European Economic Integration Research Articles

Современные особенности и тенденции развития европейского экономического и валютного союза

One of the key aspects of modern global economic development is the deepening of the systemic economic crisis in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This article examines the current characteristics and trends in the development of EMU. The relevance of the research is due to the need to study the problems and risks arising in the process of European integration at the present stage. The aim of this work is to identify, analyze and assess the current characteristics and trends of development of the European Economic and Monetary Union. The research methodology includes structuring, comparison, generalization, systemic, eco-nomic, institutional, logical, statistical analysis, as well as the use of induction, deduction and synthesis. The results of the study are analysis and assessment of the features and flaws of European economic integration and the systematization of negative trends leading to a weakening of the EMU’s position in the global econo-my.

Foreign investors, firm level productivity, and European economic integration

Using a comprehensive sample of listed and unlisted firms from 34 European countries, we study firm-level manufacturing outcomes conditioned on foreign investment, country characteristics, and EU membership. Higher foreign ownership is associated with higher productivity but lower employment, particularly when the host or source country is an EU member and scores high on disclosure and investor protection, and low on corruption. We confirm our interpretation using staggered EU accession dates and industry-level external financial dependence interacted with a financial crisis. The subset of Eastern European countries appears to benefit from foreign investment and EU accession without losing jobs. Nevertheless, manufacturing outcomes associated with survey findings on public sentiment towards globalization and migration confirm the social and political costs of globalization.

Uncovering regional typologies in Europe in terms of interregional and intraregional direct investment flows

Information regarding direct investment flows across European space is scarce, and in most of the cases at the national level. Such a scarcity limits the capacity to undertake the required analyses and to derive the corresponding conclusions on the interrelations among European regions. This is especially so considering that Europe is gradually moving from a “space of States” to a “State of spaces” and from a “space of places’’ to a “space of flows’’. In a nutshell, the pure essence of the European economic integration process is the gradual “thinning” and “melting” of (the artificial) border impediments. Thus, as the process of European economic integration is in full swing, European territories have been experiencing a period of unprecedented change, being transformed into integral parts of the European economic space. The paper uncovers regional typologies in Europe in terms of interregional and intraregional (NUTS 2 level) direct investment flows in year 2018, the year prior to the eruption of the COVID19 pandemic. To this end, the paper compiles an O-D matrix for interregional and intraregional direct investment flows in Europe, constructs tailor-made clustering indicators and employs the k-means clustering technique.

The Politics and Policies of European Economic Integration, 1850–1914 by Yaman Kouli and Léonard Laborie (review)

The Politics and Policies of European Economic Integration, 1850–1914 by Yaman Kouli and Léonard Laborie (review)

EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF TRANSFORMATION OF ANTI-CORRUPTION LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

