Suchergebnisse

In the past, economic integration in Europe was largely compatible with the preservation of different national varieties of capitalism. While product market integration intensified competition, member states could build on and foster their respective comparative advantage. Today, this no longer unequivocally holds true. This article contends that a new, 'post-Ricardian' phase of European integration has emerged in which the Commission's and the European Court of Justice's (ECJ's) attempts to promote economic integration systematically challenge the institutions of organised capitalism. It demonstrates this by discussing recent disputes over the Services Directive, the Takeover Directive, and company law. In the current phase of European integration, the Commission's and the ECJ's liberalisation attempts either transform the institutional foundations on which some of the member states' economic systems rely or they create political resistance to an extent that challenges the viability of the European project. Adapted from the source document.

In international negotiations governments defend national interests. What impact does a government's ideological position have on its negotiation position? Are international agreements more likely if negotiations are conducted by governments of similar ideological orientation? In this paper we argue that the analysis of a government's ideological composition ought to receive more attention in International Relations. We look at the party-political 'center of gravity' of the Council of the European Union & report the partisan composition of all EU-member states between 1957 & 2003. Furthermore, we examine how sympathetic left- & rightwing parties were towards integration & how homo- or heterogeneous the member states -- & therefore the intergovernmental EU bodies -- were during this time period. For this we use data from both expert surveys & the Comparative Manifesto Project. A detailed case study of the evolution of EU social policy since the Treaty of Rome complements & emphasizes our quantitative analysis. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.