When did the austerity era of European crisis management end? On the failure of National competitiveness boards

The National Competitiveness Boards were supposed to become a central building block in European crisis management and enable European steering of wage developments. However, they failed and were institutionalized under the name ‘National Productivity Boards’ as largely non-binding advisory bodies. This article examines the policy-making process of the National Competitiveness Boards against the background of the EU’s current social and labor policy initiatives and argues from the perspective of a critical theory of European integration that the failure of the National Competitiveness Boards represented an important breaking point with the austerity policy continuity in the EU

Der Aufstieg der Madame Le Pen: Die Strategie der Front National im Europawahlkampf 2014

After the latest european election, the Front National (National Front) is now the strongest party in France. With the aid of the hegemony theory, this article analyzes the contextual conditions for the rise of the Front National and the political strategy in the european elections campain. The aim of this article is to answer the question how the party managed to resolve the poor results of the presidential elections 2007 and gain such high approval rates in the latest elections

Arbeitsmarktregulierung unter Beschuss: Die neue europäische Arbeitsmarktpolitik am Beispiel der Reformpolitik Frankreichs unter François Hollande

Durch die Krisenbearbeitung der Europäischen Union hat sich ein europäischer Interventionismus herausgebildet, der die Rahmenbedingungen für eine nationale Arbeitsmarktregulierung einschränkt. Während in der Vergangenheit vor allem jene Länder im wissenschaftlichen Fokus standen, welche die europäischen Hilfsprogramme EFSF und ESM in Anspruch nahmen und dadurch unter der Kontrolle der sogenannten Troika standen, blieb der Einfluss des europäischen Interventionismus auf jene Länder unterbelichtet, welche weit weniger stark von der Krise betroffen waren. Am Beispiel der französischen Arbeitsmarktreformen Loi Macron und Loi El Khomri untersucht der Artikel den Einfluss europäischer Interventionsinstrumente auf die nationale Arbeitsmarktregulierung. Im Fokus dieses Beitrages steht der Einfluss des europäischen Interventionismus auf die französische Arbeitsmarktregulierung, während die innenpolitischen Ausgangsbedingungen für die Durchsetzung der arbeitsmarktregulierenden Reformpakete nur angeschnitten werden können.The European Union's crisis management has resulted in a European interventionism that restrains the EU Member States ability to regulate national labour markets. In the past, most scientific analysis focused on deficit countries under the control of the European Troika. This article uses the examples of the labour market reforms in France, "Loi Macron" and "Loi El Khomri", to examine the influence of European institutions on labour market regulations in a country less affected by the crisis

Nuit Debout: Frankreich gerät in Bewegung!

France is in motion! In spring 2016, a huge movement against the French labor law reform formed and is since then protesting in the streets and squares all over France. The article examines these struggles and asks, why the movement is currently on the rise. It discusses the struggles in relation to the general crisis dynamics and focuses on the protests of trade unions and civil society (Nuit Debout). Furthermore, the labor law reform of the Valls-Government is being illustrated in the context of the recent French labor market policy and its continuities

Editorial: The EU after the Crisis: Reconfiguration or Disintegration?

Editorial: Die EU nach der Krise: Neuformierung und ZerfallThe EU after the Crisis: Reconfiguration or Disintegration

The End of the French Political System: How We knew It.

The presidential and parliamentary elections were a political earthquake for the French political system. While the two big parties experienced massive losses of political support, the rise of new political formations took place. Emmanuel Macron is not only the youngest president of the V. Republic so far, he is also the first president not to be supported by either one of the two biggest parties. This article argues that the election results are an expression of a deep crisis of representation in France that is rooted in the economic transformations of the 1970s. The article analyses the political situation after the elections and tries to give an outlook on further political developments in France.The presidential and parliamentary elections were a political earthquake for the French political system. While the two big parties experienced massive losses of political support, the rise of new political formations took place. Emmanuel Macron is not only the youngest president of the V. Republic so far, he is also the first president not to be supported by either one of the two biggest parties. This article argues that the election results are an expression of a deep crisis of representation in France that is rooted in the economic transformations of the 1970s. The article analyses the political situation after the elections and tries to give an outlook on further political developments in France

The future of European economic integration: Blocked Deepening and Growing Asymmetry between France and Germany

