Transatlantic Governance Research Articles

The EU, the US and the crisis of contemporary multilateralism

ABSTRACTThe article begins by exploring the crisis of contemporary multilateralism in terms of three core elements: institutions, norms and negotiation. It then argues that in relation to these elements, the EU and the US occupy ambiguous positions and roles, and that these ambiguities, exacerbated by internal tensions and crises as well as external forces, pervade their changing roles in the multilateral system. The third part of the paper assesses the role of multilateralism in the development of transatlantic relations, drawing attention to the differentiation between ‘special relationships’, modes of transatlantic governance and broader multilateral mechanisms, and to the ways in which this reflects the underlying ambiguities in the roles of the EU and the US. The paper concludes that the consequent tension between differentiation and disintegration will be a core element of transatlantic relations for the foreseeable future, and that EU-US relations are thus weakening in a foundational aspect of world order.

Special Issue: The Future of Transatlantic Economic Governance in the Age of the BRICS

Special Issue: The Future of Transatlantic Economic Governance in the Age of the BRICS

How Can China Influence the Transatlantic Governance of Cultural Products in the Digital Age?

Abstract Cultural products were a problematic issue in the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The maintenance of the cultural exception – the exclusion of audiovisual products from some trade rules – was at stake at the beginning of the negotiations. The Europeans argued for the exception, while the United States were more interested in the liberalization of web-based cultural products than in the liberalization of traditional ones. Since the TTIP aimed to remove obstacles not only between European and American markets but also to set out global regulatory rules, China took a keen interest in the negotiations. This article shows how China is acting in the international legal sphere in order to improve its power in the field of cultural products and the effects of this on transatlantic negotiations. It also suggests some actions the European Union can take in order to defend its position in future negotiations.

When Cooperation Fails. The International Law and Politics of Genetically Modified Foods – By Mark A. Pollack and Gregory C. Shaffer

Once more Mark Pollack and Gregory Shaffer have offered an illuminating and methodologically diverse book about transatlantic governance, by focusing this time on the bitter controversy over the regulation of genetically modified (GM) foods between the European Union and the United States. Although it was not an easy task to do justice to the inherent complexity of this convoluted story and to resist the temptation to portray the US-EU regulatory deadlock over GM as predetermined by their respective cultural and institutional differences, Pollack and Shaffer, by relying on their distinctive blending of political science and legal theory, succeeded in their endeavor.

European Responses to US Diplomacy: ‘Special Relationships’, Transatlantic Governance and World Order

This article explores the contrasting diplomacies of the United States and the European Union, drawing attention to the characteristics of the United States as a ‘warrior state’ and the European Union as a form of ‘trading state’ in which a complex and hybrid form of diplomacy is produced through the interplay of European and national foreign policies. It then pursues the argument that the interplay of US and EU diplomacies has generated an evolving EU-US diplomatic system, which in itself is hybrid and multidimensional. The article explores the context within which the EU-US diplomatic system has evolved and is evolving, and proposes three key patterns of diplomatic relations as the core of the system: ‘special relationships’ reflecting specific ties between the United States and key EU member states; ‘transatlantic governance’ reflecting the growth of transatlantic transactions and demands for their management; and ‘world order diplomacy’, which is centred on global governance institutions, patterns of intervention and crisis management. The article explores these patterns as they have manifested themselves during the George W. Bush and Obama presidencies, and concludes by asking whether the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty in the European Union is likely to bring about significant change in the patterns of EU-US diplomacy.

