EU Reform Research Articles

In Search of a New Strategy of the Franco-German Tandem: Domestic Political Factors

The article addresses internal political factors that may influence the search for a new common strategy for the Franco-German tandem. The relevance of the article is determined by the lack of alternatives for in-depth cooperation between partners, who are currently forced to develop a joint approach towards the EU reform and clarify the prospects for acceptable convergence of their own socio-economic models. The first part of the article (“France at a crossroads”) analyses the features of the modern development of France and draws a conclusion about the limited freedom of maneuver for President E. Macron to implement his declared reform program. The second part (“The Beginning of a New Transformation in Germany”) argues that Germany has entered a stage of largescale transformations. Politicians and citizens do not know the completion dates of the transformations, the results and the amount of expenses. In the third part (“Strategic Seminar in Hamburg”) the authors show why France and Germany are returning to the concept of shared responsibility. They also reflect on how partners intend to overcome asymmetry and objective differences and urge to monitor and analyse Franco-German tandem developments to clarify the resources necessary for the successful implementation of Russian national programs and adjust the timing of their implementation.

Institutional and Policy Changes for a Union of up to 36 Members

AbstractThis paper argues that the current accession process is not conducive to conditionality's effectiveness nor to EU public opinion acceptance. It pleads instead for a gradual process as the most effective means to ensure successful conditionality. As to the fundamentals, the paper suggests a reinforcement of conditionality, notably through increased budgetary support. Thirdly, it puts forward proposals to strengthen conflict resolution conditionality. Lastly, several suggestions are made for changes to the accession process along principles discussed in the report of the Group of Twelve on EU institutional reform (hereafter the Report). These issues are discussed around the nine principles established by the Report that should guide future enlargement strategies and their connection to EU reform.

Merit recruitment, professional advancement opportunities and prosocial rule-breaking among public servants in Greece

Abstract Public servants have a significant impact on peoples’ lives, but we don’t have many reliable estimates of how many employees engage in prosocial rule-breaking (PSRB), a form of constructive deviance. We collected original survey data (N = 497) among a representative sample of Greek public servants and implemented a list experiment to gauge how pervasive PSRB is in Greece’s public sector. Greece is a particularly useful setting in which to study PSRB as the euro crisis created strong reform pressure. We find that public servants who were hired via merit competitions are not less likely to break rules, but this is conditional on their beliefs about career prospects and the fairness of the promotion system. They perceive the professional reward system as biased towards those with political connections and compensate for lack of efficiency by doing favours. This finding raises concerns about the quality of EU reform assessments.

The Reform of the EU Carbon Emission Right Trading Legal System and Its Enlightenment to Our Country

The EU carbon emissions trading mechanism is the most mature, the most demonstration effect of emissions trading mechanism, its legal system in ten years of operation, the third stage of reform is particularly significant, including regulatory mechanism, total limit and initial distribution mechanism, registration system, monitoring, reporting and verification mechanism, etc. At present, the legislative level of carbon trading in China is not high, and it lacks operability. In-depth analysis of the reasons, mechanism and main system of EU reform can provide important enlightenment for China. When building a national carbon trading market, China should learn from the experience of the European Union, improve the legislative system, and promote the construction of key systems.

Illiberal Concept of EU Reform: Polish Conservative Ideologists in the Debate on Differentiated Integration

Differentiated integration is the outcome of intergovernmental negotiations resulting from states’ diverse preferences on the European Union’s systemic model. The heterogeneity of states’ preferences is rooted in many factors of differentiation, where economy and ideology play the leading roles. Their specific interconnection contributed to the creation of the Polish conservative vision of European integration proposed by ideologists close to the Law and Justice party. Three main postulates emerged from their opinions: re-constitution, intergovernmental democracy, and de-hierarchization. This article aims to place this EU vision in the context of the debate on differentiated integration. The thesis is the view that Polish ideologists transformed the political ‘vision’ into a hybrid ‘concept’ of differentiation combining temporal, institutionally based, policy-based, and territorial divergencies.

