EU Economic Integration Research Articles

Philosophy оf Shared Society

nsights on shared society reflect the nexus between collective actions and durable policy for the common good. The study’s core subject is the deeper understanding of the shared society in theory and practice. It helps overcome conflicting perceptions and divides. The main focus is on reasoning challenged by dynamics in democratic societies. The article aims to highlight its framework avoiding simplistic variations of main theses, but presenting new insights into the applications of this theory. It examines the ontological essence within cross-cutting varieties and dimensions of its profile. The philosophy of shared society is also represented in several practical perspectives. These vectors reflect various motivations and perils as links to practice. These links are: reflections on conflict resolution at municipal level in Germany, electoral participation and vote-buying practices in Bulgaria, EU economic integration and reforms to promote a shared and cohesive living.

Germany’s Industrial strategy 2030, EU competition policy and the Crisis of New Constitutionalism. (Geo-)political economy of a contested paradigm shift

ABSTRACT In early 2019, the German Ministry of Economic Affairs revealed its National Industrial Strategy 2030. Even though attenuated due to fierce domestic opposition, it marks a shift towards a more selective, interventionist industrial policy. In particular, this shift has instigated far-reaching upheavals in EU competition policy under Franco-German pressure. This article probes into the determinants of this shift in Germany, a country (in-)famous for its allegedly ordoliberal stance, especially with regard to competition policy and EU economic integration. Drawing on regulation and critical state theory, neo-Gramscian IPE as well as historical materialist policy analysis, and based on trade and investment data, document analysis and expert interviews, it reconstructs the crisis tendencies and the constellation of interests and actors which have underpinned this shift in Germany. The article argues that – in face of growing geopolitical rivalries and technological decoupling – the NIS 2030 indicates a strategic re-orientation in relevant parts of the German power bloc towards actively promoting ‘technological sovereignty’ and ‘European champions’, thereby also calling into question an important facet of the EU’s neoliberal new-constitutionalist architecture. However, this re-orientation is deeply contested, revealing growing divisions within German capital along diverging competitive positions and patterns of internationalisation.

Recovery, resilience and growth regimes under overlapping EU conditionalities: the case of Greece

This paper attempts to weigh into the debate on whether and if so, to what extent the policy response to the pandemic of the EU, most notably among others, the Recovery and Resilience Fund of the Next Generation EU, its conditionality, and the response of the ECB, marks a qualitative change rather than echoing the legacies of the previous crisis by looking into the case of Greece. According to the third-generation comparative capitalism literature, EU economic integration has been favouring export-led growth models over domestic-demand led ones through several channels, which included fiscal rules, financial support conditionality and monetary policy. During the pandemic, there have been apparent shifts in some of these channels. Greece has entered the pandemic with vulnerabilities from previous economic adjustment programmes it had to follow, large enough to warrant ‘enhanced surveillance’ by the European Commission, as well as challenging fiscal conditionality to secure some preferential treatment by its Eurozone partners/lenders of its public debt, to improve its fragile sustainability. This article assesses the risks that the Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan may face, given the economic, social and political legacies of and the lingering conditionality from the previous crisis. It thus illustrates how the implementation of the EU response to the pandemic in Greece is constrained by the legacy of the previous crisis despite shifts in policy channels through which the EU economic integration has been shaping national capitalisms.

Does the European Single Market Exist in the Era of a Coronavirus Pandemic? The Case of Intra and Extra-EU Trade in COVID-19-related Products

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extraordinary event for the EU Member States and a period wherein EU legislation and the efficiency of EU institutions have been put to the test. The crisis triggered by the decisions made by governments in Europe (which were motivated by their wishes to protect the health and lives of their peoples and to satisfy the rapid demand for drugs, personal protective equipment, and medical devices) disrupted market forces. Although most of these measures were based on both domestic and EU legislation, they seriously hindered the smooth functioning of the EU Single Market, including the free movement of goods. This paper aims to find out whether EU legislation succeeded in coping with the challenges triggered by COVID-19 in the field of international trade and whether measures taken by the European Commission with a view to complying with the rules of the EU Single Market adequately took care of the needs stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak and whether it properly tackled protectionist instruments adopted by the Member States. We have focused on international trade and the free movement of goods within the EU as they both constitute the cornerstone of EU economic integration. We found that although EU legislation was not tailored specifically for the times of a COVID-19 pandemic, in the area of international trade (including intra-EU trade), as well as in the field of placing goods on the market, it provided extraordinary solutions. Apparently, the explanations and guidelines provided by the Commission have limited the scope of individual protectionist and interventionist actions of the Member States.

