Suchergebnisse

This book assesses the use and limitations of the principal-agent model in a context of increasingly complex political systems such as the European Union. Whilst a number of conceptual, theoretical and methodological challenges need to be addressed, the authors show that the principal-agent model can still provide deeper insights into a wide range of political phenomena. Through an empirical analysis of multiple principal-agent relations in the EU, covering a variety of policy fields and political actors, the volume refines our theoretical understanding of the politics of delegation and discretion in the EU. It will appeal to scholars in interested in EU politics and policy, public administration and governance, and international organisations. The chapter 'Multiple principals preferences, different types of oversight mechanisms, and agent's discretion in trade negotiations' is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com

General attitudes of citizens toward the European Union (EU) have frequently been analyzed. However, European integration represents a multifaceted process and citizen attitudes may well depend on the precise nature of policy proposals. In this contribution, we analyze the determinants of specific support for three prominent EU economic policy proposals: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Eurobonds, and a EU financial transaction tax. Drawing on Eurobarometer data, we find that four standard explanatory factors—ideology, utility, identity, and cues—also affect support for these policies. However, they do so in systematically different ways, depending on whether the policies primarily represent positive or negative integration and market-making or market-correcting, on how they affect national sovereignty, and on how they are affected by complexity and salience.

This book assesses the use and limitations of the principal-agent model in a context of increasingly complex political systems such as the European Union. Whilst a number of conceptual, theoretical and methodological challenges need to be addressed, the authors show that the principal-agent model can still provide deeper insights into a wide range of political phenomena. Through an empirical analysis of multiple principal-agent relations in the EU, covering a variety of policy fields and political actors, the volume refines our theoretical understanding of the politics of delegation and discretion in the EU. It will appeal to scholars in interested in EU politics and policy, public administration and governance, and international organisations. The chapter 'Multiple principals preferences, different types of oversight mechanisms, and agent's discretion in trade negotiations' is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.--

The study of EU foreign policy has for a long time been haunted by Henry Kissinger's famous quip, "what number do I call if I want to get through to Europe?" This has prompted scholars to inquire into the effectiveness of the EU as an international actor. Arguing that the focus on effectiveness has pushed EU studies too far into the world of policy planning, this book examines EU foreign policy from the perspective of functionality. It asks what function foreign policy co-operation plays in the wider European integration process. The findings are original and striking: EU foreign policy serves as a way of managing Europe's retreat from power politics, is the site for inter-institutional struggles between the Council, Commission and Parliament within the EU, and increasingly provides the EU with a new identity at a time when the traditional narratives of European integration are no longer so convincing for European citizens. Far from being the poor cousin of other policy areas, foreign policy is increasingly the terrain upon which the future of the EU is being decided.

This paper analyses the implications of collegiality in the European Commission for policy outcomes in European Competition Policy (ECP). The structure of the Commission creates a dilemma, since the antitrust regulator (DG COMP) can either submit its decisions to a vote in the College, or engage in costly strategizing to circumvent it. Relying on the College maintains organizational unity but also risks producing decisions unfavourable to DG COMP and the non-recovery of sunk costs. Forging external alliances, on the other hand, secures policy positions but may also lead to generalized crisis. In this game of strategy I identify the distance between DG policy preferences, the ability of DG COMP to rely on national competition authorities, and the costs of forging external alliances as the main variables affecting equilibrium strategies, and thus equilibrium policy outcomes. Additional empirical work, on ECP and other common policies, should follow.

This book interprets the relationship between Ireland and the European Union (EU). We are coming up to 50 years since Ireland acceded to the EU (2023), and the links between the two are unique and distinctive. The volume presents an original interpretation of Irish-EU relations, and this in turn has implications for a wider understanding of the EU. Its aim is to analyse the Irish-EU relationship from the idea of two apparently contradictory political ideas - internationalism (as represented by European integration in this particular instance) and nationalism (long the dominant value in Irish politics). The authors argue that to date the contradictions have been managed with considerable ease, leading us to characterise the Irish-EU relationship as "nationalism within internationalism".

Legislative speeches are an important part of parliamentary activity in the European Parliament (EP). Using a new dataset on EP speeches, this paper offers an explanation for participation in legislative debates. We argue that floor speeches partially serve as a communication tool between members of parliament, their national parties, and their European political groups. EP group dissidents often go on record by taking the floor when there is a conflict between their national party and their European political group. In this instance, members give speeches for two reasons: to explain their national party's position to other members of their EP political group, and to create a positive record for themselves in the eyes of the national party to serve their own reelection purposes.

This article investigates the extent to which economic ideology affects people's support for European Union integration and how this is conditioned by economic context. We argue that people on the economic left who live in a country with conditions of high income inequality and little state ownership will support European integration, because more integration would move public policy in a left-wing direction. By contrast, people on the left who live in a country with conditions of low income inequality and widespread public ownership are likely to be eurosceptic, as further integration would result in a more right-wing public policy. We empirically confirm our hypotheses and discuss the implications for European Union democracy.