Towards an efficient judiciary in Moldova: Lessons from EU reform initiatives

This study explores the multifaceted challenges impeding the functionality of Moldova’s judicial system, emphasizing the necessity of comprehensive reform measures. By conducting a qualitative analysis of European Union judicial reforms, this research aims to identify effective strategies that could be adapted to the Moldovan context. Key areas of focus include the development of sustainable financing models, enhancement of training programs for judicial professionals, and the integration of digital technologies into judicial processes. The paper proposes a set of reforms tailored to Moldova’s unique socioeconomic and cultural landscape, with the goal of improving judicial efficiency, transparency, and adaptability. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to the broader discourse on judicial reform in transitional countries, offering insights into the potential for systemic improvements within Moldova’s judiciary.

Political favouritism and inefficient management: Policy-makers’ birth town bias in EU quality certifications

In the current era of EU-driven strategies for sustainable local development, the EU Commission has designated the geographical indication (GI) policy as a flagship initiative in 2024. The certification procedure has been simplified, with increased involvement from national and local authorities. This study explores the potential impact of reforms on GIs in Italy, focusing on whether the birthplaces of regional council members receive preferential acknowledgment. Analysing municipal-level data, we employ a Difference in Differences approach and machine learning for counterfactual analysis. Results indicate a higher likelihood of GIs for councillors' birth municipalities, particularly in areas with lower ex-ante institutional quality. These findings underscore the potential consequences of EU reform, warning against political favouritism and inefficient policy management.

The Poet, the Law and the Protection of Individual Rights: An EU Reform Proposal from Literature

The Poet, the Law and the Protection of Individual Rights: An EU Reform Proposal from Literature

2023/30 The Retained EU Law Revocation and Reform Act 2023: what it is and what it does (UK)

2023/30 The Retained EU Law Revocation and Reform Act 2023: what it is and what it does (UK)

Crisis Learning or Reform Backlog? The European Parliament’s Treaty‐Change Proposals During the Polycrisis

In May 2022, the European Parliament (EP) launched a procedure to amend the EU treaties and began drafting a report with concrete reform proposals. In their resolution, EP members explicitly described this as a necessary response to recent crises (notably the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change) as well as a follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe. However, the stated objectives of the reform, in particular more efficient and democratic EU decision-making, were not new but followed long-standing discourses on deepening EU integration. This raises the question of to what degree the EP’s initiative really reflected a lesson from recent crises—in line with a “failing forward” approach towards EU reform—or rather a “backlog” of reforms which had already been proposed before but whose implementation had been blocked by member states, and for which the crises only represented a window of opportunity. The article assesses the development of treaty change proposals by the EP and bodies close to it, comparing three comprehensive plans for institutional reform: the federalist Spinelli Group’s Fundamental Law for the EU (2013), the EP’s Verhofstadt Report (2017), and the EP’s latest Article 48 Report (2023). The comparison shows that, while the crises had an impact on the level of ambition in some policy areas, the EP’s general approach, especially on institutional issues, was characterised by a high degree of continuity.

Money Makes the World Go Round: How Much Difference Do Recovery and Resilience Plans Make to EU Reform Governance?

AbstractThe Next Generation EU (NGEU) package transformed European economic governance. This article examines the implications of this change in terms of EU polity formation and in terms of social policy content. It asks whether the temporary availability of large funds increases the leverage of the Commission in the European Semester and how this innovation affects sensitive policies. In the tradition of Stein Rokkan, the article advances a conception of the EU as a compound polity that needs to reconcile dispersed authority with second‐order loyalty. We then contrast our theoretical expectations with traditional reform surveillance and experimentalist governance theories. The drafting of Recovery and Resilience Plans for Italy and Spain provides the empirical basis for assessing these expectations. The analysis shows a dual effect: adding fiscal capacity to the European Semester enhances the Commission's hierarchical power whilst the need to ensure member states' loyalty leaves room for national executives to insist on their priorities.

