Suchergebnisse

The purpose of the study is to discuss the ongoing debate on the future of the EU, with reference to the scenarios formulated by the European Commission, as well as other interesting concepts, and to indicate the most probable scenario that the EU would follow. The method used in the research is studies of the scientific publications, comparison and evaluation of alternative integration scenarios and interpretation of selected legal issues related to the division of competences between the EU and the Member States (MS). The main tasks are as follows: (i) to prove that the concurrent debate about the future of the EU is not "new" and similar questions were asked since the birth of the integration processes, (ii) the usage of sovereignty concept to interpret different demand for integration of the MS, (iii) identification of links between globalisation, integration and the crisis as well as (iv) comparisons of different scenarios related to further (dis)integration within the EU and their consequences. The novelty of the paper is that it relates the integration scenarios formulated by the European Commission to the issue of sovereignty as well as to historical and legal background of the European integration. Out of the possible scenarios proposed, multi-speed Europe is the most probable one. The real challenge, if this scenario will evolve, is to safeguard the possibility for the "lagging countries", to join the (more integrated) leaders – if the former will be ready to do so. The challenge is to make the multi-speed Europe – an inclusive concept. Multiple speeds have in fact existed within the EU, as there always have been and will be those who are the laggards and the leaders. The awareness of the European issues has been increasing, as suggested by De Wilde & Zürn (2012). However, the EU will go through serious changes, consequences of which deserve thorough debate in order to disseminate knowledge on the consequences of the strategic choices ahead of the MS.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.11.18955

The book provides a comprehensive approach to the assessment of the nature of exporting activity, combining well-established theoretical reasoning with empirical evidence, and also signalling important economic policy recommendations. It is suitable for a wide range of recipients ranging from scholars and students to policy-makers or local/regional authorities engaged in the process of designing/implementing regional policies.

After the announcement in June 2016 that the UK would leave the EU, studies analysing the consequences of this reversal in economic integration have proliferated, mostly presenting prospective consequences for the UK economy. But Brexit will necessarily also have consequences for non-UK European countries and their regions. Given the different character and intensity of regions' interconnections with the British economy, we assess Polish and Spanish regions' vulnerability to Brexit in the sphere of foreign trade. We rely on the conceptual framework originally presented by Turner et al. (2003) comprising: exposure, sensitivity and resilience, which together describe the overall vulnerability to a specific phenomenon. We fill the gap in the Brexit-related literature by applying the perspective of the regions of other EU countries, engaged in trade relations with the UK. We show that geography "still matters" and due to gravity, path dependency and FDI, some regions have developed relatively stronger commercial links with the British economy. We expected to obtain the taxonomy or Polish and Spanish regions 'mixed' within the identified clusters of vulnerability. However, it is not the case, because clusters are mainly composed by Spanish or Polish regions, with a few exceptions, in which several Polish regions are accompanied by one or two Spanish regions. The results show greater vulnerability of Spanish (more exposed but better prepared) than Polish regions (more sensitive). While Brexit is rather perceived as a national problem, its asymmetrical impact on regions' economy through the trade channel is a serious challenge for regional policy. It is therefore the role for regional institutions to monitor the vulnerability to the Brexit consequences and to facilitate adjustments to the exporting (and importing) companies that will be severely affected. They can be assisted in searching for the alternative export (import) markets.

Frontmatter --Contents --List of contributing authors --List of abbreviations --Introduction --Part I: Region and Trade --1 Region as a small open economy and an exporter --2 The role of openness in the economic growth of regions --Part II: State of Art --3 Regions' trade openness --4 Dutch disease at regional level --5 Overview of empirical research on regions' foreign trade activity --Part III: Empirical Analyses of Regions' Foreign Trade --6 Trade openness of Polish and Spanish regions --7 Basic taxonomy of exporting activity parameters for Poland and Spain --8 Modelling orthodox and non-orthodox determinants of foreign trade --9 Insights for Australia -- regions in foreign trade --10 Insights for Canada -- regions in foreign trade --Part IV: Policy Implications and Possibilities --11 Possibilities of supporting exports at regional level --12 Increasing regional competitiveness in exports through smart specialisations: the case of Spanish and Polish regions --Part V: Concluding remarks of the book --Conclusion --References --List of Figures --List of Tables --Index of Subject