Defying Europe? The Euroscepticism of radical right and radical left voters in Western Europe

ABSTRACT Radical Left Parties (RLPs) and Radical Right Parties (RRPs) parties have adopted similar platforms over EU economic integration, rejecting further budgetary/economic authority transfers towards the EU. During the Euro crisis, EU-led management of the recession, constraining budgetary independency, may have worsened public concerns over the loss of state sovereignty on economic prerogatives. Although RLPs and RRPs have conveyed to voters anti-EU budgetary messages, we do not know if the electors have responded to this cueing activity. Thus, this paper seeks to understand whether, during the Euro crisis, voters supported the RLPs and RRPs due to anti-EU budgetary positions or not in Western Europe. On the one hand, we show that voters have electorally rewarded RRPs on the anti-EU budgetary issues, profiling themselves as Euro-rejectionists. On the other hand, we found that voters have not significantly matched RLP anti-EU budgetary stances, perhaps expressing favourable orientations towards the EU inter-state solidarity.

ECONOMIC POLICY STIMULATING BUSINESS IN GEORGIA

ABSTRACT This publication analyses state of play of Georgia’s EU Economic integration process. Main challenges and opportunities faced by the country. Georgia is one of the most attractive country among other doing business destinations in the South Caucasus. Success story is that Georgia has upgraded status from a poor and heavily non transparent to open and non-corrupted economy achieved by transformation efforts of governmental authorities. During recent years Georgia executed smart-wise and wide-ranging reorganization strategy for developing new approaches in capacity building and institutional formation to boost effectiveness of the business. Final target was to attract new investors and improve courtier’s performance. Keywords Economic Policy, Institutional Reforms, Stimulation of Business Climate, Foreign Direct Investments, Economic Growth

Why support International redistribution? Corruption and public support for aid in the eurozone

What factors explain public support for international redistribution? While the European Union has sent billions of taxpayers' money to over indebted euro countries in an attempt to avoid an economic collapse, these transfers have encountered fierce resistance among both donor and recipient constituents. However, we know surprisingly little about why citizens support or oppose redistribution within the EU. This paper suggests that domestic levels of corruption and institutional quality may be one of the most important explanations for the great variation in public support for financial assistance, bailouts and aid. Using recent European Elections Survey data merged with data on regional level quality of government, we show that the effects of institutional quality are consistently stronger than macro-economic factors, including economic development, inequality or levels of public debt. We find strong evidence that citizens in low corrupt contexts are more likely to support financial assistance to fellow member states. The results have implications for future challenges in securing public support for EU economic integration as well as for our understanding of how and why corruption undermines society's collective action capacity.

Updating the EU Internal Market Concept

The study analyses the EU Internal market from a dynamic and a contextual perspective, taking into account, not just the normative changes brought by the intense legislative and judicial activity in this area, but also the important economic and technological transformations that have largely altered the structure of the global economy in the last two to three decades. These could, in my view, challenge the first principles upon which the EU economic integration process and, in particular the “single market” idea, is based. This “updating” of the Internal market project is essential if one is to critically reflect on the role and the specificity of the EU integration process, in the context of the broader globalization movement. The first part of the paper introduces the “neo-functionalist” perspective, which has largely influenced the EU economic integration process, from its incipiency, and explores its theoretical linkages with trade theory (the law of one price), thus presenting the fundamental tenets of positive EU Internal market law. The second part delves into the subsequent mutation of the economic integration ideal towards the more modular and scalar concept of “regulatory convergence”. Opening the black box of economic integration will lead us to analyse its transformation, as a result of a paradigm shift currently occurring in the organization of the global process of economic production, with the development of global value chains, and the important role of technology, in particular the Internet, in promoting economic integration not through law, but through code. The study predicts that addressing more systematically the effect of both private and public obstacles to trade should take centre-stage if one is to opt for a more holistic and dynamic perspective in analysing the process of economic integration. A more extensive intervention of the competition law tool and other regulatory initiatives against private restrictions to trade is therefore to be expected in the future, these areas of law taking a more prevalent part in the EU Internal market law compass. The study discusses in some detail the recent legislative and jurisprudential developments with regard to geo-blocking and geo-filtering practices. The last part of the study provides some concluding thoughts on the need for the EU Internal market concept to be updated and raises some questions with regard to its ontology in the context of a globalized economy.

