Non-Compliance in the European Union Pathology or Statistical Artifact?

directives; European Commission; European law; institutions; law

Comparative Federalism meets the European Union

In the current debate on the future European order, the European Union is often described as an emerging federation. The paper claims that federalism is not only useful in deliberating about the future of the European Union. It provides a better understanding of the current structure and functioning of the European system of multilevel governance than most theories of European integration. We combine political and economic perspectives of federalism to analyze the balancing act between effective political representation and efficient policy-making in the European Union. Drawing on the examples of Germany and Switzerland in particular, we argue that the increasing delegation of powers to the central EU level needs to be paralleled by either strengthened patterns of fiscal federalism or an empowered representation of functional interests at the European level. Without such "re-balancing", the current legitimacy problems of EU are likely to get worse.federalism; multilevel governance; multilevel governance; political representation; interest representation; democracy

Does it really take the state?

This paper explores the role of the state for an effective engagement of multinational corporations (MNCs) in corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the OECD context, the “shadow of hierarchy” cast by the state is considered an important incentive for MNCs to engage in CSR activities that contribute to governance. However, in areas of limited statehood, where state actors are too weak to effectively set and enforce collectively binding rules, profit-driven MNCs confront various dilemmas with respect to costly CSR standards. The lack of a credible regulatory threat by state agencies is therefore often associated with the exploitation of resources and people by MNCs, rather than with business’ social conduct. However, in this paper we argue that there are alternatives to the “shadow of hierarchy” that induce MNCs to adopt and implement CSR policies that contribute to governance in areas of limited statehood. We then discuss that in certain areas such functional equivalents still depend on some state intervention to be effective, in particular when firms are immune to reputational concerns and in complex-task areas that require the involvement of several actors in the provision of collective goods. Finally, we discuss the “dark side” of the state and show that the state can also have negative effects on the CSR engagement of MNCs. We illustrate the different ways in which statehood and the absence thereof affect CSR activities of MNCs in South Africa and conclude with some considerations on the conditions under which statehood exerts these effects.</jats:p

A case of partial convergence: the Europeanization of central government in Central and Eastern Europe

This article compares the Europeanization of central government in four Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs): Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia. Using a largeNsurvey of ministerial civil servants, it finds that the Europeanization of central government is characterized by partial convergence. The scope of Europeanization is large and similar among CEECs, reaching widely and deeply into government ministries. Moreover, patterns of Europeanization are similar among CEECs: the same ministries form the ‘inner core’ and ‘outer circle’ of Europeanized ministries; only a small proportion of civil servants work full-time on EU issues and routinely engage in activities that ‘project’ national policies at EU level. Compared to old member states, patterns of Europeanization show signs of convergence, while the scope of Europeanization is larger in CEECs

Privatizing Security, Securitizing Policing: The Case of the G20 in Toronto, Canada

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Kitchen, Veronica and Kim Rygiel. (2014) Privatizing Security, Securitizing Policing: The Case of the G20 in Toronto, Canada. International Political Sociology, doi:10.1111/ips.12052, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ips.12052. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Allegations of police brutality, unlawful detention, and other breaches of civil liberties during the G20 in Toronto in June 2010 provide an important case through which to understand the changing nature of security and policing, raising questions about the political implications of such shifts in terms of police accountability, transparency, and democracy. Within the field of public policing, scholars predicted that globalization processes would weaken public policing as a dominant policing institution. Instead, it has expanded, in part, through the convergence of internal and international dimensions of security, whereby new policy networks cooperate in matters of policing and security in a new integrated model, the result of which is a further militarization of urban space and expanded markets for security, leading to the securitization of everyday life. This article examines the case of Toronto's hosting of the G20 and the role that the Integrated Security Unit—led by the RCMP and including private security firms—played. By focusing on the role of multilateral networks that include private sector actors, we examine the implications of the privatization and securitization of policing for democracy, citizenship, and accountability, looking at how they affect the ability of publics to engage in public debate, to consult, or to protest policies

"Balancing Integration and Flexibility in the European Union: Constitutional Dispositions and Dynamics of Coordination"

types: ArticleThe European Union (EU) is a multilevel system with expanding boundaries. The composition of its constituent governments changes over time and with it the institutional architecture structuring their interactions. Despite the system’s increasing complexity through enlargement, the EU is still dominated by multilateral institutions directed towards maintaining the equality of constituent units both in day-to-day decision-making as in matters of competence allocation. It has made increasing usage of more flexible mechanisms (for example, opt-out, mutual recognition and the open method of coordination (OMC)). Nonetheless, we do not find a uniform movement from ‘hard’ EU-wide regulation to ‘soft’ modes of coordination or from multilevel interaction involving all member states to diversified arrangements which reflects the equality of the member states as the constituent units in this confederal system. Party–political incongruence, in contrast, does not play a crucial role. Although member states are governed by different parties, this does not translate into patterns of conflict, as parties are disconnected and do not compete directly across the various arenas of the European multilevel system

Shaping and Taking EU Policies: Member State Responses to Europeanization

For decades, research in the field of European Studies adopted a 'bottom-up' perspective in analyzing Member State responses to Europeanization. The literature was mainly concerned with how to conceptualize and explain the effect of Member States on processes and outcomes of European integration. In the 1990s, students of European integration became increasingly interested in how the Member States responded to the impact of European processes and institutions. The 'top-down' literature has focused on the effect of the evolving European system of governance on the political institutions, policies, and political processes of the Member States. While most studies on the domestic impact of Europe emphasize that the relationship between the EU and its Member States is not a one-way street, they usually bracket European institutions and processes, i.e. take them as given and analyze their effects on the Member States. How Member States responses to Europeanization feed back into EU institutions and policy processes is rarely explored. This paper presents one way of linking the top-down and bottom-up dimension of Europeanization by focusing on the role of national governments as both shapers and takers of EU policies. More specifically, it seeks to identify the factors that define the capacity of member states to shape and take EU policies. Evidence from the field of environmental policy indicates that political factors, such as domestic veto players or institutional weight in EU decision-making, are of little explanatory power. The administrative capacity (resources, level of corruption, fragmentation of competencies) appears to be much more important for a member states in their attempts to effectively shape and take EU policies.Europeanization; policy coordination; legitimacy

The 'British plan' as a pace-setter: the Europeanization of banking rescue plans in the EU?

This article examines to what extent the British banking rescue plan announced in late 2008 set the pace for the adoption of similar banking rescue plans across the European Union. This case study can be seen a `horizontal type of Europeanization, whereby a (perceived successful) policy template adopted in one country is subsequently implicitly endorsed (hence, `uploaded) at the EU level and then adopted (hence, `downloaded) in other countries, albeit with considerable national variations. The two main caveats are that the British plan was not particularly innovative-it provided a functional solution to the problem at hand - and the adoption of similar measures across Europe was politically feasible because this did not envisage any substantial EU-level intervention as it proposed parallel national solutions to a common proble