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Europe's financial crisis cannot be blamed on the Euro, Harold James contends in this probing exploration of the whys, whens, whos, and what-ifs of European monetary union. The current crisis goes deeper, to a series of problems that were debated but not resolved at the time of the Euro's invention. Since the 1960s, Europeans had been looking for a way to address two conundrums simultaneously: the dollar's privileged position in the international monetary system, and Germany's persistent current account surpluses in Europe. The Euro was created under a politically independent central bank to meet the primary goal of price stability. But while the monetary side of union was clearly conceived, other prerequisites of stability were beyond the reach of technocratic central bankers. Issues such as fiscal rules and Europe-wide banking supervision and regulation were thoroughly discussed during planning in the late 1980s and 1990s, but remained in the hands of member states. That omission proved to be a cause of crisis decades later. Here is an account that helps readers understand the European monetary crisis in depth, by tracing behind-the-scenes negotiations using an array of sources unavailable until now, notably from the European Community's Committee of Central Bank Governors and the Delors Committee of 1988-89, which set out the plan for how Europe could reach its goal of monetary union. As this foundational study makes clear, it was the constant friction between politicians and technocrats that shaped the Euro. And, Euro or no Euro, this clash will continue into the future.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- About This Book -- Contents -- About the Author -- 1 Insights Taken from Bibliometric Analysis of the Several Dimensions for Energy in Agriculture -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Bibliometric Approach -- 1.3 Systematic Literature Review -- 1.4 Discussions and Conclusions -- References -- 2 Characteristics of Farms in the European Union: Relationships Between Energy Costs and Other Variables -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Data Analysis -- 2.3 Correlations Between Several Farm Accountancy Indicators -- 2.4 Discussions and Conclusions -- References -- 3 Reducing Energy Costs in European Union Farms: Analysis of Efficiency -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Factor and Cluster Assessments -- 3.3 DEA Analysis -- 3.3.1 Cluster 1 -- 3.3.2 Cluster 2 -- 3.3.3 Cluster 3 -- 3.3.4 Cluster 4 -- 3.4 Discussions and Conclusions -- References.

Reassesses the democratic quality of European integrationAdvances the understanding of what twenty-first century democracy in Europe is and what it can bePresents new perspectives on under-explored dilemmas related to specific aspects of democracy in the context of European integration and against the background of political shifts in Europe in recent decadesProvides an alternative to 'grand theory' approaches to EU democracy and scholarly debates on the EU's 'democratic deficit'Includes chapters by leading scholars in the field, that supply new perspectives on democratic dilemmas from the point of view of in-depth engagements with key aspects of European democracyBringing together leading and emerging scholars on European politics, this collection explores how dilemmas associated with key democratic concepts can be understood in relation to the EU.The book renews our understanding of EU democracy in ways that are more attentive to the multiple fault lines and cleavages that structure this political order. It focuses on a set of democratic dilemmas inherent to EU democracy, including representation, deliberation, sovereignty, citizenship, democratic contestation and market, to provide discussions on the specific tensions and trade-offs associated to a particular concept. The book engages in the theoretical groundwork necessary for assessing and analysing the specific dilemmas that arise when translating democratic concepts into concrete institutional designs in the European setting

International democracy promotion has always been contentious – today perhaps more than ever. Examples from the European neighborhood testify to this: analysts argue that democracy promotion is one of the key reasons for the worsening of relations between Russia and the West after 2011. The successive achievements of externally promoted so-called 'color revolutions' (in Serbia 2000, Georgia 2003 and Ukraine 2004) rattled Russian President Vladimir Putin, in particular after the post-election anti-government protests in Russia in 2011-2012. Putin viewed these protests as a direct threat to the current Russian political system and, importantly, as orchestrated from the West (McFaul, 2014). In 2014 he stated that "we see what tragic consequences the wave of so-called color revolutions led to. For us this is a lesson and a warning. We should do everything necessary so that nothing similar ever happens in Russia" (cited in Korsunskaya, 2014). A second example comes from the Southern Mediterranean: after the Arab uprisings Europe was roundly criticized for its lip service to democracy in the region. In fact, the European Union (EU) had combined democracy assistance programs with solid support for authoritarian leaders such as Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed VI of Morocco (Hollies, 2012). Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), admitted as much: "We must show humility about the past. Europe was not vocal enough in defending human rights and local democratic forces in the region," he stressed in early 2011, adding that Europe should be standing with pro-democracy demonstrators and not "dictators" killing their citizens (Füle, 2011). ; peer-reviewed

Using a cross-national, quantitative study and a detailed case study of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, demonstrates that supranational integration and subnational fragmentation are related in theoretical and predictable ways. Posits that the EU makes smaller states more viable and politically attractive by diminishing the relative economic and political advantages of larger-sized states

This paper attempts to estimate the supply response for wheat production in Greek agriculture. In our analysis we use the rigorous cointegration and the error correction method, as it is superior to the generally used Nerlovian partial-adjustment model. Since wheat is one of the most important commodities in the Greek agriculture, comprising 26 percent of the total cultivated land, the estimation of its price responsiveness is vitally important in supporting agricultural policy decisions. The results of our analysis reveal that there is a long-term stable relationship between the supplied quantity of wheat and real gross revenue of wheat producers, suggesting that in order to raise wheat yield and farmer incomes, considering the European Union agricultural policy, productivity increases play a vital role. The government's policy should therefore be channelled through measures that will encourage productivity increases. ; peer-reviewed