The political economy of labor market regulation by the European Union

Since the introduction of qualified majority voting, at least 58 labor regulations have been imposed by the European Community/Union. Three types of explanations are considered: i) the asymmetry of the EC budgetary process, ii) regulatory collusion and iii) the strategy of raising rivals’ costs. Collusion and the strategy of raising rivals’ costs are compared in a two-country game-theoretic model with international capital mobility. The empirical analysis shows that the transition to qualified majority voting was not preceded by a striking tendency of competitive national deregulation. In all cases in which a directive was contested, the UK was among the contestants. Various indices show that the UK has the least regulated labor market. More generally, the anti-regulation coalition also includes Ireland, the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. There are examples showing that if the coalition is too small to block the regulation, its members prefer not to record their dissent officially. In most investigated cases, the European labor regulation is more restrictive than most but not all prior national regulations. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the strategy of raising rivals’ costs plays an important role in EU labor regulation.

Working with the European Union

The past year saw growing uncertainty about the future of the European Union. Whether it becomes weaker or stronger, and whether it acts as a global partner or competitor, the United States cannot afford to ignore the eu. By understanding the different eu decision-making processes for defense, foreign policy, counterterrorism, and economic issues, the United States can do a better job of advancing its interests in Europe.     

Permanent representations to the European Union

Despite the burgeoning literature devoted to the European Union, there has been little scholarly attention devoted to the role of EU permanent representations and the degree to which they act as a linkage between member states and EU institutions. This article attempts to address this gap by focusing upon the structures, tasks and activities of permanent representations.     

EU politics on labour migration: inclusion versus admission

Two European Union (EU) directives on labour migration were adopted in 2009 and 2011. The EU scheme to attract highly qualified migrants, the so-called ‘Blue Card’ directive of 2009, allows member states broad flexibility in implementation. In contrast, the directive on a single permit for migrant workers and their rights of 2011 is far less flexible. It does significantly reduce the scope for derogations at a national level to a minimum. How can this variance in output be explained? Institutional rules are shown to be a key factor. The involvement of the European Parliament as co-legislator alongside the Council limited member states’ influence on legal outputs. The comparison of policy outputs between the two cases points to differences in actor orientations: rather than seeking to increase labour migration into the EU by defining expansive admission conditions, the common EU policy seeks to include migrant workers by defining their rights.     

欧盟新地中海政策述评

为了维护在南地中海地区重要的战略和经济利益,欧盟从20世纪90年代中期开始在该地区采取新地中海政策。随着欧盟东扩进程的发展,新地中海政策被纳入"欧洲邻国政策"范围。新地中海政策的实施,扩大了欧盟发展模式对南地中海国家的影响,促进了南地中海国家由计划经济向市场经济的转轨,也促进了政治民主化和法制化、环境保护与经济协调发展和区域经济合作进程,因而对南地中海国家的发展起到一定的推动作用。但由于南地中海国家的国情与欧洲国家迥异,不可能完全照搬欧盟和欧洲国家的发展模式。对于南地中海国家而言,真正的挑战在于如何充分利用欧盟推行南地中海政策所带来的机遇,积极探索符合本国国情的发展道路。     

欧洲联盟的竞争政策

欧盟的竞争政策产生于20世纪50年代欧洲一体化的特定历史条件,其发展演进与欧洲一体化进程同步进行。作为世界上第一项跨国性反托拉斯政策,竞争政策以其特有的政策内容和执行效果在欧洲一体化进程中发挥了重要作用,其政策实践亦为世界经济全球化背景下探索建立国家间经济联盟关系提供了有益的借鉴模式。     

Stimulating Simulations: Making the European Union a Classroom Reality

This article examines the organization and development of the Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation Consortium (MEUSC), with special emphasis on linking theory to practice within its simulation program. The MEUSC program, initiated in 1993, brings fifteen colleges and universities to Washington, D.C., each December for an intercollegiate experiential learning exercise on the European Union. During the simulation, students meet with professional diplomats from both the United States and Europe, and they engage in consensus-building activities that mirror the decision-making processes of the EU Commission, Parliament, Council of Ministers, and the European Council. As a result, participants are able to refine and enhance a range of academic and practical skills that are keys for success in today's political and business worlds. The authors of this article make special use of a survey that was undertaken to gauge the impact of the simulation on its participants and, thus, its success as an educational venture.     

