Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic industries in the modern world, with new products and technologies appearing almost every week. As in many other industries, the last twenty years have brought extensive and far reaching liberalization, with more and more countries opening their markets. In the last decade all but five Member States of the European Union have legislated for full opening of all market segments. The remaining five look set for further liberalization befor 2004. This book examines the process and consequences of telecommunications liberalization in the context of ever closer European Union. The creation of a single market for telecommunications and of a wider European single market mirror one another. Telecommunications are also something of a test case for the privatization process, as this sector has traditionally been a state monopoly. The volume approaches the European experience from three angles: the politics of regulation and the process of liberalization in the EU (including case Studies of the UK, France, and Germany); increasing global economic interdependence makes international comparisons essential, and the volume compares the EU experience wi

This international volume presents a comprehensive, comparative study of the transformation of the European telecommunications industry from 1990 to the present. The book focuses on the old incumbent operators and their dramatic change from state agencies to listed companies. It analyzes the liberalization process, as well as the corporatization and privatization of these companies. The contributors assess the conditions for the transformations taking place; the driving forces for change; the effects to management, the efforts of the EU during these processes, and ultimately, the role of the private owner. Political science publications have all but excluded analysis of the newly privatized companies; their contribution to the liberalization process both before and after privatization; and the interplay between the national political and company levels. The book redresses this shortcoming, and also features a double empirical focus in that the main national incumbents in Europe are analyzed and compared to Telenor, the Norwegian former incumbent.

This international volume presents a comprehensive, comparative study of the transformation of the European telecommunications industry from 1990 to the present. The book focuses on the old incumbent operators and their dramatic change from state agencies to listed companies. It analyzes the liberalization process, as well as the corporatization and privatization of these companies. The contributors assess the conditions for the transformations taking place; the driving forces for change; the effects to management, the efforts of the EU during these processes, and ultimately, the role of the private owner. Political science publications have all but excluded analysis of the newly privatized companies; their contribution to the liberalization process both before and after privatization; and the interplay between the national political and company levels. The book redresses this shortcoming, and also features a double empirical focus in that the main national incumbents in Europe are analyzed and compared to Telenor, the Norwegian former incumbent.

This Second Edition of Making Policy in Europe is fully revised and expanded to provide the most up-to-date introduction to the study of policymaking in the European Union (EU). The first part of the book introduces the different perspectives to study of the EU as a political system, and provides a framework for the study of the main actors and institutions in the decision-making process from transnational lobbying within Brussels to the implementation of EU law in national member states. Part two introduces each of the main sectoral policy areas. The common "market" is introduced and reviewed before students are provided with detailed studies of policies and policy-making in telecommunications, the environment, energy, education, immigration, and policing. In each case the complex interaction between different interests and actors at different levels in the EU apparatus is richly illustrated and the future prospects for further integration fully examined. The final part of the book looks at the future economic and political structure of the EU and the direction of contemporary studies of the EU and European integration. A completely new chapter reviews European monetary union, another looks at the important enlargement question, and, finally, the editors review the wider implications for Europe and the EU political system. This book will be essential reading for another generation of students of the EU, European pubic policy and European integration.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of why European integration in foreign and security policy has proved so difficult. The obstacles to developing the common policy in this second pillar of the European Union go to the heart of debates around the sovereignty of the nation-state. A leading group of international contributors explain how these problems arise and consider the future prospects of developing a more regional-based solution. Broadly organized around the three areas of policy, actors and issues, the first section traces the reluctant growth of EU integration in foreign and security policy as it developed from the mid-1980s. In the second section the national policies and interests that typically obstruct a common policy are explored through four key member states. The third section considers ways of addressing problems like the EU's expansion to include Central and Eastern Europe, the impact of an independent European security identity on the transatlantic relationship, as well as the potential risks to European security from the Mediterranean rim.

Taking as its starting point the major issues of democracy which are the ongoing concerns of every liberal Western political system, this volume offers a wide-ranging review of democracy in the European Union. It treats the EU as a new type of political system within the tradition of parliamentary democracies, a system which is neither federal nor intergovernmental, and which consequently has unique problems of how to handle democratic requirements. Part One deals with the two major challenges of interest articulation in the EU, political parties and lobbying. The second part discusses how democracy becomes the key element in the linkage between the EU and its member states, focusing on France, Italy and Belgium where the relation to the EU constitutes an important part of the national democratic debate. The third part focuses on democratic aspects of key EU institutions - the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The final part looks at democracy in relation to possible EU development generally, and in the context of societal change which may tend to undermine the role of parliamentary institutions.

Managing Public Organizations presents the case for the development of public management and indicates the directions it should take. It reviews the progress of new management initiatives in the European public sphere; examines the role of the public manager and the organization of public bodies; and considers the potential for change.

The contributors reject the notion that there are formulas for management innovation or that general rules from private sector management can be applied. They emphasize the need to develop a concept of management that is appropriate for public organizations.