INSTITUTIONAL LIBERALIZATION OF THE AVIATION SERVICES MARKET IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

This article discusses the framework of the European Union (EU) prohibition on anti-competitive behaviour in the context of benefits and risks to actors within its air transport market. The significance of third countries endorsing variant regulatory frameworks as the EU begs the question of what constitutes ‘fair competition’. The lack of a universal meaning of this concept may be an opportunity for the EU to lead a discussion in reaching a global approach to ‘fair competition’ in line with the foundations of its internal framework while also appealing to the wider, international, industry. The recent initialling of a comprehensive air services agreement between Qatar and the EU provides discussion on a proactive way forward for reconciling EU competition policy to the approaches among the external air transport market. Ultimately, this article considers whether the EU’s model of promoting competition is fit for a global air transport market and whether or not there may be another approach to bring about a cohesive playing field not only within Europe but among the international air transport market worldwide. competition, aviation, transport, market, regulation.

The paper examines whether international regulatory harmonization increases cross-border labor migration. To study this question, we analyze European Union (EU) initiatives that harmonized accounting and auditing standards. Regulatory harmonization should reduce economic mobility barriers, essentially making it easier for accounting professionals to move across countries. Our research design compares the cross-border migration of accounting professionals relative to tightly-matched other professionals before and after regulatory harmonization. We find that international labor migration in the accounting profession increases significantly relative to other professions. We provide evidence that this effect is due to harmonization, rather than increases in the demand for accounting services during the implementation of the rule changes. The findings illustrate that diversity in rules constitutes an economic barrier to cross-border labor mobility and, more specifically, that accounting harmonization can have a meaningful effect on cross-border migration.

The paper examines whether international regulatory harmonization increases cross-border labor migration. To study this question, we analyze European Union (EU) initiatives that harmonized accounting and auditing standards. Regulatory harmonization should reduce economic mobility barriers, essentially making it easier for accounting professionals to move across countries. Our research design compares the cross-border migration of accounting professionals relative to tightly-matched other professionals before and after regulatory harmonization. We find that international labor migration in the accounting profession increases significantly relative to other professions. We provide evidence that this effect is due to harmonization, rather than increases in the demand for accounting services during the implementation of the rule changes. The findings illustrate that diversity in rules constitutes an economic barrier to cross-border labor mobility and, more specifically, that accounting harmonization can have a meaningful effect on cross-border migration.

The paper examines whether international regulatory harmonization increases cross-border labor migration. To study this question, we analyze European Union (EU) initiatives that harmonized accounting and auditing standards. Regulatory harmonization should reduce economic mobility barriers, essentially making it easier for accounting professionals to move across countries. Our research design compares the cross-border migration of accounting professionals relative to tightly-matched other professionals before and after regulatory harmonization. We find that international labor migration in the accounting profession increases significantly relative to other professions. We provide evidence that this effect is due to harmonization, rather than increases in the demand for accounting services during the implementation of the rule changes. The findings illustrate that diversity in rules constitutes an economic barrier to cross-border labor mobility and, more specifically, that accounting harmonization can have a meaningful effect on cross-border migration.

The article seeks to advance understanding of the involvement of transnational student associations in European governance of higher education policies within the European Union (EU) and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Specifically, the article explores the mechanisms for interest intermediation that exist for transnational student associations in both policy arenas. Three transnational student associations stand out in terms of their involvement: European Students’ Union (ESU), Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and European Students’ Forum (AEGEE). The findings point to two distinct models of student interest intermediation in European policy-making. Within the EU, the European Commission interacts with all three transnational student associations; however, ESU and ESN participate in more expert and working groups. The roles afforded to each association in relation to the European Commission are demarcated and functionally differentiated. Within EHEA, in neo-corporatist fashion, ESU, as a representative platform of national student unions, holds representational monopoly. In the EHEA and the EU, the involvement of transnational student associations in policy-making can be attributed to the evolving nature of transnational governance regimes in which participation of transnational student associations not only brings expertise to but also aids the legitimacy of the policy processes and outcomes.

