Search

The European crisis is the best case study for examining both the vulnerabilities of Europe's framework for economic governance and the very process of European integration itself. This statement is true for several reasons: first, because the European crisis is the most serious crisis the European Union has faced to date; second, because of the crisis, limits on the process of economic integration in Europe have been put to a real test; and third, because the main causes of the crisis are tied into the framework for economic governance that has been developed over the last few decades and therefore are connected to the very process of European unification itself. The primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate whether and to what extent the new framework for economic governance in Europe is largely a result of interstate bargaining and consequently whether national preferences continue to play an important role in the framework's general transformation. The economic crisis showed that important issues in economic policy concerning the change in economic governance and the role of the nation-state, which were ‘swept under the carpet’ in recent decades, must be resolved to make the European venture viable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the development of back-to-work support for non-employed sick and disabled people of working age in two European welfare states. Most countries have sought to improve the quantity and quality of such support in order to match the increased expectations of claimants to actively seek work. However, few studies have sought to examine the extent to which they have been able to do this and see the provision of support in a static way, whereas there is good reason to believe it is a highly changeable process, with the quality and quantity of support varying over time and place, according to a range of factors. A significant part of the period in which this has been a policy aim has been characterised by economic crisis and subsequent austerity, conditions which existing theory and evidence suggest could pose a challenge to improving such support. Thus, drawing on findings from a broader study of the development of active labour market policy for sick and disabled people, a cross-nationally comparative analysis of these developments in the UK and Denmark is pursued, looking at the extent the welfare settlement between welfare authorities and sick and disabled claimants has been reconfigured in recent years and at the extent to which this can be attributed to recession and austerity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Of all the bilateral relationships between EU member states and Russia, Germany is undeniably the most significant. Both have long been key geostrategic actors in the shaping of the European political environment and while conflict has punctuated their more recent shared history, the two states have extensive economic, social and cultural connections stretching back for several centuries. The 'special relationship' that exists between the two states has flourished since the end of the Cold War, and the purpose of this article will be to investigate the development of political relations between the two states and the impact bilateral relations have had on the EU policy level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU-Russia relations constitute an interesting case through which to examine the way the EU affects how member states operate in external relations with third countries, and to what extent the member states can shape EU policy. All 27 member states partake in EU decision-making, and all of them also maintain bilateral relations with Russia. This article examines why it is that EU member states struggle to speak with one voice. In particular it investigates whether a convergence of member states' individual policies has developed into an EU policy or, alternatively, if their bilateral relations with Russia prevent a common policy from developing. Different avenues through which individual states' national preferences can shape EU policy towards Russia are examined in the first part of this article, while the second part addresses the perennial debates about the trade-off between the 'shared values' and the individual national interests of member states. It is argued that member states are split on matters of principle, effectively supporting contrasting approaches which are intrinsically difficult to reconcile. This study of the EU's relationship with its most important neighbour on the continent opens a window onto whether the EU is developing as a viable foreign policy actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]