EU Agenda Research Articles

The continuing significance of the council of the EU presidency for small states: agenda setting or painting-by-numbers?

ABSTRACT While not uncontested, it is an oft-quoted assumption that the Presidency of the Council of the EU gives member states a unique opportunity to influence the EU agenda and to parachute national priorities onto the Brussels’ stage, an assumption which is even more pronounced in the small state literature. This article seeks to test this assumption by undertaking a content analysis of the presidency of two of the Union’s smallest states, namely Cyprus and Malta. Taking these presidencies from 2012 (Cyprus) and 2017 (Malta), we undertake a content analysis which determines which of the items listed in the priorities and programme of each presidency overlap with items listed in Commission, European Council and Parliament documents which predated these presidencies. From this content analysis, we discover that the overriding feature is that the vast bulk of items can be traced to earlier, EU documents and that only a small number of issues appear to be truly unique to either presidency. Based on those unique items, we then undertake a qualitative discussion to assess whether the Presidency still remains, post-Lisbon Treaty, a unique opportunity for placing items on the EU’s agenda which are niche issues, of political or economic importance to the country.

Poslovno pravo i pravo održivog razvoja – između profitabilnosti i etičnosti

As for applying the knowledge from EU law, the author points out two tendencies affecting company law in the context of sustainability. The first one is the legal duty of the companies to incorporate the statement of purpose, which is no longer limited to profit. The second one is the corporate duty of care in line with ESG standards as well as the corporate purpose. It is an integral part of a company’s business and culture. Having in mind French, German or Dutch law, directors are expected to promote long-term business success, to take care of the open list of stakeholders’ interests and to apply corporate due diligence standards. Thought leaders, however, generally describe ESG as a business strategy that creates long-term stakeholder value by addressing social, economic, and environmental opportunities and risks that are material to a company. Preservation as well as environmental protection is one of the biggest challenges that modern generations will have to face. The term green transition has been coined as an expression of the efforts to ensure the transition to a sustainable business model in order to preserve the ecosystem and the planet as such. Non-financial reporting plays a very important role in the green transition process. Integral part of the EU agenda remains the discussion about corporate directors’ duties in the context of human rights as well as environmental risks. There is no doubt that the key word of the new corporate governance paradigm is risk.

Overlooking digital collusion risks in the EU's agenda for a single European data space(s)

ABSTRACT The EU aims to drive the data and platform economy by establishing a single European Data Space(s) vision, envisioning it as a catalyst for innovation, novel services, enhanced competition and consumer welfare. It involves implementing existing and forthcoming horizontal and sectorial data-sharing laws to overcome technical, legal, and ethical barriers to (personal and non-personal) data access and achieve specific data-driven policy targets. The initial spaces will cover nine economic sectors, few established and others in development. The study assesses the possible oversight of competition law collusion concerns in these initiatives, using the example of the EU Mobility Data Space (EMDS). By employing competition law qualitative doctrinal methods, it emphasizes the risks of digital collusion within these EU-wide open data frameworks, and it indicates that they could severely harm one or several parameters of competition. It concludes by offering policy recommendations to prevent or minimize collusion risks for the EMDS and suggests further research in other sectors.

The principle of adequate social protection in the European Pillar of Social Rights: Assessing the instruments used to realise its potential

Improving the social security protection of atypical workers has been high on the EU agenda in recent years. With the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights in 2017, the EU wished to break away from a decade of austerity measures. The EU further developed the right to adequate social protection in the Pillar through the Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed. This instrument urges EU Member States to ensure adequate access to social protection for workers, regardless of their employment relationship, and the self-employed. As part of the EU's recovery strategy during and after the Covid-19 crisis, several financial instruments were developed to support EU Member States. Through the Temporary Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency, EU Member States received support for job retention schemes. The EU also adopted the Recovery Resilience Facility, which provided grants and loans. Another support instrument was the European Social Fund Plus. This article discusses those recent EU initiatives, focusing on unemployment and the protection of atypical workers and the self-employed. With the introduction of the European Employment Strategy (1997), a closer link was made at EU level between unemployment, increasing labour market participation and activation measures. Less attention was paid to ensuring adequate unemployment protection. In recent years, however, it appears that the EU has been playing an increasing role in providing funding for temporary support and in introducing changes to EU Member States’ policies.