Developing Trade Relations between Vietnam-Germany

More than 40 years of establishing diplomatic relations and developing trade between Vietnam and Germany, it can be seen that Germany is the biggest trading partner of Vietnam in Europe and the largest importer of Vietnam’s exports to the EU. Although the trade between the two countries has not reached expectations, and the results are still inferior to the potential, the prospects for trade between the two countries are great and need to be further developed due to the favorable context and the advantages of the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the EU. This paper analyzes the current state of trade relations between Vietnam and Germany, assesses the advantages and disadvantages, and suggests policy implications for developing trade relations between the two countries in the future.
 Keywords
 Vietnam-Germany, trade relations, development prospects, policy implications
 References
 [1] European Parliament, “The EU Fruit and Vegetable Sector: Overview and Post 2013”, CAP Perspective, 2011.[2] WTO Center, “EVFTA and the challenges with Vietnam in establishing and operating effective enforcement engagement institutions”, Enterprise News and International Trade Policy, 2014, pp.20-21.[3] Nguyen Anh Thu, Andreas Stoffers, Prospects for Vietnam and Germany in the context of ASEAN and EU economic integration, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (1975- 2015), Tri Thuc Publishing House, Hanoi, 2015.[4] General Statistics Office (2012, 2014, 2016), Statistical Yearbook, Hanoi.
 Keywords: Vietnam-Germany, trade relations, development prospects, policy implications.
 References
 [1] European Parliament, “The EU Fruit and Vegetable Sector: Overview and Post 2013”, CAP Perspective, 2011.[2] WTO Center, “EVFTA and the challenges with Vietnam in establishing and operating effective enforcement engagement institutions”, Enterprise News and International Trade Policy, 2014, pp.20-21.[3] Nguyen Anh Thu, Andreas Stoffers, Prospects for Vietnam and Germany in the context of ASEAN and EU economic integration, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (1975- 2015), Tri Thuc Publishing House, Hanoi, 2015.[4] General Statistics Office (2012, 2014, 2016), Statistical Yearbook, Hanoi.

THE NEED FOR AN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN THE GLOBALIZED WORLD

EU is in the existential crisis. The question is why that is so and what are the facts which might help to resolve the problems that are part of the EU existential crisis. In the paper the economic position of the EU in globalized world is analyzed and used as the argument for a broader interest to support the future existence and success of the EU integration functioning. Theoretical explanations are introduced to support the notion of the needed further EU integration functioning. Use of the theory of economic integration and trade, leads analyze to the observations that are essential for the needed change and improvement of the solidarity and cooperation among the EU member states in the future. States in the accession to the EU process or to be candidate stats are especially disturbed with the present status of the EU integration crisis functioning. Based on the selected theoretical explanations and selected statistics the paper shows that the candidate countries undoubtable have interest and need to continue their efforts to conclude successfully the EU accession process. Continuation of the accession efforts among the accessing countries might create an atmosphere of specific positive support to the EU states that are straggling for reforms and improvements in the functioning of their economic and general integration environment. The needed EU integration reforms will be further supported by the improved broad EU population’s understanding of the economic impacts that have been created through the so called economic globalization process in last few decades. Some arguments for improved EU population’s understanding of the EU advantages in the environment of the globalized markets are offered in the paper. The option of EU economic integration disruption, with creating small national markets that could be under the negative pressure from large global entities, is supposed to be nonacceptable.

