European Union Governance Research Articles

The trust deficit. EU bargaining for access and control over cloud infrastructures

ABSTRACT European Union (EU) governments rely on a handful of American cloud providers (hyperscalers) for critical state functions, which creates strategic dependencies. The EU data sovereignty agenda aims to manage such dependence, yet hyperscalers criticise it for excluding leading industry players from the EU market and slowing economic growth. In this paper, we argue that sovereignty policies in the cloud are the result of a trust deficit between European governments and American hyperscalers. The trust deficit consists of a continuous bargain by European governments for greater access and control over hyperscalers’ infrastructures. Hyperscalers, in turn, respond to such demands mainly through technology. But is their response sufficient to address the trust deficit? Drawing from technical documents and expert interviews, we find that states and hyperscalers have a fundamentally different understanding of sovereignty; that technology alone cannot address the trust deficit; and that data sovereignty policies in the cloud can be compatible with the digital economy and cybersecurity. Our study is a starting point for further research on the political economy of trust in the governance of digital technologies.

Social reproduction and contestation of racialized Roma exclusion: The role of civil society organizations in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT Anti-Roma racism remains a persistent concern in numerous European countries. Despite sustained efforts by both the European Union and national governments over the past two decades to promote Roma inclusion, the effectiveness of these integration policies has largely been perceived as inadequate. This has been evident in the widespread exclusion experienced by Roma communities. Focusing on the Czech Republic, this article moves from examining state policies to the actions of civil society. In this context, the article explores the role played by Czech civil society organizations (CSOs) in both challenging and perpetuating racialized Roma exclusion. Building on Bourdieu’s concept of social habitus, this article expands it to a racialized social habitus framework. Through online interviews with CSOs and ethnographic fieldwork in four Czech cities, it explores the complex interplay between integration policies, civil society, and the racialized exclusion of the Czech Roma. The article illuminates how these organizations simultaneously contest and reinforce racialized perceptions of the Roma, thereby enriching scholarly dialogue on the complex dynamics of race and racism within civil society.

Biotechnological Tool for Metal(loid)s as Cd, Cu, Ni, and P Management with Multiple Approaches: Bioremediation, Recovery of Raw Materials, and Food Safety

Contaminated soils are a challenge for implementing biotechnology in bioremediation, the recovery of Critical and Strategic Raw Materials (CRMs and SRMs), and food security. European Union (EU) Governments have established strict limits on As, Pb, Cd, and Hg in foods (Document 32023R0915) and requested the recovery of 34 CRMs within a circular economy (CE) (5th CRMs list). This study proposed a biotechnological tool for the decontamination of soil with heavy metal(loid)s by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM)-assisted phytoextraction and the subsequent recovery of CRMs or by phytostabilization to prevent their entry into the food chain. It consisted of placing Baccharis salicifolia plants, inoculated or non-inoculated with AM fungi, into bioreactors (BRs) containing mining soil with Cd, Ni, and Cu, according to the Argentinian Patent (AR090183B1). The bioextractive potential (BP) was also estimated at the highest Technological Readiness Level (TRL) using a vegetable depuration module (VDM, TRL 6). Inoculated plants showed significantly higher aerial bioaccumulation coefficients (Cd: 68.62; P: 2.99; Ni: 2.51; Cu: 0.18) in BRs, and the BP values reached 1.16 g, 9.75 g, 2.40 g, and 213.1 g for Ni, Cd, Cu, and P, respectively. Finally, these CRMs and SRMs could be recovered from biomass through hydrometallurgy within a CE framework.

The Influence of the European Court of Justice and the Role of Social Imaginaries in EU Governance