Ecosystem services potential is declining across European capital metropolitan areas

Ecosystem services (ES) are essential to sustainable development at multiple spatial scales. Monitoring ES potential (ESP) at the metropolitan level is imperative to sustainable cities. We developed a procedure for long-term monitoring of metropolitan ESP dynamics, utilizing open-source land use land cover (LULC) data and the expert matrix method. We compared the ESP results of 38 European Capital Metropolitan Areas (ECMA) regarding biodiversity integrity, drinking water provision, flood protection, air quality, water purification, and recreation & tourism. Our results show significant declines in ESP across ECMA due to LULC alteration between 2006, 2012, and 2018. We found that ECMA in post-socialist European countries like Poland (Warszawa) have experienced high rates of land use transformation with a remarkable impact on ESP. Surprisingly, we found that Fennoscandinan ECMA, like Helsinki, Stockholm, and Oslo which lead the cumulative ESP ranking, faced the ESP reduction of the highest impact in recent years. The correlation analysis of ESP dynamics to urban expansion and population growth rates suggests that inattentive urbanization processes impact ESP more than population growth. We unveil the implications of our results to the EU and global level agendas like the European Nature Conservation Law and the Sustainable Development Goals.

How to make EU enlargement work? A grass-roots approach to strategic preparations

Enlargement is back on the EU agenda. Leaders have broken long-established foreign policy taboos by green-lighting accession talks with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, and by awarding EU candidate country status to Georgia. This bold step has elevated the expectations of the existing candidate countries, instilling renewed optimism in the Western Balkans Six. At the same time, the EU has recognised the need to carry out its own reforms to be prepared to integrate potentially 10 new member states. However, given the complexities of EU institutional reform, coupled with the uncertain political context, expectations of EU enlargement may lead to disillusionment. This article argues that the EU should not tie its progress on institutional reform too closely to its enlargement policy and that it needs to take a grass-roots approach to enlargement. It should focus on strengthening horizontal cooperation, enhancing efficiency and increasing public involvement in the EU enlargement process.

Can failure be useful in policymaking? The case of EU equal pay policy

Although equal pay for equal work between women and men is a founding principle of the European Union, enshrined in the Treaties since 1957, the gender pay gap stands at 12.7 per cent in 2021 and has only changed minimally for two decades. This article explores a policymaking paradox: the EU equal pay policy seems unaffected by failure, on the contrary, failure seems to contribute to the legitimisation of the policy. The article asks how and why a policy implementation failure framing has been developed in the field of EU equal pay promotion? What is the political function of this framing and what is its impact on the EU policymaking process? Over the years, the EU equal pay policy has been associated with a repeated experience of implementation failure. This failure framing has been particularly present in the debates over the implementation of the 2006 Recast Directive, especially since this frame has been impelled by the quantitative and symbolic strength of the gender pay gap’s percentage. The article shows that this framing performed important functions. From a policymaking perspective, the implementation failure framing allowed the gender equality policy community to keep the issue firmly on the EU agenda and to ride out the dismantling storm. The article also shows that the analytical definition of what constitutes a policy failure should be more nuanced. To conclude, the article asks if this type of failure framing can continue to produce results in an increasingly polarised context such as that of gender equality.

Overlooking Digital Collusion Risks in the EU's Agenda for a Single European Data Space(s)

Overlooking Digital Collusion Risks in the EU's Agenda for a Single European Data Space(s)

The EU’s human security based approach towards energy poverty

The phenomenon of energy poverty shows that energy issues, traditionally linked with international, regional, and national levels of analysis, have wider economic and political causes that are being manifested at the community and individual levels as well. Latest energy crisis across the European continent, coped with some structural factors such are resource scarcity, energy transition, and war between Russia and Ukraine, emphasized individualistic consequences of the ongoing energy processes. The fact that approximately 42 million people in the EU are affected by energy poverty put the phenomenon of the energy poverty very high at the EU agenda. Clear connection of this topic with human security concept made the phenomenon of energy poverty justifiable to be analysed from the people-centred perspective. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to highlight human security approach as a solid framework for understanding and analysis of the energy poverty phenomenon in the EU. Review of the significant academic knowledge base on this phenomenon, secondary data analysis from the relevant European surveys related to this issue, and analysis of adequate EU policies and practices combating energy poverty will serve to outline state-of-playwhen it comes to the energy poverty and human security nexus at the EU level.

