This book adopts a comprehensive approach, combining the views of economists and political scientists, to assess the threats of maintaining the non-collaborative stance that prevailed in the response to past crises, and to explore new solutions to the present emergency. The coronavirus pandemic represents a serious test for the continued existence of the European Monetary Union. It has worsened pre-existing divisions among its members and highlighted the urgent need to address institutional and governance problems that were already apparent in the aftermath of the financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis, but have now gained in relevance following the more widespread impact of the disease across the European Union. This book discusses concrete strategies to overcome the current challenges, focusing on the need to build an effective economic and monetary union. It also reflects on ways of pursuing conformity with discipline and coordination rules while also adopting a more collaborative stance that has so far been absent in the Eurozone and has consistently undermined the political and social dimensions of the common currency project.

This book adopts a comprehensive approach, combining the views of economists and political scientists, to assess the threats of maintaining the non-collaborative stance that prevailed in the response to past crises, and to explore new solutions to the present emergency. The coronavirus pandemic represents a serious test for the continued existence of the European Monetary Union. It has worsened pre-existing divisions among its members and highlighted the urgent need to address institutional and governance problems that were already apparent in the aftermath of the financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis, but have now gained in relevance following the more widespread impact of the disease across the European Union. This book discusses concrete strategies to overcome the current challenges, focusing on the need to build an effective economic and monetary union. It also reflects on ways of pursuing conformity with discipline and coordination rules while also adopting a more collaborative stance that has so far been absent in the Eurozone and has consistently undermined the political and social dimensions of the common currency project.

Redefinitions of EU borders (enlargements, Brexit), geopolitical challenges (conflicts, migrations, terrorism, environmental risks) and the economic and financial crises have triggered debates on the common values that hold European countries and citizens together, justify public action and ensure the sustainability of European governance. This book discusses the genesis of and increasing references to "European values", their appropriation by diverse groups of actors and their impact on public action. It argues that European values are a broad and flexible symbolic repertoire, instrumental to serving diverging ends, and a resource for both negotiation and conflicts. Looking at the broader picture, the book reflects on the role of values in the institutionalization of the EU as a political order and paves the way to an assessment of its singularity in comparison with other polities across time and space. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in EU politics, comparative politics, IR, public policy, sociology and cultural studies.

The recent global financial crisis and its impacts on the Eurozone have been the subject of many studies, mostly emphasizing the economic dimension. However, the different patterns of responses to the crisis delivered by countries and institutions reflect very distinct political stands. Hence, in order to better grasp the crisis complexity, a multidisciplinary approach, involving the perspectives of both economics and political science, is required.For a broad and coherent vision of the Eurozone crisis and of the exposed limitations of its governance model, one should use the lens of economic analysis on the interfaces of the various interconnected macroeconomic variables. But one should also take into account the features related to decision making processes and resource allocation in a multilevel governance framework, which the crisis has highlighted and has put on the international agenda.With such a mindset, the focus of this book is on the Mundellian rationale of optimal currency areas and its interaction with the Maastricht Treaty institutional framework, which supports the European Monetary Union building. On the other hand, structural vacuums in the regulatory design of the Eurozone have been accompanied by a manifest lack of effective political leadership in the EU's reactions to the crisis, weakening the credibility and reputation of the single currency and leaving Member States dramatically exposed to the logic of global financial markets.The crisis was a crucial event in the European integration process and its developments will permanently sway the future of the European Union. It is therefore not surprising that, faced with the lacunae in the governance of the Eurozone and the coordination failures of its political reactions, the community institutions have looked for better ways to improve the sustainability of the Eurozone design. Such alternatives are profusely discussed in this book.However, in spite of many meritorious efforts, relevant challenges still remain and must be faced for the sake of a more resilient EMU, namely: the completion of the banking union, which is aimed at strengthening the integrity of the euro and the risk sharing capacity of banks and sovereigns; a better coordination of fiscal policies, to reinforce the stabilization role at the central level; and the promotion of structural reforms, to shape an efficient and stable EMU, capable of generating and distributing wealth.This book discusses and proposes responses to the challenges of devising viable governance, oriented to the progressive reduction and sharing of risks, in a more European oriented perspective, in which central and peripheral countries find their ways to prosperity. The book incorporates views of economists and political scientists who revisit and reflect on the causes of the crisis and on its socio-economic effects. The latest changes to the Eurozone governance model are cross-examined along with prospective analyses of some milestones that still need to be achieved.