The article reveals the epistemological context of transformations of anti-corruption legal requirements in the conditions of European economic integration of Ukraine. It has been established that the elimination of the dominance of human defects by the tools of legislation and law enforcement practices becomes effective when the reproducible knowledge reflects the scientific awareness. The subject of knowledge is the whole complex of issues of fostering the manifestation of good virtues and their suppression. Otherwise, both economic reproduction and economic progress are excluded. For Ukraine, both processes now depend on an understanding of the respective progressive solutions that the highly developed nations of the EU have to offer. In fact, integration into the EU is historically determined and currently historically inevitable, and therefore requires meaningful dynamic transformations of domestic legislation. The most urgent direction of these transformations requires interdisciplinary knowledge related to the fight against corruption and its minimisation. It has been established that the epistemological context of the creation and application of anti-corruption legal norms consists of scientifically proven, comprehensive knowledge about the mechanism of neutralisation of corruption by means of coercion and stimulation. The methodology of gaining knowledge through human consciousness involves the use of logical resources, namely 1) rational conclusions of formal logic; 2) contradictions and patterns of dialectical logic; 3) actions and events of historical logic; 4) artefacts of art logic. The truth of knowledge, verified by these means of reasoning and empirical experience, is then partly expressed by mathematical and linguistic symbols, and the rest is conveyed in an intuitive way. The understanding of that which does not fit into the forms of words and numbers is done mentally and sensitively. At this point, it should be emphasised that the praxeological dimension of pure epistemology requires taking into account the characteristics of the cognitive subjects of a specific social community. This requirement extends the scientist's sphere of responsibility beyond epistemology and involves mastering knowledge of its historical determinants. It is concluded that the teleological attitudes of the Ukrainian nation include the study of the values of European nations, which have united for the purpose of economic well-being. Integration into the EU requires knowledge of the mechanisms for combating human vices, eliminating corrupt distortions and using human virtues in EU structures. Regional civilisational stratification persists due to both intra-national and international dishonesty. Accordingly, global integration based on fundamentally unified legal standards requires the elimination of counterproductive factors at both levels of social communication. The focus of attention on good virtues is determined differently from the existing configuration of national associations. Economic and other issues of cultural heritage are first a consequence and then a cause of the manifestation of good virtues. At the same time, military alliances confirm the deep ideological contradictions of nations. This shows the denial of the possibility of creating a global union of nations based on the manifestation in legal reality of the good virtues of its members. It is on the basis of the legal manifestation of the degree of virtue that nations and their associations are formed in the modern world.

Correction to: Book Review: Fiscal Unions: Economic Integration in Europe and the United States, by Tomasz Wozniakowski

Correction to: Book Review: Fiscal Unions: Economic Integration in Europe and the United States, by Tomasz Wozniakowski

Towards a post-neoliberal mode of European economic integration? A regulationist critique of the failing forward-approach

In light of the Euro crisis and disintegrative tendencies, recent approaches in European integration research increasingly emphasise constraints and crises of integration, most prominently elaborated in the so-called failing forward-approach. However, we argue that this approach is significantly limited in understanding both the nature of crises and the potential breadth of current ruptures in European economic integration. Based on regulation theory, we develop an alternative and more encompassing account of how different periods and modes of integration emerged as a response to crises but simultaneously unleashed new crisis tendencies. More specifically, we detail how the specific and asymmetric Europeanisation of forms of regulation provided a response to the crisis of the Fordist mode of development but concomitantly set the scene for the Euro crisis to emerge. This triggered a partial reconfiguration of the post-Fordist, neoliberal European mode of regulation since 2010, without, however, substantially addressing its underlying crisis tendencies. Against this background, and in the face of mounting geopolitical rivalries and the climate crisis, we analyse significant ruptures in the neoliberal mode of regulation in the EU currently underway, namely in the area of the regulation of the wage relation (European Minimum Wage Directive, Posting of Workers Directive), fiscal policy (NextGenerationEU, reform of the Stability and Growth Pact) as well as in the regulation of competition (strategic industrial policy, relaxation of competition law). Together, and although it seems too early to discern a ‘post-neoliberal’ mode of development, these ruptures indicate a significant departure from the neoliberal mode of European economic integration.

Fiscal Unions: Economic Integration in Europe and the United States, by Tomasz Wozniakowski

<i>Fiscal Unions: Economic Integration in Europe and the United States</i>, by Tomasz Wozniakowski