Ireland’s Foreign Relations in 2022

This review examines Ireland’s foreign relations in 2022. As Ireland emerged from the final period of Covid pandemic restrictions it faced an unstable world. Russia’s illegal escalation of its war in Ukraine would be the main focus of Ireland’s engagement with the world. The EU agenda was dominated by the response to the conflict and Ireland demonstrated solidarity with its partners. 2022 was also the second and final year of Ireland’s membership of the UN Security Council and saw Ireland take up the Presidency of the Council of Europe. Relations with the UK were strained by ongoing tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol, not helped by political instability at Westminster. The review outlines how Ireland managed its foreign relations in this period and concludes by noting some significant deaths during the year.

Curbing methane emissions from Italian cattle farms. An agroeconomic modelling simulation of alternative policy tools

Methane (CH4) emissions from cattle farms have been prioritised on the EU agenda, as shown by recent legislative initiatives. This study employs a supply-side agroeconomic model that mimics the behaviour of heterogeneous individual farms to simulate the application of alternative economic policy instruments to curb CH4 emissions from Italian cattle farms, as identified by the 2020 Farm Accountancy Data Network survey. Simulations consider increasing levels of a tax on each tonne of CH4 emitted or of a subsidy paid for each tonne of CH4 curbed with respect to the baseline. Individual marginal abatement costs are also derived. Besides, to consider possible technological options to curb emissions, a mitigation strategy is simulated, with different levels of costs and benefits to appraise the potential impacts on the sector.Relevant reductions in operating income are foreseen, the most substantial in farm types and size classes characterised by lower levels of carbon productivity. The introduction of the mitigation strategy shows that the outcome in terms of mitigation potential, without undermining production level, highly depends on the implementation costs, but can also vary widely due to heterogeneous farms’ economic performances. Policy implications are also derived.

Problems chasing missing solutions: the politics of placing emigration on the EU agenda

ABSTRACT Despite emigrations’ adverse impacts on several EU Member States, especially in Central Eastern Europe, topics like brain drain and depopulation have received relatively little attention at EU level compared to concerns associated with free movement and immigration. This article offers an answer to why this is so. Drawing on agenda-setting theory, it argues that the institutional framework of the EU both inhibits and disincentivises attempts to turn emigration into an EU level topic. Seen through the lens of the EU policy, regulating emigration becomes a matter of cohesion policy, which makes it both difficult and unattractive to lobby. To assess the argument empirically, the article draws on elite interviews with national and EU policymakers and document analysis from 2010 to 2023. The analysis reveals a structural bias of the EU and offers an example of how pertinent political issues fail to become EU topics.

The Politics of the European Minimum Wage: Overcoming Ideological, Territorial and Institutional Conflicts in the EU Multi‐level Arena

AbstractUntil recently, the idea of a European minimum wage (EMW) policy had never taken concrete shape, due to the heterogeneity of national wage‐setting and collective bargaining institutions, uncertain EU competence on the matter, and widespread scepticism amongst political actors. In 2022, however, the EU adopted a directive on adequate minimum wages. How did this make it to the EU agenda, despite the many political, territorial and institutional tensions? What coalitions supported and opposed it? Based on a reconstruction of the policy process substantiated by an analysis of news media data and 14 interviews, this article investigates the multi‐level politics of the EMW. It shows that, despite enduring ‘euro‐social scepticism’ in northern Europe, the emergence of pro‐minimum wage coalitions in key member states and the increase of party‐competition dynamics at the EU level were crucial in overcoming the lines of conflict that had long hindered EU initiatives on minimum wage co‐ordination.

The Impact of Shipping on Air Quality in the Port Cities of the Mediterranean Area: A Review

Shipping emissions contribute significantly to air pollution at the local and global scales and will do so even more in the future because global maritime transport volumes are projected to increase. The Mediterranean Sea contains the major routes for short sea shipping within Europe and between Europe and East Asia. For this reason, concern about maritime emissions from Mediterranean harbours has been increasing on the EU and IMO (International Maritime Organization, London, UK) agenda, also supporting the implementation of a potential Mediterranean Emission Control Area (MedECA). Many studies are concerned with the impact of ship emissions in port cities. Studies of the contributions of ship emissions to air quality at the local scale include several monitoring and modelling techniques. This article presents a detailed review of the contributions of ship emissions of NO2, SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 on air quality in the main ports in the Mediterranean area. The review extracts and summarises information from published research. The results show a certain variability that suggests the necessity of harmonisation among methods and input data in order to compare results. The analysis illustrates the effects of this pollution source on air quality in urban areas, which could be useful for implementing effective mitigation strategies.

