Post-Crisis Economic and Social Policy: Some Thoughts on Structural Reforms 2.0.

Managing the euro crisis has been a process of institutional transformation for the EU. The European Semester has emerged as a powerful tool for economic policy coordination between the Member States. Beyond the new enforcement tools that the Semester affords the Commission and Council in case of non-compliance with country-specific recommendations, the management of the crisis has given the Commission experience in structural reforms. The Commission now regularly uses this experience in formulating its yearly country-specific recommendations to Member States. Far from a stalwart of untethered neoliberalism, the Commission has been fashioning itself as the manager with a human face, the institution that understands both the structural reform requirements for a global economy, and the special need for strong social institutions that could shield European citizens from the worst of the shocks provoked by globalized markets. Hence the name, “Structural Reforms 2.0,” per the Juncker Commission. In this chapter, I review the Commission’s emerging structural reform “know-how,” as represented in its latest reflection papers and European Semester documents. The European Commission seems to have drawn from its experience in managing loan conditionality for debtor countries like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, in order to come up with the set of structural reforms that it considers necessary for any country to thrive within the context of the euro. At the same time, it has taken on board the critiques of structural reforms that point to the potentially negative short-term effects of structural adjustment. Thus, the Commission seems to have fully embraced the idea of the EU as a soft alternative to unfettered globalization and has taken it upon itself to monitor certain aspects of the welfare state in Member States. The Commission’s recommendations, however, while presented in the mode of technocratic expertise, entail deeply political choices in almost every imaginable regulatory field. Despite constant assurances that there is no “one-size fits all” model for structural reforms, what is shaping up through the European Semester is effectively a list of desirable reforms—a set menu of options—which the Commission now openly characterizes as “EU best practices.” If applied, they would provoke deep restructurings and adjustments of national political economies with winners and losers to boot. These demands for deep restructurings are couched in a language of technical adjustment and fine-tuning that does not do justice to the qualitative reform required of the Member States nor to the substantive trade-offs between market efficiency and social fairness that only a democratic process can legitimize. Contrary to some observers, I conclude that the inclusion of social policy goals into the European Semester can be an indication of both the success of socially minded actors in influencing the content of macroeconomic governance, and of the success of market-minded actors in adapting to demands for “social fairness” in macroeconomic governance without ceding much space in terms of the kinds of reforms required. Much of this “socialization” of the European Semester will depend on how the rest of the management of the common currency evolves

Euro Zone Crisis Management and the New Social Europe

This article analyzes the changes in European governance since the beginning of the euro crisis in relation to the project of constructing Social Europe. The article tracks the incorporation of a structural reform agenda originally designed as bailout conditionality for countries on the verge of default into EU economic governance as a strategy for growth. Beyond the contestable grounds of this reform agenda, its adoption by the EU in the mode of crisis management poses serious questions of legitimacy. The new enhanced economic coordination process includes obligatory guidelines in domains under the legislative competence of Member States, such as labor regulation and taxation, under the guise of a technocratic imperative. The article also shows that despite the intensely neoliberal character of the proposed structural reforms, the Commission has foregrounded the protection of Europe’s welfare regimes as a key reason for reform. In reality, such reforms would dramatically alter welfare regimes, emptying out traditional welfarist goals such as the decommodification of labor without appropriate political processes. This article argues that these developments are likely to challenge the already weakened legitimacy of the European Union

Investment Shocks and the Comovement Problem

Recent work based on sticky price-wage estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models suggests investment shocks are the most important drivers of post-World War II US business cycles. Consumption, however, typically falls after an investment shock. This finding sits oddly with the observed business cycle co- movement where consumption, along with hours-worked and investment, moves with economic activity. We show that this comovement problem is resolved in an estimated DSGE model when (i) the cost of capital utilization is specified in terms of increased depreciation of capital, as originally proposed by Greenwood et al. (1988) in a neo- classical setting, or (ii) there is no wealth effect on labor supply. The data, however, favours the first channel. Traditionally, the cost of utilization is specified in terms of forgone consumption following Christiano et al. (2005), who studied the effects of monetary policy shocks. The alternative specification we consider has two additional implications relative to the traditional one: (i) it has a substantially better t with the data and (ii) the contribution of investment shocks to the variance of consumption is over three times larger. The contributions to output, investment, and hours, are also relatively higher, suggesting that these shocks may be quantitatively even more important than previous estimates based on the traditional specification.Investment shocks, comovement, estimated DSGE models.

