Showing papers in "Journal of European Integration in 2022"
TL;DR: In this article , the authors reviewed the interplay of the EU competition regime with its relatively new Digital Single Market strategy to ask how a traditional ex-post approach to competition regulation came to be supplemented by a (proposed) ex-ante regulatory approach.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Although the EU competition regime is well-established and highly effective, EU policy actors may still need to rethink their tried and tested approach to competition regulation. This is what happened in the context of the European Commission’s planned regulation of online platforms, embodied (in part) within the Digital Markets Act. This article reviews the interplay of the EU’s competition regime with its relatively new Digital Single Market strategy to ask how a traditional ex-post approach to competition regulation came to be supplemented by a (proposed) ex-ante regulatory approach. Informed by the literature on policy change, the article examines the policy context, the Commission’s experience gained in dealing with competition cases, and the input of lobbyists, advocacy groups and experts, to explain this shift in Commission policy.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , a text analysis of almost 45,000 press releases the European Commission has issued during 35 years of European integration rather indicates an extremely technocratic style of communication, which appears disadvantageous in a politicized context and more research on the reasons for this apparent communication deficit is needed.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The public politicisation of European integration indicates a growing demand for public communication of supranational politics. This paper highlights that the messages the European Commission sends to its citizens do not meet this demand. A text analysis of almost 45,000 press releases the Commission has issued during 35 years of European integration rather indicates an extremely technocratic style of communication. Benchmarked against large samples of national executive communication, public political media, and scientific discourse, the Commission used and notably continues to use very complex language, specialized jargon, and a nominal style that obfuscates political action. This appears disadvantageous in a politicized context and more research on the reasons for this apparent communication deficit is needed.
7 citations
TL;DR: This paper will focus on implementation of the ‘Once-Only Principle’ Pilot (TOOP) as part of LSP and the adjoint Single Digital Gateway Regulation (SDGR) to foster further integration into a digital single market.
Abstract: ABSTRACT COVID-19 is regarded as a major driver for digital transformation of our society and potentially as a boost for further digital single market integration. From the current perspective, pandemics cannot be avoided, but fully enabled digital societies will be better prepared to cope with them in future. This will, however, require reliable digital infrastructures to be put in place and further developed. Member States of the European Union and the European Commission have worked for more than 30 years to realise a European Digital Single Market. One key element in this development has been the so-called ‘Large-Scale Piloting’ (LSP) approach. This paper will focus on implementation of the ‘Once-Only Principle’ Pilot (TOOP) as part of LSP and the adjoint Single Digital Gateway Regulation (SDGR). This paper will examine whether, and how these initiatives can foster further integration into a digital single market.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the European Union (EU) interacts with these institutions in multiple ways and the authors explore the factors that explain patterns of interactions and propose a common analytical lens that unifies the contributions to the special issue and identify the main research questions.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Contemporary global governance is characterized by a diversity of institutions. The European Union (EU) interacts with these institutions in multiple ways. Despite their importance, the interactions of the EU with different types of global governance institutions have remained underexplored in EU scholarship. The papers in this special issue address this research gap. They map the EU’s interactions with different types of global governance institutions. They also explore the factors that explain patterns of interactions. In this introduction, we develop a common analytical lens that unites the contributions to the special issue and identify our main research questions. We map different types of global governance institutions and discuss the ways in which the EU interacts with them. We also bring together the main insights from the individual contributions and discuss avenues for future research.
5 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors analyse essential parts of the conundrum: the changing nature of the EU's power in the context of the Ukraine conflict, the long-standing EU-Russia business and energy relationship, and the self-image and external perceptions of EU foreign policy towards Ukraine.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Between 2014 and 2021, the EU’s relationship with Russia oscillated between the ever more elusive quest for a mutually acceptable geopolitical balance and increasing conflict. The conflict focused primarily on the future of Ukraine . Three new books analyse essential parts of this conundrum: the changing nature of the EU’s power in the context of the Ukraine conflict, the long-standing EU-Russia business and energy relationship, and the self-image and external perceptions of EU foreign policy towards Ukraine. While written before the 2022 war, the books remain highly relevant because they dissect an ongoing process of changing EU actorness in its Eastern neighbourhood. In order to analyse the path to the 2022 war and its aftermath, future research must expand on this scholarship by enlarging the spectrum of theoretical approaches while navigating the new constraints that the war and the ensuing tense policy debates have put on empirical work.