Abstract The years following 1989 marked a significant period of transformation for the European Union (EU), supplemented with the arrival of a distinct institutional framework. Central to this evolution is the European Court of Justice (ecj), which has exerted momentous influence, reshaping the power dynamics within the EU. This paper investigates influence of the ecj in helping to set up a novel trajectory of the European project, namely the shift towards what is termed “liberal constitutionalism,” characterized by a top-down, legal-centric approach. Amidst this evolution, the concept of populism emerges not only as a significant political force challenging established norms, reflecting tensions between institutional frameworks and socio-political realities, but also as conceptual lens through which the mainstream academia and European institution explain the challenges the European project has been facing. The dichotomy between established governance systems, such as the rule of law and emergent discontent, most commonly referred to as populism gave birth to the notion of “anti-populism” as a way to counteract the populist challenges to the European project. Furthermore, it studies the role of emergencies in perpetuating the status quo within EU governance, highlighting how crises are employed to justify executive overreach. To this end, this paper delves into three intertwined social imaginaries that emerged from the discourse surrounding post-1989 transformations. The first imaginary, “Western normality,” influenced the trajectory of cee societies post-Iron Curtain. The second, termed “expertocracy,” championed a procedural approach to decision-making, prioritizing experts over mass democracy. Finally, the concept of the “politics of emergency” arose as a tool to surpass the post- political landscape within the EU. These constructs significantly impact how the rule of law (rol) is perceived, applied, and contested.

Playing Defence: Europe and Democracy

The authoritarian menace to democratic values has become one of Europe’s principal strategic concerns. This geopolitical challenge is altering the place of democracy support within European foreign and security policies. The European Union and European governments have begun to adopt a more defensive form of democracy support that reflects their evolving security concerns. This heralds a new kind of nexus between democracy and security agendas. As yet, however, European governments are not pursuing this defensive form of democracy policy in a way that is likely to further their long-term strategic interests.

The paradox of semiconductors—EU governance between sovereignty and interdependence

Semiconductors are among the most important technologies for the digital society and a core technology of the European Union (EU)'s digital sovereignty agenda. The main argument of this article is that the governance of semiconductors is shaped by an inherent tension. On the one hand, this governance is embedded in the agenda of digital sovereignty, suggesting some form of autarky is possible. On the other hand, the production of semiconductors is necessarily globally distributed. This study draws on critical infrastructure literature, which enables us to explore how semiconductors are loaded with values that are inscribed via digital sovereignty. In the case of semiconductors, digital sovereignty works as a tool for legitimising trade, economic and research policies. The need for a strong semiconductor industry in the EU and the globalised nature of threats against the supply chain are acknowledged simultaneously. In turn, subsidising global corporations has turned out to be the natural response. Politically, it becomes difficult to contest these subsidies, as well as the underlying assumption concerning future innovation.

POLICY ANALYSIS OF HUMAN FACTORS AND SOCIAL INNOVATION IN EU EASI PROGRAMME REPORTS (2015-2022)

Purpose. The Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), launched by the EU (European Union), represents a financial instrument with the objective of addressing a range of policy analysis areas, as follows: (I) social protection and innovation; (II) social exclusion and social policies; (III) living and working conditions; and (IV) employment, job conditions, mobility, and social entrepreneurship settings under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). Objectives. Therefore, the current research aims to structure and analyse in a comparative framework a wide range of EU policies and governance applied to the EaSI reports launched in the period 2015-2022, considering the policy context, key actors, policy content, legal instruments, implementation and governance structures and impact assessment of societal challenges, the role of human factors and the need for social innovation. Methodology. The analysis utilises both quantitative and qualitative methods, building on the comparative legal analysis and developing a triple evaluation: social, economic and political. In order to monitor and review the policy outcomes contained in the EaSI reports, the current study will use the Text-Based Diagramming of the programme Mermaid v10.9.0 Live Editor. Results and findings. The results of the analysis will evaluate and measure the extent to which the three EaSI reports launched in the period 2015-2022 have met the requirements of social innovation by assessing the policy and governance implementation mechanisms and tracking the relevance of two determinants: EU societal challenges and human factors. Conclusion. The framework of the EaSI reports provides the evaluation findings on multi-level policy and strategy approaches and summarises the findings and broader perspectives of the three reports on the effectiveness of social innovation governance. The research findings highlight the societal challenges in the EU, the interdisciplinary circumstances and the evidence-based interplay between the policy framework and the adaptability of multi-level governance.