Placement Support for Foster Carers and Adolescents under their care: Exploring the experience and perceptions of carers registered with an Independent Fostering Agency

The steadily rising numbers of Looked-After Children and Young People (LACYP), the high prevalence of mental health difficulties among them, as well the subsequent strain placed on Foster Carers (FCs’) and their low retention rates, result in a pertinent need to capture the FCs’ views on multiple subjects around the experience of fostering. The current study aimed at exploring the Independent FCs’, all registered with an Independent Fostering Agency, perceived views on the support that they and Young People (YP) under their care received within and outside the agency. Due to evidence indicating higher prevalence rates of mental health difficulties among older ages the focus is placed on FCs looking after Young People of secondary school age. A mixed methods approach was employed for the purposes of this study, utilising a survey concerning both closed and open-ended questions, as well as semi-structured interviews with FCs. In summary, the study’s findings were broadly in line with current empirical literature, though some findings shed further light on foster carers’ needs, concerns and wishes. Overall, the majority of IFCs reported having benefitted from the support they and the YP received. The carers attributed a number of –overall positive- qualities to themselves, while acknowledging the centrality of their role in the progress of the YP’s wellbeing. Simultaneously, they reflected on the complex nature of the YP’s presentation, the areas that they felt unskilled in and identified the gaps in the perceived support. Finally, the importance of collaborative communication among them and agencies involved in managing these complexities was valued

Divorcing Family Law from the Nation

This paper examines the contribution of law and legal narrative in the generation of national identities, using modern Greece as a case study. It explores how claims of family law continuity and unity in nineteenth century Greece became the main mode of arguing for the existence of a Greek people, culturally distinct from their Ottoman oppressors. I argue that far from embodying any truth about Greek family law, these legal historical narratives constituted a reconceptualization of social relations on the national basis giving content to the relatively new concept of the “Greek people”. These narratives also made possible and reflected the complex institutional compromises struck with the Orthodox Church after the creation of the Greek state in 1830. Using the case of a broken engagement between two heroes of the revolution, the paper illustrates the multiple alternatives that existed at the time for the regulation of marital affairs, the clashes that ensued over the jurisdictional questions and the paths not taken. Finally, the paper employs the insights of this historical analysis to question the unity and coherence of national character claims in contemporary European family law debates

Outcomes and achievements of the PASTEUR4OA project

Presentation given at the PASTEUR4OA conference - Green Light for Open Access: Aligning Europe’s OA Policies, Amsterdam, 17th-18th May 2016

Security in Urban Critical Infrastructures: Contribution of Standards for a Holistic Approach of Protection and Resilience

With the prediction by the United Nations that 60% of the world’s population will live in cities by the year 2030, it is apparent that the immediate global future is one of urbanisation. Central to the environmental and energy security as well as risk assessment in critical Infrastructures must therefore be the increasing domination of the cities. This population growth, needed economic growth, and social pressures for improved infrastructure coupled to the need for human health and ecological protection and environmental as well as energy security make systematic and transparent decision making a complex and often difficult task because of the several interdependencies of critical infrastructures. Evaluating complex technical data and developing risk management options requires implementation of standardization and embedded systems of information and communication technologies. In accordance to literature review, experience has demonstrated that direct transposition of risk assessment and risk management frameworks (e.g. those developed in the United States and European Union) may not work in regions whose social, legal, historical, political and economic situations are not suitable or prepared for acceptance of these methodologies. This paper reviews basic concepts defined in the field of urban security in Critical Infrastructures and extends its perception under the cross-sectoral aspect of standardization and harmonization in the involved technological areas. What are the defining characteristics that would ensure a city can not only survive in a manner acceptable to its current and future inhabitants, but also in a way that will not undermine the standardized and harmonized technologies and policies in national, European and international level. The existence of several EU seventh framework projects, specifically those relating to urban resilience and security could be used to feed into this direction.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen