This book analyses the ongoing reform of the European economic union in the light of the new objective of 'stability of the euro area as a whole' in Article 136(3) TFEU. On the basis of the relevant legal sources, it qualifies this objective as the obligation to preserve the existence of the monetary union, the establishment of which was an EU goal laid down in Article 3(4) TEU. While to date the objective has been achieved through fiscal and macroeconomic consolidation in the member states and the activation of stabilisation mechanisms in cases of emergency, the book argues that full stability requires a better system of economic governance, either through a process of partial fiscal centralisation or the return to a more efficient and sustainable market discipline of public finances. It also analyses the concrete legal challenges these raise, including compliance with the conferral principle, the longstanding democratic deficit of the governance and the balance between financial solidarity and fiscal responsibility.

Deciphering the European Investment Bank: History, Politics and Economics examines the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financial institution and the largest lender and borrower among the International Financial Institutions. Since its establishment in 1958, the EIB has developed without becoming front-page news and has remained highly invisible. By putting together 14 chapters that analyze topical and meaningful moments and aspects of the bank, this edited book offers the first comprehensive analysis of its origins and its evolution in terms of its mandate, governance, structures, policy activity, and performance. Written by acknowledged experts from various disciplines, the chapters weave together history, economics, law, and political science to provide a multidisciplinary examination and capture the complexity of the EIB. The book is a timely initiative for understanding the EIB, whose role has been ever increasing for contributing to the recent global economic challenges, including the economic and financial crisis, climate change, and COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters are written at a level which will be comprehensible to undergraduates in economics, history, and international political economy. It will also be a valuable source of reference for academics, policy makers, bankers, and other practitioners interested in regional development banks and their role in the global economy.

Offering a comprehensive and structured analysis of the reasons why the EU lacks external coherence towards Russia, this book presents important new insights to the topic beyond conventional institutionalist arguments. Philipp Thaler utilises key cases in external energy and human rights policies to highlight the on-going difficulties in creating a coherent position, despite the EU's formally stated objective to achieve this. Providing new avenues to understanding the meaning of coherence, the book explores why this frequently used term is undefined and why it became a guiding principle in EU foreign policy. Thaler includes a thorough overview of how the EU's institutional architecture and successive reforms have been designed to improve external coherence, and highlights elements that impede this aim. Placing the challenges in the EU-Russia relationship into their historical context, the book demonstrates that the quest for coherence is not a marginal normative claim, but practically incorporated into the EU's foreign policy. Timely and inquisitive, this is a critical read for European studies and international relations scholars. It will be particularly helpful for those focusing on energy governance and EU foreign policy.

This book examines migration as a key element of the European Union's (EU's) foreign policy and thus a critical domain for understanding and evaluating EU external action. It documents, explains, and assesses the implementation of EU migration policies, especially after the crisis of 2015, providing a much-needed overall evaluation and comparison in different geographic contexts. Applying a composite approach to global political justice, it affords a normative assessment of EU's action and shows the tensions between the justice claims of the many actors involved in the EU migration system of governance. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and policymakers in European Union external/foreign policy, migration and refugee studies, global justice, ethics and more broadly to European studies/politics, and international relations.

This comparative work examines the political and social context of interest groups in Malta and Ireland, two small island states at the periphery of an integrated continent. The author explores the impact of the European Union on their civil society's organizations and their gradual transformation at differing speeds and logics of Europeanization.

Between 1989 and 2004, the EU's conditionality for membership transformed Central and East Europe. The EU had enormous potential power over the whole range of domestic politics in the candidate countries. However, the EU was able to use that power at a few key points in the process leading to their accession. The EU's long-term influence worked primarily through soft power and through voluntary rather than coercive means. During the membership preparations, the EU built many different routes of influence into the candidate countries' domestic policy-making through 'Europeanization'. The Central and East Europeans voluntarily took on the Union's norms and methods, guided by the European Commission, in a massive transfer of policies and institutions. However, the EU missed important opportunities to effect change as well. The EU's Transformative Power explores in detail how the EU used its influence to control the movement of people across Europe, through both coercive use of conditionality and voluntary methods of Europeanization.