Governing the European Union's recovery and resilience facility: National ownership and performance‐based financing in theory and practice

AbstractThe Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) adopted in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic marks an important departure in European Union (EU) governance, as it introduces an innovative “demand‐driven, performance‐based” model aimed at overcoming the limitations of past policies seeking to promote national reforms. In this study, we set out the theoretical assumptions underlying the RRF governance model, and assess its practical effectiveness and legitimacy by analyzing the drafting, implementation, and monitoring of National Recovery and Resilience Plans in eight member states. The study concludes by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the RRF's governance model, relating them to theoretical expectations derived from previous international experience with similar approaches elsewhere, and considers the implications for future EU policy. Our core argument is that while the RRF's governance design has reinforced national ownership and commitment to reform and investment objectives, its performance‐based financing system leads to a mechanical focus on formal verification of predetermined milestones and targets, with negative consequences for both effectiveness and legitimacy. Addressing these problems would require a redesign of the RRF's complete contracting approach, giving member states greater flexibility on the means for achieving agreed commitments, as well as for revising them, not only in response to unanticipated changes in objective circumstances, but also to lessons learned during the implementation process.

Introduction: Future‐proofing policies – How foresight shapes European Union governance

AbstractIntroducing this issue, the present article notes how the growing political importance given to foresight in EU governance has so far only sparked limited interest among scholars of EU law and policy‐making. To address this gap, the article starts by clarifying concepts and defining the key terminology at the intersection between (strategic) foresight and EU governance ‘in the law’ (involving societal actors in law‐making processes) and ‘through law’ (governmental actors steering society via law). It then offers a comparative discussion of the main insights of the contributions to the issue, highlighting how and why foresight has become institutionalised and how it operates across EU institutions today. In the concluding section, the article turns to the future and calls for more research into how foresight shapes EU governance, setting a research agenda for the study of foresight as a practice informing law‐ and policy‐making in the European Union.

All at sea? Exploring key actors' understandings of the role of European Union policies for protecting marine nature

AbstractAmbitious European Union (EU) policies are aiming to halt and reverse marine biodiversity loss in the current decade. However, EU environmental and conservation policies have so far fallen short of their targets. This study explores how the key actors in policy interpretation and implementation frame their understandings of these policy objectives, and how these framings influence the protection of marine biodiversity. The results of a Q‐methodological study undertaken with key actors from national, regional sea, and EU governance levels reveal the existence of two predominant frames. Key actors are divided between Environmental Protection and Sustainable Use‐focused understandings, with the first framing further partitioning into four distinct subframes. All the identified frames are internally coherent and are firmly held, therefore begging the question of how EU conservation policy should proceed, given that the same policy texts and the marine biodiversity crisis are perceived in distinctly different ways, with different actions prioritized. It is important to understand and reflect on the different positioning of key actors because these differences directly influence the achievement of marine biodiversity goals.

Impact of the 2022 energy crisis on energy transition awareness in Latvia

Citizens, businesses, and governments faced energy scarcity, skyrocketing costs, and a high degree of unpredictability due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This situation has forced the European Union and national governments to switch to local energy resources and increase energy efficiency more strictly. But has society's attitude changed in the same way? Two separate public opinion surveys and network analyses were carried out to gain an understanding of energy efficiency practices prevalent in Latvia before and after the war erupted. In addition, the energy community simulation tool has been used to quantify the economic indicators under various conditions.The household survey results show that there, in fact, have been relatively few measures adopted to increase energy efficiency among the population during the energy crisis. The developed policy energy community simulation tool shows, that the energy costs in existing multi-family buildings have increased from around 61 EUR/m2 to 83.5 EUR/m2. However, it is still not motivating households to seek solutions toward more efficient energy use and RES generation due to the governmental subsidies to cover steep cost increases. Interventions targeting efficient energy communities through building managers would give higher strength and long-term effects.

Assessing the effectiveness of social protection measures in mitigating COVID-19-related income shocks in the European union

By means of counterfactual simulation methods, this paper quantifies the role of tax–benefit policies in mitigating the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic to household income in the European Union. The tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union EUROMOD is used to decompose changes in the income distribution into the effects of: (i) earnings losses due to COVID-19, (ii) automatic stabilizers, (iii) monetary compensation schemes introduced during the pandemic; and (iv) COVID-19-specific reforms to taxes and benefits implemented by European Union governments. The results show a great deal of heterogeneity between countries in terms of earnings losses and the effect of tax-benefit policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In most countries, the largest contribution to cushioning the economic shock of the pandemic comes from monetary compensation schemes. Automatic stabilizers also play a role, mainly through the effects of social insurance contributions, taxes, and unemployment insurance benefits. Tax-benefit systems cushioned incomes to a large extent even among those most severely affected by the shock to earnings, with an important role for monetary compensation schemes, but also a larger stabilizing effect of unemployment insurance. Among automatic stabilizers, social assistance benefits played an important role in cushioning the income shock for the poorest quintiles among the most severely affected, but only in selected countries.

