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Security in the European Union (EU) is an increasingly complex problem, with the spectre of disintegration looming over the Eurozone, and the threat of terrorism, insecurity and the long-term sustainability of food supply and fresh water reaching levels of crisis. This interdisciplinary book provides a unique insight into the multiple security threats that the EU is facing, and gives readers invaluable information about the challenges these pose to the Union. With contributions from scholars of economics, law and political science, The European Union: Facing the Challenge of Multiple Security Threats provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary security problems for the EU. Focussing on the latter end of the 2010s, this book examines in great detail the impact that developments in the rest of the world has had on the Union?s vulnerable state. Among the key contemporary issues examined are the migration crisis exacerbated by the conflicts in Syria and Libya, the increasingly strained relationship between the EU and Russia as well as the changing circumstances in the EU-US relationship brought on by Donald Trump?s presidency. Tapping into the internal and external causes and impacts of security problems in the EU, this book offers important policy ideas for the future of the Union. It constitutes a vital read for policy makers and advisors in the EU, as well as for scholars of European political science, economics, and law. Contributors include: A. Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, N. Bremberg, M. Eriksson, J. Gullstrand, C. Joergensen, C. Magnusson Sjoeberg, A. Michalski, N. Nilsson, G. Noll,I. OEsterdahl, L. Oxelheim, C. Parker, T. Persson, R. Svensson, C. Wagnsson, S. Widmalm
Bridging the Prosperity Gap in the EU addresses the great social challenge currently facing the European Union. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the authors invaluably pinpoint both overarching problems and possibilities associated with the social dimension of European integration. Prominent researchers of economics, law and political science tackle this complex issue, providing new solutions within their respective fields of expertise. The chapters cover crucial policy challenges and analyse fundamental mechanisms that limit, or otherwise affect, the evolution of a European social dimension. These insights clarify the far-reaching measures that will be needed to gradually restore the balance between market integration and social protection across the European Union. Illustrating the importance of cohesion, this book is vital for those interested in comparative European studies, from backgrounds in public and social policy, law and economics. Contributors include: U. Bernitz, N. Charron, A.-C. Jungar, A.-S. Lind, M. Ljunge, L. Magnusson, M. Martensson, S. Murhem, P. Nyman, L. Oxelheim, J. Paju, T. Persson, B. Rothstein, J. Ruist, J.J. Votinius
World politics has been surprised recently by two sudden developments. The first took place around the beginning of 2007, when the question of global warming rose abruptly to the top of the agenda, after having been a factor in the background. The second occurred in the autumn of 2008, when the rules for a global economy started inspiring great anxiety, after having been regarded as a source of stability. These two shifts took place independently, but their consequences will require common management. The regulatory structure underlying the world's economic, legal, and political systems needs to be revised. This presents the EU with the greatest challenge it has ever faced. The point is that this global challenge comes on top of the pr- lems already posed by markets, welfare states, security, energy, and movements of population. The additional challenge is furthermore of such a kind that a deeper discussion of the very structure of the Union is difficult to avoid.
Against a backcloth of tumultuous events in Europe, the EU faces once again the fateful question of moving towards federal union or let flexible integration guide the Union. The sixth volume in Interdisciplinary European Studies explores the coexistence of deepening political integration and flexible patterns of integration in the EU. The book brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights into issues with a bearing on the future of the EU: the crisis of rule of law and political values, the move towards a European defence union, the power of the new European public prosecutor's office, the prospects of financial stability through the Recovery and Resilience facility, and the state of European parliamentary democracy. The chapters are based on up-to-date research findings and succinct assessments of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates. They conclude with policy recommendations for decision-makers on European and national levels.
