Showing papers in "Journal of Common Market Studies in 2017"
99 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed studies on EU agencies' organization, tasks, proliferation and location in the political-administrative space, and suggested a future research agenda for accountability relations in the European Commission.
Abstract: This review article, with a clear political science and public administration bias, takes stock of the existing literature on EU agencies and suggests a future research agenda. The article reviews studies on EU agencies' organization, tasks, proliferation and location in the political-administrative space. Whether the advent of EU agencies tends to underpin a basically intergovernmental, transnational or supranational order has potentially huge consequences for the distribution of power across levels of government, for the degree of policy uniformity and pooling of administrative resources across countries, for the role of genuinely European perspectives in the policy process, and for accountability relations. Although the jury is still partly out on most topics, we see the contours of a more direct multilevel administration in which EU agencies not only constitute nodes within transnational agency networks, but in addition, in governance terms, relate more closely to the European Commission than to any other institution.
78 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the EU suffers from a specific type of disaggregation in its foreign and security policy, which makes it difficult for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy to prevent Member States from pursuing their own independent policies, such as signing new energy deals or granting port access for Russian naval forces.
Abstract: Why has the European Union been able to craft a unified sanctions policy against Russia but failed to rein in Russia's ‘Trojan horses’ within the EU that pursue pro-Putin foreign policies? We argue that the EU suffers from a specific type of disaggregation in its foreign and security policy. While the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy has increased its capacities over time, the EU still lacks the power to prevent Member States from pursuing their own independent policies. In the face of the Ukraine crisis, for instance, the EU marshaled a surprisingly strong sanctions regime, but could not prevent Member States from pursuing divergent pro-Russia policies, such as signing new energy deals or granting port access for Russian naval forces. As EU foreign and security powers grow, foreign powers face increasing incentives to cultivate Trojan horses among the EU Member States.
67 citations
64 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed Chinese scholarly writings and conducted interviews in China to explore the evolution process of China's strategic narratives with a focus on the gradual appearances of Europe, and argued that the EU/Europe is a second order concern for China, and Europe only plays a marginalized role in China's policy discussion.
Abstract: The rise of China as a global power has significantly reshaped its global ambition. Under the leadership of Chinese president Xi Jinping, China has proposed a series of diplomatic initiatives – most notably ‘new type of great power relations’ and ‘one belt one road’ – in order to shift the international order in its favour. Does Europe matter in China's major initiatives under the leadership of Xi Jinping? How does Europe (and the EU) fit into China's strategic narratives? This article aims to address these questions by analyzing Chinese scholarly writings and conducting interviews in China. It also explores the evolution process of China's strategic narratives with a focus on the gradual appearances of Europe. This article argues that the EU/Europe is a second order concern for China, and Europe only plays a marginalized role in China's policy discussion. Appreciation of the internal dynamics of China is essential for Europe to develop a more accurate understanding of EU–China relations.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the joint role of cross-border interactions and political attitudes in fostering solidarity ties among Europeans through multilevel modelling based on the 2012 Eurobarometer 77 survey.
Abstract: In this article we discuss the concept of European solidarity by distinguishing between transnational and international solidarity. The former refers to support for institutional arrangements aimed at sharing economic risks at the individual level, while the latter entails public agreement to share economic risks at the Member State level. We explore the joint role of cross-border interactions and political attitudes in fostering solidarity ties among Europeans through multilevel modelling based on the 2012 Eurobarometer 77 survey. The article shows that transnational experiences do not have the same effect on different forms of European solidarity, limiting transnational and enhancing international solidarity. Egalitarian individuals are more prone to EU-wide solidarity, with cross-border practices affecting their level of solidarity, while not altering those of the rest of the population. In particular, we find that cross-border practices make egalitarians more inclined to international and less to transnational solidarity.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the substantive rights of economically inactive EU migrants are dependent on the "export" of social rights from their country of origin to the Member State of destination, in particular during the initial phase of their residence in a new Member State as a jobseeker or a pensioner.
Abstract: Differences in Member States' economic development and national social protection systems can translate into significant differences in the substantive social rights of EU migrant citizens. The substantive rights of economically inactive EU migrant citizens are dependent on the ‘export’ of social rights from their country of origin to the Member State of destination, in particular during the initial phase of their residence in a new Member State as a jobseeker or a pensioner. This paper demonstrates that EU citizens' social rights are substantively stratified, not only by economic status, but also according to the Member State of origin and destination. Stratified social rights, it is argued, generate unequal opportunities to free movement and eo ipso challenge the very concept of EU citizenship. The paper concludes with a proposal for a European Minimum Income Scheme to at least partially overcome the shortcomings of existing EU citizenship.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of EU sanctions on its member states on their exports to Russia and concluded that sanctions had a redistributive impact across the EU, with Germany, Italy and Finland in the leading positions.
Abstract: EU sanctions on Russia created concerns among its members. It is well known that sanctions impose a cost on their targets as well as on the senders, as lamented by European governments, but the costs of EU sanctions on its members have not been fully explored. This article intends to fill this gap by looking at the cost of EU sanctions on Russia. Who is bearing the cost among EU countries? This article argues that sanctions had a redistributive impact across the EU. Whereas exports fell for all countries, with Germany, Italy and Finland in the leading positions, the article shows that there are economic sectors that increased their exports to Russia after the imposition of sanctions, which occurred particularly in countries as Greece, Sweden, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. This conclusion is reached by looking at the export flows from individual EU member states divided by SITC sectors to Russia.
48 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigates the European Commission under the Presidency of Jean-Claude Juncker during a time of acute crisis in the European Union and investigates what it means for Juncker to preside over a "political Commission" following his appointment as the so-called Spitzenkandidat of the centre-right after the 2014 EP European Parliament election.
Abstract: This article investigates the European Commission under the Presidency of Jean-Claude Juncker during a time of acute crisis in the European Union. It asks what it means for Juncker to preside over a ‘political Commission’, following his appointment as the so-called Spitzenkandidat of the centre-right after the 2014 EP European Parliament election. More generally, it considers what makes the Juncker Commission distinctive. We ask whether Juncker views his EP mandate as giving him licence to head a Commission that is more ambitious than those headed by his predecessor, Jose Manuel Barroso. We provide empirical raw material for theorizing about the EU, particularly given the prominence of the new intergovernmentalism as a theoretical paradigm of European integration. We argue that it is time to redefine the term ‘intergovernmental’, especially given how the Commission has become more directly linked to and dependent on EU national capitals in a time of acute crisis.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new theoretical framework drawing on sociological institutionalism and role theory is proposed to examine a leadership paradox at the heart of EU foreign policy between the demand for effective European leadership, and leadership legitimacy embedded in state practices.
Abstract: This article examines a leadership paradox at the heart of EU foreign policy between the demand for effective European leadership, and leadership legitimacy embedded in state practices. This paradox is manifested in the Lisbon treaty that delegated significant formal leadership functions to the European level. We probe the question how and by whom leadership can and should be performed in EU foreign policy. To answer this question, we advance a new theoretical framework drawing on sociological institutionalism and role theory. We argue that leadership should be understood as a social role shaped in a process of interaction between leader and followers. We contribute with new empirical knowledge of leadership role relations based on an interview survey conducted in 2016. The empirical results point to role conflicts over the formal leadership functions in EU foreign policy and the emergence of new informal leadership practices by EU member states.
46 citations
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TL;DR: The European Union is best understood as a liberal power as mentioned in this paper, as an actor that is composed of liberal democracies whose interests, identities and institutions motivate and constrain its policy, and the conceptualization of the EU as liberal power helps to overcome three shortcomings of alternative notions such as civilian power or Normative Power Europe: First, norms are not only understood as driving forces but also as constraints on foreign policy; second, liberal power Europe emphasizes the contested nature of norms and conflicts between norms and thus draws attention to the politics of EU external relations; third, it encourages an engagement with
Abstract: The European Union is best understood as a liberal power – as an actor that is composed of liberal democracies whose interests, identities and institutions motivate and constrain its policy. The conceptualization of the EU as a liberal power helps to overcome three shortcomings of alternative notions such as civilian power or Normative Power Europe: First, norms are not only understood as driving forces but also as constraints on foreign policy; second, liberal power Europe emphasizes the contested nature of norms and conflicts between norms and thus draws attention to the politics of EU external relations; third, it encourages an engagement with the vast literature on the distinctive policies of liberal democracies in international relations and foreign policy analysis. The EU’s crisis management serves to illustrate the value-added of the liberal power Europe concept.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the interconnections between distressed economies and the electoral success of hard-line eurosceptic parties, and detected both a direct and a mediated effect of the economic crisis on the electoral performance of hardline Eurosceptic candidates.
Abstract: The 2014 European elections led to a sharp rise in the electoral consensus of parties and independent parliament members perceived as eurosceptic. This paper analyzes the interconnections between distressed economies and the electoral success of hard-line eurosceptic parties. On a panel of 108 elections between 2008 and 2015, the random-effects model shows the relative effect of long- and short-term political trust, economic performance indicators, and institutional variables in determining the rise of hard-line eurosceptic parties. In contrast with previous studies, which have tended to de-emphasize the effect of economic performance in determining the success of eurosceptic forces, the results of this paper detect both a direct and a mediated effect of the economic crisis on the electoral success of hard-line eurosceptic parties.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that in order to explain the EU's ability to reach agreement in this case, we must take into account the normative force of the arguments presented in favour of a common response.
Abstract: Despite diverging perspectives and interests, the EU's Member States have forged a common response to the Russia–Ukraine crisis. How can this be? In this article, we suggest that in order to explain the Member States' ability to reach agreement in this case, we must take into account the normative force of the arguments presented in favour of a common response. We find that neither a concern for security (as would be expected from a realist perspective) nor the institutionalization of a norm of cohesion (which would be the constructivist expectation) triggered the collective response. Instead, agreement was established due to concurrence over a fundamental breach of the Ukrainians' right to self-determination. This finding is significant in theoretical terms in that it confirms that norms may trump interests. It does not, however, allow for definite conclusions with regard to the robustness of integration in EU foreign policy.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the function of strategic partnerships as a new type of state interaction in the international system and analyze the competitive role-playing that occurs in the EU-China Strategic Partnership.
Abstract: In this article, we investigate the function of strategic partnerships as a new type of state interaction in the international system. We are primarily interested in the dynamics of strategic partnerships and to that aim we analyze the competitive role-playing that occurs in the EU–China Strategic Partnership. We contend that EU and China engage in competitive role-playing in order to enhance their position and status as global actors and to seek recognition of their international roles. The interaction between the EU and China is analyzed throughout four periods in which their role conceptions have undergone change and adaptation. The article claims to make a theoretical contribution by developing the understanding of social interaction in the international system by conceptualizing strategic partnerships as arenas (structures) in which international roles play out, and an empirical contribution by tracing the complexities of the EU–China Strategic Partnership by utilizing role theory's conceptual apparatus.
TL;DR: In this paper, the EU's decision-making in negotiating human rights conditionality with Singapore has been analyzed, and the authors argue that the tension between commercial interests and values results in decision-makers promoting incoherent interests.
Abstract: Trade policy is among the EU's most significant capabilities in promoting values including human rights. Yet trade policy and the EU's values-based foreign policy are often in tension. Scholarship on the social dimension of trade policy has emphasized the tension between values and the EU's commercial interests. Human rights and conditionality clauses have not been the focus of analysis, yet conditionality is one of the EU's most visible links between the trade agenda and its values-based foreign policy. Analyzing the EU's decision-making in negotiating human rights conditionality, this paper employs the EU–Singapore free trade agreement and its negotiation as an in-depth single case study. The tension between commercial interests and values results in decision-makers promoting incoherent interests. We argue that organizationally defined preferences and issue salience circumscribed the Parliament's impact on decision-making, resulting in concessions on human rights conditionality with Singapore.
TL;DR: Whether the EU can be considered a coherent actor in this field or whether this policy is being implemented according to different and unco-ordinated rationales is explored.
Abstract: The last three decades have seen the development of the European Union (EU) as a security actor. The transnational character of the security threats and the challenges identified by the EU have led to progressive integration between internal and external security concerns. These concerns have often led to calls for greater coherence within EU security policies. The literature, however, indicates that this need for coherence has, so far, not been systematically operationalized, leading to a fragmented security field. This article has two main aims: To devise a framework for the analysis of the EU's coherence as a security actor, and to apply it to the cybersecurity field. By focusing on EU cybersecurity policy, this article will explore whether the EU can be considered a coherent actor in this field or whether this policy is being implemented according to different and unco-ordinated rationales.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of external context or structure of the international system in constraining or enabling the EU's exercise of power, and ask whether and to what extent the Russia-Ukraine crisis serves as a critical juncture and catalyst for shaping the European Union's power.
Abstract: What impact has the Russia–Ukraine crisis had on the EU as a foreign policy actor? Most studies examine how the EU has evolved as an actor over time of its own initiative, but tend to discount the role that the external context or structure of the international system might play in constraining or enabling the EU's exercise of power. This Special Issue seeks to understand the EU's influence in the world through recognizing its embeddedness in an unpredictable and uncertain international system. Specifically, we ask whether and to what extent the Russia–Ukraine crisis serves as a critical juncture and catalyst for shaping the EU's power.
TL;DR: In this article, the attitudes of members of the parliamentary Conservative Party (PCP) during the European Union (EU) membership referendum held in the United Kingdom (UK) on 23 June 2016 were investigated.
Abstract: This article considers the attitudes of members of the parliamentary Conservative Party (PCP) during the European Union (EU) membership referendum held in the United Kingdom (UK) on 23 June 2016. First, the article identifies the voting positions – remain or leave – of each Conservative parliamentarian in order to assess the strength of opinion within the PCP and place it within its historical context. Second, the article uses multivariate analysis to test a series of hypotheses about the voting of Conservative parliamentarians. Through this we will aim to identify whether any associations existed between advocates and opponents of Brexit and social variables such as age, schooling, university, occupation and gender; political variables such as constituency marginality, and whether they were a minister, an ex-minister or a permanent backbencher; and the ideological variable of morality – such as support for or opposition to same sex marriage.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that uncertainty during the crisis enabled trust-building between the actors: Member States and European institutions, and that the EU was able to agree and implement the instruments of coercive power.
Abstract: It is a common assumption that through decades of co-operation there has been an emergence of trust between the Member States of the European Union. Yet, we have little evidence about the nature of trust and its implications for decision-making, in particular in times of crisis. Hence, our article's central question: how does trust matter in the process of decision-making during crisis? Our argument is that uncertainty during the crisis enabled trust-building between the actors: Member States and European institutions. In the case of the Ukrainian crisis, this happened in parallel to the decreasing levels of trust in EU–Russia relations. Consequently, the EU was able to agree and implement the instruments of coercive power. To illustrate our argument, we look at the adoption of EU sanctions in reaction to the annexation of Crimea, the downing of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane and the war in Donbass.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that EU external action may and often does have unintended consequences, thus expanding the study of EU impact beyond the sheer study of the EU effectiveness, and propose a framework for analyzing unintended consequences of EU external actions.
Abstract: The mainstream scholarship assessing EU external action frames the subject in terms of success or failure to achieve the intended effects, the latter generally defined against the EU's own stated objectives. Resting on a tacit assumption that EU engagement in third states is a good thing, these analyses are framed as ‘positive impact or no impact’ and tend to neglect the wider effects of EU policies. This article maintains that EU external action may and often does have unintended consequences, thus expanding the study of EU impact beyond the sheer study of EU effectiveness. Drawing on broader literature on unintended consequences, the article proposes a framework for analyzing unintended consequences of EU external action. It synthesizes and adapts to the EU context a classification of unintended consequences and, in order to illustrate its utility, applies the proposed framework to three empirical examples derived from EU neighbourhood, migration and trade policies.
TL;DR: The authors unpacks the tensions in the theory and politics of investor migration in the recent EU context, arguing that they reveal what is termed a "quadrilemma" at the heart of a multi-level citizenship.
Abstract: Immigrant investor programmes (IIPs) – aimed at attracting investment in return for residency or citizenship for wealthy foreigners – have proliferated in EU member states in recent years. Such schemes constitute part of a much broader commercialisation of citizenship, which has intensified during the crisis. They have been particularly controversial in the EU context because they rely for their attractiveness in large part on the reality of EU citizenship and the rights of mobility and residence that it entails. The European Commission, among others, has presented them as threat to national citizenship and yet the EU at once champions a ‘post-national’ citizenship and is arguably culpable in the very commercialisation of citizenship of which investor schemes are a stark manifestation. This paper unpacks the tensions in the theory and politics of investor migration in the recent EU context, arguing that they reveal what is termed a ‘quadrilemma’ at the heart of a multi-level citizenship.
TL;DR: This article provided evidence on individual and country-level determinants of citizens' support for political conditionality in foreign aid, using novel survey data for 27 European countries and found that the effect of political orientations on support for conditionality was limited to traditional EU donor countries, where the left/right-cleavage has been dominant in politics.
Abstract: We provide evidence on the individual and country-level determinants of citizens' support for political conditionality in foreign aid, using novel survey data for 27 European countries. Based on the welfare state literature and existing public opinion research in foreign aid, we expect citizens with more rightist political orientations as well as those who do not perceive their own state apparatus to function in a meritocratic way to be more likely to support political conditionality. Our multi-level analysis supports these hypotheses in general, but also shows that the effect of political orientations on support for political conditionality in foreign aid is limited to traditional EU donor countries, where the left/right-cleavage has been dominant in politics.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of the conditions under which the competence over the negotiation of agreements on foreign direct investment (FDI) was transferred from the national level to the European Union (EU) in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty is presented.
Abstract: How are policy competences allocated between different actors? This article contributes to the literature on institutional development through an in-depth case-study of the conditions under which the competence over the negotiation of agreements on foreign direct investment (FDI) was transferred from the national level to the European Union (EU) in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. Most analysts assume that this competence shift was a rationally designed delegation, intended to maximize European bargaining power in international investment negotiations and conceived as an important element of a teleological drive to make the EU a meaningful external actor. This article tells a different story – one where the competence shift happened by stealth as a result of a combination of neo-functionalist Commission entrepreneurship and historical accident, against the preferences of the Member States. The article also assesses whether the conditions under which the competence was transferred have implications for the implementation of the new policy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the EU has found itself constrained in its reaction to the Ukraine crisis by policies adopted over previous decades, and assess the consequences of the European neighbourhood policy in fostering the crisis.
Abstract: The Ukraine crisis itself is, to some extent, the result of a flawed approach on the part of the EU to the strategic question of its relationships with its Eastern neighbours, an approach rendered more fraught by the parallel American enlargement of NATO. The EU has found itself constrained in its reaction to the Ukraine crisis by policies adopted over previous decades. In the first part, this article will situate the crisis in the historical context of the twin enlargements of the EU and NATO. Secondly, it will assess the consequences of the European neighbourhood policy in fostering the crisis. In the third part, this article will argue that, during the crisis itself, the EU acted in ways that were more constraining than enabling. Finally, the article will evaluate the EU's response in terms of the criteria laid out in the Introductory Framework to this Special Issue.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider whether a deviation from the equal representation of citizens can be justified in the context of a supranational political community, and the main thesis is that the conflict between citizen and state equality can be dissolved if we understand the European Union as based on a pouvoir constituant mixte.