Analysing EU Sectoral Trade Integration with Gravity Model of Trade

The objective of this research is provide an overview of EU integration effects on international trade and sectoral trade integration as reported by a relevant gravity model and fixed effect panel estimation. In order to evaluate the EU economic integration effects across sectors, I build up a sectoral gravity model. Gravity model based studies have achieved empirical success in explaining various types of flows, including migration, commuting, goods, money capital information and international trade. Trade within Europe is still impeded by significant barriers. In particular, there remain many non-tariff barriers, including so-called TBT Technical Barriers to Trade. (Theie, 2014) These barriers result from regulations by requiring specific product characteristics or production processes. (Chen and Novy 2011) The sectoral trade integration analysis is deepened with capturing TBT coefficient compiled for separate sectors. The aim of this paper is to explore the implicit trade obstacles or barriers that still exist among EU members and to prove the trade-reducing effect of such remaining obstacles in separate sectors. My hypothesis is that different types of goods might face diverse entry barriers, and thus their gravity equation coefficients would differ across sectors.

Strategies of Albanian Economy to Meet EU Economic Policies

This paper aims to analyze the relevant influence that EU's economic integration policies have in strategic management of public finance, on regional economic integration. We have illustrated the effectiveness of our strategic economic policies applied by the Government for Economic Development, by using customs operation as main variable. The scope is to evaluate the foreign trade balance and risks arising of national economy from the interaction of Albania with European Community.

Empirical Analysis of EU Economic Integration on Korean Trade

Empirical Analysis of EU Economic Integration on Korean Trade

Effects of Deepening and Widening of EU Economic Integration on the Intra-European Union Trade

Effects of Deepening and Widening of EU Economic Integration on the Intra-European Union Trade

The EU Merger Control: Overall EU Welfare Implications and Assessment

This work deals with the welfare effects of mergers in the context of the EU merger control. The aim of the paper is to identify the broader welfare implications of EU mergers, considering the relation between the EU economic integration, the recent M&A waves in the EU economy, and the international competitiveness of EU producers. The paper focuses first on the motives and welfare effects of vertical mergers. The EU merger control is presented from the policy level to the merger procedure. Then, a theoretical framework is proposed in order to allow for a better understanding of the mechanics influencing the EU-citizens welfare, given that the four freedoms of movement link all sectors in all Member States as a whole. The framework helps understanding the broader welfare implications of a potentially harmful merger. Since the effect of Merger Control has never been evaluated, this tool may be useful as it catches some important effects related to the overall EU welfare. It can also be useful in relation to a significant aspect: the distribution of EU welfare within and between nations. Last, the framework could be helpful for weighing consumers and producers' interests related to mergers.

A selective view upon the current macro- and microeconomic status of Serbian economy

Serbia does not have any reliable concept of development policy. More precisely, almost entirely the neoclassical development model is carried out, with all its negative consequences on a country which needs high and sustainable growth in a long period of time. Serbia needs macroeconomic stability; less rigid monetary policy; reforms in banking system coupled with the establishment of specialized domestic banks; inducement to developing of small-and-middle size enterprises (SMEs) especially in agriculture, metal and apparel industry, tourism and construction industry then the enhancement of agricultural production and its international competitiveness by creating the cooperatives in mixed state-private ownership, the enlargement of farms, fulfillment of international standards the protection of already existing geographic origin and brands, and providing the bounties for export. Being the late-industrializing country Serbia needs to achieve higher productivity rate in relation to technological frontier, but nevertheless the gap will be still wide therefore State has to gather the funds for export subsidies, reconsider already existing and picking up new trade partners and follow the export-oriented strategy. In relation to foreign direct investments (FDI) the choice has to be made in order to get necessary resources but to preserve the national development strategy. IMF?s neoliberal policy influences heavily on our economic development and we have to offer our own solutions and programmes in order to avoid IMF?s projects. The process of economic integration in EU has to examined in light of our uncompetitiveness, high unemployment rate and cheap labour, as well as constant political pressures.