European Union Policy-making Research Articles

The representation of migrant and refugee interests by European umbrella organisations: evidence of strain?

This paper assesses how well supranational umbrella organisations represent the interests of their constituencies in European Union (EU) policy-making. I examine two prominent European umbrella organisations – The European Council on Refugees and Exiles and The European Network Against Racism – and their national member organisations. I hypothesise that, due to the notoriously diverse set of actors and issue priorities that comprise migrant inclusion, not all interests are represented equally well at the supranational level, leading to some degree of ‘representational strain’. I first analyse the dimensions on which issue priorities are structured at both the umbrella and constituency levels, and secondly, the degree of congruence between the interests of national members and European umbrella organisations. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the results show that these EU umbrella organisations do well overall, but experience some difficulty representing the full range of issues prioritised by their diverse membership.

Intersectionality in European Union policymaking: the case of gender-based violence

Inclusiveness of different social groups and responsiveness to the needs of increasingly diverse societies are key criteria for policy analysts to assess the quality of public policies. We argue that an intersectional approach attentive to the interaction of gender with other inequalities is particularly apt to deal with equality and diversity in policymaking. By analysing a selection of European Union policy documents on gender-based violence in the period 2000–2014, we attend to the question of what intersectionality can bring to policymaking in terms of strengthening inclusiveness and address the methodological question of applying an intersectional approach to policy analysis.

Reassessing North-South relations: the case of North-South preferential trade agreements

Purpose The purposes of this paper are to provide a new framework for the (re)assessment of North-South relations, with a specific focus on North-South preferential trade agreements (PTAs); advance a new mechanism of how first-order, i.e. Southern countries’ first, North-South PTAs can affect the outcomes of second-order, i.e. Southern countries’ subsequent, North-South PTA negotiations; and re-examine the effects of North-South power asymmetries on the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations. Design/methodology/approach The paper focuses on how North-South power asymmetries affect the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations. It introduces the concept of “first-order” and “second-order” North-South PTAs to show that the “order” of an agreement can be a crucial factor in PTA negotiations. The claims of the paper are also supported by primary data obtained through the author’s personal interviews with European Union and USA trade officials and policy-makers (see Appendix). Findings The paper advances a new theoretical framework that takes a longer-term view on North-South trade relations, whereby, against the backdrop of the proliferating PTAs, first-order North-South agreements can raise the bargaining powers of Southern countries during subsequent North-South PTA negotiations, with strong implications for both developed and developing countries. Research limitations/implications The paper is largely theoretical. A systematic empirical study of North-South PTAs will be required to validate or refute the theoretical framework advanced in this paper. Originality/value The paper introduces a new variable, namely the “order” of an agreement, which affects the logic of North-South PTA negotiations. Hence, the paper sets out a new theoretical framework that allows for a more accurate assessment of North-South power asymmetries and their effects on the outcomes of North-South PTA negotiations.

A ‘new spirit’ of public policy? The project world of EU funding

ABSTRACTStarting from the assumption that projects have become an important form of social organisation in contemporary working life, we examine the proliferation of ‘projects’ in public policy, especially in European Union (EU) policy-making. Project logic constitutes an influential element of policy implementation in Europe; and it substantially influences the way EU policies are implemented all over the EU territory and beyond. Drawing on sociological takes on public policy instrumentation, we discuss the emergence, the establishment and major cultural logics of project-based policy funding. We show that EU funding constitutes an own field of expertise, a distinct ‘project world’, so to speak, with specific standards, regulations, practical conventions and a particular rhetoric. This brings about an increasing expertisation of EU policy-making and certain exclusionary effects, despite all efforts to bring the Union closer to the citizens’ through project funding.

