EU Development Research Articles

The Green Economy in the Energy Transformation Process—Comparative Analysis of the European Union Member States

The article mainly examines spatial diversification of the green economy in EU countries in 2014 and 2021 in the context of the energy transformation process. In the theoretical part of the work, the green economy concept, with reference to the conditions of the green energy, was analyzed. The research procedure used in the article is based on multidimensional comparative analysis. The empirical verification was conducted using green economy indicators that are published periodically by the OECD and Eurostat. Based on 21 indicators, a synthetic green economy index was designed for 27 EU member states. In the selected set of detailed indicators, those related to green energy economy played an important role. This approach allowed for the creation of rankings and comparisons between EU countries in 2014 and 2021, i.e., the implementation period of the Europe 2020 Strategy. In this period, the priority areas of EU development were: the low-carbon economy, including the use of renewable energy sources and improvement of energy efficiency, as well as the introduction of eco-innovation. Green energy should be the basis for the functioning of highly developed countries and socio-economic progress in the case of developing countries. Based on the analysis, a large discrepancy in terms of green economy was observed in the examined countries. Particular attention was paid to disproportions in the area of green energy. The average value of the synthetic measure of the green economy in the EU countries increased in the studied years from 0.4488 to 0.4529, which can be interpreted as a slight acceleration in the greening processes. The added value of the research presented in the paper and its novelty is the analysis of the current patterns of green transformation in EU member states, with particular emphasis on energy factors.

Hydrogen: Prospects and Criticalities for Future Development and Analysis of Present EU and National Regulation

Hydrogen: Prospects and Criticalities for Future Development and Analysis of Present EU and National Regulation

Business Research and Development: Is there a Substitution Effect of Public Support?

The importance of research and development is reflected in the fact that one of the main priorities of the EU's development policies is increasing spending on research and development in EU member states (EC, 2010). Enterprises do not always have enough internal financial resources to launch their own innovation projects, and therefore they turn to external resource providers (Wang et al., 2016). The paper is aimed at examining the impact of corporate expenditures on R&D from the point of view of their funding sources and analysing the occurrence of the substitution effect of public support for R&D in EU 27 countries. These countries also have the highest level of public financing of research and development, that is, they use the public support of business innovations to the highest extent. The analysis showed that in the EU 27, the substitution effect of public support for research and development is not significant, or rather the complementarity of both types of expenditure prevails at the national level, as public funding of corporate research and development seems to have a positive effect on private research and development and investments. Our analysis is based on available secondary data for 27 EU member states. for a twenty-year observation period (2000-2020). The results have been achieved by using a methodology that includes cluster analysis, panel regression and correlation analysis. We bring new empirical evidence on the relationships between public support and business research and development expenditures. The research results showed the main sources of funding for corporate research and development. It concerns the business enterprises, government and abroad. The cluster analysis determined three clusters, divided according to the structure of the financing of R&D enterprises in EU countries. The results of the cluster analysis were partially in line with the current results of the European Innovation Review. Our findings provide policy implications for the public support policy.

From sectoral policy change to cross-sectoral (dis)integration? A longitudinal analysis of the EU's forest and rural development policy

Policy integration (PI) is critical to address cross-cutting challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss holistically. In the European Union, forests are confronting increasingly adverse climatic conditions and numerous stressors that impact their biodiversity. Political efforts to counteract these trends are mainly channeled through funding from the rural development policy as a pivotal part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In contrast, forest policy is hardly institutionalized at EU level. This study employs process tracing using 65 EU forest and rural development policy documents, including legal acts, preparatory documents, communications, related working documents and evaluation reports, predominantly produced over the last 25 years. By doing this, it examines the development of sectoral policy changes over time and their implications for the cross-sectoral integration of EU forest policy into rural development policy as part of agricultural policy at EU level. Results suggest that the adoption of the EU Forest Strategy for 2030 represented a provisional paradigm shift in EU forest policy. This shift is characterized by a substantial reprioritization of policy objectives, transitioning from an emphasis on economic aspects to a more climate- and biodiversity-centric approach, alterations in supported policy instruments and the introduction of various new regulatory instruments. On the other hand, the CAP and its rural development policy remain characterized by a path dependent incremental change and the latest reforms hardly reflect ambitious forest policy objectives both from budgetary and content perspectives. The findings suggest that the latest seemingly decoupled developments within both policy areas have led to an emergence of forest policy fragmentation at the EU level.