5 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors define populism as the discursive construction of discontent, as charismatic leaders claiming to speak for the people against the elites use post-truth language to give expression to peoples' grievances, to mobilize them via real and virtual networks of support, and to disseminate their ideas via social and traditional media in order to win elections and then to govern differently.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article builds on existing scholarship on populism while shifting the lens to focus on the ideational and discursive dynamics of populist power. It defines populism as, at its core, the discursive construction of discontent, as charismatic leaders claiming to speak for the people against the elites use post-truth language to give expression to peoples’ grievances, to mobilize them via real and virtual networks of support, and to disseminate their ideas via social and traditional media in order to win elections and then to govern differently. This article deploys the discursive institutionalist framework of analysis to consider the four main features of the discursive construction of populism – the message, the messenger, the medium, and the milieu. Throughout, the article illustrates by considering not only the rise of populist anti-system parties in European countries but also the special challenges this poses for the EU.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the impact of supranational investment policies on the resilience of the common market project and its impact on core-periphery dynamics is examined, and the hybrid governance processes around the Investment Plan for Europe (2015-2020) and its geographical distribution are reconstructed.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of supranational investment policies on the resilience of the common market project and its impact on core-periphery dynamics. Reconstructing the hybrid governance processes around the Investment Plan for Europe (2015–2020) and its geographical distribution, it finds that these policies were effective in channelling funds to the Southern periphery after the Eurozone crisis, but aggravated the core-periphery dynamic for Eastern Europe. This fact stems from the differential presence of national public financing institutions as well as unevenly developed capital markets, two factors that are linked to the multi-level and public-private governance mix in the EU’s investment policies. These results hold implications for how to assess follow-up programs such as InvestEU and the Sustainable Investment Plan in the European Green Deal.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined how hybrid governance arrangements in the single market architecture have affected the dynamics of integration in a range of key areas, such as banking, digital single market, energy, defence, transportation, the network industries, and higher education.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The European single market has been a flagship achievement of the European integration process. Nevertheless, 30 years after the launch of the single market, there are still instances of technical, legal, and bureaucratic obstacles to trade. In some areas of the single market, the EU has recently launched important new integration initiatives. At the same time, EU-wide crises have exacerbated already existing regulatory challenges, such as the development of common standards to ensure the interoperability of the underlying financial, IT, energy grid, and defence infrastructures. The introduction to this special issue puts forward two overarching hypotheses to examine how hybrid governance arrangements in the single market architecture have affected the dynamics of integration in a range of key areas, such as banking, digital single market, energy, defence, transportation, the network industries, and higher education. We distinguish between and analyse three different outcomes: renationalisation, renewed integration, and resilience.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors analyzed the factors that enabled a partial shift from intergovernmental to supranational governance in the European defence market, applying the lens of the new intergovernmentalism theory.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The European Defence Fund (EDF) is considered a game changer for European defence. The unprecedented co-funding of research and development expenses of cutting-edge defence systems is functional to strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and the EU’s Strategic Autonomy. This paper analyses the factors that enabled a partial shift from intergovernmental to supranational governance in the European defence market, applying the lens of the new intergovernmentalism theory. The cost of non-cooperation in defence and the Brexit impact will be taken into account to explain the observed shift. The paper highlights the role of the Commission in the integration of the European Defence Agency’s activities with those of the newly created DG for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS). It also examines the extent to which diverging strategic industrial interests of Member States and of industrial players seek to prevent a deeper integration of the European defence market.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the role of evidence in the failed reform of the EU penal framework is explored, with a view to contributing to a new institutionalist understanding of evidence-based migration policy-making.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The 2020 New Pact on Migration and Asylum confirmed the continuity of the EU and its Member States’ largely repressive approach to migrant smuggling. Over the last few years, evidence-based inputs coming from the local level – and particularly from actors responsible for the implementation of anti-smuggling measures – have led to the assessment and review of the related EU penal framework. Yet, notwithstanding the emergence of several critical elements, calling for a re-definition of such framework – such as migrants accused of being smugglers and the criminalisation of humanitarian actors –, policy outputs have not altered the existing legislation. By disclosing the interactions between policy-makers, in a bottom-up perspective, this article explores the role of evidence in the (failed) reform of the EU framework, with a view to contributing to a new institutionalist understanding of the EU politics of evidence-based migration policy-making.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article , a model based on rational choice theory, outlining the steps and conditions under which tolerated arrangements of de facto differentiation can emerge, is proposed to make EU integration more flexible if strong national demand for differentiation meets the need for discretion or timely, pragmatic action.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Although there are various legal tools to make European integration more flexible, the EU and its member states uphold long-term arrangements of de facto differentiation circumventing EU law. This article assesses their role in the EU’s system of differentiated integration. To that end, it advances a model based on rational choice theory, outlining the steps and conditions under which tolerated arrangements of de facto differentiation can emerge. This is illustrated in three case studies in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU): (1) Sweden’s de facto opt-out from EMU; (2) Kosovo’s adoption of the euro as sole legal tender, and (3) the Fiscal Compact. Data was gathered via document analysis and 11 expert interviews. The article concludes that de facto differentiation may constitute a viable alternative and useful means to make EU integration more flexible if strong national demand for differentiation meets the need for discretion or timely, pragmatic action.
