the EU and the United States at the intergovernmental, transgovernmental and transnational levels. This article draws lessons from the NTA after its first decade, noting tensions in the Brussels-Washington relationship, a highly variable pattern of effectiveness in transgovernmental regulatory co-operation, and a largely ineffectual record of transnational civil-society co-operation.

Small States and the Creation of EMU: Belgium and the Netherlands, Pace-setters and Gate-keepers*

Abstract: It is often argued that economic and monetary union (EMU) was created due to the efforts and interests of larger Member States. This article argues that the Belgian and Dutch contributions indicate that small countries played a significant role in the creation of EMU. Both countries wanted to create a zone of monetary stability in Europe and as such have led the process by example. However, their conceptions of monetary stability were different. Belgium, as a close ally of the Commission, played a pace-setting role, especially through creative and diplomatic proposals, whilst the Netherlands played the role of gate-keeper and important ally of the Germans. Following a framework developed by Helen Wallace, the article analyses how, and under what conditions, Belgium and the Netherlands played a role in the creation of EMU.

Who Pays? Who Gains? How do Costs and Benefits Shape the Policy Influence of the European Parliament?*

Abstract: This article contributes to the burgeoning literature on the policy influence of the European Parliament (EP) by testing and further developing an analytical framework that investigates the links between EP influence and the costs and benefits delivered by different types of policy A set of hypotheses is derived from the literature and tested empirically against four case studies The key findings are that the EP is more able to exercise influence in the regulatory than the distributive policy field, but that in both cases the status and nature of the cost-payers and beneficiaries of EP amendments are key determinants of influence

Coherence and Conditionality in European Foreign Policy : Negotiating the EU-Mexico Global Agreement

Abstract: The EU–Mexico Global Agreement is one of the most comprehensive agreements ever made by the EU with a non-European country, and the first pact that Mexico has ever accepted that conditions the relationship on respect for democracy and human rights. This article explains why the EU insisted on such political conditions in the agreement, and why Mexico ultimately accepted the EU's terms after initially refusing them. As the economic case is only moderately compelling, we focus instead on the Commission's unique capacity to manipulate key elements of the negotiation process. The article also highlights the growing importance of two principles governing the EU's external relations - coherence and political conditionality – and how those principles might further expand the EU's global political influence.

The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy Co-ordination in EMU: From Disciplinarian Device to Insurance Arrangement*

Abstract: The fiscal policy framework of EMU and possible reforms of the Stability and Growth Pact have elicited much debate. The pact has been predicated on a conception of it as a device to discipline Member States. This gives rise to a paradox in which the credibility of policy-makers it is supposed to enhance is undermined. The article puts forward an alternative conception of policy co-ordination — collective insurance — designed to enhance the effectiveness of fiscal stabilization. The two approaches lead to different interpretations of how domestic interests affect policy-making. The insurance approach is shown to support various reform proposals by the Commission.

The Limits of a European Immigration Policy: Elite Opinion and Agendas within the European Parliament

Abstract: Utilizing data from our surveys of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in 1992–93 and 2003–04, this article samples MEP opinion on immigration-related questions. Its central purpose is to discover if the positions of MEPs on immigration issues have evolved substantially over time and, if so, whether the direction of change supports the supposition that national and partisan orientations are gradually yielding to a consensual and European orientation on immigration-related issues. Our comparative and longitudinal analysis partially confirms that MEP opinion is becoming more consensual. Yet, despite the robust interest of MEPs in forging a common immigration policy, their support for communitarization continues to lag. Specifically, we find that, even as immigration-related issues have become more salient, a preference for having national governments regulate immigration policy has increased, particularly among MEPs from the traditional immigration-receiving countries.

The EU Offer of Service Trade Liberalization in the Doha Round: Evidence of a Not‐Yet‐Perfect Customs Union*

Abstract: While the EU is a customs union in merchandise trade (goods), it has not yet reached this stage of integration in service trade. Trade policies between individual Member States and non-Member States vary in services. Given the remaining national sovereignties in regulating service trade against other EU Member States also, the EU is not yet even a free trade area. How far the EU is from a customs union in service trade is very difficult to assess because of the non-quantitative nature of trade restrictions in this sector. This article gives a first hint of the distance from a customs union by calculating frequency indices of trade measures by refining the 1995 Hoekman index. The database is the EU's first offer in service trade in the WTO Doha round in February 2003. It emerges that the deviation from a customs union is not substantial, but still exists because of differences in national policies against non-Member States which are particularly relevant in the mode of supply via labour flows. Inter alia, policy measures comprise economic needs tests, residence and nationality criteria. The article concludes that there is reason to assume that, in the course of the Doha round negotiations, some if not most of the national measures will be given up. Therefore, multilateral trade negotiations will be instrumental in bringing the EU to a complete customs union as happened in goods trade between 1958 and 1968 when the Dillon and Kennedy rounds helped to complete the customs union in industrial goods.