This book explores the complex and ever-changing relationship between the European Union and its member states. The recent surge in tension in this relationship has been prompted by the actions of some member state governments as they question fundamental EU values and principles and refuse to implement common decisions seemingly on the basis of narrowly defined national interests. Furthermore, Brexit forces the EU for the first time to face the prospect of a major member state preparing to leave the Union. Are these developments heralding the return of the nation-state, and if so, in what form? Is the national revival a lasting phenomenon that will affect the EU for a long time to come, or is it a transitory trend? This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to answer these questions. It brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights into the multifaceted relations between the Union and its member states from different perspectives. All chapters are based on up-to-date research findings, succinct assessments of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates about the direction of European integration. The book concludes by offering policy recommendations at European and national levels.
The fifth volume of the Interdisciplinary European Studies series aims to explore the EU's pursuit of societal resilience and its role in the transition to a green economy. It brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights related to climate change and the protection of the environment, the role of innovation in the green economy, resilience of national public health systems after the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory resilience in the face of financial instability, and immigration. All chapters are based on up-to-date research, succinct assessment of the current state of affairs, and ongoing debates. They conclude with policy recommendations for decision-makers on European and national levels. Legal Preconditions for an Environmentally Sustainable European Union" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
The book is dedicated to the question of how much room for national tax policy Member States of the European Union will be able to maintain in the future. It focuses on the possibilities Member States have and the limits they face, such as the need to finance the welfare state or limits of European and International Law. The research question is looked at from different angles. Economic as well as legal aspects are included.
This book explores how the European Union responds to the ongoing challenges to the liberal international order. These challenges arise both within the EU itself and beyond its borders, and put into question the values of free trade and liberal democracy. The book's interdisciplinary approach brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide a comprehensive analysis of how shifts in the international order affect the global position of the EU in dimensions such as foreign and security policy, trade, migration, populism, rule of law, and climate change. All chapters include policy recommendations which make the book particularly useful for decision makers and policy advisors, besides researchers and students, as well as for anyone interested in the future of the EU.
This is the first book in the Interdisciplinary European Studies collection. This volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective on trust in the EU from the vantage point of political science, law and economics. It applies insights from a number of different dimensions - political institutions, legal convergence in criminal and civil law, social trust, digitalization, the diffusion of political values and norms, monetary convergence and the legitimacy of political systems - to approach the highly complex issue of trust in the EU in a clear-sighted, relevant and insightful manner. Written by renowned experts in the field, the style is accessible and reader-friendly, yet concise, knowledgeable and thought-provoking. The individual chapters combine up-to-date research findings with reflections on on-going political debates and offer useful, concrete ideas on what steps the EU could take to address the challenge of trust. The book provides the reader with invaluable insights into how trust, or rather the lack of trust, poses a challenge to the future of the social, economic and political developments in the EU. It is a must-read for policy-makers, students and interested members of the public who feel concerned by the future of Europe.
Transparency has in recent years become a buzzword in the
economic-political debate about prospects for economic growth in
general and for Europe in particular. A number of events, trends,
and developments for example the East-Asian financial crisis, a
series of corporate governance scandals in the United States and in
Europe, the introduction of the euro as a common currency in part
of the European Union, a global trend toward politically
independent central banks, growing attention to environmental
issues, and attempts to reform the governance structures of
supranational and multilateral organizations such as the EU and the
UN have made transparency an issue of highest concern. However, the
long and winding road leading from improved transparency in Europe
to increased economic growth in the region has never been mapped
out in a coherent way. The reason is simply that the causal chain
from transparency to growth needs to be discussed in a
comprehensive, interdisciplinary way, incorporating different
research areas and traditions from accounting to economics and
political science. This book attempts to bridge that gap in current
literature.
The purpose of the volume is to analyze the impact of European
Union on inward foreign direct investment in Europe and to discuss
what type of effects are being created by this race for FDI.
