European Union Politics Research Articles

Drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union politics: institutional factors or party characteristics?

ABSTRACT A vital political opposition is one of the cornerstones of democracy, yet we know surprisingly little about the conditions that shape it. In this paper, we offer a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of parliamentary opposition in European Union (EU) politics in five countries: Denmark; Germany; Ireland; Sweden; and the United Kingdom. Based on an extensive hand-coded data set of 7,520 statements made by members of parliament (MPs) during both plenary sessions and deliberations during European Affairs Committee (EAC) meetings, we examine how institutions and party characteristics shape two types of oppositional behaviour: the expression of critique and the presentation of alternatives. We find that both factors are important for understanding to what extent, and how, opposition is voiced in national parliaments. Oversight institutions’ strength and a party’s degree of Euroscepticism jointly function as significant determinants of the likelihood that MPs will express opposition in the form of critique. However, when it comes to the likelihood of offering alternatives, oversight institutions’ strength fails to explain variations in the share of alternatives, while degree of Euroscepticism remains a significant predictor.

How Foundational Narratives Shape European Union Politics

AbstractIn this article, I distinguish between four foundational narratives about the EU and outline how they continue to shape EU politics of the present day. The foundational narratives are (1) the EU as a peace project, (2) the notion that the EU is forged in crisis, (3) the sense that deeper economic interdependence fosters political change and (4) the idea that law can replace power politics in the EU. In order for the European project to address current challenges, such as climate change, economic instability, political polarization or the rule of law crisis, I argue that Europeans need to confront their past. History is not only the recollection of events; it represents the connections that the public and elites wish to make. So, in order to develop policy solutions to cross‐border issues, European contemporaries need to critically revisit past connections and to uncover blind spots. If Europeans revisit the EU's foundational narratives, they might also figure out what should change in the EU today.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the European Union: politics, policies and institutions

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to the European Union (EU) and its member states. In the EU, health policy competence has been and remains largely with member states. However, faced with a major external crisis, which more or less affected all member states at the same time, the EU developed a framework within which the member states (and their subnational units) could respond together to the crisis. This introductory article to the Special Issue ‘The COVID-19 Pandemic and the European Union,’ briefly examines how EU institutions, policies and politics were affected by the crisis. Contrary to earlier crises, the EU responded speedily and effectively this time around. The EU has become increasingly important in crisis management, in part due to the nature of transboundary crises. The EU proved itself to be a good crisis manager on some dimensions, but certainly not on all. The crisis created momentum for collective action and for fast decision-making, even though the legitimacy of some these actions has been subject to limited public scrutiny.

Nationalism and European disintegration

AbstractThe politics of the European Union's crises of the 2010s required the emergence of analyses and theorisation that sought to explain the possibility of Europeandisintegration. This article makes a conceptual contribution to the emerging literature on European disintegration by arguing for the inclusion of nationalism as an important—yet under‐represented—variable in the politics and process of disintegration in the European Union. It draws together elements of enduring value in classical explanations of the rise and operation of nationalism in Europe from Ernest Gellner, Tom Nairn and John Breuilly, with a postfunctionalist emphasis on the politicisation of European Union politics at the member‐state level. The article concludes that a consideration of nationalism illuminates the process and politics of European disintegration by showing that the politics of European integration in the 2010s created nationalism rather than contained it, as it had been historically designed to do.

