Since the Maastricht ratification debate of the early 1990s, the legitimacy of the European Union has become a subject of controversy. With unprecedented force, Europeans have begun to question the need for deeper integration. Some fear threats to established national identities, while others perceive the emergence of a distant but powerful Brussels, beyond the reach of democratic control. Legitimacy and the European Union breaks with established approaches to the problem of the legitimacy of the European Union by focusing on the recent trend towards reconceptualization of the EU not as a superstate or an organization of states, but as a multi-level, contested polity without precedent. The book examines the implications of this reconceptualization for the problem of legitimacy. Individual chapters focus on policy areas, institutions and identity politics. Taken together, they reach two main conclusions. While Europeans do not strongly identify with the EU, they increasingly recognize it as a framework for politics alongside existing national and subnational structures. And while the EU lacks central democratic institutions, the integration process has spawned significant informal and pluralist forms of representation. Rethinking recognition and representation ouside the context of the nation state points to important, if little understood, actual and potential sources of EU legitimacy.

This book explores one of the central challenges facing the EU today - how to reconcile enlargement with the pursuit of a stronger and more effective European Union. While the relationship between widening and deepening has been recognized for years as one of the big questions in the field of European integration, existing theoretical and empirical analyses of this relationship suffer from a variety of shortcomings. This book brings together a group of EU scholars who significantly advance our understanding of the relationship between widening and deepening. The contributors challenge a variety of 'common wisdoms' concerning the relationship between widening and deepening and offer nuanced theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between these two vital dimensions of European integration. Collectively, the contributors to this volume offer the most comprehensive picture available to date of the multi-faceted relationship between widening and deepening. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

Do EU institutions have an influence on the implementation of the rule of law in potential candidate countries and, if so, of what kind? During the compliance monitoring process related to the effective rule of law and democracy the EU Commission tests and criticizes the effectiveness of the judiciary and strengthens the rule of law in preparation for accession. In the Western Balkans this was a process fraught with difficulties. Despite the fact that academic scholarship and democratic politics agree on rule of law as a legitimizing principle for the exercise of state authority, there is no uniform European standard for institution-building or monitoring activities by the EU in this area. With focus on the reform of the judiciary in five case study countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, this empirical research investigates the EU's transformative power with regard to the effectiveness of rule of law and judicial sector reform in its infancy. It analyses the depth and limitations of EU rule of law promotion in the Western Balkans and presents policy recommendations intended to address the shortcomings in judiciary reform. This book aims to fill the gap in the existing academic scholarship of EU politics, law and Western Balkans literature.

Russia's impact on EU policy transfer to the post-Soviet space has not been as negative as often perceived. EU policies have traveled to countries and issue areas, in which the dependence on Russia is high and Russian foreign policy is increasingly assertive. This book explores Russia's impact on the transfer of EU policies in the area of Justice, Liberty, and Security and energy policy - two policy areas in which countries in the EU's Eastern neighborhood are traditionally strongly bound to Russia. Focusing especially on Armenia and Georgia, it examines whether it is the structural condition of interdependence, the various institutional ties and similarities of neighboring countries with the EU and Russia, or their concrete foreign policy actions that have the greatest impact on domestic policy change in the region. The book also investigates how important these factors are in relation to domestic ones. It identifies conditions under which different degrees of EU policy transfer occur and the circumstances under which Russia exerts either supportive or constraining effects on this process. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of EU and European politics, international relations and comparative politics.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

The creation of the European Union arguably ranks among the most extraordinary achievements in modern world politics. Observers disagree, however, about the reasons why European governments have chosen to co- ordinate core economic policies and surrender sovereign perogatives. This text analyzes the history of the region's movement toward economic and political union. Do these unifying steps demonstrate the pre-eminence of national security concerns, the power of federalist ideals, the skill of political entrepreneurs like Jean Monnet and Jacques Delors, or the triumph of technocratic planning? Moravcsik rejects such views. Economic interdependence has been, he maintains, the primary force compelling these democracies to move in this surprising direction. Politicians rationally pursued national economic advantage through the exploitation of asymmetrical interdependence and the manipulation of institutional commitments.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

Most of the contemporary debates about the European Union - about its role, its institutional arrangements, its development dynamic, its expansion and possible futures - revolve around the issue of political legitimacy. "Legitimacy and the European Union "addresses the fundamental issues at the heart of the debates on Europe and examines such key questions as: - -What is the scope of the EU's authority -Is there a legitimacy deficit? If so, how much does it matter -Does political legitimacy only reside in the nation state? Using a multi-dimensional conception of political legitimacy, the text analyses the character and problems of the European Union's authority in respect of democracy, political identity and governmental performance. Its distinctive claim is that political legitimacy can now only be understood as a process of interaction between the state and EU levels, and that this interaction impacts differentially on different member states.

