Suchergebnisse

The question of interest group influence is central for both scholars interested in studying policy-making in the EU and those concerned with the legitimacy of decision-making in that entity. Many hypotheses exist that stress a series of factors possibly shaping interest group influence. Nevertheless, only few studies have tried empirically to examine these hypotheses for the case of the EU. What is more, existing empirical studies report contradictory findings. To help researchers advance upon this state of the art, three obstacles that impede research dealing with interest group influence in the EU are discussed: defining the terms 'power' and 'influence'; accounting for different pathways to influence; and measuring influence. In addition to this, several ways to address these obstacles are advanced: by taking a pragmatic approach with respect to defining influence and power; by being conscious that actors may use different pathways to influence when drawing conclusions about interest group influence; and by combining different methods when measuring influence. Adapted from the source document.

The paper investigates the proposition that the impact of European judicial politics on national modes of governance in the field of gender equality is influenced by domestic mobilisation. Domestic mobilisation refers to activities in EU member-states aimed at ensuring that public and private actors at the national and local level enforce European laws and standards, or to efforts to counteract just such activities. In order to specify the conditions under which domestic mobilisation impacts judicial politics, this study systematically evaluates a set of variables designed to indicate the degree of openness of the national political and judicial systems and, hence, the likelihood of mobilisation in three member states. The analysis assesses the extent to which these factors constitute either favourable stimuli and incentives or conflicting structures and adverse forces for the expansion of judicial politics regarding gender equality within the European Community. The paper concludes that it is necessary to rethink the concepts governing the interaction between law and politics in the complex context of this emerging arena of European public policy.

In some countries of the European Union (EU) complementary pension schemes represent a major part of pension provision, whereas in others they play a relatively marginal role. An important factor is whether the social security scheme provides earnings‐related benefits and whether the ceiling on eligible earnings for social security purposes leaves room for there to be a demand for supplementary pensions arrangements, in particular for the higher paid. Pressures on the financing of social security, especially with the expected ageing of the population in the first 30 years of the next century, are encouraging many countries to develop complementary provision, and a number of new pension laws have been passed in recent years. However, important though the growth of complementary provision is, it should not be forgotten that investment markets are also likely to be affected by the ageing of the population. There are increasing pressures for greater investment freedom for complementary pension schemes, but little progress has been made by the EU in harmonisation of the regulatory regimes for complementary pensions. If mobility of labour between the countries of the EU is to become a reality, progress needs to be made soon on these pensions issues.

Considers the way in which the European Union has affected autonomy in macroeconomic policy-making of the member states. It begins with an introduction to economic ideas, and explores current themes surrounding monetary and fiscal policy and European integration, including economic policy co-ordination, objectives in national policy-making and motivations for participating in the European Monetary System. Particular focus is given to the larger member states:* the United Kingdom* Germany* France* Italy