Participation and Political Competition in Committee Report Allocation: Under what conditions do MEPs Represent their Constituents?

The paper models the consequences of committee report allocation for political representation in the European Parliament (EP). The range of legislators involved in each policy area affects the values, interests and constituencies that the Parliament represents. Thus, representation is defined as an MEP’s participation in salient policy areas. The allocation of salient reports follows inter-and intra-party group dynamics. First, party groups compete for salient reports in a context of open voting rules in committee and plenum. Second, group coordinators distribute these reports among their MEPs in an attempt to maximize the cohesion of the group. The model is tested on data from the fifth European Parliament (1999-2002). The results confirm the impact of selective participation on political representation. The EP has evolved into a ‘normal’ Parliament featuring coalitions and competition along a left-right cleavage across party groups and a hierarchical allocation of legislative spoils within parties

Government of the people and for the people? Legislative specialisation and party representation in the European Parliament

This thesis develops and tests a model of political representation based on the participation and specialisation decisions of individual MEPs. Political representation is determined by the institutional and party-political incentives that guide legislative behaviour at different stages of the policy process. Proportionality requirements, majority rule and intra-party politics affect whether MEPs engage in different legislative activities in the European Parliament and the extent to which they specialise in the policy areas that their national party stands for. The model can be adapted to a wide range of legislative activities and to different institutional environments. At the decision-making stage, majority rule makes participation most attractive to MEPs from party groups that are pivotal under the majority thresholds required to pass legislation. In contrast, minority MEPs limit their participation to the policy areas that are salient to their national party. In other words, minority legislators are more responsive than majority MEPs. In policy formulation, an auction system enforces a proportional allocation of committee reports, which favours the representation of a broad range of values and interests across the political spectrum. However, competition among party groups affects who gets the most desirable reports. Open rule enforces a distribution of salient reports in line with voting coalitions in the plenary and on the committee floor. Within party groups, the leadership distributes reports in an effort to maintain group cohesion. As a result, majority legislators who are loyal to their party groups are more responsive than other MEPs. Finally, in parliamentary oversight at Question-Time, party groups do not have any gate-keeping powers. Also, national parties rather than party groups are the primary actors in legislative-executive relations. MEPs without national party ties to the Commission attribute a greater role to overseeing the executive in a large range of policy areas than 'governing' MEPs. As a result, such 'opposition' MEPs are better represented at this stage of the policy process but they specialise less in salient policy areas

SME taxation in Europe: An empirical study of applied corporate income taxation for SMEs compared to large enterprises. CIP Programme 186/PP/ENT/CIP/12/F/S01C24

This report analyses tax incentives for SMEs in 20 EU countries and five non-EU countries between 2009-2013. Its findings and recommendations are based on a review of tax codes, modelling of tax burdens using two different models, a descriptive analysis of company financial ratios, and the perceptions of tax advisers and companies in each country

The impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the Single Market

Influencer marketing as part of the advertising industry has grown significantly in recent years, becoming one of the most popular and effective forms of online advertising. The fast-growing market of influencers comes with potential risks for consumers and creates several challenges for regulators. This study provides information and analysis on the impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the Internal Market, identifies best practices and makes recommendations for future action. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO)

Study: An Assessment of Citizens' Exposure to Tobacco Marketing

This report provides the European Commission with a comprehensive overview of channels through which EU citizens, and in particular young people, are exposed to the marketing of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. The study investigates the reality of tobacco advertising and marketing in a representative sample of EU Member States. The detailed evidence provided in this report will shed light on how current EU- and national- level regulation of tobacco and e-cigarette advertising is working in practice. Exposure is measured both by looking at actual advertising spend, what advertising activity is occurring in different channels and looking at what advertising citizens recall, as measured through a citizens' survey. These are complemented by a survey of national experts and a review of secondary data. We examine exposure to advertising through a wide range of channels including print, outdoor, TV and radio, online, sponsorship and corporate social responsibility. Strategies for selling tobacco at point of sale are also assessed, including a review of the different kind of retailers, such as specialised retailers (tobacconists), retail outlets (including supermarkets) and vending machines. Where information exists, we assess the extent to which young people in particular are exposed to this marketing.The report takes into account the regulatory context at EU and national levels, given that certain forms of advertising (e.g. billboards, point of sale) are still allowed in some Member States. The report covers the following work packages: Work package 1: Overview of advertising strategies Work package 2: Printed media Work package 3: Internet and mobile applications Work package 4: Billboards, posters and other types of advertising outside the home Work package 5: TV and radio (electronic cigarettes) and product placement (all products) Work package 6: Points of sale, sample, giveaways and promotional items Work package 7: Sponsoring, corporate responsibility, brand stretching and imitation products Work package 8: Compilation of the key forms of advertising, promoting and sponsorship that EU citizens are exposed to. Consortium Partners: Burson-Marsteller; Smoke Free Partnership Expert Subcontractors: University of Stirling; VVA Europ