Abstract: In the European Parliament seats are distributed according to a principle of degressive proportionality that privileges smaller member states. While serving the principle of state equality, this arrangement seems to violate the principle of citizen equality. In this article, I consider whether a deviation from the equal representation of citizens can be justified in the context of a supranational political community. The main thesis is that the conflict between citizen and state equality can be dissolved if we understand the European Union as based on a pouvoir constituant mixte. Today, each European finds herself in a dual role as an EU citizen and a state citizen. While the member state peoples strive for supranational democracy, they have an interest in preserving their domestic structures of self-government. Thus, the rules of representation in the EP can be reconstructed as an expression of the legitimate will of a dual constituent subject.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the embedding of euroscepticism in the UK stems from the long-standing absence of any pro-European faction within the British polity to argue for, or defend, the European Union within the UK national debate.
Abstract: This article re-examines the role of the media in the UK debate on EU membership. It argues that the embedding of euroscepticism in the UK stems neither from a single phase in the UK-EU relationship, nor from the agency of the UK press or its proprietors. Rather, it resulted from the long-standing absence of any pro-European faction within the British polity was able to argue for, or defend, the European Union within the UK national debate. In explaining this, we expand on the concept of 'issue capture' understood as the ability of a vocal minority to dominate the UK's political debate about the EU in the absence of genuine opposition to counteract negative claims and arguments. The findings are drawn from analysis of a dataset that codes more than 16,400 UK newspaper articles published between 1974-2013.
TL;DR: The Immigrant Inclusion Index (IMIX) as discussed by the authors is a quantitative tool for measuring the electoral inclusion of immigrants in the EU and it has been shown that European democracies are much more exclusive than they should be.
Abstract: With the help of the Immigrant Inclusion Index (IMIX), a quantitative tool for measuring the electoral inclusion of immigrants, we demonstrate that European democracies are much more exclusive than they should be All normative theories of democracy share the conviction that it is imperative that democracies include long-term immigrant residents into the demos – either by granting citizenship or by introducing alien voting rights But even the 20 most established and stable democracies within the EU are far from fully realizing the ideal of ‘universal suffrage’ This is true independently of whether we count in- and excluded people in numerical terms, or whether we evaluate the relevant laws and regulations Therefore, we diagnose a substantial democratic deficit on the level of European nation-states By requiring its member states to enfranchise non-national EU citizens on the local level, the EU, for once, plays a positive role in reducing one of the most fundamental democratic deficits in times of migration
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that political factors bias the domestic allocation of the European Structural and Investment Funds (SIF) in ways that may not be in line with EU goals.
Abstract: Extensive research suggests that political factors bias the domestic allocation of the European Structural and Investment Funds (SIF) in ways that may not be in line with EU goals. This article off ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate different degrees of progress towards a supranational framework in two important areas of reform: limited harmonization of the rules on bank structures, but robust progress toward the su-parationalization of bank resolution, where the euro area dimension is also considered.
Abstract: In the aftermath of the international financial crisis, the European Union (EU) adopted a series of regulatory reforms concerning capital adequacy, bank structures and resolution in order to tackle the risks created by financial institutions that were ‘too big to fail’. This article demonstrates different degrees of progress towards a supranational framework in two important areas of reform: Limited harmonization of the rules on bank structures, but robust progress toward the supranationalization of bank resolution, where the euro area dimension is also considered. What accounts for this variation? We draw on a synthesis of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism to explain the diverging outcomes. We explain the low supranationalization in bank structural reforms with the absence of strong spillovers and availability of domestic options to unilaterally contain financial instability. In bank resolution, we examine the causal mechanisms through which significant spillovers modified the government preferences of key Member States.