Love Thy Neighbor: Current and Potential Responses to Young, Male, Syrian, Refugee Students in the European Union Higher Education Sector

Love Thy Neighbor: Current and Potential Responses to Young, Male, Syrian, Refugee Students in the European Union Higher Education Sector Kristen Allen Abstract Since the start of the Syrian civil war, the media has been flooded with images of Syrian refugees fleeing their war torn nation. All over the world, receiving countries and their higher education sectors have responded in a variety of ways. Via a quantitative, website analysis, this report investigates whether and how institutes of higher education (HEIs) in the European Union (EU) are providing support for their young, male, Syrian, refugee population. I discuss existing strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of Syrian refugee support efforts on the part of the top three HEIs in seven EU nations that have received the most Syrian, asylum applications of all EU nations. With this analysis in mind, I make specific policy recommendations to assist HEI policy-makers in improving their Syrian refugee support mechanisms. While integration of young, male, Syrian refugees into their host nation’s society is certainly important, EU policy-makers have largely ignored support of this particular population in the way of cultural and developmental sensitivity. This report fills that gap in order to support a safer future for all those residing in the EU. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jirfp.v4n2a1

EU biofuel policies: Income effects and lobbying decisions in the German agricultural sector

European Union (EU) policymakers have persistently supported first-generation biofuels despite the clearly emerging picture of small or even negative green house gas mitigation effects. This leads to the conclusion that support is driven by other objectives, for example income effects. Against this background, the main objective of this article is to analyse the income effects of abolishing biofuel policies, as well as to explore the link between these effects and lobbying decisions taken by farmers' associations representing different groups of German farmers. Income effects are estimated for different farm types and regions, and differences between farm net value added and family farm income are analysed. To understand the link between income effects and lobbying decisions, our quantitative results are compared with the biofuel policy positions of different farmers' associations. Our results suggest that, in the long run, average income effects are small, especially if the ownership of production factors is accounted for in the income calculation. Many farms show losses if biofuel support is abolished, but others even benefit from lower rental costs and experience positive income effects. Farmers' associations seem to be able to well assess the income effects of EU biofuel policy for different types of farms.

Research note: studying a new phase of europeanisation of national parliaments

In this research note, we propose studying a new trend of Europeanisation in national parliaments within the European Union (EU). We argue that further integration, combined with the opportunities and challenges presented by the Lisbon Treaty and the financial crisis, created pressure on national parliaments to expand the scrutiny process beyond European Affairs Committees. In this new phase of Europeanisation, parliaments are increasingly ‘mainstreaming’ EU affairs scrutiny, blurring the distinction between national and European policies and involving larger numbers of MPs. Following a review of existing research on the Europeanisation of national parliaments in the post-Lisbon era, we propose studying four dimensions of mainstreaming: the rising involvement of sectoral committees in European affairs; the adaptation of parliamentary staff to EU policy-making; the growing salience of European affairs in plenary debates; and increasing inter-parliamentary cooperation beyond European affairs specialists. We argue that this trend has significant implications for research that studies the roles of national parliaments in the democratic functioning of the EU.

PROFESINIO, ASMENINIO IR ŠEIMOS GYVENIMO SUDERINIMAS PAGAL EUROPOS SĄJUNGOS TEISĘ

European Union (EU) primary and secondary law does not provide an explicit definition of the reconciliation of professional, private and family life. The ambiguity of this definition can be seen both in the terminology and in the content of it. EU legislators and policy-makers often use the term “work-life balance” instead of reconciliation. Nevertheless, the fundamental legislation, i.e. the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which forms a part of EU primary law (since 1 December 2009), in using the terminology “reconciliation”, considers it reasonable to use the latter terminology rather than “work-life balance”. In addition, in EU legislation and policy a narrow expression can be found – reconciliation of work and family life, and a broader expression – reconciliation of professional, private and family life. The research illustrates, however, that it is not clear as to what exactly is being attempted to reconcile – work with family or (and) with private obligations? Furthermore, the wording used in the discussed definition creates ambiguity as to what structure of “family” and “private” life the provision is addressed. An examination of the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as the European Court of Human Rights case law shows that reconciliation is an attempt to broaden the scope. The “family” in terms of the reconciliation right is to be interpreted as encompassing all significant relatives in a person’s personal life, irrespective of formal relationships. Reconciliation is a multi-edged concept and involves a sophisticated framework: 1) pregnancy, birth, maternity and paternity, 2) flexible working arrangements, 3) care of adults, the elderly and other dependents. Regrettably, however, the legal measures are still very limited and are mostly focused on family needs, and therefore do not wholly justify the extended notion of reconciliation.