In this first book-length treatment of integration theory for many years, Ben Rosamond provides an accessible and stimulating critical introduction to the full range of classical and contemporary perspectives. The book explains the centrality of theoretical work to the study of integration and the EU and carefully locates different theories within their wider intellectual and 'real world' contexts. This thoroughly researched book engages with the key debates to have arisen from theoretical deliberations about European integration. It develops its own distinctive contribution, emphasising the importance of 'sociology of knowledge' questions when evaluating integration theory and stressing the continued significance of international theory to the study of the EU.

Endogenous growth theory has significantly impacted most of the developing and developed countries, shifting priorities of industrial policies towards innovation. In line with this trend, the European Union significantly increased its budgetary allocation for R&D. However, statistical data show a weak correlation between R&D expenditure and the acceleration of economic growth. Regional innovation policies display divergent returns according to different institutional conditions and policy choices. Grillo and Nanetti attempt to understand the reasons that lie behind differences in performance. Their results show that better performing innovation strategies require the following factors: clear choices of locally congruent smart specialization; strong capacity of public investment to stimulate additional private investment; clear distribution of responsibilities for decision-making and independence of policy implementation from political interference; and problem solving partnerships amongst innovators, universities, and governments that pre-exist the programmes. These factors point to a relationship between democracy (defined as openness of policy-making) and innovation (as technology-enabled growth) which is explored throughout this book.

This book is the second of two volumes in which leading scholars examine the way in which EU member states co-ordinate their European policies. This second volume investigates the structures, institutions and processes put in place by national governments in Brussels. From a comparative perspective, the book assesses the responses of governments to the demands of EU membership. It offers a detailed examination of the organisation, operation and performance of permanent representations, and their role in national systems of EU policy making, and looks at the extent to which interaction within a common institutional environment has brought about convergence between national arrangements.

The companion volume, published in 2000, examines the national co-ordination of EU policy at the domestic level.

As the European Union has evolved, it has also begun to address policy questions which are closer to the very heart of the state. From cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs, originally conceived as the third pillar of European cooperation, has emerged the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ). A unique aspect of policy in this area is the desire to integrate the internal and external dimensions of this policy area. One of the tensions in this policy area has been balancing the protection of fundamental rights and increasing security. The first part of this book focuses on the institutional relations of policymaking in AFSJ, both within member states and between member states, in particular the issues of national executive control, national parliamentary scrutiny and peer review across the member states with regard to AFSJ. The second part focuses on specific policy areas which are part of AFSJ. Two chapters highlight the tension found in this policy area between security and human or fundamental rights, the first related to data retention and the second on policing external borders. The final two chapters are concerned with data exchange among European countries and transatlantically with the US, and the interface between AFSJ and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The chapters contained in the book were presented at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Dutch national parliament (Tweede Kamer), making it of interest to scholars and practitioners alike.

The resurgence of regionalism is borne out of the current political logjams that have characterized the governance and operations of multilateral trading system over the past one decade and a half. Oloruntoba critically examines Euro-Nigeria relations within the context of the Economic Partnership Agreements in terms of the political and economic implications of the agreements on Nigeria's non-oil exports sub-sectors. Set within one of the main objectives of the Economic Partnership Agreements, he also interrogates the prospects and challenges of regional integration in Africa under the regime of transnational accumulation, which the Economic Partnership Agreements represents.

Unlike much of the previous literature that have covered small states' channels of influence, this book focuses on the tensions created by the interaction of the national and international levels. The book is innovative in focusing on the domestic dimension involved in determining the performance of small states in European security organisations, while not ignoring the transnational and international structural factors that shape the domestic level. Offers new conceptual tools to advance the study of small states as well as detailed empirical material on various aspects of small states' security policy in Europe.

This collection presents a political sociology of crisis in Europe. Focusing on state and society transformations in the context of the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath in Europe, it observes a return of redistributive conflicts that correlates with a 'new politics of identity', nationalism, regionalism and expressions of Euroscepticism.

Democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU). Rather than concentrating on the relations between the incumbent authoritarian regimes and the opposition in the relevant countries, and on the degree to which these relations are affected by EU efforts at promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law (an outside-in approach), this collection of articles inverts the focus of such relationships and attempts to look at them 'inside-out'. While some contributions also emphasise the 'outside-in' axis, given that this continues to be analytically rewarding, the overarching thrust of this book is to provide some empirical substance for the claim that EU policy making is not unidirectional and is influenced by the perceptions and actions of its 'targets'. Thus, the focus is on domestic political changes on the ground in the MENA and how they link into what the EU is attempting to achieve in the region. Finally, the self-representation of the EU and its (lack of a) clear regional role is discussed. This book was published as a special issue of Democratization.

Cross-border cooperation is integral to the peace-building objective of the EU. Yet, 25 years of such cooperation has often failed to translate into connecting people across borders. This study assesses the significance of cross-border cooperation for addressing Europe's conflict wounds and examines its prospects in an enlarged EU of 28 members.

The EU's eastern enlargement has coincided with a decade of rapid progress toward closer European integration. Poole argues that this enlargement, more than any previous one, is closely linked with major EU projects of integration, including justice and home affairs, monetary union, a common foreign and security policy, and the effort to create a constitutional treaty. By requiring the eastern states to adopt extensive reforms in their judicial and police systems, the enlargement process makes it easier for the EU to combat terrorism and organized crime and control the flow of immigration from outside Europe. The monetary union was deliberately put in place before enlargement (which might have made the task more difficult), but now the Stability and Growth Pact requires reform to make it flexible enough to serve a larger, more diverse Union. The addition of ten new states provides one of the main incentives for drafting a constitutional treaty. Finally, the candidate countries are helping to lay the groundwork for the next EU enlargement into southeastern Europe. As the first college text to explore the impact of the eastern enlargement on European integration, this book can be used effectively in comparative government, economics, European history, and international relations courses.

The NEBI Yearbook 2001/2002 provides a balanced picture of integrationist developments in the North European and Baltic Sea area. For this purpose it brings together scholars from several countries and a wide range of scientific areas. The Yearbook emphasises all major aspects of integration, i.e. basic economic integration; environment and infrastructure; cross-border regional integration; and hard and soft security. The special focus of this volume is the impact of EU enlargement on developments in the North European and Baltic Sea area.

In the year 2000, European Union governments announced a long-term strategic commitment to transform the European economy into the most competitive, dynamic, knowledge-based economy in the world. Technology is an integral part of the new economy and of the EU's strategy for economic development. This book deals with the development of infrastructure in the mobile communications, transport, space and radio sectors. It sets out to explain the conditions under which the EU, and in particular the European Commission, makes policy choices to support large-scale technology infrastructures, and why EU political intervention in seemingly similar infrastructure projects varies. Answering this question will provide insights into the political economy underpinning the ambitions to transform the European economy into the most competitive in the world. This study of EU political intervention in support of advanced technology will be a fascinating read for advanced students and academic researchers of international political economy, international affairs and political science. Competition for Technological Leadership will also appeal to journalists, policymakers and analysts with a special interest in EU high technology policy.

Secessionist (also called, nationalist, or pro-independence) political parties exist in many countries in the developed world; they raise-and then spend-a lot of money, win votes in elections, and their elected officials serve in seats in local, regional, and national parliaments. Yet, despite all of this effort, there has not been a successful case of secession since 1921 when the Irish Free State effectively seceded from the United Kingdom (UK). Perhaps the biggest issue is that these secessionist political parties have rarely been popular enough to form a government even amongst their core ethnic group. This is further compounded by the fact that secessionist parties have historically been unable to win support from immigrants or people outside their core ethnic and/or linguistic group. Given this context, four central questions are posed in this study including: whether-and also why-any of the secessionist parties have transitioned from ethnic-based to civic-based policy platforms? Why have these secessionist parties not yet achieved independence? And, what role does the European Union (EU) play in facilitating or deterring secession in independence-seeking regions within member states? This study examines three different cases-Flanders in Belgium, Scotland in the UK, and Catalonia in Spain-to investigate how secessionist political parties are approaching the issue of independence. All of the cases are different with respect to history, governmental structure, and economic situation. Yet all of the cases are similar in some ways-they are close to the same size (in terms of population), operate within mature democratic political systems, have distinct secessionist political parties, and all reside within member states of the EU. Categorically, in all cases, there are also shared influences of the ability of the region to secede: institutions, interests, and ideas.