NORMATIVE POWER POLICY IN EUROPEAN UNION-AFRİCA RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT AND THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS AND ITS IMPACTS ON EMPOWERING AFRICA

This study analyzes the normative power policy of the European Union (EU) in its relationships with Africa through the Cotonou Agreement, which includes normative provisions and conditionality, and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The study also tries to evaluate how effective the EU's normative power policy towards the continent and these agreements developed within the framework of the normative values are in the strengthening of the region. In the study, which was conducted by using the literature review method, current articles, books, and reports on the subject have been examined. The results of the study revealed that the normative power policy of the EU in its relations with Africa has been based on a realistic strategy rather than an idealist approach, and this policy has been used to realize the EU's political and economic interests, which have been the basis of its relations with the countries in the continent where the EU has a colonial past. In other words, the study argues that the normative power used by the EU in its relations with Africa is based on the economic interests of the EU. Therefore, it has been argued that the normative power policy of the EU towards the continent, the Cotonou Agreement developed within the framework of normative values, and the EPA has not been effective in improving and developing Africa. In particular, the EU practices cannot be implemented in compliance with the normative values it has set forth as part of the economic and commercial cooperation. The promotion of the values, the strengthening, and development of the continent might be kept relatively in the second place by the Union by prioritizing its own interests in economy and commercial cooperation. In this context, considering the structure and basic needs of the continent rather than the interests of the member states in the EU's normative approach to the continent will both ensure consistency in the normative approach of the EU by preventing the interests of the Union and its member states from getting ahead of EU norms and will be extremely important in the development and strengthening of the continent.

Battered by Geopolitical Winds, Bulgaria Struggles to Restart Much Needed Reforms

Battered by Geopolitical Winds, Bulgaria Struggles to Restart Much Needed Reforms

After Merkel – The 2021 German Election and its Implications for European Union Politics

After Merkel – The 2021 German Election and its Implications for European Union Politics

What’s in a name? Gender equality and the European Conservatives and Reformists’ group in the European Parliament

Far-right and populist right-wing political parties have garnered significant scholarly attention in recent years. They have acquired importance also in European political institutions such as the European Parliament (EP). We explore this issue by focusing on the European Conservatives and Reformists’ (ECR) group in the EP. We analyse its current and former main national party delegations – the British Conservative Party, the Polish Law and Justice Party, and the Brothers of Italy – and unpack the ideological underpinnings of ‘conservative’ positions of the ECR group. How is ‘conservatism’ constructed in the EP? What role does gender play in these constructions? Significantly, we locate gender equality as a key area, crucial to the identity of what it means to be a conservative party in Europe today. We combine the analysis of ECR political programs with interview and ethnographic data. The article contributes to both the study of European Union (EU) politics and to research on national conservative parties.

The Politics of EU towards Environmental Education and Sustainable Development

Although there are many ways to overcome environmental problems, the threat of climate change and resource depletion, which has become a global problem, forces countries to make common policies. However, some economic costs that occur at the same time prevent countries from adopting sustainable environmental policies. Therefore, this article, which emphasizes environmental education, includes examples of cooperation between countries on environmental protection and sustainable development.Environmental policies and development policies in the member states of the European Union are also among the subjects to be examined. In this way, the level of environmental policy in countries with different foreign policy priorities could be observed. The EU, which has rapidly developed its environmental policies with the effect of globalization, sets an example in this regard. Therefore, the research, it is aimed to discuss the place of environmental protection policies in the education system in European Union (EU) countries. It is seen that the current education system does not adequately focus on climate change. It has been determined that the environmental policies carried out to overcome the negative effects of environmental problems cannot be integrated into the education system or their sustainability cannot be ensured. If it is desired to have environmentally sensitive societies: It is important to improve the curriculum and analyze the international repercussions of climate challenges on education. Indeed, education is one of the most important stages of this informing process. In this article, “globalization” will also be discussed together with the EU's environmental policy and education system. Furthermore, it will be analyzed which subjects are included in the curriculum and what the differences are between European countries. There are three main titles in this study in which qualitative research method is preferred: “Introduction”, “The Effects of The Globalization on Environmental Problem”, “Environmental Education in EU and Sustainable Development”. As a result, in the light of the information obtained, it is seen that the effort to integrate the environmental policies of the European Union into the education system in economic, social, and political life dimensions continues. Considering the EU's 2030 and 2050 sustainable development goals; in addition to a sustainable environmental education policy, investments should be made in sustainable energy and sustainable urbanization policies.