The EU's Combating Antisemitism Policy: Agenda Setting and the Making of a ‘European Polity’

AbstractAntisemitism was on the rise after 9/11, yet, until 2015, there was weak policy to address it at the national and EU levels. The following examines why and how antisemitism policy emerged on the EU agenda culminating in the creation of the 2021 comprehensive strategy to combat antisemitism. Utilizing punctuated equilibrium theory, crisification literature and literature on Commission entrepreneurship, the article explores why, although other violent attacks had occurred against Jews, it would take the double attacks in 2015 to bring attention to antisemitism within the Commission. Leadership at the EU level, NGOs working with EU institutions, a working definition of antisemitism, along with pre‐existent EU legal bases in antidiscrimination law, would help promote antisemitism policy to the EU level. The EU's adoption of antisemitism policy demonstrates both Commission agenda setting and prioritizing antisemitism due to its threat to EU fundamental ideals, thus promoting a ‘European polity’ based on values.

Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and Ways of Achieving Them in a Global Dimension

"The EU agenda for reaching the SDGs 2030 and the sustainable development policy should be amended in light of the pandemic, conflicts, and war in Ukraine. The geopolitical environment’s turbulence and countries’ different strategies toward achieving their internal interests contradict the principles of the EU regarding the implementation of the SDGs. The purpose of the academic paper was to identify obstacles and potential recommendations for overcoming them to achieve SDGs 2030 in a global dimension. The research methodology is based on a systematic analysis and evaluation of indicators of progress in implementing SDGs in 2010-2022 in the global dimension. The strategic documents of the EU have been revised to reveal the shortcomings of the sustainable development policy. The results demonstrate that global progress toward SDGs has halted due to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the ambiguous geopolitical environment. It is important to define and review the structure of the EU, strategies for achieving SDGs in the context of the pandemic crisis, military conflicts, war and climate change. The EU policy on sustainable development has not been defined yet; it is not sufficiently consistent, legitimate, effective and efficient. The academic paper reveals a number of declarative goals, in particular those that will most likely hinder the reconciliation of planned SDGs and actual results. For instance, in conditions of war, one should not rely on the joint actions and efforts of different countries’ governments, collectivity in implementing SDGs, mutually beneficial cooperation and advantages for various countries. Declaring and confirming the principle of free disposal of wealth, natural resources, and economic activity by each state also seems inappropriate in the sustainable development strategy of the EU. In general, the declared SDGs do not correspond to the real situation and the crisis that has arisen in the world; consequently, they should be reviewed on an annual basis. Without securing security and peace, the target of “eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions” by 2030 cannot be accomplished. Therefore, the key goal in the Agenda should be the implementation of SDGs 16."

Lessons Learnt and Policy Implications from Implementing the POWERPOOR Approach to Alleviate Energy Poverty

Energy poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon that affects many Europeans. Alleviating energy poverty is high in the EU, national, and local policy agendas. Despite the attention the phenomenon has been gaining from a policy perspective, especially after the current energy crisis, there are still some gaps due to the complexity of the issue and its vastly different manifestations across Europe. This manuscript presents the policy implications stemming from the implementation of the POWEPROOR approach in alleviating energy poverty in eight European countries, as co-created with relevant stakeholders in each country. The knowledge gained from empowering energy-poor citizens by promoting behavioural changes and small-scale energy efficiency interventions, as well as by encouraging the uptake of renewable energy sources in the form of collective energy initiatives while leveraging innovative financing schemes, resulted in policy recommendations for national and sub-national governments and lessons for civil society and the private sector.