Blackmailing and Identity Profiling? The Behaviour of Populist Radical Right Governments in EU Development Policy

EU development policy has in recent years become more contested and politicised. One key factor driving this trend is the increasing influence of populist radical right parties (PRRPs). Previous studies have focused on PRRPs as opposition parties. This contribution breaks new ground by exploring the behaviour of PRRP-led governments in EU development policy. More specifically, the article analyses how and to what extent this behaviour is characterised by “unpolitics,” an approach to undermining EU policymaking. We define “cross-policy blackmailing” and “identity profiling” as two potential strategies of unpolitics in EU development policy and probe these in two case studies. The first case concerns the New European Consensus on Development and the second is the EU’s positioning in the negotiations and signing of the Samoa Agreement. In the first case, we find that PRRP-led governments fundamentally rejected the decision-making rules as well as the norms on migration, gender, and sexual and reproductive health rights, using a strategy of identity profiling. In the second case, PRRP-led governments significantly stalled the conclusion of the agreement by combining cross-policy blackmailing and identity profiling. Based on this analysis, we generalise on the scope conditions of unpolitics in EU development policy.

SPECIFICS OF THE EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY

The article deals with the current stage of EU development policy. The evolution of the EU aid system is retrospectively analyzed. Attention is also paid to the key EU documents wherein the principles of current development policy are set forth. The background the EU is delivering its aid against is outlined. It involves political and economic crises, competition with the «rising» donors, including China, discussions on strategic autonomy, rise of the far-right parties. The pivotal changes in EU development policy are investigated, which are a new financial instrument, geographical redistribution of ODA flows, introduction of the Team Europe and Global Gateway initiatives, substantive change to the EU normative power concept. EU development policy is revealed to be increasingly acquiring a tactical character, with the focus having shifted onto the neighborhood and EU mainstream issues. Aspiration to make the aid system more flexible to rapidly respond to crises is noted as well.

What Is the EU’s Vision of Democracy in the Post-Truth Scenario? A Conceptual Analysis of the Institutional Narratives of the Public Sphere in the “Democracy Action Plan”

Contributing to recent academic and public debates on how European democracies should respond to a scenario of “post-truth politics”, this article explores the idea of democracy that underlies current regulatory responses in the “European Democracy Action Plan” (EDAP). It offers a conceptual analysis of the institutional narratives in the EDAP illustrating normative expectations of the public sphere and transformations of the basic concepts in the European polity. It revisits the famous Habermasian systemic view of deliberation emphasizing the interconnections of the social and institutional realms through the public sphere in democracies. We argue that previous scholarship has focused too much on the presumed loss of consensus originated from the digital transformations in the public sphere without taking into consideration other institutional changes within the EU. The analysis of the key concepts illustrates the normative expectations of specific measures and shows that there is evidence of a systemic view in the EDAP, with different modes of intervention, partially coherent with Habermas' normative expectations. We conclude that the vision of democracy in the EDAP has been developed for decades to legitimate the EU's development and initiatives, but that it also incorporates a reformulation of some concepts justified by a post-truth scenario.

Trade and decoupling of fossil fuel use embedded in EU consumption

The EU is frequently recognised as a frontrunner in tackling climate change; however, this assessment primarily relies on production-based evaluations, overlooking the significant role of imports. We conduct a detailed consumption-based analysis of how EU consumption drives global fossil fuel use, combining input–output with structural decomposition analysis and the subsystem approach. We find that the embedded EU fossil fuel footprint has experienced a notable decline between 2000 and 2014, but at rates incompatible with 1.5 °C. We identify trade patterns to be an important upward driver of the EU footprint through intermediate production, also thwarting the impact of the energy transition with effects from changes outside the EU lagging within EU developments. Addressing these outsourcing patterns to more fossil fuel intense production could reduce the EU footprint by almost 20%. We find that more than 50% of fossil fuels embedded in imports are linked to indirect imports. Thus, we argue for the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to include indirect imports, particularly of electricity. Yet, given the problematic role of growth, even energy transition efforts along the global supply chain will likely need to be complemented by demand side measures, potentially entailing post-growth pathways.

Navigating governance with sticks, carrots, and sermons: Paving paths for sustainable development goals through local spatial planning

AbstractThe 2030 Agenda underscores the vital role of local authorities and civil society in implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs). Aligning with this agenda, the EU's spatial development framework imparts normative values, emphasizing sustainable territorial development, participatory governance, and multi‐level cooperation. This framework serves as a potential facilitator for spatial planning to ensure policy coherence in SDG implementation. Despite its potential, mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda through spatial planning encounters challenges, particularly navigating unresolved tensions between global SDG formulation and local ownership. These challenges are accentuated in countries with conformative planning systems and weak governance structures, requiring a specific methodological approach. To address these complexities, this study investigates the opportunities for leveraging SDGs within the multi‐level governance arena of spatial planning. Employing mixed quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods in a local planning context, the research explores key concerns arising from regional, national, and EU spatial development policies. The study delves into their potential leverage capacity for guiding and funding SDGs within a specific local context. Results suggest that using different policy mechanisms, spatial planning can better address the holistic nature of the 2030 Agenda. Although not all SDGs can be leveraged, a substantial part can be addressed whenever a broader multi‐level governance perspective is considered within local planning contexts.