This book provides the first comprehensive review of the European Union's role in military conflict management beyond its borders and makes an important contribution to debates on the EU's role in global security governance. The EU has launched five military operations within the framework of its Common Security and Defence Policy with the explicit purpose to help manage violent conflicts beyond its borders. This book develops a definition and a set of criteria for success in military conflict management and applies this new analytical framework in a comparative case study of the five EU military operations undertaken in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and the Central African Republic. Having evaluated their success the book goes on to explore the conditions under which military conflict management operations conducted by international organizations are successful and explores the implications of its findings for the future theory and practice of military conflict management. The European Union and Military Conflict Management will be of interest to students and scholars of security studies, conflict studies, European Union politics and foreign policy and global security governance.

This book makes the case for looking afresh at Turkey-EU relations in order to appreciate the richness and complexity of a relationship which is now more than 50 years old and is still not close to reaching fulfilment. The contributors challenge conventional attempts to understand Turkey-EU relations, revealing that EU integration studies has been rather poor at understanding the global context within which Turkey-EU developments take place. More surprising perhaps, EU integration studies has also struggled to give sufficient weight to the potential of Turkey's domestic politics to shape EU enlargement. The volume attempts to correct these imbalances by offering both a global context and new perspectives on the drivers of domestic politics. It represents a shift from a narrow EU integration/enlargement agenda. Turkey's position vis-a-vis the EU cannot be adequately captured by simplistic notions of conditionality, harmonization, and an uncritical interpretation of Europeanization. A more rounded view of Turkey-EU relations is advanced based upon a broader context of European and global transformations. The contributions, collected here, offer an interpretation of Turkey-EU relations from a novel perspective, utilize a new framework of theory, and draw upon insights and perspectives from disciplines underrepresented in mainstream study of Turkey-EU relations. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary European Studies.

First published in 1998, this volume asked the question, what is Europe?. What is Finland's position in Europe?. The author tries to give an answer to these questions by defining first Europe in terms of its key political traditions and then locating Finland into this map of historical ideas. The ultimate purpose of this analysis of historical ideas is very pragmatic as it tries to find an answer to the core problems of European unification. Why are different European countries at differing levels of readiness as far as the project of unification is concerned?. The answer can be found again in political traditions.

Korean consumer electronics have, in the past decade, displayed an exceptional attitude towards direct investment in the EU, marking a definite break from the long tradition of strong governmental initiatives previously undertaken in the strategic affairs Korean firms. This study addresses the fundamental question why and under which conditions Korean firms increased their investment so heavily in the EU after 1986 and why they, and not the Korean government, took the initiative in the decision-making process. The author contends that the main reason for the firms' departure from government policy is the belief of the Korean government that national competitiveness, which largely affects the country's standard of living, is determined by the success of local firms in global competition. The government policy of offering tax breaks to Korean "chaebols" is one of the most attractive incentives to expand production abroad rather than at home. Moreover, the government acknowledges that Korean firms are obliged to sell their products in foreign countries because of the small size of the domestic market, which gives rise to the paradoxical situation of barriers being raised to exports, w

How institutional conflicts arise in international political orders and the conditions shaping the outcomes of such conflicts has become the object of considerable contemporary focus. This book considers the dynamics of institutional conflict and institutional change in international organizations, specifically focusing on the European Union, the most highly integrated international political order on the globe. In a world where political decision making increasingly takes place above the nation state level, it theorises the social mechanisms that lead to the point at which these tensions become explicit and the customary functioning of international political orders tips into outright conflict between different organizational entities. Taking a constructivist approach, it examines two in-depth case studies - in the field of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) - to explain the dynamics of the processes that lead up to institutional conflicts and provide some explanation for their final outcomes. This text will be of key interest to fields of and European Integration, EU Politics and more broadly International Relations.

The deregulation of labour law in the European Union was thought to be a spur to lasting growth of employment and an increase in labour market efficiency. In particular, it was hoped that facilitating fixed-term contracts would help many Europeans out of continued unemployment and back into the workforce. Based on data from the European Labour Force Survey. This text reveals that the results of such policies have been far from those expected. This study provides a country by country overview of the legal regulations concerning employment protection and fixed-term employment in the 12 Member States of the European Union (prior to its expansion in 1995). Employment patterns of fixed-term employees are compared with those of employees in standard employment relationships, with the analytical focus on age-, gender- and industry specific patterns and assess the probability of fixed-term employment within the European Union. They offer hypotheses concerning the impact upon the labour market of deregulation and of regulation.

This text provides an analysis of the debate over new forms of environmental regulation in the European Union. The contributors explore the conceptual implications of shifting from a traditional regulatory strategy to one which incorporates new instruments and reveal how key actors including governments, industry groups and environmental NGOs view the desirability and feasibility of such a shift. The conclusions draw attention to critical aspects of instrument design, as well as the difficulty of accommodating national policy diversity without contravening EU and international trade rules. Drawing on critical research and practical experience, this book presents a number of recommendations for improving the next generation of environmental policies and explores comparisons between the search for new environmental instruments in the EU and similar regulatory transitions worldwide.