Recently, the European Union (EU) conducted a public consultation on a possible revision of Council Regulation European Economic Community (EEC) 95/93 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports. While open skies agreements are developing rapidly and the Single European Sky (SES) takes shape, airport slot allocation in the EU is based on a regulation that remained nearly unchanged for the last twenty years. The EU could, however, profit from the variety of experiences made in the United States, where secondary slot trading was introduced as early as 1985. Since 2008, slot auctions have moved back into the US spotlight, when the Bush Administration proposed new Congestion Management Rules. Facing a possible capacity crunch in Europe, the question arises: Quo vadis, EU? This article was drafted as a contribution to the 2011 International Air Transport Association (IATA) Legal Writing Award, which was generously sponsored by Jones Day. There is nothing like competition as a goad to efficiency. - Alfred Kahn

The European Union (EU) conducts a multi-faceted policy in South-eastern Europe. Concentrating on two dimensions of the EU policy in the region, energy and aviation, the article considers the development of the two relevant regional initiatives, the Energy Community and the European Common Aviation Area. The first intends to create an integrated energy market in electricity and natural gas, by bringing together the twenty-seven EU Member States with nine partners from South-eastern Europe. The second is expected to create an integrated aviation market of thirty-six countries and five hundred million people, governed by the EU standards of aviation services' market, safety, security, Air Traffic Management and environment protection. While recognizing the existence of common features shared by the two initiatives, the analysis purports to identify the special characteristics of the two reform processes instigated by the EU, in order to highlight the existing differences and to shed light on the underlying explanatory factors. Emphasis is put on the relationship between the ideational foundation of the two reform processes and the material interests of the actors involved in them.

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of an organizational and economic mechanism for ensuring the competitiveness of airlines on the world market. The concept of a mechanism for increasing the competitiveness of an airline is defined as a complex system of interconnected and interacting components, methods and tools that work together to support and improve the company's position on the market. The task of the airline's competitiveness management mechanism is summarized. The formation of the mechanism of managing the competitiveness of the airline in accordance with the general principles of management is presented. An effective organizational and economic mechanism for ensuring the competitiveness of airlines is a key tool for achieving sustainable positions in the global market. It allows optimizing the use of resources, reducing costs and improving the quality of service, which helps attract new customers and strengthen passenger loyalty. In addition, this mechanism provides flexibility in responding to market changes and effective risk management.The main trends in the development of the competitive environment in the air transportation market have been determined, which will have an impact on the formation and implementation of the organizational and economic mechanism for ensuring the competitiveness of airlines on the world market. Advisable for airlines to constantly innovate, which is a key factor in success, allowing them to offer new products and services, reduce costs, increase efficiency and economy, and improve the quality of service. Effective financial management and cost optimization allow the airline to maintain a stable financial position and be prepared for potential economic obstacles. In the context of the research issues, a description of possible strategies for the development of competitiveness for the largest airlines is presented, taking into account the main trends of market development. Among the main trends in the development of the competitive environment in the air transport market, the following are distinguished: innovative technologies, changes in consumer preferences, digitization and automation of processes, participation in alliances, etc.

This paper is concerned with the remaining limitations to full interoperability within the European Union (EU) air transport market. Twenty years ago the European air transport network was fragmented, with airlines being treated as public entities designed to serve largely national interests. Considerable progress has been made in recent years, notably the three 'Packages' of EU legislation, to remove such barriers. The situation still differs in several ways from the almost totally free market that has been in place in the USA since the 1980s but, within the EU, fares and market entry are independent of national frontiers. Some barriers remain, largely legacy effects that are gradually being tidied up, but with some significant matters concerning routes outside of the EU and capacity constraints relating to the still largely publicly provided infrastructure still needing resolution.