REACHing for divergence?-UK chemical regulation post-Brexit.

On 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom formally exited the European Union (EU; Brexit) and ceased to be subject to EU chemical regulation requirements. Before Brexit, UK chemical policy was regulated largely by the EU. With its large internal market, sophisticated regulatory capability, and stringent regulatory framework, the EU has become the world's leading regulatory state, regularly influencing global industrial decisions and practices. At the time of writing, there has been limited academic analysis of the implications of Brexit for UK chemical regulation. More than twoyears post-Brexit, we have the opportunity to assess UK chemical regulation and revisit early expectations about regulatory divergence. This article takes the EU's Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as a case study to analyze patterns of post-Brexit regulatory divergence, thereby providing one of the first analyses of the implications of Brexit on UK chemical regulation. Through the analysis and review of key documents and reports (n = 99), this article assesses the extent to which UK and EU regulatory (REACH) regimes are beginning to diverge and discusses the potential implications of any divergence for the United Kingdom. We find that the UK and EU chemical regulatory regimes are now evolving independently and provide clear, empirical evidence of an emerging divergence in regulatory decisions, ambitions, and approaches. The evidence suggests that the United Kingdom is currently unable to keep pace with EU developments, lacking the capacity, expertise, and capability of its EU counterparts, raising the prospect of further divergence in the future. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1529-1538. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Influencing Aid Policy: Perceptions of How Member States Shape EU Development Cooperation

Influencing Aid Policy: Perceptions of How Member States Shape EU Development Cooperation

Конституційні принципи права Європейського Союзу

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of constitutional principles of law in the process of legitimization and functioning of the European Union. The author emphasizes the problems of practical implementation and application of constitutional principles at the supranational and national levels. It is noted that a condition for the EU's stable development is to ensure its legal homogeneity, which implies that the Member States must comply with the basic principles of the EU's functioning and the provisions of two constitutional acts - the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The article adopts a limited view of constitutionalism, which covers only those principles that regulate (a) the grounds for legitimacy at the level of the European Union and (b) the relationship between the supranational and national levels. These principles are: vesting of powers, subsidiarity, proportionality, institutional independence, and delegated sovereignty. The analysis of the five constitutional principles leads to the following conclusions: The Treaties on the European Union and the functioning of the European Union are not called a "constitution," but they have all the features of a codified body of constituent legal acts; the European Union is established as a federation, although in all respects it is a confederation, since the source of its legitimacy is the principles of delegation, subsidiarity and proportionality; the only direct source of legitimacy in the EU is the European Parliament, whose powers are still limited in certain areas due to the general EU restrictions on issues such as common taxation. The EU has a lot of potential power, despite the fact that the principle of delegation of powers aims to limit its powers to an exhaustive list of competences; a more effective and formalized platform for adopting laws in policy areas that intersect supranational and national levels is needed; the current system of providing national parliaments with reasoned opinions on draft legislation is rather limited to achieve a balance between the legitimacy of the Union and national legitimacy for powers that are actually exercised.

Financial development and renewable energy adoption in EU and ASEAN countries

The shift from carbon-based to green energy is pivotal in addressing climate change. However, this transition is expensive, and the availability of financing sources is a necessary precondition for the green transformation of the economy. We therefore examine the role of financial institutions and capital markets in facilitating this change, focusing on a heterogeneous sample of 32 EU and ASEAN countries covering the years 2000 to 2020. Our findings reveal a persistent preference by financial institutions and banks for carbon-intensive energy production, negatively impacting renewable energy consumption. Contrarily, developed capital markets demonstrate a positive influence on green energy initiatives, especially pronounced in EU countries. The results highlight a dichotomy in financial support for green energy transition. While traditional financial institutions lag in supporting renewable energy, developed capital markets show a positive effect for green energy production. Concluding, we advocate for an increasing financialization of renewable energy markets and enhanced regulatory support for banks and financial institutions in supporting renewable energy business models.