Maintaining the universal banking model – A study of institutional work in the endogenization of a failed transnational post-crisis financial market reform

This paper studies a failed attempt to introduce new regulation in the aftermath of the financial crisis: the rule-making process of the European Union’s structural banking reform, where it was proposed to restrict the possibility to combine trading and deposit-taking activities for universal banks but where no regulation was finally adopted. Drawing on the theoretical concept of the endogenization of law, which highlights the role of the regulated in shaping the regulators’ views, we study this case of transnational non-regulation. We mobilize institutional maintenance work to identify the strategies used by the regulated and their allies to shed light on the endogenization process. We find that maintenance work in the form of demonizing the reform proposals, mythologizing the accomplishments of the universal banking model and contextualizing in the setting of other regulations prevailed. Endogenization was reflected in the successive alignment of the EU proposals to the status quo and in the policy-makers’ adoption of maintenance strategies earlier voiced by banks during the consultation process. We also show that national regulations implemented in France and Germany to influence the EU reform process – a strategy that we label “bottom-up enabling work” – provided an important reference point in the transnational discourse. Overall, our study provides insights into the interplay of maintenance work and endogenization in transnational regulatory settings.

The prospects and challenges of Kosovo's accession to the EU in light of the EU's policies and priorities

IntroductionThis paper analyzes the extent to which the EU's involvement in Kosovo's political and economic development has contributed to the country's progress toward democratization and European integration.MethodsThe study employs a comparative analysis of the EU's engagement with Kosovo versus other Western Balkan countries. It also utilizes a case study approach to identify the unique challenges presented by Kosovo's contested statehood. Data sources include official EU reports, agreements, commentary from experts, and economic indicators.ResultsThe findings show the EU has played a pivotal role in Kosovo through deploying its assistance instruments, facilitating the normalization dialogue with Serbia, and laying out a potential accession path. However, non-recognition by five member states, disputes with Serbia, and struggles meeting EU reform criteria impact Kosovo's integration prospects.DiscussionDespite its substantial involvement, the EU faces credibility issues in Kosovo due to ongoing hurdles thwarting Kosovo's advancement toward accession. The EU must increase its leverage over Serbia, incentivize internal reforms, and align member state positions to support Kosovo's European integration. A clearer pathway to membership in Kosovo would reinforce the EU's role in fostering peace, democracy, and prosperity in the Western Balkans.

Models of EU Constitutional Reform: What do we learn from the Conference on the Future of Europe?

Abstract Constitutional reform in the European Union suffers from a post-functionalist dilemma: the options that are politically viable are not democratically legitimate and the options that are democratically legitimate are not politically viable. Against the background of the recent Conference on the Future of Europe and the involvement of transnational European Citizens’ Panels, this article asks whether there is any prospect of overcoming this dilemma and organizing fundamental reform of EU institutions that is both normatively legitimate and politically viable. For this, it examines four models of EU treaty reform and the way these have figured in actual EU reform processes: Intergovernmental Conference, European Convention, informal intergovernmentalism and a Citizens Convention. The article concludes that, as long as the European Union is best characterized as a ‘demoi-cracy’ in which political deliberation takes place primarily in national public spheres, the Intergovernmental Conference remains its main and inevitable forum for constitutional reform. Hence, alternative models of EU constitutional reform should be evaluated not so much on the basis of their potential to substitute the IGC but rather on their ability to catalyse the process and to pre-commit the member state governments.

What kind of EU do citizens want? Reform preferences and the conflict over Europe

ABSTRACT How to reform the EU in times of fundamental conflict over the future of European integration? Although Europe’s future is fiercely debated, we still know little about what kind of EU citizens want and how their reform preferences relate to the emerging transnational cleavage. We argue that there are two kinds of reform trajectories. First, any changes that touch upon the vertical and horizontal balance of power should be highly contested, as people’s EU reform preferences depend on their position in the conflict between Eurosceptics and Europhiles. Second, reforms that do not activate this fundamental conflict, such as reshaping the EU’s input, output, and throughput legitimacy dimensions, should be favored by citizens across the board. Analyzing original data from conjoint survey experiments with 12,000 respondents in six EU member states largely corroborates our arguments. These findings carry important implications for the political debate about reforming the EU.

European fiscal reform preferences of parliamentarians in France, Germany and Italy

Using data from a unique survey of members of parliaments in France, Germany and Italy in 2018, we estimate the effects of three dimensions on EU and Euro Area fiscal reform preferences: nationality, political ideology and populism. We predict and confirm that a German populist party on the right is most opposed to a more developed European fiscal union, while a non-populist politician on the political left in France or Italy is most integrationist. Furthermore, the relative position of French and Italian policymakers is issue dependent and the left dimension outweighs the German dimension in two out of seven reform issues. Finally, populism intensifies the polarizing impact of national interests.