Responding to COVID-19: theorizing European Union governance and health policy

ABSTRACT The European Union experienced several significant crises before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic that could result in paradigmatic changes that advance either the EU’s coordination or its disintegration. This paper investigates responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and explains the policy changes during the crisis using a comparative framework of neo-functionalism and intergovernmentalism in European integration theory. Tracking integration theories and comparing the new dynamics arising from the pandemic, we demonstrate that the pandemic has intensified long-standing trends in EU governance, resulting in the shift in EU governance during the pandemic being interpreted as both a reconceptualization of interests and a reframing of norms. The pandemic is therefore a wake-up call for the EU about the lack of deep European integration and incremental change, particularly with respect to the EU’s relative ineffectiveness in influencing its members’ health policies and reforms.

Reinforcing Institutional Power: The Discourse of Normalcy in European Union Governance

This paper examines the notion of normalcy within the discourse of the European Union (EU), with a focus on its response to transformative dynamics and challenges, especially post-2008. I analyse how the EU, facing diminishing ideological supremacy, has reinforced its institutional power through the framework of normalcy. By emphasizing constitutionalisation and integration through legal means, bodies such as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have expanded their roles, promoting "integration through law" to counter alternative political projects invariably labelled as populist, thereby giving rise to anti-populism as a discursive tool. Drawing on crisis discourse and diagnostic practice, this paper explores how normalcy legitimises and perpetuates existing power structures within EU governance, subtly coercing member states and citizens into accepting its norms and values, thus shaping perceptions of normalcy and also inevitability. At the core of this framework lies the rule of law (RoL), which establishes legal boundaries in the first place, but in the same move shapes political contexts.My paper argues that the exclusive focus on legalistic interpretations obscures the underlying structural factors perpetuating power dynamics and economic disparities among member states, constraining adaptive responses. I examine the narrative of "growing up to democracy" and its impact on the European project discourse, particularly in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. I then scrutinise the roles of experts and the “juristocracy” in reinforcing this narrative while simultaneously masking underlying inequalities and power differentials. Furthermore, the paper explores the strategic deployment of language and discourse by EU institutions during crises, highlighting their implications for public understanding, political action, and outcomes. Finally, it investigates the EU's strategic use of crisis discourse and diagnostic practices, focusing particularly on the ascendancy of the judiciary, but also highlighting how this trajectory may also have negative influence of legislative and executive bodies as their role diminishes in the process.

Translating the complexity of EU differentiation: a comparative analysis of news coverage in Germany, Denmark, and the UK

ABSTRACT This article explores whether and how journalists cover various forms of differentiation in the European Union (EU) in the news. Differentiation is a key feature of European integration, viewed by some as a facilitator of democracy and by others as a mechanism leading to dominance. Yet we know only little how its complex and controversial aspects are communicated to the citizens by journalists in their role as public mediator and critical watchdogs. Drawing on a selection of news reports published between 2015 and 2020 in nine media outlets from Germany, Denmark, and the UK, we find that the media frequently covers EU differentiation in a range of forms that extends beyond the conventional academic focus on territory-based differentiated integration. The majority of this coverage presents a balanced view, yet nuances emerge with respect to the forms of differentiation discussed and the origins of commentary on these matters. Overall, these results point to the key role of the media as translators and watchdogs of the complexity of EU governance.

Convergence behavior of sovereign bond yields in the EU and COVID-19 government responses

This paper aims to investigate the convergence pattern of sovereign bond yields in European Union (EU) countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. To this purpose we employ the Phillips and Sul convergence methodology. We further test whether the above pattern was affected by the intensity of government responses against the Covid-19 dispersion. Our findings indicate the existence of two convergence clubs. Both clubs are composed of countries that have previously been classified as either ‘core’ or ‘periphery’ countries, indicating that in this particular health crisis, this classification is too simplistic. Moreover, our results suggest that the intensity of Covid-19 containment policies had little to no effect in shaping the convergence pattern of sovereign bond yields in the EU. These conclusions are robust even after accounting for the size of the fiscal sector of each country.