The Regulatory Cooperation Chapter of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Institutional Structures and Democratic Consequences

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has the potential to remake political and legal relationships between the European Union (EU) and the USA and pave the way to a new form of global economic governance based on international regulatory cooperation. In particular, TTIP presents an historic opportunity for the EU and the USA to remove regulatory divergence—today’s most prominent obstacle to trade exchanges—thereby increasing economic growth for the citizens of both polities. Yet, the EU and the USA have been attempting to reduce trade barriers since the 1970s. Despite decades of cooperation, EU and US policymakers too often fail to mutually understand each other’s positions, giving rise to regulatory differences. As an international agreement predicted to contain a Horizontal Chapter—an innovative approach to international trade treaty-making containing a framework for future bilateral regulatory cooperation—TTIP has the potential to transform this impasse, if approached correctly. The envisaged chapter would provide a ‘gateway’ for handling sectoral regulatory issues between the EU and the USA, including by addressing both legislation and non-legislative acts, regardless of the level at which they are adopted and by whom. Yet with great promises come challenges too. This article focusses on the structure, scope, discipline, institutional design, enforcement, and implementation of the envisaged horizontal chapter, often defined Regulatory Cooperation Chapter. In so doing, it addresses some of the concerns currently raised by civil society, in particular the fear of a ‘race to the bottom’ that may stem from the operation of this chapter and provides some recommendations.

Europeanization in Time: Assessing the Legacy of URBAN in a Mid-size Italian City

The 2007 mainstreaming of URBAN raised important questions about the sustainability of its regeneration approach under the new regulatory regime, and particularly about the policy legacy left by this Community Initiative in its participating cities. Taking advantage of the recent conclusion of the 2007–2013 programming period, these questions are tackled here both theoretically and empirically. Building on the general model of Europeanization, the article posits a trade-off between local misfit with the URBAN approach and the durability of the policy change induced by the scheme. The argument is then illustrated through an in-depth study of Pescara, a mid-size Italian city that participated successfully in URBAN only to lose most of its policy innovations in the immediately subsequent programming period, when it took part in the country's mainstreamed funding scheme, the “Programmi integrati di sviluppo urbano”. With hindsight, the study suggests that URBAN was set up to fail exactly those cities with little experience in integrated and participatory regeneration that it was supposed to help the most. It also concludes that future European Union policy-making and implementation should factor in the misfit/durability trade-off to maximize effectiveness given the Union's goals as well as its involvement expectations.

How the EU Budget is Spent: Europe for Citizens (2014-2020)

The European Union (EU) programme, Europe for Citizens (EFC), aims at encouraging direct participation of citizens at EU level and promoting dialogue between the EU institutions, civil society organisations and municipalities. The programme has been running since 2004. For the 2014-20 period the EFC focuses on enhancing European citizens' awareness of remembrance and the history of the EU, and on actively involving European civil society in shaping EU policy. The current programme has two general objectives: first, to contribute to citizens' understanding of the EU, its history and diversity; and second, to foster European citizenship and improve civic participation at EU level. These objectives are pursued in two areas. 'European remembrance' supports initiatives to preserve the memory of the past in Europe. A total of 42 project grants and seven specific annual operating grants are planned for this area. 'Democratic engagement and civic participation' has the main goal of fostering closer engagement of European civil society in EU policy-making. A total of 312 town twinning projects, 42 urban networks, 33 action grants for civil society projects and 29 operating grants are scheduled for this area.