TL;DR: The authors studied debates in the national parliaments of France, Germany, Hungary, and Poland between 2004 and 2017, using qualitative frame analysis to discern three types of political discourse on EU widening: normative discourses stress the EU's soft power and its moral obligation towards candidate countries; pragmatic discourses concentrate on conditionality and enlargement as a stabilisation tool; and institutional discourses emphasize efficiency and state capacity.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article explores enlargement discourses as a way to gauge the broader dynamics of European integration since the historical Eastern accession round. Studying debates in the national parliaments of France, Germany, Hungary, and Poland between 2004 and 2017, we use qualitative frame analysis to discern three types of political discourse on EU widening: normative discourses stress the EU’s soft power and its moral obligation towards candidate countries; pragmatic discourses concentrate on conditionality and enlargement as a stabilisation tool; and institutional discourses emphasize efficiency and state capacity. Our findings point to a diminished relevance of the external projection of EU values and practices and instead a stronger introspective emphasis on democratic quality and internal consolidation. Overall, discourses on EU enlargement thus mirror a broader shift in the perceived nature and direction of European integration.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors argue that EU actorness depends on several constraining factors, such as the distribution of competence between the EU and its member states, the unwillingness of the latter to delegate competence to the former, and the existence of conflicting preferences across member states.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Despite helpful categorizations about the EU’s role in external energy governance, more analysis is needed on the factors likely to enable or constrain the EU’s actorness. This article builds on the theoretical framework of actorness as a heuristic device to assess the extent to which its different components of opportunity, capability, and presence impact on the EU’s ability to be an actor in external energy governance. Looking at the case study of Nord Stream 2, the pipeline aiming to double the amount of energy transiting from Russia to Germany, the article argues that EU actorness depends on several constraining factors, such as the distribution of competence between the EU and its member states, the unwillingness of the latter to delegate competence to the former, and the existence of conflicting preferences across member states. The article applies a process-tracing method and builds on EU official documents, grey literature, and interview data.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine how distinct paths of integration, and the types of institutional change they involve, translate into patterns of sectoral governance, examining whether the existence of supranational coordination bodies and public-private interaction is conducive to market integration.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The creation of a European Banking Union and a European Energy Union have been two high-profile integration projects in a decade characterised by multiple crises. While recent research has focused on the direct effects of crisis on European integration dynamics, less attention has been paid to policy outcomes of market integration in sectors such as banking and energy. To address this gap, the study examines how distinct paths of integration, and the types of institutional change they involve, translate into patterns of sectoral governance. Further, it analyses the consequences of diverging patterns of sectoral governance for policy outcomes, examining whether the existence of supranational coordination bodies and public–private interaction is conducive to market integration. The findings from the analysis of the banking and electricity sectors suggest that while we see resilience and renewed integration in institutional terms, the change affecting policy outcomes appears to be more limited.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors harnessed discursive institutionalism (DI) to revise postfunctionalist theory, arguing that the resulting theoretical model better specifies the triggers, transmission, and eventual effects of politicization.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Research on EU-related politicization has advanced in the empirical measurement of controversy within and between political arenas, but continues to debate the impacts of political contestation on policy-making on a theoretical level. While postfunctionalism predicts a ‘constraining dissensus’, empirical accounts present mixed evidence, suggesting the ability of executives to avoid or circumvent such political constraints. The article harnesses discursive institutionalism (DI) to revise postfunctionalist theory, arguing that the resulting theoretical model – labelled discursive postfunctionalism – better specifies the triggers, transmission, and eventual effects of politicization. A key element is to highlight the role of ‘interfaces’: those institutional venues, political agents, and acts of discursive framing that either establish a linkage between or shield supranational decision-making from public controversy at the domestic level. The article presents a sequential model of discursive postfunctionalism and illustrates its analytical potential with reference to three empirical examples: the Eurozone crisis, the EU-Canada trade agreement, and Brexit.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors analyze the banking union from an economic-constitutional perspective and argue that the areas covered by the Banking Union fall substantively mainly under the internal market area of EU law, where the microeconomic efficiency-based rationales and objectives are essential in legal assessments.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The article analyses the Banking Union from an economic-constitutional perspective. It argues that the areas covered by the Banking Union fall substantively mainly under the internal market area of EU law, where the microeconomic efficiency-based rationales and objectives are essential in legal assessments. In contrast, the euro area macroeconomic and stability-oriented rationales guided the decision on the Banking Union and the allocation of banking supervision to the ECB. The article claims that these different constitutional rationales, and the constitutional locus of the Banking Union, could have implications for the broader constitutional architecture and even for the EU legal order. Indeed, the microeconomic part of the EU economic-constitutional model suits legal approach to integration, but the macroeconomic rationales have a more problematic relation with law and courts. This could call for a resurgence of the internal market perspective in Banking Union going forward to remedy some of the constitutional concerns.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigated the conditions under which IOs grant the EU access to their decision-making processes and found that IOs recognize in the EU a highly authoritative IO and might thus be more inclined to take it on board in order to mitigate negative externalities, enhance their own effectiveness, and avoid intra-institutional conflicts.
