Dynamics And Obstacles Of European Governance

This book examines some of the major origins of change in institutions and policies in European governance. The authors combine a sophisticated institutional analysis with in-depth insights into European policies across a wide variety of policy fields. The fields examined are higher education, employment, research, police co-operation, as well as foreign affairs, trade, energy, and security and defence policy. Presenting the fruit of years of collaboration in an EU-funded Research Training Network, the authors expand the mechanisms through which political actors transform apparent deadlock into actual change in European policy making.

This book examines some of the major origins of change in institutions and policies in European governance. the authors combine a sophisticated institutional analysis with in-depth insights into European policies across a wide variety of policy fields. the fields examined are higher education, employment, research, police co-operation, as well as foreign affairs, trade, energy, and security and defence policy. Presenting the fruit of years of collaboration in an EU-funded Research Training Network, the authors expand the mechanisms through which political actors transform apparent deadlock into actual change in European policy making.

The emergence, execution and evolution of new modes of governance across several policy fields - and encompassing all three pillars of the European Union - are mapped, analyzed and evaluated. In particular, the expert contributors focus on the ways in which these innovative mechanisms and practices interrelate, how they relate to ?old' methods of governance, and what their implications are both for the effectiveness and efficiency of policymaking. Conclusions are drawn in the form of an integrated new framework that explains the dynamics of EU governance with an ?integrative spiral' driven by the interrelation between the legal and the living architecture of the EU. Linking research on modes of governance to the analysis of the basic legal, institutional and procedural features of the EU up to the Lisbon Treaty, this book will prove essential reading for scholars, researchers and policy makers in the fields of European studies, law and economics, and political science and theory.

Discussing the ongoing and future challenges of EU Cohesion Policy, this book critically addresses the economic, social and territorial challenges at the heart of the EU’s policy. It identifies the multifaceted and dynamic nature of the policy as well as the cohesions goal interlinkage with other policies and considers unresolved questions of strategic importance in territorial governance, urban and regional inequalities, and social aspects and wellbeing.

Conflict prevention and crisis management has become a key activity for the EU since the creation of the Common Security and Defence Policy in 1999. The rapid growth of this policy area, as well as the number of missions deployed beyond the EU’s border raise important questions about the nature of the EU’s international role and its contribution to international security. The Contributions to EU Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management analyze European conflict prevention and crisis management in terms of the EU’s evolving global role, its institutions and its policies. The volume analyzes the EU’s position in relation to the US, the UN and other regional security organizations, and applies three different institutionalist perspectives – historical, rational choice and sociological institutionalism - to explain the increasing institutionalization of EU crisis management. It also critically analyzes the application of EU policies in West Africa, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Providing a comprehensive analysis of EU crisis management, the volume explores what role EU conflict prevention and crisis management plays in a European and a global context. Offering a comprehensive and original contribution to the literature on EU foreign and security policy, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, international relations and security studies.

Based on the research of the EU-6th framework funded research consortium on 'New Modes of Governance in the European Union', this volume explores the roots, execution and applications of new forms of governance and evaluates their success.

In the course of its development the EU has had to deal with an expanding policy agenda, covering ever more subjects and an increased diversity of instruments. It has also had to deal with an increased number of member states and an extended range of partners (regional authorities, non governmental organisations). These developments have greatly increased the risk of inconsistencies between the various policies pursued and between the various levels of competence for the same policy. Inconsistent policies are less effective than they ought to be. So, they imply a welfare loss. The EU has tried to cope with the challenge of consistency by adapting its governance. Traditionally it uses mainly the regulatory method. The effectiveness of this method has recently come into question. So alternative methods are now favoured. One is the financial method; which implies more expenditure via the EU budget. The other is coordination. The application of both methods has certain advantages and disadvantages. The problem for policy makers is then to determine the choice between the modes first and the optimal level of budgetary and coordination efforts next. Notwithstanding its obvious policy relevance the problem has got little attention from academia. This book sets out to contribute to a solution by following two approaches. The first is a systematisation of the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of the financial and coordination methods. The second is an empirical investigation into a range of European policy processes, implying to different degrees budgetary outlays and coordination.

EU internal security concerns such as migration, police and judicial cooperation are today part of EU foreign policy. This book shows how those concerns dominate the EU agenda towards Mediterranean countries. Adopting a rational-choice institutionalist approach, it explores EU policy and the strategic choices made after the 2011 Arab revolts.