Теоретичні джерела соціальної держави

The growing demand of the Ukrainian society to “reboot” the state actualizes the rethinking of the sources and content of the theory of the social state for the scientific justification of the post-war recovery, transformation of the economy and the socio-humanitarian space of Ukraine. The article aims to reveal the genesis of the theoretical concept of the social state and its economic interpretation based on the assessment and generalization of the assets of socio-economic thought in this area. Chronological boundaries cover the period from the birth of the ideas of a socially oriented state (XV–XVI centuries) to forming a coherent theory in the second half of the XX century. The methods of hermeneutics, comparative analysis and structural-logical synthesis are used. The results. The idea of a socially oriented state was born in the late Middle Ages. The supreme power’s social justice and economic efficiency were determined by the ability to ensure the public good. John Locke substantiated the concept of private property as a necessary prerequisite for civil society and the contractual interpretation of the powers of the state. The idea of building a state that regulates public life was established in the 18th century. F. Prokopovich defined the principle of public good as the basis for creating a “regular state”. The ruler’s power should be limited by law and aimed at ensuring the people’s education, security and welfare. Lorenz von Stein combined legal regulation and social orientation through the term “social state”. Representatives of the social direction in economic theory specified the regulation mechanisms of social and economic relations. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries a view of the state as a corporate union was formed. In the 20th century, the theory of the minimal state gained popularity as the opposite of statism. At the same time, implementing the concepts of the social state and the social market economy based on neoliberalism became the basis of the booming post-war reconstruction of Germany, the revival of Western Europe and the development of European economic integration. Conclusions. The synthesized concept of the social state results from a long process of development of scientific thought regarding interpreting the unity of the state, law and economy. The rule of law is the institutional basis and a prerequisite for building a social state. The economic basis of the welfare state is a socially oriented market economy. This direction is attractive for Ukraine when choosing a vector and defining the main features of the future institutional model of the economy.

Ecolinguistic Approach to Overcoming the Linguistic Inequality in Spain (by the Example of the Language Situation in Russia)

The problem of preserving and protecting the native language today is relevant in a multinational and polyconfessional state in today’s era of globalisation and European economic integration. The purpose of the article is to examine the internal destruction of the linking function of a single official language, to analyze the discriminatory status of the Spanish language in modern Spain, to predict the consequences of such a language policy and to carry out a comparative analysis of the language situation in Spain and Russia. The object of the study is the Spanish language as the official language of the Kingdom of Spain and its role, significance and functions in the regions of the country, reflecting the political processes of recent decades. Comparative, historical and typological approaches are used, as well as the methods of observation, analysis and modeling. The author investigates the causes of the linguistic inequality in Spain and states the negative consequences of the language policy pursued by the government. Practical recommendations have been developed to overcome the current problems in the country’s language policy, based on the example of Russia.

Domestic Savings and International Capital Flows in the EU

This paper uses new statistical estimates to test for effects of economic integration in Europe on international capital mobility. In a world of perfect capital mobility, one should experience little or not statistically significant relationship between the amount of domestic savings and domestic investment. Alternatively, under less-than perfect capital international mobility, diverse portfolio preferences and country-specific transactions costs would create impediments for long-term capital flows. This would result in direct connection between any changes (increases) in domestic savings and domestic investment. According to empirical results of a similar empirical study by Feldstein and Horioka (1980) for developed countries (including some of current EU members included in this investigation), there were portfolio preferences and institutional rigidities, which resulted in almost equal corresponding differences in domestic investment rates driven by domestic savings rates among major industrial countries.&#x0D; The current study tests for capital mobility in the EU Member States (2010-2020) discussing compatibility of findings with previous evidence found in the literature (Feldstein and Horioka 1980). It also addresses the optimal national savings policy, tax incidence and concludes on capital formation in the EU.

Evaluación del plan de armonización fiscal en la Unión Europea

Study of Political Economy, Public Finance and European Economic Integration on the tax harmonizationplan of the European Union. It is based on the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the EconomicAnalysis of Law, in order to analyze the European tax harmonization process. In addition to analyzing ques-tions of incentives, efficiency and institutional quality, special attention is paid to the problems of attributionof powers in the European system and the different existing levels of tax pressure and effort in the MemberStates. This study will also analyze the European Commission’s latest proposal on taxation, which aims toachieve tax uniformity, combat tax abuse and put an end to unfair competition practices within the Europeaneconomic-legislative framework. These initiatives are particularly important in the current socio-economiccontext, when new ways of financing the post-Covid recovery fund, curbing the inflation that has beenlatent in recent months and dealing with the negative externalities that the conflict between Russia andUkraine may produce are being studied. All this is completed with a proposal for the feasibility of fiscalfederalism.

