Suchergebnisse

While Europe is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Rome Treaty, there is much doubt about the extent of citizens' emotional attachment to Europe. In this article we examine whether young Belgians show a sense of European citizenship, using a range of questions about the European Union (EU) from a survey administered to more than 6000 secondary school students. We show that a genuine identification with Europe — one that is not purely based on a positive evaluation of the EU from a utilitarian point of view — is related to higher levels of tolerance towards ethnic minorities, Muslims and immigrants. In addition, we will provide an overview of the literature on European citizenship and its potential connection to a higher degree of tolerance towards different cultures.

"Political Parties in the European Union" published on by Oxford University Press.

The post-Cold War is drawing to a close. For the first time since 1945 Europe is about to experience the centrifugal forces of multipolarity. It does so after two decades of intense institution with a collective presence in the shape of the European Union. Asle Toje asks the question, what place will the EU take in a multipolar global order? In examining the historical forces that converged in the post-war integration project, the efforts to construct a common foreign and security policy and experiences from the field, he argues that due to the lack of a workable decision-making mechanism the EU is destined to play the limited but at the same time distinct role of a small power. Toje explains that only with the surge of integration in the post-Cold War era and the restraining force of sovereignty - both linked to the emergence of the European Union as a small power - has a situation been created that signals a return to balance of power politics. The selfless character of the EU foreign policy and the strength of the United States allow the EU to exercise strategic restraint and establish stable relations with emerging powers despite rapid shifts and extreme disparities in power.

To what extent did the European Monetary Union crisis alter the logic of European Union decision making? We analyze the relevance of asymmetric market pressures as compared to that of formal voting and agenda setting rules by applying three established bargaining models to the 'EMU Positions' data. Accounting for the interdependence between issues and agreements, we locate actors' positions on three reform dimensions, namely the level of fiscal discipline, transfer payments and institutionalization. We find that market pressure during the height of the Eurozone crisis was particularly relevant, and that debtor countries were weakened by their difficulty in refinancing their public debt. Our finding shows that formal rules determining agenda setting and veto rights remain relevant even in times of crisis.

Based upon existing fiscal federal arrangements, this article considers the options facing the European Union to reform its own framework. There are two plausible ways the EU can stabilize the finances of its member states over the longer term. The first is to take steps that complement the market discipline of individual member states. For market discipline to play this positive role, three conditions need to be met: (1) markets need to have accurate information on member state finances; (2) the market valuation of a given state also has to be an accurate valuation of the sustainability of that state's finances; and (3) populations need to interpret market discipline as a signal about their government's competence and punish governments that face market pressure. Such a system is possible under the current Stability and Growth Pact, and indeed it appears that all three conditions held in summer 2009. Any bailout of a member state, however, undermines this type of system. More political integration would be needed to prevent a state from getting into a situation where a bailout would be an option. The Brazilian model is a precedent that the European Union could emulate.

"Sweden and the European Union" published on by Oxford University Press.

This paper studies the democratic deficit in the European Union (EU). It examines what constitutes a democratic deficit, analyzes whether there is one in the EU, and offers suggestions for a solution. I focus on the output of the legislative process and study whether policies deviate from those emerging in other political systems. In particular, I present a formal model of policy-making in a bicameral system, apply it to the EU, and compare the EU with the United States. I conclude that the institutional setup of the EU does not lead to policies that are fundamentally undemocratic, and that the composition of its institutions is not inherently less democratic than that of the US political institutions. I also find, however, that a democratic deficit may exist owing to a lack of transparency and an excess of delegation in the legislative process.

This article argues that cooperation to tackle the consequences of large asylum migration inflows is possible only among fairly symmetrical countries. Highly asymmetric countries have no incentives to join and remain in a stable coalition. The distinction between cost and spillover asymmetries shows that financial transfers may release constraints on participation, and thus make asylum cooperation feasible, only if they are focused on tackling this asymmetry. This result becomes relevant when applied to the context of the enlarged European Union. I argue that there is the potential for a future cooperative burden-sharing regime for asylum, particularly if unanimity is replaced by the double majority principle in European Council votes, as suggested in the EU reform treaty.

This paper considers the relationship between Europeans' religious characteristics & support for the European Union. Using Eurobarometer data from the 1970s through the 1990s, we find that Catholics have been far stronger supporters of European integration than Protestants have, & that the devout in both traditions have been more in favor of the integration process than have nominal adherents. The effects of religion survive both longitudinal & intensive cross-sectional analyses incorporating alternative explanations for support of the EU. These findings suggest that, if religion is declining as a social & political force, underlying support for European unity may also be dwindling. Public approval of the European Union may thus depend increasingly on the economic performance of national governments & of the Union itself. 2 Tables, 72 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd.]

We examine whether the EMU has led to greater labour market flexibility, differentiating between reform that enhances the capacity of an economy to adjust to economic shocks and reform that aims to increase long-run output. Based on a panel model and using OECD data on labour market reforms for 27 OECD countries over the period 1994—2004, we find that the two types of labour market reform are driven by different variables. Most importantly, our results suggest that the EMU has had no effect on reform that enhances the economy's capacity to adjust to shocks. Most of our evidence for reform that increases long-run output suggests that the EMU has not affected this type of reform either.