Japan and the European Union: shared foreign policy interests

Background  Japan and the European Union (Reiterer (2004b) 2:33–42) are both interested in enhancing their international standing in order to overcome their perceived status as economic giants but political dwarfs. While the reasons for this endeavour as well as the inherent characteristics of the actors involved—a traditional nation state as compared to the most advanced integration structure world-wide—are quite different, both entities see themselves primarily as civilian powers (Whitman (2006) 11(1):1–15) without neglecting the need to endow themselves with a military capacity in order to be more effective and credible on a world-wide scale. The ‘EU is emerging as a key regional actor in certain global affairs, particularly in such areas as finance, trade, environment and development, and current policy is directed towards enhancing the role of the European Union in the global governance system. To this end, the European Commission is actively engaged in such issues as the global governance of trade, the protection of human rights, the promotion of democracy, strengthening of regional and global security communities, and encouraging regional integration in other parts of the world.’ (Farrel (2005) 10(4):452–453)—all areas, except the latter task, where the EU and Japan could potentially cooperate closely.Objectives  Before identifying shared foreign policy interests between the EU and Japan, I will first bring to light some of the interests the EU has in East Asia in general; secondly I will chart the major Japanese foreign policy interests which will allow me to map out areas of potential common interest and concern.Adjunct Professor for International Politics, University of Innsbruck; Minister and Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan; the author expresses his own views which should not be attributed to the European Commission. The author whishes to recognize the research assistance of Ms. Sachi Claringbould.

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Negotiating in the European Council: A Model European Union Format for Individual Classes

This paper demonstrates the use of an in-class simulation to model negotiations in the European Council. Simulations are an increasingly popular way to teach the complex processes of policymaking and negotiations in the European Union (EU) where institutional procedures are difficult to understand and where intergovernmental and supranational issues often conflict. Advocates of active learning promote simulations to get students more involved and to reach an increasingly diverse student body. The simulation presented here has three separate sessions, each covering a different issue and lasting for a week (two class days) each. Modeling the European Council allows students to experience the intergovernmental side of policy decisions in the European Union while at the same time learning about the issues facing EU policymakers. It is a useful tool for teaching about the EU presidency and a worthwhile exercise for studying the national aspects of European integration. Student surveys indicate that students process the information they gain by role-playing better than information they receive in the traditional classroom. A simulation of the European Council gives students a base for understanding issues of European integration and can serve as a springboard for further study of EU institutions.     

On Democratic Deficit in the European Union

The problem of democratic deficit has always existed in the European Union （EU）. After the end of the Cold War, this problem has become more conspicuous. The EU constitutional crisis in 2005 was virtually brought on by it. How to solve this problem has become a key to the EU＇s future development.     

The European Union in the eyes of India

The multifaceted engagement between India and the European Union (EU) has grown exponentially in recent years, leading to a strategic partnership, which is one of the three that the EU has in Asia. Based on a content analysis of three prominent Indian newspapers, which were monitored on a daily basis for a period of 6 months (1 July–31 December 2009), and interviews conducted with political, business, media, and civil society “elites,” this article seeks to analyze and assess the perceptions of the EU in India.     

NGOs and the dynamics of the Egyptian labour market

This article discusses the role that NGOs play, not in their traditional role as service providers, but as employers in the Egyptian labour market. Over the past two decades, NGOs have been offering attractive job opportunities to middle-class professionals who are disillusioned with the private sector and no longer interested in joining the state bureaucracy. The working conditions of the growing number of NGO employees, and NGOs' performance as employers, have not been investigated in the substantial academic and policy literature on NGOs, which so far has been almost exclusively concerned with NGOs' relationships with their ‘beneficiaries’, rather with than with their position as active players in a changing labour market.     

2005年的欧盟形势

2005年,欧盟经济继续低迷,结构性问题仍未解决;政治上,因为两个创始国法国和荷兰相继否决《欧盟宪法条约》,结果陷入危机和内部纷争,但在其他领域的努力仍取得了成效,如对周边地缘安全及内部社会问题的关注明显增强,在欧盟扩大及司法与内务合作上取得一定进展,中期预算问题也最     

Moral Duties and the Institutions of the European Union

The European Union's features make it not only distinctive but to some extent qualitatively different from familiar "state'' or " "international association'' models of political organisation. For these reasons, an understanding of its moral role cannot draw with facility on the theories developed for them. The European Union is, nonetheless, a structure of political authority, and as such cannot escape normative imperatives. The problem is how best to conceptualise them. The paper indicates some of the difficulties in assigning duties to EU institutions. Drawing on ideas in the moral philosophy of Alan Gewirth, it sketches a theoretical framework within which moral questions pertaining to the European Union (and perhaps other non-standard political entities) may be addressed.