Austerity, labour market segmentation and emigration: the case of Lithuania

AbstractThe so‐called ‘Baltic model’ of austerity sometimes receives uncritical praise from advocates of tightened austerity. This model has achieved an almost uncontested vogue among international finance officials and European Union policy makers who portray it as a ‘socially costless’ template for other crisis economies. The article examines the impact of austerity on Baltic Lithuania, a peripheral newer EU member state, and suggests that the harsh austerity measures adopted by its government in order to restore fiscal balance have been far from socially costless. Austerity has accelerated fragmentation of the labour market into a differentially advantaged primary (largely public) sector, and an increasingly informalised secondary (low‐skill manufacturing and services) sector, stimulating extraordinarily high levels of emigration as the population, especially younger persons, depart from the country. We describe this here as the formation of a new austeriat.

Měnící se komoditní trhy - práce na předpisech EU

Commodity markets are substantial for the shape of the world economy and experienced numerous structural changes over the span of last decades. The financial sector of the economy started to play the commanding role. The prices became more volatile as more and more financial investors began to speculate on commodity markets. Such process combined with other crucial factors leads to market abuses, decreasing transparency of trade and excessive speculation. These issues surged and were mostly observed during the subprime mortgage crisis and in the period straight after it. The policymakers around the globe made an effort in order to diminish those effects and introduced a new policy framework towards commodity markets. This paper focuses on current works and actions taken by the European Union policymakers and their United States counterparts.

The alignment of parties and interest groups in EU legislative politics. A tale of two different worlds?

ABSTRACTPolitical science research on European Union (EU) interest groups and parties represents two separate study fields and both literatures convey a somewhat different image of EU legislative policy-making. While most scholars of party politics endorse the notion that parties politicize EU legislative politics, scholarship of interest groups tends to portray EU policy-making as embedded in a somewhat de-politicized context in which expertise-based exchanges between societal interests and bureaucratic agencies is crucial. By analysing the context of EU legislative lobbying in relation to 54 legislative acts we demonstrate that, in particular on controversial cases, the alignment of parties and interests groups reflects party political cleavages.

Between faith, expertise and advocacy: the role of religion in European Union policy-making on immigration

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the place of religion in European immigration policy. Focusing on the role of faith-based organizations, the purpose is to know how religious issues, actors and references are dealt with in the policy-making process. The method relies on document analysis and qualitative interviews. Our conclusion is mixed: overall, the logics of interactions between religion and immigration are the same at the European and national levels. Religion is neither a proper policy issue nor a legitimizing resource. It is an ethical inspiration and gives credentials to actors from majority denominations, but religious contents have to be translated into secular terms. However, whereas at the national level tensions surrounding Islam have strengthened the political role of minority religions, this is not the case in the European Union. Rather, the policy field is dominated by Christian organizations, who utilize their expertise and influence to act as immigrants’ advocates rather than immigrant representatives.

Beyond Institutional Capacity: Political Motivation and Parliamentary Behaviour in the Early Warning System

The Early Warning System gives national parliaments the right to intervene in European Union policy-making. This article investigates their incentives to submit reasoned opinions. It analyses the reactions of 40 parliamentary chambers to 411 draft legislative acts between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013 by ReLogit models. The article argues that, beyond institutional capacity, political motivation explains cross-chamber and inter-temporal variation. Higher levels of party political contestation over EU integration have a positive effect, but greater party dispersion on the left–right dimension negatively affects submissions. Furthermore, salient and urgent draft legislative acts incentivise parliaments to become active in the Early Warning System. Finally, some findings suggest that minority governments and economic recession represent positive conditions for unicameral parliaments and lower chambers to submit reasoned opinions. The findings are discussed with reference to the role of national parliaments in EU democracy.

Effects of the open method of coordination (OMC) in research and innovation: indirect legislation in EU policy-making?