Abstract: ABSTRACT In recent years, the European Union has gained access to several international organizations (IOs). This is a noteworthy and novel development, as IOs not only formalize but also deepen their interactions with the EU by granting it formal rights to participate in their policymaking processes. Building on the literature on the EU’s role in global governance and the opening-up of IOs, this paper investigates the conditions under which IOs grant the EU access to their decision-making processes. While overlapping policy mandates between the concerned IO and the EU are certainly an important explanation, they are not the entire story. As this paper suggests, much depends on the authority of the IO granting access to the EU. This is because the members of authoritative IOs recognize in the EU a highly authoritative IO and might thus be more inclined to take it on board in order to mitigate negative externalities, enhance their own effectiveness, and avoid intra-institutional conflicts. Using a novel dataset on the EU’s formal access to 33 IOs and addressing important inferential concerns, the statistical analysis shows that EU access depends on the authority of IOs. That authoritative IOs establish formal relations between themselves provides the basis for increased interactions and opportunities to jointly shape global outcomes.
TL;DR: In this article , an explanation for why the Article 7 (1) procedures, the so-called preventive mechanism, triggered against Poland and Hungary over breaches of the European Union's fundamental values have not made any progress and have come to a standstill is given.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article offers an explanation for why the Article 7 (1) procedures, the so-called preventive mechanism, triggered against Poland and Hungary over breaches of the European Union’s fundamental values have not made any progress and have come to a standstill. Drawing on the incomplete contracting approach, it is argued that the Council, which is charged with carrying out the procedures, has been able to water these procedures down by filling the incomplete provision of Article 7 (1) with its own procedural rules. The ‘offender-friendly’ rules established by the Council have enabled it to control and delay the processes. Moreover, it is argued that these rules were essential for the Council to solve its ‘Article 7 dilemma’. The findings highlight that the effectiveness of the alleged ‘nuclear option’ is highly dependent on the Council’s procedural rules.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined the establishment and implementation of the EU hotspot approach in Italy and its operational reliance on EU agencies, showing how Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) have strengthened both their independent administrative capacity and integration within the European Administrative Space.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Although the hotspot approach has been one of the key EU responses to the 2015 migration crisis, it has not received much systematic attention from EU scholars. Addressing this research gap, this article examines the establishment and implementation of the EU hotspot approach in Italy and its operational reliance on EU agencies. Building on and extending the conceptual framework of the European Administrative Space (EAS), we show how Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) have strengthened both their independent administrative capacity and integration within the EAS. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the role of EU agencies within the Italian hotspots, we also discuss two important yet widely neglected features of administrative governance, namely the level of precision of the agencies’ mandate and interagency cooperation. Our analysis draws on a broad range of primary sources as well as nineteen semi-structured expert interviews.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that media output should not only be theorized based on news values, but equally by accounting for existing institutional power (im)balances, and empirically delve into the Spanish and Dutch media coverage of the (run-up to the) July 2020 NextGenerationEU recovery package.
