scholarly journals THE PROSPECTS FOR INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: A LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALIST PERSPECTIVE

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2/2020) ◽  
pp. 141-163
Author(s):  
Piotr Tosiek
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Intergovernmental Organization ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Liberal Intergovernmentalism ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Theoretical Dimension ◽  
The Eu

The purpose of the article is to determine the probability of institutional reforms resulting from the debate on EU future held as a part of the “Conference on the Future of Europe” initiated in 2020. In the theoretical dimension, the analysis is based on the application of the liberal intergovernmentalist approach with its three assumptions: the strict categorization of intergovernmental decision-making built on the triad ‘preferences-negotiations-institutions’, the concept of demoicracy, and the need for differentiated integration. On this basis, three hypotheses for each reform are presented and verified, which leads to determination of their possible implementation. The main thought is the statement that, when adopting the liberal intergovernmentalism, the EU will remain an intergovernmental organization, founded on societies organized in nation states, but at the same time internally differentiated in terms of the quality of membership.

scholarly journals Does differentiated integration strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the EU? Evidence from the 2015 Danish opt-out referendum

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-611
Author(s):  
Dominik Schraff ◽  
Frank Schimmelfennig
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Heterogeneous Preferences ◽  
Democratic Quality ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
The Eu

Differentiation has become a durable feature of European integration but we know little about its effects on citizens. Does differentiated integration improve the democratic quality of the European Union and strengthen citizens’ support – or does it promote political divides and foster citizens’ alienation from European integration? This article develops a theoretical argument on the positive attitudinal effects of differentiated integration, contending that differentiation accommodates heterogeneous preferences in a diverse EU and strengthens citizens’ ownership of European integration. A quasi-experimental analysis of public opinion of the 2015 Danish Justice and Home Affairs opt-out referendum demonstrates that the public vote increased citizens’ EU efficacy, indeed. Eurosceptic voters in particular strengthen their belief that their individual voice counts in EU politics, suggesting that differentiation can have a positive effect on the perceived democratic quality of the EU.

Integracja w dezintegracji i dezintegracja w integracji: determinanty mechanizmów integracyjnych w Unii Europejskiej

2018 ◽  
pp. 10-37
Author(s):  
Barbara Curyło
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
Strategic Issue ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

In the discussion on the future of the EU, the topic of differentiated integration has become a strategic issue, with different variants beginning to appear as modus operandi of the European Union, which has become a subject of controversy among Member States. Significantly, the debate on differentiated integration began to be accompanied by reflections on disintegration. This article attempts to define disintegration on the assumption that it should be defined through the prism of integration, and that such a defining process can not be limited to concluding a one-way contrast between disintegration versus integration and vice versa. This is due to the assumption that the European Union is a dichotomous construct in which integration and disintegration mutually exclude and complement each other. This dichotomy is most evident in the definition of integration and disintegration through the prism of Europeanisation top-down and bottom-up processes that generate, reveal, visualize, stimulate integration mechanisms what allows to diagnose their determinants.

The European Union and Diplomatic Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Butler
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
External Action ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Second World War ◽  
First Century ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Supranational Institutions ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Eu

Not long after the establishment of supranational institutions in the aftermath of the Second World War, the early incarnations of the European Union (EU) began conducting diplomacy. Today, EU Delegations (EUDs) exist throughout the world, operating similar to full-scale diplomatic missions. The Treaty of Lisbon established the legal underpinnings for the European External Action Service (EEAS) as the diplomatic arm of the EU. Yet within the international legal framework, EUDs remain second-class to the missions of nation States. The EU thus has to use alternative legal means to form diplomatic missions. This chapter explores the legal framework of EU diplomatic relations, but also asks whether traditional missions to which the VCDR regime applies, can still be said to serve the needs of diplomacy in the twenty-first century, when States are no longer the ultimate holders of sovereignty, or the only actors in international relations.

Ever Looser Union?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Schimmelfennig ◽  
Thomas Winzen
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Core State ◽  
Member States ◽  
New Members ◽  
Treaty Negotiations ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Economic Preferences ◽  
New Policies ◽  
The Eu

Differentiated integration is a durable feature of the European Union and a major alternative for its future development and reform. This book provides a comprehensive conceptual, theoretical and empirical analysis of differentiation in European integration. It explains differentiation in EU treaties and legislation in general and offers specific accounts of differentiation in the recent enlargements of the EU, the Euro crisis, the Brexit negotiations and the integration of non-member states. Differentiated integration is a legal instrument that European governments use regularly to overcome integration deadlock in EU treaty negotiations and legislation. Instrumental differentiation adjusts integration to the heterogeneity of economic preferences and capacities, particularly in the context of enlargement. By contrast, constitutional differentiation accommodates concerns about national self-determination. Whereas instrumental differentiation mainly affects poorer (new) member states, constitutional differentiation offers wealthier and nationally oriented member states opt-outs from the integration of core state powers. The book shows that differentiated integration has facilitated the integration of new policies, new members and even non-members. It has been mainly ‘multi-speed’ and inclusive. Most differentiations end after a few years and do not discriminate against member states permanently. Yet differentiation is less suitable for reforming established policies, managing disintegration, and fostering solidarity, and the path-dependency of core state power integration may lead to permanent divides in the Union.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Plastic Waste Processing in the Modern Recycling Plant Operating in Poland