SAGE Award for the best article published in European Union Politics, Volume 22

SAGE Award for the best article published in <i>European Union Politics</i>, Volume 22

Single issue EU referendums: tying hands, domestic effects and the challenge of consentification

ABSTRACT Single-issue referendums – which give voters a say on specific European Union (EU) policies or general questions of European integration – were rarely employed before the 2000s, but they have since become commonplace. Examples include Greece’s 2015 referendum on negotiations with the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hungary’s 2016 referendum on the relocation of refugees between EU member states and the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the EU. This article asks why we are seeing more single-issue referendums in the EU. Surveying different theoretical perspectives on the conditions under which such votes occur, it considers single-issue referendums as being driven by (1) the search for strategic advantage in a two-level game, (2) domestic effects and (3) problems of consentification. Case studies of eight single-issue referendums show that domestic effects matter but offer limited evidence of hand tying. Most single-issue referendums, it finds, were called by governments wrestling with issues that could win legal approval but not political legitimacy. This instrument of direct democracy will remain a feature of EU politics, we contend, as member states wrestle with domestic effects and the challenge of (de)legitimating EU decisions through traditional means.

Under-represented, cautious, and modest: the gender gap at European Union Politics

The gender gap pervades many core aspects of political science. This article reports that females continue to be under-represented as authors and reviewers in European Union Politics and that these differences have only diminished slightly since the second half of the 2000s. We also report that females use more cautious and modest language in their correspondence with the editorial office, but do not find evidence that this under-studied aspect of the gender gap affects the outcome of the reviewing process. The authors discuss some measures European Union Politics and other journals might take to address the imbalance.

Opening Pandora’s Box? Joint Sovereignty and the Rise of EU Agencies with Operational Tasks

This article problematises the proliferation of European Union (EU) agencies with operational tasks as a new phenomenon capturing the exercise of joint sovereignty in European integration. While joint decision-making has been a feature of EU politics for decades, joint sovereignty is a broader category that additionally involves the creation of EU bodies able to intervene ‘on the ground’ alongside national public actors. We argue that the choice for joint sovereignty opens a Pandora’s box of implementation deficiencies which undermine the ability of both national and supranational actors to conduct operational activities effectively. We subsequently identify two frequent dysfunctions in policy implementation and connect them to ambiguity and conflict at the decision-making stage. Empirically, we illustrate the systemic link between decision-making and implementation problems in the functioning of two agencies with operational tasks active in the fields of border management (Frontex) and police cooperation (Europol).

The Politics of EU Differentiated Integration: Between Crises and Dilemmas

ABSTRACT The debate about differentiated integration (DI) from the beginning of the European Union (EU) integration process to the 2017 White Paper on the Future of Europe can be divided into three different periods, according to the main dilemmas that policy-makers tried to address respectively: (i) a political dilemma about the final ’destination‘ of the EU integration project between the 1950s and the 1980s; (ii) a legal dilemma about the mechanism to adopt to promote DI in the 1980s and the 1990s; and (iii) an institutional dilemma about the growing complexity of EU institutions, begun in the 2000s and encapsulated in the Lisbon Treaty. Each period of debate coincided with a specific type of crisis – respectively, a crisis of design, a crisis of (foreseen) enlargement and a crisis of economic adaptation. Based on past and recent history, one can conclude that the debates about DI will become a permanent feature of EU politics.