Development and Photoluminescence Properties of Dinuclear Eu(III)-β-Diketonates with a Branched Tetraphosphine Tetraoxide Ligand for Potential Use in LEDs as Red Phosphors

Development and Photoluminescence Properties of Dinuclear Eu(III)-β-Diketonates with a Branched Tetraphosphine Tetraoxide Ligand for Potential Use in LEDs as Red Phosphors

COVID-19 as a critical juncture for EU development policy? Assessing the introduction and evolution of “Team Europe”

ABSTRACT This contribution analyses to what extent the EU’s external response to the COVID-19 pandemic, communicated under the label ‘Team Europe’, represents a critical juncture for the EU’s development policy in terms of creating conditions for institutional change. As an area of shared competence, EU development policy processes predominantly seek to strengthen cooperation between the EU and its member states whilst respecting their respective competencies. Such initiatives have lacked success due to member states’ resistance towards strengthened coordination, let alone integration. By contrast, the Team Europe approach promoted the pooling of choices and resources of EU institutions and member states and strengthened the frequency and political importance of enhanced cooperation. The article identifies the European Commission’s policy entrepreneurship, the alignment with member states’ interests, low levels of politicisation and broader contextual geopolitical changes as key explanatory factors influencing more favourable attitudes aimed at and prospects for closer cooperation as promoted by Team Europe.

Third-Country Regime and Equivalence: The Swiss Perspective

This paper discusses the role of the third-country regime and equivalence from the Swiss perspective. It provides an analysis of the evolution of the Swiss approach. The various reactions to EU developments have ranged from the attempt to implement a reciprocity principle, to the resort to unilateral recognition. An overarching purpose of the Swiss equivalence framework has consisted of the relentless pursuit of a competitiveness objective. Yet the decline of equivalence as a market access mechanism has led to favouring other market access routes. This paper concludes that the recent reforms have initiated a roadmap towards an increasing autonomy of Swiss financial market law.

CFE Helsinki Tax Conference 2023: Summary Report on “Evolution or Devolution in the EU State Aid Judicial Practice and Impact of Digitalisation on Tax Practice”

In this note, the authors review the key points discussed at the CFE Professional Affairs Conference 2023 held in Helsinki, Finland on 21 September 2023, including enforcement of EU (State aid) law vis-à-vis aggressive tax planning practices, tax administration 3.0 and the current and expected developments in EU and international tax policy.

Limitation periods in consumer disputes

This contribution analyzes the court's ex officio obligations in consumer disputes regarding the statute of limitations within the Council Directive 93/13/EEC framework on unfair terms in consumer contracts and current legislation. It also considers recent case law developments. The statute of limitations aims to allow debtors to contest or confirm debts that they may not recall or that are disputed. However, the legislation infringes upon debtor autonomy by mandating protection, creating an asymmetry between suppliers and consumers. The concept of procedural protection for the weaker party in consumer disputes aligns with the EU's internal market's sustainable development. The court's ex officioconsideration of limitations is crucial in achieving this goal. Slovakia's entry into the EU led to adopting procedural protection measures, exceeding minimum harmonization standards, and fulfilling international obligations. Slovak civil legislation reflects the inequality between consumers and suppliers, resulting in specific substantive law derogations to address this disparity. Including a protective ex officio statute of limitations in consumer, disputes represent a baseline for consumer protection in civil court proceedings, offsetting debtor information deficits. This analysis reveals the coexistence of two fundamental principles in civil litigation: equality of parties and protection of the weaker party in consumer disputes. The court's ex officio approach upholds the principle of safeguarding the weaker party and enhances equality in dispute resolution. In conclusion, introducing an ex officio court obligation to apply the statute of limitations in consumer litigation guarantees consumer protection and is necessary to ensure weaker litigants' fundamental human right to a fair trial.

Development of Eu (III)-β-Diketonates with Different Phosphine Oxide-Structures and their LED Applications

Development of Eu (III)-β-Diketonates with Different Phosphine Oxide-Structures and their LED Applications

Europe’s Global Gateway: A New Instrument of Geopolitics

In December 2021, the EU member states agreed on the Global Gateway strategy to mobilize public and private funds of up to €300 billion between 2021 and 2027, to invest in digital, climate and energy, transport, health, education, and research fields. With a geographical focus on Africa, Global Gateway links infrastructure investment projects with condition principles—including democratic values, good governance, and transparency—and catalyzes private investment into EU development financing. Against this backdrop, this study explores why EU member states agreed on this new geopolitical instrument. This piece posits that the confluence of three factors enabled the creation of Global Gateway. First, the EU established this new instrument to counter China’s role as a global infrastructure lender in Africa. Second, Global Gateway was possible through the shift to private investment in multilateral development financing. Equally important for the establishment of Global Gateway was the European Commission’s transformational leadership as an entrepreneurial agent in designing this geopolitical strategy of the EU’s power projection. The conclusion outlines future research avenues and enables readers to consider the wider prospects and caveats of the Global Gateway strategy.