Дослідження адміністративної системи Федеративної Республіки Німеччини

The relevance of the experience of governance of the European Union (EU), in particular in Germany, is due to several factors. The first factor relates to the security and migration crisis in Europe. This crisis has led to the need to reform the administrative mechanisms of migration control, which should be both common and individual for the EU Member States. The second factor concerns the impact of climate and environmental challenges. In this context, a study of the administrative system in Germany could be useful for developing effective policies to combat climate change and protect the environment. The third factor relates to innovation and economic integration. Germany's public administration is one of the leading actors in the European community, so studying it can help develop effective policies in these areas. Finally, studying Germany's legitimacy and democratic nature of EU administrative procedures is an important part of understanding and improving EU governance.

Reflections on the European Union’s participation in negotiations of the global plastic pollution instrument under international environmental law

Increasing plastic pollution is looming worldwide, damaging biodiversity, marine ecosystems, and human health. At the global level, no overarching normative framework sets out the specific rules and principles of general application in international environmental law, leading to difficulties in compliance and enforcement of plastic pollution governance. Developing an effective and legally binding instrument to tackle this emerging issue is imperative. The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has called for developing an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, based on plastic’s full lifecycle approach. As one of the active participants in the negotiations, the European Union (EU) has discussed various aspects of the instrument in detail and sought to introduce the EU governance experience at the international level. This article develops a framework that considers contextual, actor, and process factors to assess the extent of achieving EU targets. On this basis, we argue that the EU’s objectives for the international instrument may be achieved at a high level. However, how the EU responds to challenges will also impact subsequent development, which may require the EU to adopt a more moderate stance and compromise on some controversial issues.

Now they can cope? The Green Deal and the contested meaning of sustainability in EU sectoral governance

The European Union (EU) has long discursively positioned itself as a global frontrunner for sustainability and climate protection. Nevertheless, substantive progress toward sustainability goals has not been reached in several governance areas, such as transport and mobility. Especially at the local scale, the highly complex and technocratic EU policy framework is confronted with increasingly polarized claim-making regarding ecological, social and economic problems. With its recent Green Deal governance architecture, the European Commission has sought to address this ideational and institutional fragmentation and resulting stalemate toward reaching “climate neutrality” by proposing ambitious sectoral policies and new governance instruments. This problem-driven paper exploratively investigates the ongoing reconfigurations the Green Deal induces within EU governance. Using the example of the urban mobility sector and employing an interpretive analysis of key policy documents and expert/stakeholder interviews, the paper links the literatures on EU governance architectures and norm dynamics. It discusses potentials and pitfalls for meaning-making processes in times of the socioecological polycrisis. Notably, it critically evaluates the Green Deal’s capacity to open and sustain spaces for translating sustainability across horizontally and vertically fragmented realms of EU governance.

European administrative networks during times of crisis: Exploring the temporal development of the internal market network SOLVIT

AbstractEuropean administrative networks (EANs) are an increasingly prominent form of European Union (EU) governance. Although these networks are typically portrayed as important and flexible forms of organization, we lack knowledge of their temporal dimension, including their development in times of crisis. This paper provides a first analysis of network interaction as it unfolds before and during times of severe crisis for the EU internal market. Specifically, we examine interactions in the EU internal market network SOLVIT. This network offers member states both a formalized procedure for the bilateral resolution of cases of alleged misapplication of EU law, and an informal network for general discussions on internal market topics and SOLVIT‐related matters beyond specific case‐resolution. Based on unique three‐wave survey data, we develop a continuous‐time model (stochastic actor‐oriented model) to analyze the evolution of SOLVIT's informal interactions over time. In explaining these developments, we reflect on the importance of two crises: the exit of a central SOLVIT member (the United Kingdom), which drove informal interactions to a great extent, and COVID‐19, which led to great sudden uncertainty and challenges for the implementation of internal market law. Our results show that the network is remarkably stable and despite, or rather because of, these crises, has become denser over time.