Who Governs Transatlantic Relations

In this conclusion to our book Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy, we address the question “who governs” in transatlantic relations, in both theoretical and empirical terms, on the basis of the evidence presented in the book’s substantive chapters. In Part I, we explain the rise of new forms of transatlantic governance during the 1990s and beyond, addressing three core questions: what’s new about these transatlantic governance mechanisms, why are they developing now, and why have the various actors in the new governance networks chosen to organize at the transatlantic level, rather than in some other international fora? In Part II, we examine the evidence of transatlantic governance across a wide range of issue-areas, ranging from trade and standard-setting to food safety, consumer protection, labor and the environment, and we assess the relative explanatory power of the intergovernmental, transgovernmental, and transnational models of governance laid out in the book’s introduction. In Part III, we conclude that transatlantic governance is increasingly governance by mixed networks of all three types of actors, albeit with a leading intergovernmental role played by the European Commission and U.S. executive. Transgovernmental regulatory networks have proven highly variable in their effectiveness, ranging from the technocratic collaboration of competition policy to the more conflictual efforts to coordinate regulatory actions in areas such as genetically modified foods and the mutual recognition of regulations. Transnational relations through officially sanctioned “civil-society dialogues” have proven to be a disappointment, with most of the dialogues falling into disuse within a decade of their creation.

Introduction: Transatlantic Governance in Historical and Theoretical Perspective

In this introduction to our book Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy, we examine the record of transatlantic economic relations, at three levels: the intergovernmental level, where chiefs of government and other high level officials negotiate on behalf of the United States’ and European Union’s respective interests, as determined by internal domestic processes; the transgovernmental level, where lower-level domestic officials work with their transatlantic counterparts on specific issues to coordinate and harmonize domestic policies; and the transnational level, where private actors, including business representatives and other constituents, coordinate efforts to advance their respective goals. Each of these three levels corresponds to a specific body of theory in international relations, including neoliberal regime theory and two-level games, transgovernmental and network approaches, and transnational and global civil society approaches, respectively. We examine two primary sets of questions. First, we seek to explain the development of new and increasingly elaborate mechanisms for transatlantic governance, asking what is new about these mechanisms, and why these actors opted for intensive bilateral cooperation at this time. Put concisely, these three questions ask, “what’s new?” “why transatlantic?” and “why now?” Second, we ask about the nature of cooperation at each of the three levels identified above. Section I places the transatlantic economic relationship in historical and global context. Section II reviews the literature on each of the three theoretical perspectives and provides clear definitions of intergovernmentalism, transgovernmentalism, and transnationalism to guide the analysis. Section III introduces the nine substantive chapters of the volume, divided symmetrically so that three chapters address each level of analysis.

Outside Director Liability: German Stock Corporation Law in Transatlantic Perspective

The role of outside directors is one of the key features in the transatlantic corporate governance debate. As their importance rises, their liability is also attracting attention. Since there are only a few cases internationally in which outside directors of listed companies have been held liable for violating company law duties, and oversight liability is considered to be dynamic, it is fruitful to consider German cases as well. In Germany, with its two-tier board system, where management and oversight are the responsibilities of, respectively, a management board and a supervisory board, supervisory boards are common for non-listed as well as listed companies. Supervisory directors have been held liable in an increasing number of cases in the last 10 years. In Germany, as in the US, courts distinguish between the decision-making and the monitoring contexts. Supervisory directors are engaged in decision-making, and in this respect are protected by a newly introduced business judgment rule. In the monitoring context, the German Federal Supreme Court traditionally denies business discretion, while in the US good faith serves as a general standard of review. It is argued that, as in the US, the stricter standard applies only when a red flag is present. Concerning the lack of out-of-pocket liability in general, the provisions of the German Corporate Governance Code concerning a suitable deductible could usefully be taken into account in the transatlantic discussion.

Beyond Equal: From Same But Different to the Doctrine of Substantial Equivalence

A same-but-different dichotomy has recently been encapsulated within the ill-defined concept of “substantial equivalence”. By invoking this concept the genetically modified organism (GMO) industry has escaped the rigors of safety testing that might otherwise apply. The curious concept of “substantial equivalence” grants a presumption of safety to GMO food. This presumption has yet to be earned, and has been used to constrain labelling of both GMO and non-GMO food. It is an idea that well serves corporatism. It enables the claim of difference to secure patent protection, while upholding the contrary claim of sameness to avoid labelling and safety scrutiny. It offers the best of both worlds for corporate food entrepreneurs, and delivers the worst of both worlds to consumers. The term “substantial equivalence” has established its currency within the GMO discourse. As the opportunities for patenting food technologies expand, the GMO recruitment of this concept will likely be a dress rehearsal for the developing debates on the labelling and testing of other techno-foods - including nano-foods and clone-foods.