This study offers new insights on the open method of coordination (OMC) of the European Union (EU) by focusing on the effects of this new method for producing EU regulation. The starting points here are that the OMC is not a radically new method of governance, and that it must be seen as an application of the theory of indirect legislation – as developed by Bentham. With the concept of indirect legislation, Bentham thinks a system of governing individuals that does not rest only on the fear of legal punishment, but is backed by the prospect of rewards and the fear of public censure. For the purpose of the comparison between the OMC and indirect legislation, the latter is considered as a system of social control, which – whether it be categorised as legal or not – is first and foremost normative and has effects, i.e. is applied, followed and enforced in a given community without resorting to the binding force of the law. Thanks to the input of indirect legislation, this study aims to understand what have been the real effects of the OMC and more particularly of the OMC applied to the research and innovation policy in Belgium.

What the eye does not see: a critical interpretive synthesis of European Union policies addressing sexual violence in vulnerable migrants

In Europe, refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are more vulnerable to sexual victimisation than European citizens. They face more challenges when seeking care. This literature review examines how legal and policy frameworks at national, European and international levels condition the prevention of and response to sexual violence affecting these vulnerable migrant communities living in the European Union (EU). Applying the Critical Interpretive Synthesis method, we reviewed 187 legal and policy documents and 80 peer-reviewed articles on migrant sexual health for elements on sexual violence and further analysed the 37 legal and 12 peer-reviewed articles among them that specifically focused on sexual violence in vulnerable migrants in the EU-27 States. Legal and policy documents dealing with sexual violence, particularly but not exclusively in vulnerable migrants, apply ‘tunnel vision’. They ignore: a) frequently occurring types of sexual violence, b) victimisation rates across genders and c) specific risk factors within the EU such as migrants’ legal status, gender orientation and living conditions. The current EU policy-making paradigm relegates sexual violence in vulnerable migrants as an ‘outsider’ and ‘female only’ issue while EU migration and asylum policies reinforce its invisibility. Effective response must be guided by participatory rights- and evidence-based policies and a public health approach, acknowledging the occurrence and multiplicity of sexual victimisation of vulnerable migrants of all genders within EU borders.

The EU Cohesion Policy in Context: Regional Growth and the Influence of Agricultural and Rural Development Policies

This paper looks at the Cohesion Policy of the European Union (EU) and investigates how the EU agricultural and rural development policies shape its influence on regional growth. The analysis of the drivers of regional growth shows that the EU Regional Policy has a positive and significant influence on economic growth in all regions. However, its impact is stronger in the most economically advanced areas and is maximised when its expenditure is complemented by Rural Development and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds. The top-down funding of the CAP seems to be able to concentrate some benefits in the most deprived areas. Conversely only the most dynamics rural areas are capable of leveraging on the bottom-up measures of the EU Rural Development Policy. This suggests that EU policy makers in all fields should constantly look for the best mix of bottom-up and top-down measures in order to tackle structural disadvantage.

Regional coordination of European environmental policies

Over the last years the European Union (EU) has implemented ambitious climate and energy targets for 2020, i.e. the 2020 Climate and Energy Package (Package), to become a highly efficient, low carbon economy. The Package assigns binding renewable energy sources (RES) target for each EU member countries. Indeed costs to reach Package's targets vary among EU countries, given heterogeneity among regions and different instruments implemented to spur RES deployment. The aim of our paper is to provide a policy tool for EU policy makers in the negotiation process that assigns achievable quantitative targets according to which countries are not inclined to deviate from the agreement.We compute potential extra costs that may arise when some EU countries fail to reach the assigned objective within the Package with reference to RES target. More generally, our simulation model is an instrument that allows EU policy makers to assess incentives that countries might have to participate or not to the environmental agreements. Our analysis shows that partial participation to the Package produces inefficiencies by rising costs for other participating countries to the environmental agreement. Finally, we propose a new policy mechanism based on progressive sanctions for countries that do not meet their national targets, which are proportional to the monetary value of the penalty they impose to the rest of the EU countries with their opportunistic behavior.