Abstract: ABSTRACT As the politicization of European integration is channeled through the media, it fundamentally implies a discursive power distribution between actors and institutions based on who and what type of argument is promoted. Scholars have started to hypothesize who will benefit from this expansion of debates to wider publics, predominantly using media logics to conclude with the notion of ‘discursive intergovernmentalism’: where media spotlights enter, executives benefit. In this paper, we contribute to these nascent studies into the discursive empowerment of actors and institutions, by adding a critical notion. Taking our cue from Critical Discourse Analysis, we argue that media output should not only be theorized based on news values, but equally by accounting for existing institutional power (im)balances. To evaluate this argument, we draw on new intergovernmentalist theory, and empirically delve into the Spanish and Dutch media coverage of the (run-up to the) July 2020 NextGenerationEU recovery package.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigate the role of political opportunism in the choice of the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to regulate disinformation in the EU.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Disinformation, the deliberate spread of false or misleading information, is a worrisome threat for the EU, as its uses in recent events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 reveal. This article explores policy-formulation in the EU. It asks whether it is possible to explain the choice of the European Commission and of the European External Action Service (EEAS) to regulate disinformation in terms of political opportunism: using process tracing analysis supported by interviews with EU officials, this article finds that the European Commission sought to create an opportunity to regulate this matter because it considered it particularly salient, and that, contrary to what the literature on political opportunism might suggest, both the EEAS and the Commission can be considered the political entrepreneur in this domain, because the engagements against disinformation were led by an external threat perception.
TL;DR: In this paper , a critical analysis of the EU's proposals for reform, while also highlighting its approach on tackling issues that affect the international economic order outside the WTO, is presented.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The World Trade Organization (WTO) faces an existential crisis. Nominations to the Appellate Body (AB) are deadlocked; tariffs are being raised and retaliated against; and substantive negotiations are stalled. A number of Members, including European Union (EU or the Union) and its Member States, are convinced that the WTO is in need of profound reform, inter alia, with a view to integrating developing countries further, addressing unfair subsidies and state-owned enterprises (SoEs), and optimizing the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). The EU has recently presented several reform proposals. It has also tightened its domestic tools for enforcing trade obligations and is cooperating with like-minded partners outside the institutional framework of the WTO. The present article looks into the WTO’s challenges from a European perspective, with a critical analysis of the EU’s proposals for reform, while also highlighting its approach on tackling issues that affect the international economic order outside the WTO.
TL;DR: In this article , a qualitative comparative analysis of the EU's ambition, flexibility and isolation on specific issues negotiated in international environmental forums is presented. And the authors find that a high ambition combined with a low isolation is a key explanation of EU's high influence.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to explain variation in the EU’s influence on specific issues negotiated in international environmental forums. Analysing twelve issues in the United Nations Environment Assembly, the Convention on Biological Diversity as well as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the paper identifies combinations of conditions that explain the EU’s level of influence. Through a qualitative comparative analysis, it studies the impact of the EU’s ambition, flexibility and isolation on the EU’s influence. It finds a high ambition combined with a low isolation as a key explanation of the EU’s high influence. For the EU’s low level of influence, a variety of causal paths are possible, such as a low ambition combined with a low degree of flexibility. The paper’s primary data source are interviews with EU delegates, who were closely involved in the negotiations.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that in order for this agreement to deliver on its promises, the EU and Japan need to build on their similarities, but more importantly on their differences and lessons learnt through their distinct international experiences.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The European Union-Japan political and international development dialogue is resurging through the Strategic Partnership Agreement recently agreed between the two actors. The current paper argues that in order for this agreement to deliver on its promises, the EU and Japan need to build on their similarities, but more importantly on their differences and lessons learnt through their distinct international experiences. While common values and norms have helped them to agree on such document, building on their differences will help both actors to make this bilateral dialogue more productive and strategic. Through the theoretical lenses of policy entrepreneurship used to consolidate knowledge for development on horizontal cooperation, the paper questions how sharing their experiences as international donors can be of strategic relevance for both the EU and Japan.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors highlight the European Council's pivotal role in the EU's institutional architecture and development during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the different phases of a policy-making cycle.
Abstract: ABSTRACT As with previous crises, the European Union’s (EU) reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted the European Council’s pivotal role in the EU’s institutional architecture and development. In creating the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery package in July 2020, it provided the Union’s main instrument for coping with economic damage resulting from the pandemic. In both the run-up to and aftermath of this history-making decision, the European Council acted as the driver of a horizontal and vertical fusion of responsibilities: horizontally, it instructed and partly relied on other EU institutions; vertically, it satisfied and further developed close links between the EU and national levels of government. Scrutinising the different phases of a policymaking cycle (preparation, decision, implementation, control), this article highlights and puts into perspective the European Council’s key activities at each stage.
