36 research outputs found
The New Political Economy of EU State Aid Policy
Despite its importance and singularity, the EUâs state aid policy has attracted less scholarly attention than other elements of EU competition policy. Introducing the themes addressed by the special issue, this article briefly reviews the development of EU policy and highlights why the control of state aid matters. The Commissionâs response to the current economic crisis notably in banking and the car industry is a key concern, but the interests of the special issue go far beyond. They include: the role of the European Commission in the development of EU policy, the politics of state aid, and a clash between models of capitalism. The special issue also examines the impact of EU policy. It investigates how EU state aid decisions affect not only industrial policy at the national level (and therefore at the EU level), but the welfare state and territorial relations within federal member states, the external implications of EU action and the strategies pursued by the Commission to limit any potential disadvantage to European firms, and the conflict between the EUâs expanding legal order and national
Not Quite Right: Representations of Eastern Europeans in ECJ Discourse
Although the increasing responsiveness of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the âECJâ) jurisprudence to western Member Statesâ concerns regarding Central and Eastern European (âCEEâ) nationalsâ mobility has garnered academic attention, ECJ discourse has not been scrutinised for how it approaches the CEE region or CEE movers. Applying postcolonial theory, this article seeks to fill this gap and to explore whether there are any indications that ECJ discourse is in line with the historical western-centric inferiorisation of the CEE region. A critical discourse analysis of a set of ECJ judgments and corresponding Advocate General opinions pertaining to CEE nationals illustrates not only how the ECJ adopts numerous discursive strategies to maintain its authority, but also how it tends to prioritise values of the western Member States, while overlooking interests of CEE movers. Its one-sided approach is further reinforced by referring to irrelevant facts and negative assumptions to create an image of CEE nationals as socially and economically inferior to westerners, as not belonging to the proper EU polity and as not quite deserving of EU lawâs protections. By silencing CEE nationalsâ voices, while disregarding the background of east/west socio-economic and political power differentials and precariousness experienced by many CEE workers in the west, such racialising discourse normalises ethnicity- and class-based stereotypes. These findings also help to contextualise both EU and western policies targeting CEE movers and evidence of their unequal outcomes in the west, and are in line with todayâs nuanced expressions of racisms. By illustrating the ECJâs role in addressing values pertinent to mobile CEE individuals, this study facilitates a fuller appreciation of the ECJâs power in shaping and reflecting western-centric EU identity and policies. Engaging with such issues will not only allow us to better appreciateâand questionâthe ECJâs legitimacy, but might also facilitate a better understanding of power dynamics within the EU. This study also makes significant theoretical and methodological contributions. It expands (and complicates) the application of postcolonial theory to contemporary intra-EU processes, while illustrating the usefulness of applying critical discourse analysis to exploring differentiation, exclusion, subordination and power within legal language
Wettbewerb und Regulierung
Wettbewerb und Regulierung werfen sowohl aus einer wirtschafts- als auch aus einer politikwissenschaftlichen Perspektive interessante Fragestellungen auf und haben daher in beiden Disziplinen umfangreiche Beachtung gefunden. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt eine Ăbersicht ĂŒber beide Herangehensweisen. Dabei wer-den zunĂ€chst die grundlegenden Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten offengelegt (Abschnitt 2), bevor die disziplinĂ€ren Schwerpunkte in der Analyse vorgestellt, und aus Sicht der jeweils anderen Disziplin kommentiert werden (Abschnitte 3 und 4). Wir kommen zu dem Ergebnis, dass beide Sichtweisen in erster Linie komplementĂ€r sind und sich gegenseitig befruchten können
Staatliche Beihilfen in Europa: Die Integration der Beihilfekontrolle in der EU und die EuropÀisierung der Beihilfepolitik in den neuen Mitgliedstaaten
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral), UniversitĂ€t Bremen, 2008Michael Blauberger analysiert aus politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive das Zusammenspiel von europĂ€ischer Beihilfekontrolle und nationaler Beihilfepolitik. So werden die Grundlagen und die Entwicklung der europĂ€ischen Beihilfekontrolle im Spannungsfeld zwischen freiem Wettbewerb und anderen Politikzielen rekonstruiert. AnschlieĂend zeigt der Autor, wie die EuropĂ€ische Kommission ihre Kontrollkompetenz nutzt, um die Beihilfepolitik der neuen osteuropĂ€ischen Mitgliedstaaten zu beeinflussen
Postnationale Demokratie: eine EinfĂŒhrung am Beispiel von EU, WTO und UNO
Internationale Organisationen stehen im Zentrum der Diskussion ĂŒber das "Demokratiedefizit" internationaler Politik. WĂ€hrend politische Entscheidungen zunehmend auf internationaler Ebene getroffen werden, zweifeln Kritiker immer wieder an der Legitimation dieser Entscheidungen. Das Buch fĂŒhrt ein in die Diskussion ĂŒber demokratisches Regieren "jenseits des Staates", es stellt die Funktionsweise von EU, WTO und UNO vor und diskutiert, inwieweit das Regieren in diesen Organisationen demokratischen GrundsĂ€tzen genĂŒgt bzw. wie sich Demokratiedefizite beheben lassen