What role should southern Europe play after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine? Towards a shared agenda for EU reform

Relations between southern European member states have often been marked by a loose cooperation or, worse, by logics of competition. Precisely when regional groupings within the EU are increasingly shaping the agenda, these dynamics have hindered the capacity of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain to pursue shared interests and objectives, while acting as a force for good for the European integration project. Recent events such as the post-pandemic recovery or the war in Ukraine show that, when cooperation occurs, positive results can be achieved. Southern member states can capitalise on a certain ideological affinity and a pro-European vision, despite their governments belonging to different political groups. They share converging interests in the areas of fiscal policy and economic governance, strategic autonomy in energy and technology and even foreign policy priorities, particularly towards the Mediterranean and relations with other global powers. This joint publication by six southern European think tanks identifies several policy areas for fruitful cooperation between southern European member states.

Дифференцированная интеграция: конкуренция проектов и противоречия интеграционного процесса в ЕС

Introduction. In 2017 the European Commission proposed five scenarios for the future of the EU, one of which was ‘those who want to do more do more’. However, it was not specific enough and ignored the variability of this way of integration. Methods and materials. Ignoring the characteristics of various types of differentiated integration is a common problem in scientific research, which leads to uncertainty and incorrect conclusions. This is largely due to the fact that researchers miss the analysis of interests and the negotiation process, focusing more on finding a common institutional design for all participants of integration. The intergovernmentalism that sees differentiated integration as a special institutional design that helps overcome the impasse in negotiations caused by the growing heterogeneity of member states is lacking. This approach has the potential for research and planning of integration processes in other regions, especially in the Post-Soviet space. Analysis. The article shows that differentiated integration has a long tradition in the EU, but that has little relation to the projects of the European future discussed in recent years (often with the same name). We have focused on the differences in the positions of European governments and groups of countries, trying to explain their motives and to answer the question of whether an intergovernmental approach is justified. The greatest attention is paid to French-German discussions, analysis of the UK’s role prior to EU secession, and the special stand of Scandinavian and Central-Eastern European countries. Results. The author concludes that the discussions on differentiated integration are not so much a search for unity in diversity, but are aimed at achieving ambitions, redistributing resources and fight against dirigisme. However, EU reform challenges integration leaders to choose between unprecedented concessions and the need to ignore the positions of many countries. In addition to EU heterogeneity, it also helps to exclude alternatives to differentiation in the future. Since the change of leadership in 2019, the EU has entered a new stage in its development, but there is nothing to suggest that its members are able to find common approaches. For the first time it is not possible to formulate a common compromise out of a wide variety of future options, and an attempt to avoid reform could aggravate the crisis of the integration process.

Public International Law as a Refuge of (Euro-)Member States During the Financial and Economic Crisis

The EU reform project ‘Banking Union’ has dominated the discussion on EU banking law in recent years. After the establishment of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) comprising inter alia the European Banking Authority (EBA) in 2011, the Banking Union was proclaimed by the Commission in September 20121 and since then has been gradually implemented. While the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) is highly contested and has been stuck in the legislative process for years,2 the two other columns of the Banking Union have been set in place. These are the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) on the supervision of banks with a strong involvement of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) on the resolution of banks. With the SRM-Regulation,3 adopted in July 2014, a new European agency,4 the Single Resolution Board (SRB), was established. What is more, a Single...

‘It takes three to tango’: new inter-institutional dynamics in managing major crisis reform

ABSTRACT This paper provides an in-depth reconstruction of the (failed) reform of the EU’s Common European Asylum System. Even though this was essentially a legislative process, it was characterized by extensive European Council involvement. In fact, the European Council is commonly blamed for the lack of progress in EU reform. Divisions at the level of the Heads and an insistence on consensus made it impossible for the machine room to proceed with the dossier. We challenge this view, by looking at the interplay between the European Council, Council (of Ministers) and Commission. We argue that the effectiveness of European Council involvement crucially depends on the actions of these two institutions. Involvement of the Heads can propel, paralyze or derail EU decision-making, depending on when and how they are brought into play. The Council and Commission play a crucial role by anticipating, setting the scene for and providing the follow-up to European Council involvement.