After more than seven years of fiscal austerity and neoliberal structural reforms, the fundamental imbalances that led to the Eurozone crisis have remained unresolved and the project of European integration as such appears to be in the deepest crisis it has experienced so far. This has prompted the dominant forces in the EU to at least partially reconsider their present crisis management strategies, envisioning deeper integration towards a “Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” and outlining different future scenarios for the EU. While especially the Five President’s Report does acknowledge fundamental construction problems and crisis tendencies of the Economic and Monetary Union, the strategies to address them either fall tremendously short of this diagnosis or lack assertiveness. We argue that this inability to confront these crisis tendencies results from the growing economic and political asymmetry in the axis between France and Germany as the principal mechanism of compromise which undergirded previous cycles of European economic integration. At the bottom of this paralysis lies a gradual shift in the dominant internationalization patterns of the German political economy within the European division of labor: away from Southern Europe and France and towards Eastern Europe and the Emerging Markets.After more than seven years of fiscal austerity and neoliberal structural reforms, the fundamental imbalances that led to the Eurozone crisis have remained unresolved and the project of European integration as such appears to be in the deepest crisis it has experienced so far. This has prompted the dominant forces in the EU to at least partially reconsider their present crisis management strategies, envisioning deeper integration towards a “Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” and outlining different future scenarios for the EU. While especially the Five President’s Report does acknowledge fundamental construction problems and crisis tendencies of the Economic and Monetary Union, the strategies to address them either fall tremendously short of this diagnosis or lack assertiveness. We argue that this inability to confront these crisis tendencies results from the growing economic and political asymmetry in the axis between France and Germany as the principal mechanism of compromise which undergirded previous cycles of European economic integration. At the bottom of this paralysis lies a gradual shift in the dominant internationalization patterns of the German political economy within the European division of labor: away from Southern Europe and France and towards Eastern Europe and the Emerging Markets

Confrontation, Cooperation or Cooptation? State and anti-nuclear movement in repository search process

The establishment of a Commission for the Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste by the state puts the anti-nuclear movement into a new situation. In the past, the relationship between the movement and the institutions of the state was mainly characterized by confrontation. But the establishment of a Repository Search Committee changed the situation and raised the question of cooperation. Using the hegemony theory, the article analyses the developments and conflicts between the movement and the state in the case of the search process for a nuclear waste repository. Thereby the article mainly focuses on dynamics inside the anti-nuclear movement and the relationship between the different fraction of the movement and the state.The establishment of a Commission for the Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste by the state puts the anti-nuclear movement into a new situation. In the past, the relationship between the movement and the institutions of the state was mainly characterized by confrontation. But the establishment of a Repository Search Committee changed the situation and raised the question of cooperation. Using the hegemony theory, the article analyses the developments and conflicts between the movement and the state in the case of the search process for a nuclear waste repository. Thereby the article mainly focuses on dynamics inside the anti-nuclear movement and the relationship between the different fraction of the movement and the state

Ten Years of Crisis: European economic integration between silent revolution and breakup

Zehn Jahre nach dem Ausbruch der Krise 2008 stellt sich die Frage, welche wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen mit dem europäischen Krisenmanagement verbunden waren. Dabei wird die These vertreten, dass die krisenkonstitutionalistischen Prozesse zu einer zunehmenden Europäisierung der Regulation des Lohnverhältnisses (Arbeitsmarkt- und Lohnpolitik) geführt haben. Dies ermöglichte eine kurzfristige Überwindung der Krise auf Kosten der Lohnabhängigen, insbesondere in Südeuropa. Die grundlegenden Ungleichgewichte und Widersprüche ungleicher europäischer Entwicklung wurden dadurch jedoch nicht beseitigt und verdichten sich aktuell insbesondere in Italien.Ten years after the outbreak of the global financial and economic crisis, this article explores key results of austerity based crisis management in the EU. Focusing on the decisive shifts in European economic governance, it argues that the dominant crisis management strategies have increasingly transposed the regulation of the wage relations, i.e. labour market and wage policies, to the European level. This made it possible to contain and even overcome the crisis on a short-term basis, mostly at the expense of wage-dependent parts of the population in Southern Europe. However, as the analysis of key macroeconomic indicators suggests, these crisis management strategies have failed to resolve the fundamental imbalances and contradictions of uneven development in Europe. Currently, Italy in particular has become the point of condensation of these imbalances and contradictions