European Economy and Institutional Liberalism: Post-War Reconstruction of Ukraine

Institutional liberalism, despite the strong criticisms it has received, has emerged as an important hermeneutic theory, especially in the periods of Post-War Reconstruction. The intense activity of the World Bank, the IMF, the EBRD, the UNDP, the European Investment Bank, the BSIC, but also of individual states, Britain, Italy, Poland, and others, in direct cooperation and coordination with international and European organizations for the reconstruction of Ukraine, confirms the explanatory value of institutional liberalism, since the policies of international and European organizations strengthen future expectations, build partnerships and useful connections between actors, and create incentives for further actions. Against the realist version of international relations, where states behave arbitrarily, the logic of post-war reconstruction comes to affirm the social utility of institutional liberalism, with hope for a society of reconciliation and cooperation. European economic integration, a historical product of a long process of cooperation and development, offers, once again, the model of post-war reconstruction.

Banking Union in the EU – Essence, Reasons for Establishment, Pillars, Effects and Challenges

The study examines the origination of the economic integration in Europe and the path towards the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union. The reasons for the establishment of the Banking Union, its nature and structure are explored through applying the system analysis. The main pillars of the Banking Union, their degree of completion, the bodies responsible for the performance of their main functions and the effects sought from their functioning are presented. The main challenges facing the Banking Union, the priority areas for development and the expected benefits of completing its main elements with a view to achieving a stronger Economic and Monetary Union in Europe are outlined.

Multi-country modelling at the commission of the European communities: Centralised and decentralised approaches

Since the early days of the European economic and monetary integration, European institutions have faced policy challenges requiring an assessment of the economic interdependencies across countries and the spillover effects of national policies. Some of these challenges have been addressed by developing multi-country models. By looking at the origins of multi-country modelling, we highlight the existence of a long-standing dilemma: the choice between the “centralized” approach, relying on homogeneous specifications of national economies and the “decentralized” approach, which “links” heterogeneous pre-existing national models. This article documents the debates over these two approaches, as the dilemma was confronted by macroeconomists working for the Directorate General of Economic and Financial Affairs (“DG II”) in the 1970s and 1980s. We explore the intellectual and institutional reasons that brought DG II to follow the decentralized approach for their first in-house multi-country model (“EUROLINK”), and later caused it to abandon this model in favour of a centralized approach. We also document the innovative solutions proposed by European economists to model trade linkages across countries, and their struggle with formalizing financial flows. Overall, this case study sheds light on the issues at stake when modelling economic interdependencies.

François Perroux on European integration: “L’application aveugle d’une ‘orthodoxie”

In the debate for and against European integration economists had an important part in so far as from the beginning European integration took on an essentially economic connotation. Among them Francois Perroux had a rather original position: he based his critique of European economic integration on a series of analytical tools that he developed in his critical reflection on the limits of a part of the dominant economic theory. The link between Perroux’s criticism of neoclassical economics and his position on European integration is particularly interesting because it makes Perroux’s position original and provocative among the various reflections on Europe and it gives us some important hints to further reflect on the role of economic theory and especially on the important tie between economic theory and policy.

Catastrophic Consequences of Spain’s Language Policy against the Background of Russia’s Language Policy