Recasting “Substantial Equivalence”:Transatlantic Governance of GM Food

When intense public controversy erupted around agricultural biotechnology in the late 1990s, critics found opportunities to challenge risk assessment criteria and test methods for genetically modified (GM) products. In relation to GM food, they criticized the concept of substantial equivalence, which European Union and United States regulators had adopted as the basis for a harmonized, science-based approach to risk assessment. Competing policy agendas framed scientific uncertainty in different ways. Substantial equivalence was contested and eventually recast to accommodate some criticisms. To explain how the concept changed, this article links two analytical perspectives. Regulatory-science perspectives illuminate how the scientification of politics and politicization of science led to shifts in the boundary between science and policy. Governance perspectives illuminate how the collective problem for policy was redefined to provide a new common ground for some stakeholders. Overall, substantial equivalence was recast to govern the social conflict and address legitimacy problems of regulatory procedures.

Transatlantic Corporate Governance Reform: Brussels Sprouts or Washington Soup?

In light of increased and unprecedented integration of transatlantic economies, this article explores transatlantic regulatory challenges against the background of the latest spate of the European Commission's proposals on reforming corporate governance in the EU and the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These challenges stem in part from the corporate fallouts across both sides of the Atlantic and the subsequent regulatory responses, and more comprehensively from the ambition to design an international regulatory and supervisory system of cooperation in accounting and auditing. Furthermore, specific challenges related to internal control standards, auditing and accounting standards, international regulatory and supervisory cooperation are briefly outlined. The paper concludes by sketching a transatlantic regulatory road-map.

Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy. Edited by Mark A. Pollack and Gregory C. Shaffer. Lanham MD: Rowman & Litdefield, 2001. Pp. xi, 330. Index. $80, cloth; $31.95, paper.

Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy. Edited by Mark A. Pollack and Gregory C. Shaffer. Lanham MD: Rowman & Litdefield, 2001. Pp. xi, 330. Index. $80, cloth; $31.95, paper.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:J. Monar and W. Wessels (eds.), The European Union after the Treaty of AmsterdamD. Nicol, EC Membership and the Judicialization of British PoliticsG. de Búrca and J. H. H. Weiler (eds.), The European Court of JusticeR. Bellamy and A. Warleigh (eds.), Citizenship and Governance in the European UnionR. Youngs, The European Union and the Promotion of Democracy — Europe’s Mediterranean and Asian PoliciesM. A. Pollack and G. C. Shaffer (eds.), Transatlantic Governance in the Global EconomyM. R. Gueldry, France and European Integration: Towards a Transnational Polity?D. A. L. Levy, Europe’s Digital Revolution: Broadcasting Regulation, the EU and the Nation StateJ.Burchell and S. Lightfoot, The Greening of the European Union? Examining the EU’s Environmental CredentialsT. Notermans (ed.), Social Democracy and Monetary UnionR. H. Ginsberg, The European Union in International Politics: Baptism by FireA. Piccinini and M. Loseby, Agricultural Policies in Europe and the USA: Farmers between Subsidies and the MarketM. Crawford and M. Novak (eds.), Will Europe Work? Integration, Employment and Social OrderJ. Brine, The European Social Fund and the EU: Flexibility, Growth, Stability

Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy. Mark A. Pollack and Gregory C. Shaffer, eds. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, MD. $75.00 cloth; $29.95 paper

<i>Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy</i>. Mark A. Pollack and Gregory C. Shaffer, eds. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, MD. $75.00 cloth; $29.95 paper

Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy

Transatlantic Governance in the Global Economy