This collection of chapters constitutes a highly valuable and informed input to the debate on the European Union's present and potential role in the shaping of our common future. Together, the contributors take a comprehensive perspective covering legal, political and economic imbalances in the world that are of acute relevance for the possibilities to effectively tackle challenges common to us all, such as climate change, poverty, trafficking and the supply of scarce fundamental commodities. To what extent can the European Union be a constructive force in ameliorating these imbalances, and thereby in world politics, and how ought it to proceed?' - Per Cramer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden'The international dimension of the EU's activities is under-researched and often poorly understood. This book, drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives and bringing together a range of authors from the Nordic countries, provides a timely and well-thought-out exposition of the challenges the EU faces in the world.' - Iain Begg, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK The EU's Role in Fighting Global Imbalances looks at the role of the European Union in addressing some of the greatest challenges of our time: poverty, protectionism, climate change, and human trafficking. The recent crisis has depleted the Union s economic and political resources. At the same time the Union is, like never before, expected to confront these global challenges on the world political arena, where new regional power centres are establishing themselves. Based on a broad and interdisciplinary understanding of the concept of global imbalances, this book argues that these challenges follow from pervasive global imbalances, which at root are economic, political, and legal in character. Contributions from ten leading scholars in the fields of economics, law, and political science provide in-depth analyses of three key dimensions of EU foreign policy, namely: the internal challenges facing the EU, as its 28 member countries struggle to coordinate their actions; the external challenges facing the EU on the global arena, in areas where global imbalances are particularly pervasive, and where measures taken by the Union can have an important impact; and the EUs performance on the global arena, in the eyes of other key actors. This policy-oriented, interdisciplinary volume offers real insight into the European Union and its role in global affairs and will appeal to academics and policy-makers alike. Contributors: L. Aggestam, A.Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, A. Bigsten, S. Bogojevi , O. Elgstroem, M. Henrekson, A. Jonsson Cornell, A. Kokko, M. Martensson, A. Moberg, L. Oxelheim, T. Persson, T. Sanandaji, A. Schmidt-Felzmann
At the end of the 1980s, a tri-polar world comprising the US, EU and Japan emerged. Nevertheless, the economic turbulence of the early 21st century has destabilized this old order and the rise of other Asian powers has implications for the formation of a new economic configuration. This book discusses the probability of the different tentative global economic power balances to emerge, as well as the different contestants: the EU, China and Japan, among others. Organized into three sections, the first part addresses general and trend-wise developments with relevance to the outcome of the re-polarization process. Subsequently, three chapters focus on developments in China, India and Japan. Finally, special issues such as climate policies, corporate governance, social reforms and cross-border economic alliances are considered in greater detail, in relation to their implications for the outcome of the re-polarization process.
This book explores the multiple challenges that the global technology shift is posing to the EU. It raises the question of how European societies will mobilize the positive effects of the rapid technological advancement in digitalization, robotization, and artificial intelligence, while mitigating the negative consequences in terms of job losses, cybercrime, and social and political polarization. From the vantage point of experts from economics, law, and political science, this book provides insights into the role that the EU is and ought to be playing in regulating global platform companies, addressing taxation in the digital economy, mitigating job displacements on the labour market, and tackling ethical concerns of artificial intelligence and the prospect of digital democracy. All chapters are based on up-to-date research findings, succinct assessment of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates. They conclude with policy recommendations for policy makers on European and national levels. 'This volume has a solid foundation in the highly topical question of technological change. More importantly, the individual chapters are written by qualified scholars whose analytically advanced contributions are likely to interest a wide audience. I can strongly recommend this book for scholars and students in political science, law, and economics.' -Carl Fredrik Bergstroem, Professor of European Law, Uppsala University, Sweden 'When the Commission took office in 2019, it put forward its vision as to how Europe's digital future could be 'shaped' in a way that makes the digital transition enrich people's lives and make sure that European businesses fully benefit from the opportunities offered by digital technologies. Then COVID drastically accelerated the take up of digital solutions. As the digital transformation affects every single one of us it is important that we have the widest possible debate on its inherent risks and opportunities. This is why I warmly recommend this book. It brings together an inter-disciplinary set of scholars able to analyse the multifaceted implications of the technological shift. And I could not agree more with the book's main takeaway, i.e. that we need to create an adaptive regulatory framework capable of harnessing the positive effects of technological changes while buttressing the negative impact on European society and citizens.' -Ambassador Kim Jorgensen, Head of Cabinet to Commissioner and Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, European Commission
This book explores the complex and ever-changing relationship between the European Union and its member states. The recent surge in tension in this relationship has been prompted by the actions of some member state governments as they question fundamental EU values and principles and refuse to implement common decisions seemingly on the basis of narrowly defined national interests. Furthermore, Brexit forces the EU for the first time to face the prospect of a major member state preparing to leave the Union. Are these developments heralding the return of the nation-state, and if so, in what form? Is the national revival a lasting phenomenon that will affect the EU for a long time to come, or is it a transitory trend? This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to answer these questions. It brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights into the multifaceted relations between the Union and its member states from different perspectives. All chapters are based on up-to-date research findings, succinct assessments of the current state of affairs and ongoing debates about the direction of European integration. The book concludes by offering policy recommendations at European and national levels.