Introduction. The problem of preserving and protecting the native language today is one of the main ones facing any people thinking about their future in the conditions of globalization, European economic integration and a modern multinational and multi-confessional state. The purpose of this article is to examine the internal processes of the destruction of the status of a single official language as a link between the country and the analysis of the discriminatory status of the Spanish language in modern Spain and the prediction of the consequences of such discrimination of language policy, as well as a comparative analysis of the language situation in Spain and Russia. Materials and Methods. This section specifies what has served as material for the analysis and describes the research techniques used. The object of the study is the Spanish language as the official language of the Kingdom of Spain, its role and its changes in the regions in the process of political processes over the past decades. Comparative- historical and typological research methods are used, as well as methods of observation, analysis, modeling. Results. This is the main section, which aims to confirm or reject a working hypothesis (or hypotheses) by means of analysis, synthesis and elucidation of data. The reasons for the unbalanced state of the language situation in Spain, as well as the negative consequences of the language policy pursued by the government, are analyzed. Practical recommendations have been developed to overcome the existing critical problems in the field of the country's language policy, based on the Russian example. Discussion and Conclusion. In this part, the results are to be briefly summarized and the main directions for further research indicated. The results presented in the article contribute to the scientific understanding of the problem of the status of the state official language in modern Spain. They contribute to the development of awareness of the seriousness and danger of the problem. If we Spaniards do not realize the seriousness of what is happening and do not force the government, the opposition and all legitimate parties to respond to this critical situation, then the future of the Spanish language and the Spaniards themselves in Spain seems pessimistic, since we will be foreigners in our beautiful country.

유럽통합은 무역의 중력을 어떻게 변화시키는가?

Purpose – This study examines whether the influence of the gravity model after economic integration is strengthened or weakened by variables through trade volume between the EU and eurozone member states. Design/Methodology/Approach – We analyzed the effect of economic integration of the EU and the Eurozone through the gravity equation, the result generally supports the basic assumptions of a gravity model. Findings – As economic integration goes deeper, the trade-creation effect becomes larger. In particular, in the case of the Eurozone, which even achieved monetary integration, the trade-creation effect increased dramatically compared to the intra-regional trade of EU member states. In European economic integration, the economic scale effect to increase trade volume weakened, and the distance effect, which decreases trade volume, became stronger. Research Implications – When economic integration deepens, the trade volume between member countries increases dramatically, and it can be especially advantageous when member countries are geographically close, or are located in the center of other membership countries. However, trade volume decreased by the distance effect is smaller compared to the degree of trade creation within economic integration, and it was found that the European integration acts favorably on trade creation for its member countries.

Connectedness structure of Pan-European Equity REITs

ABSTRACT This paper examines the interconnectedness among European equity REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) due to increased financialization of the real estate sector and European economic integration. It uses two models, Diebold and Yilmaz's generalised variance decomposition and Barunik and Krehlik's time-frequency dynamics framework. The study covers a sample of 42 Pan-European REITs over a 15-year period from 2004 to 2018 and finds that the connectedness among REITs is influenced by the geographical location and performance of commercial real estate sub-sectors. The dynamic analysis shows that the source of shocks does not determine the persistence, but rather how the markets interpret the shocks during high-frequency intervals. The paper concludes that the connectedness structure among REITs reflects uncertainty interaction, with some effects observed mainly at high frequency levels, and few unexpected shocks found in the long-term stability of REIT returns.

Cross-Border Provision of Services: Case Study in the Slovak Republic

The European Union places great emphasis on removing obstacles within its internal market, which is considered a fundamental pillar of European economic integration. By way of legal acts, the conditions for the functioning freedoms of the internal market are harmonized in all EU Member States. In our study, we focus on freedom to provide services, in order to clarify the system and conditions for providing cross-border services and to identify concrete entities providing this kind of services in Slovakia. The subject of the study is the provision of services by foreign entities in the territory of the Slovak Republic, who have already obtained authorization to perform the services on the territory of their Member State of establishment in accordance with Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (OJ L 376, 27 December 2006, pp. 36–68). At the same time, the study also focuses on the system of taxation of cross-border services. Based on facts and data obtained from the Register of Cross-border Services, we have identified areas of providing cross-border services in Slovakia. In our study, we have applied the methods of comparative analysis, legal research, the study of literature, and the decisions of the EU Court of Justice. The study also includes clarification of the concept of cross-border provision of services.