An enlarged European Union introduces new opportunities for ethnic remixing, bringing fears over potential minority return and even sovereignty in some cases. How does a border-effacing EU impact territory subject to ethnic cleansing? Why is potential minority return considered a security threat in some recently 'unmixed' areas, but not others?
"Ethnic Cleansing and the European Union" offers the first multi-case analysis of ethnic remixing in an expanding EU. The book's two major theoretical innovations include an explanatory frame elucidating variation in Central Europe, the Balkans, and Cyprus, and an analysis of repeated minority removal for conflict resolution purposes in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Tesser argues that the Western-dominated international community's earlier endorsement of separation brought potent after-effects: incentives for ethnic cleansing and the politics of ethnic remixing in an enlarging EU.
This book will appeal to all scholars interested in the European Union, Nationalism, Forced Migration Studies, and International Relations.

This book examines the multitude of challenges which the European Commission faces: once the centre of political gravity in Europe's integration process, the growth of Euroscepticism and the emergence of new institutional rivals threaten to undermine its status as an institution. Tracing the roots of the Commission's decline from the early 1990s through to the Eurozone and refugee crises, Stuart A Brown draws on new evidence to illustrate why the EU's executive now faces a battle for its future, and asks whether in the reforms of Jean-Claude Juncker the Commission may be facing its last chance. This study will appeal to students and scholars in EU institutions, politics, and public policy.

This book investigates the question of why, despite European integration and its challenges to state sovereignty, separatist nationalism continues to thrive in European Union member states. Janet Laible argues that the EU, as a context, a set of resources, and a participatory arena, is deeply implicated in the arguments and tactics of separatists. Contrary to those who believe that European integration has reduced the incentives for separatist politics, Laible draws on evidence from contemporary Scottish and Flemish nationalism to demonstrate that the EU sustains the importance of statehood and therefore separatism, and creates new forms of political capital that nationalists employ in their struggles for self-government.

This book provides a study on the impact of Brexit on international competitiveness and in doing so, presents a theoretical account of regional disintegration. In recent decades, the theory of regional economic integration has expanded following growing integration processes taking place not only in Europe, but in other continents too. The result of the EU Referendum in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016 revealed that regional integration does not have to be a one-way process as was perceived for many years. Despite well-developed models of economic integration within economic theory, there still lacks an analytical explanation of the mechanics of disintegration. For many years, integration was commonly perceived as a beneficial process, and while disintegration is not desirable, this led to normative bias in the research on regional integration. This book, therefore, makes an important contribution to theoretical and empirical developments of regional economic disintegration.

The European Union beyond the Polycrisis? explores the political dynamics of multiple crises faced by the EU, both at European level and within the member states. In so doing, it provides a state-of-the-art overview of current research on the relationship between politicization and European integration. The book proposes that the EU's multi-dimensional crisis can be seen as a multi-level 'politics trap', from which the Union is struggling to escape. The individual contributions analyze the mechanisms of this trap, its relationship to the multiple crises currently faced by the EU, and the strategies pursued by a plurality of actors (the Commission, the European Parliament, national governments) to cope with its constraints. Overall, the book suggests that comprehensive, 'grand' bargains are for the moment out of reach, although national and supranational actors can find ways of 'relaxing' the politics trap and in so doing perhaps lay the foundations for more ambitious future solutions. This book, dedicated to the exploration of the political dynamics of multiple, simultaneous crises, offers an empirical and theoretical assessment of the existing political constraints on European integration. Analysing domestic and European political reactions to the EU's polycrisis and assessing how EU institutions, national governments and broader publics have responded to a new era of politicization, The European Union beyond the Polycrisis? will be of great interest to scholars of European politics and the EU, as well as professionals working in EU institutions, national administrations and European advocacy groups. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.