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to provide estimation results for feasibility of renewable energy source (RES) deployment in Turkey, the Western Balkans and North Africa. From these results, the potential for cooperation in renewables production between the countries and the European Union (EU) is assessed and evaluated, in a mid- (2030) and long-term (up to 2040) perspective. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on the quantitative assessments undertaken on the extent to which RES cooperation can create mutual benefits, identifying costs and benefits for both sides, but in particular with respect to RES target achievement (2020 and 2030) at EU level. The potentials for RES generation in Turkey, North Africa and the Western Balkans are calculated under different policy pathways, taking into account different levels of economic and non-economic barriers that could occur. Findings Overall, the authors found that increasing RES deployment in the three analysed regions and initiating or intensifying cooperation with EU28 Member States leads to mutual benefits. Concretely, these benefits become apparent in terms of the EU Member States importing renewable energy sources for electricity with a good resource quality and adding on to their targets for RES deployment. At the same time, substantial savings occur for the EU, in turn leading to income and investments in the cooperating regions. Originality/value The assessment underlying this paper is the first of its kind to the authors’ knowledge that opens up the geographical spread in comparison to merely assessing cooperation between Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, the multitude of policy parameters analysed provides detailed and robust insights concerning a broad variety of different possible scenarios.

This article critically interrogates claims that a British exit from the European Union (EU) (Brexit) will create opportunities for the UK to escape the EU’s apparent protectionism and cumbersome internal politics in order to pursue a more liberal and globalist trade agenda based on the Commonwealth. Taking a historical view of UK and EU trade relations with the Commonwealth in Africa, the author highlights the way in which the incorporation of the majority of Commonwealth states into the EU’s preferential trading relationships has reconfigured ties between the UK and its former colonies over time. Further, the author suggests that the EU’s recent attempts to realise a vision for an ambitious set of free trade agreements in Africa—the Economic Partnership Agreements—was disrupted not by EU protectionism or internal politics but rather by African resistance to the EU’s liberal agenda for reciprocal tariff liberalisation and regulatory harmonisation. The UK therefore faces a complex challenge if it is to disentangle its trade relations with Africa from those of the EU and to forge its own set of ambitious free trade agreements with African Commonwealth partners.

Aviation contributes to economic and social development, but air traffic congestion and aircraft-related gas emissions damage the environment; hence, appropriate policies should be introduced to ensure sustainable growth. This paper highlights the interdependence of environmental reforms in aviation by thoroughly investigating two major European policy schemes, i.e. the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and the Single European Sky. Emphasis is given on policy aspects of multi-stakeholder governance. Based on focus group interviews with thirty-nine senior managers and in-depth interviews with seven experts, transaction costs are highlighted and a stakeholder power vs. interest grid is developed to identify and, most importantly, to address governance failure, thus effectively linking different aviation policies in a holistic manner.

Most of existing researches on the methods of governance in the European Union (EU) are rather narrow in scope. Many of them investigate particular policies of the EU for the purpose of identifying and describing the details of the governance mode in use. Other researches provide a comparative analysis of the application of a particular method of governance in several EU policies. However, there is a clear lacuna in the field of systematization of all methods of governance usable in the EU. This article reveals a comprehensive system of EU methods of governance. They are based on six key principles: 1) EU methods of governance are not reducible to combinations of communitarian and intergovernmental approaches. 2) Methods of governance are linked with the level of decision-making (super-system, system and subsystem decisions). 3) There are seven basic methods of governance in the EU. Classic intergovernmental method is used to make “historic” decisions at the super-system level. Communitarian approach and intensive trans-governmentalism are the most common methods at the system level. One can distinguish four methods of governance at the subsystem level: regulation, distribution, policy coordination and executive method. 4) There is no univocal correspondence between methods of policy setting (system level) and policy implementation (subsystem level). 5) Identified methods of governance are the ideal types. In practice, implementation of particular policy in the EU is usually a combination of various governance methods. 6) Methods of governance used at the level of policy implementation could change in the course of time. The concept proposed reflects the inter-coupling between the level of decision-making and a method of governance in the EU. It offers a consistent systematization of EU methods of governance, and discloses the correspondence between methods of governance and EU policies. Developed theoretical concept can be used as a methodological basis for the research of EU activities in particular policy areas, of decision-making process in the EU, of the evolution of governance in particular policy areas.

Co-operation in research in Europe introduction

The competitive landscape of air transport in Europe