This book presents an overview of the field of environmental law and policies within the European Union, from theoretical foundations to major issues and applied governance solutions. Drawing on expertise from renowned academics and practitioners from different disciplines, EU Environmental Governance: Current and Future Challenges helps readers to understand the main legal, political and economic issues of environmental protection since the adoption of the Paris Agreement by the European Union in 2015, until the 2020 Brexit, European Green Deal and coronavirus outbreak. The authors examine a broad range of sensitive and topical environmental issues including climate change, air pollution, waste management and circular economy, nuclear waste, biodiversity, agriculture, chemicals, nanotechnology, the environmental impacts of trade and environmental conflicts, presenting both current insights and future challenges. Overall, this volume exposes the reader to a vast array of empirical case studies, which will bolster their training and help tackle the environmental challenges faced by Europe today. This book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and policymakers across a broad range of fields, including environmental law and policies, environmental economics, climate science and environmental sociology.

Resulting from three years of international, interdisciplinary research cooperation among academics and practitioners in Europe and the BICS countries within a project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, this volume addresses one of the greatest global challenges. Specific focus lies on the bilateral energy dialogues and Strategic Partnerships between the EU and Emerging Powers regarding bilateral, inter- and transnational energy cooperation. Furthermore, the analysis provides policy recommendations in order to tap the full potential of energy cooperation between the EU and Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

This book provides a wealth of empirical material to understand key aspects of EU governance including its plurality of actors and policy making modes and its functioning during crisis management. Authored by legal scholars and political scientists, it presents new research and insights on the role of EU agencies in the context of the Euro and migration crises. Specifically, the contributions assess why the crises have led to the creation of new EU agencies and what roles these agencies have performed since their inception; how the crisis, notably the migration crisis, has impacted on existing EU agencies; how EU agencies have shaped the policies during and after the crises; and, how the crisis has affected the accountability of EU agencies. This book is essential in understanding the intricacies of EU crisis management and the specific role of EU agencies therein, as well as EU governance more broadly. Chapter 9 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.

This volume brings together experienced Professors and PhD researchers from all over Europe to summarise the crucial dilemmas that the European Union has to confront during its current multilevel crisis. The chapters are organized into four parts. The first section deals with constitutional issues of the EU, namely multilevel democratic governance, gender equality, and participatory democracy, and the impact of the crisis on them. The second analyses public governance issues, with reference to urban planning as a new policy for the EU, state aid and privatization of public companies, corporate governance principles for public companies, and EU case law on freedom of establishment of companies. The third part discusses certain issues of the EU internal market and external trade, namely the Europeanisation of labour relations, the relation between EU environmental law and international agreements, the dilemma between regionalism and multilateralism in international trade law, and the Eurasian Economic Union. The fourth section explores the Eurozone crisis from different perspectives and areas, namely political philosophy, economics, political science, administrative science, and law.

This volume critically explores the contentions in the emerging debate surrounding new media technologies and the extent to which they are challenging traditional political and government models. Examining a range of citizen/government interactions which together form e-government in different contexts, this book assesses the potential of new media technologies to facilitate new institutional patterns for governance and participation, as experienced primarily, but not only, across Europe. Analysing a range of challenges spanning from those of a technological and conceptual nature to those of a more political and legal nature, the authors scrutinise the central policies at governmental and organisational levels and consider the following questions: Is society driving or responding to e-government and is it ready to cope with it? What implications does e-government have for the power/democracy relationship? Is the technology right for e-government? What is needed to ensure government services are delivered optimally? How is e-government perceived and is it trusted? How are the sensitive issues of identity, privacy and social inclusion dealt with? How are management and safety dealt with when one considers issues such as activism, cyberterrorism, biometrics, and new implications for international relations? This comprehensive text will be of interest to students and scholars of public policy, politics, media and communication studies, sociology, law and European studies. It will also offer insights of relevance to practitioners and policy-makers in regional, national, and transnational governance, reform and innovation.