Integration Of Infrastructures In Europe In Historical Comparison

This book compares the cross-border integration of infrastructures in Europe such as post, telecommunication and transportation in the 19th century and the period following the Second World War. In addition to providing a unique perspective on the development of cross-border infrastructures and the international regimes regulating them, it offers the first systematic comparison of a variety of infrastructure sectors, identifies general developmental trends and supplies theoretical explanations. In this regard, integration is defined as international standardization, network building and the establishment of international organizations to regulate cross-border infrastructures.

This book compares the cross-border integration of infrastructures in Europe such as post, telecommunication and transportation in the 19th century and the period following the Second World War. In addition to providing a unique perspective on the development of cross-border infrastructures and the international regimes regulating them, it offers the first systematic comparison of a variety of infrastructure sectors, identifies general developmental trends and supplies theoretical explanations. In this regard, integration is defined as international standardization, network building and the establishment of international organizations to regulate cross-border infrastructures.

The elements of infrastructure – roads, transportation, electricity, water, communications, schools, hospitals – are so ingrained in the fabric of daily life that few people give a second thought to who provides them, and how. Yet, they are controlled by an extensive and complex regulatory system. Moreover, the EU’s State aid modernization plan has made infrastructure a crucial aspect of competition law. How did EU State aid law turn into regulation on whether a city can build a new airport, or how it may operate a school? And what do the rules actually mean for infrastructure funding? These are the questions this book, the first comprehensive guide to EU State aid law in this key sector and a major contribution to the debate on the topic, seeks to answer. In its thorough review of the legal literature as well as relevant legislation and case law, this book covers such aspects of the infrastructure-State aid nexus as the following: – role of infrastructure in competition law; – infrastructure funding as aid and its compatibility with the internal market; – impact on land development and other ongoing activities; – sector-specific impact of State aid regulation on the design of infrastructure projects; – risk management; and – newer infrastructure sectors such as sports and cultural and healthcare projects. At many points in the presentation, the case-by-case analysis provides individual appraisals. In addition to focusing on the complex rules and how they have been interpreted in the decisional practice of the Commission and in the EU case law, this book provides deeply informed proposals for reform. This is a key work in a field of EU law that has developed and changed dramatically in recent years. It is sure to be of immeasurable value to practitioners and jurists in State aid law, competition law, and public procurement, as well as market actors (aid beneficiaries and competitors), policymakers, government officials, and business persons in these fields.

The volume scrutinizes publics and infrastructures not separately but in their constitutive interrelations and resonances. The contributions, originating in a range of disciplinary perspectives, share a praxeological approach, discussing historical and current processes of mediated cooperation in infrastructuring and making public(s) by tracing different forms of the production, design, and historic trajectories of various publics and infrastructures.

Presenting recent research on the international integration of infrastructures in Europe, this book combines general and methodological chapters and examples from different a variety of sectors such as transport, electricity and communication networks. Particular focus is on the contrast between the 'Europe of nation states' of the nineteenth century (up to 1914) and the emerging 'integrated Europe' after World War II. Additional contributions provide perspectives from beyond Europe. The wide range of topics gives a good overview of the different challenges posed and the strategies employed in each sector to establish internationally compatible networks, procedures and standards. This work strengthens comparative research as a complement to the detailed analysis of singular cases that often characterises previous works in this field. Methodologically, it therefore contributes to the progress of tools and strategies for comparative historical research. Part of the emerging research area dealing with the mechanisms of international collaboration, this book brings together recent research from European integration history, policy studies, political economy and cultural studies. Considering the growing intensity of international collaboration and exchange in many parts of social and economic life, it is also of topical interest.

There is a striking chronological parallel between Germany’s transition from a post-Malthusian regime to modern economic growth and the formation of a modern nation-state between the late 1860s and the early 1880s, which culminated in the events of 1871.The central question of this book is whether and how such state formation did in fact contribute to economic development. Twenty chapters written by leading experts in their respective fields deal with various aspects of the book’s main question. Together, they identify three channels by which national unification contributed to Germany’s economic development: (1) Creation of a nation-state completed a process of institutional Unification of a large inland area and thereby increased the integration of domestic markets. (2) Unification raised the capacity of the political system with respect to regulating complex domains, such as stock companies, patenting, and social insurance. (3) The emerging political regime of market-preserving federalism promoted the quality of economic institutions. Moreover, a set of chapters dealing with the experience of other European economies apart from Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century highlight additional factors in nineteenth-century economic development, most notably the first wave of modern globalization and economic geography. Readers interested in the history of state building and the economic history of Germany and of Europe in general during the age of industrialization and globalization and students of the economic effects of political integration and decentralized state growth will all gain much from this book.

Presenting recent research on the international integration of infrastructures in Europe, this book combines general and methodological chapters and examples from different a variety of sectors such as transport, electricity and communication networks. Particular focus is on the contrast between the 'Europe of nation states' of the nineteenth century (up to 1914) and the emerging 'integrated Europe' after World War II. Additional contributions provide perspectives from beyond Europe. The wide range of topics gives a good overview of the different challenges posed and the strategies employed in each sector to establish internationally compatible networks, procedures and standards. This work strengthens comparative research as a complement to the detailed analysis of singular cases that often characterises previous works in this field. Methodologically, it therefore contributes to the progress of tools and strategies for comparative historical research. Part of the emerging research area dealing with the mechanisms of international collaboration, this book brings together recent research from European integration history, policy studies, political economy and cultural studies. Considering the growing intensity of international collaboration and exchange in many parts of social and economic life, it is also of topical interest.

This timely book explores the long-standing process of infrastructural integration across Europe, with a particular focus on the EU member states. It illuminates the main economic infrastructure sectors, including transport, energy and information, examining how the process of infrastructural integration reflects an alignment of the needs of the states that are the main drivers behind this process.