Noninstitutionalized international security alliances: safeguarding world peace and regional stability

The article summarizes the Ukrainian diplomatic’ success stories in launching non-conventional modalities, instruments, methods of cooperation with global actors aimed to protect fundamental human rights and maintains the grounds for the present international order and stability.
 The constructions, instruments and methods in question are peculiar security alliances that encourage intergovernmental cooperation, first of all, in the case of international human rights protection and deepening political, economic, cultural and education diplomacy.
 The author produces a personal description of the noninstitutionalized security alliances and provides evidence-based examples of the permanent efficiency of such partnerships. The author pays attention to examining noninstitutionalized intergovernmental cooperation to clearly understand the security status quo in Europe and the world.
 Although most classic international organizations informally support Ukraine in its military defense against russia, there are no factual perspectives to formalize this cooperation, such as NATO or EU integration, in the nearest future. The author illustrates the dualistic nature of noninstitutionalized international security alliances. On the one hand, they support fundamental regional actors such as NATO and the EU to execute their policy without formal promises or official bunding upon Ukraine. From another hand, it assists Ukraine in integrating state policy into the NATO and EU agenda and structure. Thus it brings Ukraine closer to Euro-Atlantic and European integration implicitly with both separate EU and NATO member states and such organizations as a whole.
 Eventually, the democratic states practice establishing and maintaining international cooperation in extraordinary security alliances as alternatives to classic international relations to ensure regional security and global peace. Ukrainian experience based on the full-scale international armed conflict is an excellent case to examine and further research.

“We will burn anything we can”: Czech presidency and EU nuclear Renaissance

ABSTRACT After rounds of sanctions against Russia, the EU is now confronting unprecedented energy security. Unlike their Western European counterparts, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries favour nuclear power development in their energy diversification strategies, intending to place their beliefs in it on the EU agenda. The article examines how the Czech Republic, committing to resolving the current energy predicament by all means, can drive the EU to a nuclear renaissance via the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Although energy issues are shared competence between EU institutions and member states, they are legally binding after being folded into the European Climate Law. Moreover, the trio Presidency helps keep CEE countries’ nuclear energy agenda on the EU’s table, necessitating debates and development in times of crisis. The article analyses EU member states’ presidency priorities and results between the Czech Republic’s two rotating presidencies from 2009 to 2022.

LATVIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF EU INITIATIVES

Energy security and reduction of dependence on energy imports is a key issue on the EU's agenda in the context of today's global challenges. The resource potential of renewable energy expands the capabilities of EU member states to increase energy sustainability and attract additional investments to implement the green transformation of national economies. The EU has adopted a number of initiatives under Directive EU 2018/2001, REPowerEU, which are synchronized with "The European Green Deal". They are aimed at boosting the development of renewable energy. These EU initiatives and the need to increase energy security and sustainability make the development of renewable energy relevant for Latvia. The subject of the study is the content and features of Latvia's energy policy. The purpose of the scientific research is to study the key trends in the development of Latvia's renewable energy policy in the context of EU initiatives. Research methodology: systematic approach, methods of analysis and generalization. One of the key areas of the government's energy policy is the development of renewable energy. This is stated in the National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 and the Sustainable Development Strategy until 2030. Key tasks include synchronising the efforts of the state, business, the public and stakeholders in developing energy security by increasing the use of energy from renewable sources, attracting investment in the energy sector to promote a green economic transformation, energy efficiency and creating a culture of responsible resource consumption. Latvia has identified key areas for the development of renewable energy in line with the content of its energy policy and relevant EU initiatives. Considerable attention is being paid to optimising the regulatory framework. The Green Channel online platform has been created to coordinate the efforts of the government and stakeholders in developing key sectors of the national economy, including renewable energy. The resource of cross-border cooperation is actively used in the implementation of projects for the construction of wind farms for the production of electricity and the necessary infrastructure for its supply to domestic and foreign consumers. The research phases of the Latvian-Estonian offshore wind project ELWIND and the construction of the Kurzeme wind farm with the assistance of the Swedish company Eolus and the German company PNE have been launched. Domestic stakeholders are interested in building solar parks and related infrastructure. Considerable attention is being paid to the digitalisation of the energy sector in order to optimise the management of the energy market and consumer services. Results of the study: the priority direction of Latvia's energy policy is the development of renewable energy in the context of increasing the level of energy security of the state and correlation with relevant EU initiatives; the national government promotes the optimisation of the content of the regulatory framework in the field of renewable energy, expands opportunities for cross-border cooperation and involves stakeholders' initiative in project implementation; measures are taken to digitalise the energy sector and create a culture of responsible energy consumption.