Creating European Public Spheres: Legitimising EU Law Through a Reconfiguration of European Political Parties

The European Union's political response - or the lack thereof - to the current Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced doubts about the future viability of the Union. One of the key issues decreasing the acceptance of the EU is the (perceived) lack of democratic legitimacy of EU law. This Article attempts to assess the causes for this deficit and to develop suggestions to address it. With the objective of evaluating the institutions in the EU's spheres of will formation and the public spheres, it sets out a discourse-theoretical model of democratic legitimacy as a benchmark. To create European public spheres, inclusive transnational processes of opinion formation and law-making must be institutionalised. Under the changed conditions of modern communication, adaptions to account for a fragmentation of discourse and the importance of digital public spheres are necessary;this requires an institutional focus on internet communication at the EU level. An analysis of the status quo reveals that the factual non-existence of a European party system is a decisive factor for the legitimacy deficit of EU law. Without strong European political parties as communicative actors, a void between the EU's procedures of will formation and civil society exists, and European public spheres cannot be created successfully. This structural problem can be addressed, it is argued, by freeing European political parties from the constraints currently imposed by EU law. If they are conceptualised as transnational communicative actors with adequate funding, they can create Europe-an public spheres and help to overcome the legitimacy deficit of the EU.

Do voters want domestic politicians to scrutinize the European Union?

AbstractIn light of important political events that go beyond the nation state (e.g., migration, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic), domestic politicians are increasingly pressured to scrutinize and speak out on European policy-making. This creates a potential trade-off between allocating effort to domestic and supranational affairs, respectively. We examine how citizens perceive legislator involvement in European Union (EU) politics with a pre-registered conjoint experiment in Germany. Our results show that Members of Parliament (MPs) are not disadvantaged when allocating effort to European affairs as compared to local and national affairs. In addition, voters tend to prefer MPs who engage in EU policy reform over those who do not. As demand for legislator involvement in European politics is on the rise, we provide empirical evidence that MPs can fulfill this demand without being disadvantaged by the electorate.

The Europeanisation of political involvement: Examining the role of individual transnationalism

In this paper we investigate the association between transnationalism, that is, interactions and cultural competences that cut across European Union (EU) member states, and supranational political engagement. Generally, it is thought that EU citizens’ participation in EU politics is hampered by the perception that the EU is too distant and too technocratic. Against this backdrop, we propose that transnationalism contributes to reducing this perception, as transnational individuals feel part of a supranational community and are thus more likely to get involved in EU politics than if their cross-border experience is absent or poor. Generalised structural equation models with a latent variable of EU-level political involvement (based on cognitive mobilisation, efficacy, and self-reported voting in European Parliament elections) return significant associations with transnational experiences and practices.

SAGE Award for the best article published in European Union Politics, Volume 21

SAGE Award for the best article published in <i>European Union Politics</i>, Volume 21

The EU Political Framework for SDGs 2030 and its Implications to Greece in Political CSR and Development Activities

Business innovation, job creation, environmental sustainability and good governance are fundamental issues for sustainable development (SD) in European Union (EU). SD and policy making in EU is vital for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) fulfillment by 2030, especially if we take into account the asymmetries and the need of cohesion among member states including Greece. The lack of cohesion and the asymmetries indicate the necessity of a horizontal harmonization. Despite the fact that is not a policy topic such as defense or foreign policy which are quite high at national policy agendas, it is a topic that can bring member states together and increase cohesion, according to nonfunctional perspectives. Moreover, the fact that SDGs are based on 17 Goals and numerous indicators provides a significant opportunity for hybrid policy instruments and realms that associated with poverty, good governance and corporate citizenship. What is also interesting is that EU has a policy plan since 2016 as well member states and regions. The aim of this paper is to further examine the European policy framework for SDGs 2030 with a special reference to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy making process in Greece. In particular, this paper has a special emphasis on sectors such as tourism, in order to seek the relationship between CSR and SD in policy planning by 2030 (e.g. European Regional Development Fund). Tourism as a policy field is based on a twofold analysis from state initiatives towards development (protocols, infrastructures, regulations) and private sector responsible entrepreneurship. Therefore, it is an interesting field of political analysis because it tests the state’s adaptation in international challenges (e.g. climate change, unemployment, poverty, COVID-19), whilst at the same time is linked with business sector activities and development planning.

Correlational linkage analysis (Frequently Applied Designs)

Correlational linkage analysis (Frequently Applied Designs)