This book examines the first five years of Polish EU membership. The combination of Poland's potential power as a major, and possibly controversial, player in both the region and Europe as a whole, and the apparent salience of Euroscepticism in domestic electoral politics at the core of the Polish government and party system presented the possibility that Poland would be a 'new awkward partner' in Europe. However, although Poles may have voted for EU-critical parties in large numbers no 'Eurosceptic backlash' has emerged. In fact, far from being a 'new awkward partner', Poland has tried to portray itself as the 'new heart of Europe' and it certainly came to be increasingly perceived as such in Brussels and by its European allies. This book focuses on two linked questions. Firstly, what impact has Poland had upon the EU as a new member state? Secondly, how has becoming an EU member impacted upon public attitudes towards the EU and Polish domestic politics, particularly on its party and electoral politics? Szczerbiak provides the first detailed empirical case study of the impact of Poland's EU membership on its politics and of Poland's impact on the EU. The book also makes broader theoretical contributions to our understanding of EU relations with its member states. As a result of the above, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, political science and European integration.

Bomberg argues the 'greening' of European politics and the advancement of European integration are inextricably linked and that the EU presents a strategic dilemma to Green parties. In short, how can Greens reconcile their radical, alternative politics with the EU's mainstream, traditional institutions and practices? Bomberg's analysis is based on over 100 interviews with leading green politicians, NGO members, environmental and industrial lobbyists, EU officials and MEPs. She includes appendices showing profiles of green parties in European countries, and key policy-making institutions

Bomberg argues the 'greening' of European politics and the advancement of European integration are inextricably linked and that the EU presents a strategic dilemma to Green parties. In short, how can Greens reconcile their radical, alternative politics with the EU's mainstream, traditional institutions and practices? Bomberg's analysis is based on over 100 interviews with leading green politicians, NGO members, environmental and industrial lobbyists, EU officials and MEPs. She includes appendices showing profiles of green parties in European countries, and key policy-making institutions

Economic pressures and technological change are causing governments across Europe to reassess the role of the state in the economy. Privatization and market liberalization have been embraced by some European Union governments as a way of shaking up sleepy state monopolies, while providing useful government funding at a time when governments need to reduce budget deficits to meet the Maastricht fiscal criteria for a common currency in Europe. This volume discusses privatization in the major European economies. It considers the different perspectives on privatization theory and policy in Europe and thereby identifies different national characteristics in terms of the motivation to privatize, the scale of privatization and its consequences. In the opening chapters there is a detailed overview of the theoretical economic issues involved in privatization and an assessment of privatization across the EU. The remaining ten chapters contain national case studies of EU countries which review the history of state ownership and privatization in each of these countries and evaluate the extent of privatization.

Provides a survey of the principal items on the agenda following the end of the Cold War, focusing upon the institutions and regions where the reconsideration of security issues has been particularly profound. The book is organised into three main sections: the first examines the changed roles of the main security institutions which have survived the Cold War; NATO, the European Union/Western European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The second analyses the Central European countries, Russia and States of the former Soviet Union in terms of their ideologies, political structures and relationships of the Cold War period. Lastly the text examines the northern and southern regions of Europe where quite different perspectives and agendas are concerned.

This book analyses how national parliaments and parliamentary parties performed their legislative, representative and control functions during the reform of European economic governance. Focusing on domestic approvals of anti-crisis measures (EFSF, ESM and the Fiscal Compact) in all member states of the Eurozone, the book aims at establishing to what extent national parliaments and parliamentary parties secured their competences in EU policy-making during that process. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, In order to address that question the book employs an interdisciplinary approach and analyses (i) in which states parliaments' formal powers in approval of anti-crisis measures were constrained, (ii) how parliamentary parties voted on the analysed measures, (iii) what were the dominant discourses of their proponents and opponents and (iv) which parties advocated neoliberal and which Keynesian measures. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in European Union politics and studies, political parties and parliaments, European Economic governance and more broadly to European politics.

The European Union has had, and continues to have, far reaching consequences for its member states. This, the third book in "The State and European Union" series, 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.

The European Union has had, and continues to have, far reaching consequences for its member states. This, the third book in "The State and European Union" series, 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.

The global financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis since 2008 has led to increases in political disaffection among citizens, a loss of legitimacy of political institutions, the discredit of mainstream parties and the rise of extremist or anti-system political alternatives. This comparative volume sheds greater light on this critical juncture in the recent history of the European Union (EU) by focusing on the evolution of attitudes of national political elites. It examines whether the crisis has affected the legitimacy of the EU integration project as perceived by national political elites and, consequently, if the elite consensus that constituted one of the most solid fundamentals supporting that project has been eroded. Analysing these changes across the different dimensions in which support for the EU is organized and its relationship with the evolution of support towards European integration among citizens in member states, the book addresses a basic question: How have these events affected the perceptions of the EU of national political elites? Ultimately, it sheds light on the evolution of the relationship between the perception of the EU and the national contexts, as well as the likely evolution of the project of European integration in the near future. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of political elites, EU politics, European integration, political parties, and more broadly to comparative politics, European studies and sociology.

The papers in this much-needed collection employ Applied General Equilibrium methodology to address a wide variety of concerns within the European Union. Contributors examine five main policy areas: * international market integration * policy simulations with alternative treatments of factor markets * policies for carbon dioxide abatement * competitiveness and convergence * VAT and income tax reform.