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Szostak ◽  
Piotr Duda ◽  
Andrzej Duda ◽  
Natalia Górska ◽  
Arkadiusz Fenicki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distillation Column ◽  
Solid Particles ◽  
Fuel Quality ◽  
Waste Processing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Recycling Process ◽  
Heat Demand ◽  
Fuel Components ◽  
The Eu

Although Poland is one of the leading recipients of the waste stream in the European Union (EU), it is at the same time below the average in terms of efficiency of their use/utilization. The adopted technological solutions cause waste processing rates to be relatively low in Poland. As a result, the report of the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) of the EU indicated Poland as one of the 14 countries of the EU which are at risk in terms of possibility of achieving 50% recycling of waste. This article discusses the implemented technological solutions, and shows the profitability of the investment and the values of the process heat demand both for extractor and reactor. The experimental part analyzed the composition of the input and output of the process and compared it to the required fuel specifications. Attention was drawn to the need to improve the recycling process in order to increase the quality of manufactured fuel components. As potential ways of solving the problem of low fuel quality, cleaning the sorted reaction mass from solid particles and extending the technological line with a distillation column have been proposed. The recommended direction of improvement of the technology is also the optimization of the process of the reactor’s purification and removal of contaminants.

scholarly journals Polish “Entrepreneur” and EU “Undertaking”: Multilingualism and Differences in Legal Identification

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-71
Author(s):  
Maciej Etel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
Precise Determination ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Sphere ◽  
Polish Law ◽  
Legal Identification ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Union and its member-states’ involvement in the economic sphere, manifesting itself in establishing the rules of entrepreneurs’ functioning – their responsibilities and entitlements – requires a precise determination of the addressees of these standards. Proper identification of an entrepreneur is a condition of proper legislation, interpretation, application, control and execution of the law. In this context it is surprising that understanding the term entrepreneur in Polish law and in EU law is not the same, and divergences and differences in identification are fundamental. This fact formed the objective of this article. It is aimed at pointing at key differences in the identification of an entrepreneur between Polish and EU law, explaining the reasons for different concepts, and also the answer to the question: May Poland, as an EU member-state, identify the entrepreneur in a different way than the EU?

scholarly journals THE DETERMINATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Mentor Lecaj ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Research Work ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
The Eu

This paper aims to explain the legal, political and moral obligation of the European Union institutions in the promotion, advancement, respect, and implementation of human rights and freedoms as a universal value, and above all as binding legal- political principles during their efforts in relations with actors both inside and outside the EU. This research work simultaneously analyzes and interprets international legal rules that regulate human rights. Moreover, the cases and means in promoting the human rights used by the European Union in different cultural regions have been compared and analyzed as well as the possibility of changing the approach of EU policy towards countries where the highest level of resistance exist in the accepting of such values.

Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship in the Economy of the European Union

2014 ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
G. Olevsky
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Eu

The article studies role of knowledge in business and analyzes tendencies of the formation of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (business) in the EU. It is shown that for small and medium-sized enterprises prospects of expansion of knowledge production and sales of products and services are associated with the internationalization of business. The author proposes the matrix of decision-making entrepreneurs, depending on the completeness and quality of information at their disposal on the market.

(Un)fit for 55! Ohne eine verschärfte Governance-Verordnung sind die Klimaziele 2030 nicht zu erreichen

IG ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-300
Author(s):  
Michèle Knodt ◽  
Rainer Müller ◽  
Sabine Schlacke ◽  
Marc Ringel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Regulatory Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Soft Governance ◽  
Energy Efficiency Targets ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
The Eu

The European Commission's “Fit for 55” package of July 2021 provides for a significant increase in renewable energy and energy efficiency targets in the European Union (EU). However, the EU’s competences in the energy sector are severely limited and subject to sovereignty. Already in 2018, the EU adopted a Governance Regulation that provides for a hardening of the otherwise only soft governance in the areas of renewable energies and energy efficiency due to the lack of European competences. It is intended to ensure that the Commission's recommendations for improving national energy and climate plans are implemented by the member states. An analysis of the quality of implementation of these recommendations now shows that this has a positive effect in areas with harder soft governance but still needs improvement. Increasing the targets of regulatory action cannot be successful without revising the Governance Regulation and hardening soft governance along with it. Otherwise, the EU is not fit for its 55 percent target in 2030.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Frank Schimmelfennig ◽  
Thomas Winzen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Slippery Slope ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Class Membership ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Reform Debate

The concept of differentiated integration has become a cornerstone of the debate on the reform and future of the European Union. This chapter introduces key concerns in this debate including the view that deeper integration will require greater differentiation and the fear that this will put the EU on a slippery slope towards ‘ever looser union’ and ‘two-class membership’. This introductory chapter summarizes the book’s arguments about the EU reform debate and differentiated integration. Among others, it states that differentiated integration has not produced ‘ever looser union’ but has been predominantly ‘multi-speed’ differentiation. Whereas differentiation has facilitated European integration under conditions of increasing international heterogeneity, it is an obstacle towards European solidarity and the consolidation of integration. It concludes with an overview of the chapters.

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