Macroeconomic turbulence and volatility in financial markets can
fatally affect firm's performance. Very few firms make serious
attempts to inform market participants and other outsider
stakeholders about the impact of macroeconomic
fluctuations--manifested as changes in exchange rates, interest
rates, inflation rates and stock market returns-- on performance.
These stakeholders, as well as financial analysts, must make their
own assessments but they generally lack both the required tools and
the information to do so. Worse, top management in most firms do
not themselves possess the tools to identify whether a change in
performance represents a change in the firm's intrinsic
competitiveness or a reflection of macroeconomic conditions outside
their influence.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) has become the prime engine to foster growth and to facilitate the restructuring and internationalization of formerly sheltered areas during the 1980s. This book deals with future prospects for FDI and provides answers to some critical questions at the beginning of the 1990s: Will the unprecedented high rate of growth of FDI in the 1980s continue for the rest of the twentieth century and beyond? If so, which will be the major recipient countries, source countries and sectors involved in these transactions? The general approach of each chapter is to review the factors that prompted the expansion of FDI during the 1980s. Their value as driving forces in the future is then assessed together with some new factors. The book contains nine chapters. The first four deal with general issues such as: Will the restrictions on capital flows be reimposed? What are the prospects for the world economy? Which ingredients will shape the global competition for investment? What are the likely patterns of FDI to emerge in the next decade? The remaining five chapters are devoted to special issues such as: How will increased instability in the financial system influence trade and FDI? What role in future FDI will merger and acquisition (M&A) activities play? What influence will the emerging market economies have on the global distribution of FDI? Will the Japanese continue to be the major foreign direct investors in the future? Will FDI from small and medium-sized firms gain momentum as they become more exposed to international competition and as their customers get increasingly involved in FDI?
There is widespread agreement in the current social and economic debate that the nations of the world are becoming increasingly integrated. Many structural signs in society also suggest that this is so. Integration has become a catchword in the prepara tions for the internal market of the EC, and a keynote in the debate about association for the European countries which do not belong to the Community. But when we turn to the question of how this integration should be measured, there is very little con sensus. Instead there are numerous problems, not only about how to measure integra tion but even about how to define it. In this book I shall discuss the import and implications of a particular type of integration, namely financial integration, and then look at the most important problems connected with measuring it. In the empirical investigation reported below I felt the need for an integrated micro-macro approach. Further, I decided to illustrate the measurement problems by studying a small and relatively open economy where exchange controls have been imposed by the government in an attempt to reduce the flow of interest-sensitive capital out of the country, and thus to acquire autonomy for the national monetary policy. An interview study has been carried out with a view to illustrating among other things how expectations are formed among the major actors on the financial market, and this provided additional input for an analysis of the level of financial integration.
The book is dedicated to the question of how much room for national tax policy Member States of the European Union will be able to maintain in the future. It focuses on the possibilities Member States have and the limits they face, such as the need to finance the welfare state or limits of European and International Law. The research question is looked at from different angles. Economic as well as legal aspects are included.
World politics has been surprised recently by two sudden developments. The first took place around the beginning of 2007, when the question of global warming rose abruptly to the top of the agenda, after having been a factor in the background. The second occurred in the autumn of 2008, when the rules for a global economy started inspiring great anxiety, after having been regarded as a source of stability. These two shifts took place independently, but their consequences will require common management. The regulatory structure underlying the world's economic, legal, and political systems needs to be revised. This presents the EU with the greatest challenge it has ever faced. The point is that this global challenge comes on top of the pr- lems already posed by markets, welfare states, security, energy, and movements of population. The additional challenge is furthermore of such a kind that a deeper discussion of the very structure of the Union is difficult to avoid.
The dramatic evolution of financial markets in the 1980s and 1990s, accompanied by increasing institutional integration between nations (most notably in the EU), have fostered a widespread belief that governments - particularly those of small economies - have essentially lost the power to pursue sovereign, independent economic policies. At the same time, it is widely assumed that the loss of monetary-policy control is a major opportunity cost for a country adopting a rigid exchange-rate regime or, in the European context, for countries joining the EMU. This book sheds light on these arguments by examining the relationship between the international integration of domestic money markets and the degree of monetary-policy independence in eleven small, open economies in Europe. The authors address these important issues in the context of a broad-based historical analysis of market formation and growth, exchange-rate policies and deregulation. They find that political motives, in conjunction with competitive forces, path dependence and institutional factors, are a major determinant of market development. Moreover, they reveal that credible commitment to a stability goal is a far more reliable predictor of monetary-policy autonomy than the adoption of a specific exchange-rate regime. This accessible investigation of the relationship between domestic money-market development, international financial integration and the monetary-policy options available to small, open economies will be welcomed by students and researchers of macroeconomics, financial economics and political economy. The extensive empirical research and original conclusions will also be of interest and benefit to corporate decisionmakers, bankers, policymakers and regulators.
In recent years, the term 'transparency' has emerged as one of the
most popular and keenly-touted concepts around. In the
economic-political debate, the principle of transparency is often
advocated as a prerequisite for accountability, legitimacy, policy
efficiency, and good governance, as well as a universal remedy
against corruption, corporate and political scandals, financial
crises, and a host of other problems.
The fifth volume of the Interdisciplinary European Studies series aims to explore the EU’s pursuit of societal resilience and its role in the transition to a green economy. It brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide insights related to climate change and the protection of the environment, the role of innovation in the green economy, resilience of national public health systems after the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory resilience in the face of financial instability, and immigration. All chapters are based on up-to-date research, succinct assessment of the current state of affairs, and ongoing debates. They conclude with policy recommendations for decision-makers on European and national levels. Legal Preconditions for an Environmentally Sustainable European Union” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
This book explores how the European Union responds to the ongoing challenges to the liberal international order. These challenges arise both within the EU itself and beyond its borders, and put into question the values of free trade and liberal democracy. The book's interdisciplinary approach brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide a comprehensive analysis of how shifts in the international order affect the global position of the EU in dimensions such as foreign and security policy, trade, migration, populism, rule of law, and climate change. All chapters include policy recommendations which make the book particularly useful for decision makers and policy advisors, besides researchers and students, as well as for anyone interested in the future of the EU.
This is the first book in the Interdisciplinary European Studies collection. This volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective on trust in the EU from the vantage point of political science, law and economics. It applies insights from a number of different dimensions - political institutions, legal convergence in criminal and civil law, social trust, digitalization, the diffusion of political values and norms, monetary convergence and the legitimacy of political systems - to approach the highly complex issue of trust in the EU in a clear-sighted, relevant and insightful manner. Written by renowned experts in the field, the style is accessible and reader-friendly, yet concise, knowledgeable and thought-provoking. The individual chapters combine up-to-date research findings with reflections on on-going political debates and offer useful, concrete ideas on what steps the EU could take to address the challenge of trust. The book provides the reader with invaluable insights into how trust, or rather the lack of trust, poses a challenge to the future of the social, economic and political developments in the EU. It is a must-read for policy-makers, students and interested members of the public who feel concerned by the future of Europe. |
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