TL;DR: In this paper , the role and resources of permanent representations to the EU are investigated based on semi-structured interviews with 87 Council negotiators and EU representatives in Brussels between 2016 and 2020, identifying significant divergences in the workforce, role and efficiency of permanent representation, as well as in their level of engagement with other EU institutions.
Abstract: ABSTRACT This article sheds new light on the power resources of member states at the European level by investigating the role and resources of their permanent representations to the EU. Building on previous research on member states’ influence in the EU decision-making process, this contribution documents variations of permanent representations’ human resources, structure and coordination processes. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 87 Council negotiators and EU representatives in Brussels between 2016 and 2020, this article identifies significant divergences in the workforce, role and efficiency of permanent representations, as well as in their level of engagement with other EU institutions. These findings show noticeable asymmetries (both qualitative and quantitative) in the informal capabilities of member states in Brussels and have implications for our understanding of their capacity to formulate and defend political preferences at the European level.
TL;DR: The functional effects of public procurement on European Union (EU) integration have largely been neglected outside legal scholarship as mentioned in this paper , but government contracting is a crucial policy tool identified in social science disciplines and has considerably shaped European integration at large.
Abstract: ABSTRACT The functional effects of public procurement on European Union (EU) integration have largely been neglected outside legal scholarship. However, government contracting is a crucial policy tool identified in social science disciplines and has considerably shaped European integration at large. This narrative review examines articles that have situated EU public procurement through numerous perspectives of integration with an emphasis on the theoretical frameworks adopted throughout its literature. Findings place public procurement as applied to EU integrative literature in numerous disciplines, and its theoretical breadth, rather than depth, points to advantages of public procurement’s scholarly utility in general.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that the presence of formal institutions in a region or issue area, particularly those capable of providing key resources and services to informal IOs, changes calculations about their viability and leads policymakers to embrace informality more readily.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Why have states increasingly relied on informal IOs as instruments of cooperation? Most research on this question has focused on identifying incentives that lead states to establish informal bodies. But attention is turning to ‘supply-side’ factors – those making it easier for informal IOs to operate. I advance this strand of research by explaining how formal IOs make informality work. Specifically, I theorize how the presence of formal institutions in a region or issue area – particularly, those capable of providing key resources and services to informal IOs – changes calculations about their viability and leads policymakers to embrace informality more readily. Support for this argument is provided through an analysis of formal IO assistance to informal bodies, and case studies of the EU’s impact on two organizations – COST and EUREKA – to unpack the mechanisms at work. Overall, the article offers insights into the drivers of informality, presents original data on inter-institutional interactions, and speaks to broader arguments about the EU, organizational ecology, and regime complexity.
TL;DR: In this article , a big data-based sentiment analysis of all news published online between 1999 and 2017 was carried out to determine the EU's interactions with formal IGOs by using over 30,000 events machine-coded by the Global Data Event Language and Tone (GDELT) database.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Interactions between the EU and IGOs ˗ such as joint statements, verbal public disagreements, formal cooperation agreements, and IGO dispute resolution involving the EU ˗ have increased in the past decades. We address the question What determines the EU’s interactions with formal IGOs? by carrying out a big data-based sentiment analysis of all news published online between 1999 and 2017. Using over 30,000 events machine-coded by the Global Data Event Language and Tone (GDELT) database, we construct an annual measure for the dyadic relations between the EU and 36 formal IGOs. We find that when the EU has observer or member status in an IGO, this significantly and positively affects the quantity of interactions, while increasing the level of conflict in these interactions. Policy overlap between the EU and the IGO also increases the level of conflict in their interactions. Surprisingly, IGO authority is not relevant for these interactions.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors argue that engaging in hypocrisy by portraying different facets of the Union has been a primary way in which the EU has managed to adapt its negotiation positions in climate diplomacy by addressing conflicting external conditions.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Climate change politics is a key area where the EU demonstrates an ambition for global leadership. Yet, analysts and practitioners point to significant disconnections between the EU’s discourse and practice in this area. In what particular ways do these disconnections occur? This article uses the concepts of ‘organised hypocrisy’ and ‘organisational façades’ to address this question. Offering a framework to analyse the EU’s talk, decisions, and actions in climate diplomacy, these two concepts provide a nuanced understanding of the way in which the Union handles conflicting demands from strategic actors in global climate politics. This article argues that engaging in hypocrisy by portraying different facets of the Union has been a primary way in which the EU has managed to adapt its negotiation positions in climate diplomacy by addressing conflicting external conditions.