Exploratory study of consumer issues in online peer-to-peer platform markets: final report

This is a report published by the European Commission. For re-use please see the publisher's terms and conditions.This study explores consumer issues in five online peer to peer platform markets: (Re)sale of Goods; Sharing/renting of goods, Sharing/renting accommodation; Sharing/hiring rides; and Odd jobs. The study estimates that 191m citizens across the EU-28 spend EUR 27.9 billion per year on online P2P platforms. Of this total, an estimated EUR 10.61 billion consists of platform revenues and revenues of third parties. The study defines three main peer-to-peer platform business models: (a) hosting of listings where platforms do not get involved in the peer to peer transaction (b) active management of transactions where platforms foster trust among peers to facilitate a larger number of transactions and (c) platform governed peer transactions where the platform sets one or more contractual terms for the peer-to-peer transaction and exercises control over the performance of the transaction. The study identifies five key consumer issues that emerge from this new kind of economy: (1) transparency and clarity regarding the nature of transactions concluded through online P2P platforms, applicable consumer rights and obligations, the applicable legal framework and its enforcement; (2) reliability of peer review and rating systems and accuracy of identity information provided on the platform; (3) discrepancy between exclusion of platform responsibility and liability for the performance of online P2P transactions and platform practices; (4) access to redress for peer consumers and peer providers; and (5) data use and data protection issues.This report was produced under the EU Consumer Programme (2014-2020) in the frame of a service contract with the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) acting under the mandate from the European Commission.Published versio

Place-based pathways for the twin transition: the role of systemic change agents

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to understand how systemic change agents influence the twin digital and green transitions. The authors build on agency-based theories to argue that transition pathways are influenced by a combination of place-based characteristics, the mobilisation and preferences of systemic change agents (such as local clusters), and the institutional and economic context. The conceptual framework defines the different steps of the twin transition, and it identifies how systemic change agents and geographic characteristics determine the direction and speed of the transition pathway. Design/methodology/approach: This paper starts with a literature review to identify the different schools of thoughts on transition pathways and the twin transition, before developing a conceptual framework and deriving policy implications. Findings: First, this paper argues that each transition involves three steps: framing, piloting and scaling. Each of these steps is driven by systemic change agents who engage local actors in trust-based collaboration, pool resources, create network effects and exchange information to source solutions for industry-level challenges. Second, the combination of place-based characteristics and the actions of local systemic change agents define the path of the transition and the new (post-transition) equilibrium. Finally, this paper sets out implications for policymakers who are interested in using systemic change agents to shape transition pathways in their local area. Research limitations/implications: Further research is needed to provide robust empirical evidence from a range of territorial realities for the hypotheses in this paper. Specifically, the role of systemic change agents, such as trade associations, regional organisations, clusters or research groupings, needs to be investigated more closely. These agents can play a key role in progressing the transition because they already focus on sourcing solutions to joint challenges and opportunities by exchanging information, engaging local actors in trust-based collaboration, pooling resources and fostering network effects and critical mass. Future research should investigate how policymakers can best leverage on these crucial actors to progress or steer transitions and how this varies depending on place-based characteristics. This could include, for instance, training activities, networking and collaboration (e.g. through the European Cluster Collaboration Platform) or clearer sign-posting the key next steps required for the transition. Practical implications: This paper identifies specific ways in which local actors can influence the direction and speed of transitions at each stage of the transition: at the framing stage, political entrepreneurship can be fostered through collaboration and smooth information flows between different levels of governance, at the piloting stage, commercial and social entrepreneurship require effective knowledge sharing and a wide and open search for solutions which, in turn, may require capacity building at the local level and coordination across stakeholder groups and levels of governance and effective scaling up can be fostered through network effects, joint commitment from a broad range of stakeholders and pooling of resources to achieve economies of scale. Social implications: An important implication of the framework is that, if several places are undergoing a parallel or joint transition, the result may not be convergence between these places. Instead, different places may choose different end points and they may proceed at different speeds. For instance, in the context of the European Union’s green and digital transitions, it is unlikely that every region will transition to a similar level of digitisation or make steps in the same direction when it comes to sustainability. Originality/value: This paper plugs a gap in understanding how systemic transitions unfold and how their speed and direction are influenced by different stakeholder groups. This paper develops a conceptual framework to define twin transition pathways and it analyses prominent place-based factors affecting these pathways

The impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the Single Market

Influencer marketing as part of the advertising industry has grown significantly in recent years, becoming one of the most popular and effective forms of online advertising. The fast-growing market of influencers comes with potential risks for consumers and creates several challenges for regulators. This study provides information and analysis on the impact of influencers on advertising and consumer protection in the Internal Market, identifies best practices and makes recommendations for future action. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO)