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The paper introduces two emerging concepts of European Studies - Superstate Europe and Europe of nations. The two interpret the future of Europe in very different perspectives. While Superstate Europe envisions a political unification in which the supranational entity is becoming the main source of power, Europe of nations, on the contrary, tries to restore the member states' sovereignties over the EU. Thus, both framings have explicit political contents, and neither of them can be considered exclusively academic. Of course, in the field of European Studies this is not unprecedented. Nonetheless, the emergence of two such rival ideas is symbolizing the political polarization of the EU, as well as the politicization of European Studies. In its first section, the paper describes the general logic, main points, and basic inner-linkages of Superstate Europe and Europe of nations, and then in the second part it identifies their positions in the conceptual space of European Studies. This latter effort tries to reveal the relatedness of these framings to other European integration theories. The main finding of this meta-analysis is that Superstate Europe is more embedded conceptually, and this helps to better explain or criticize certain aspects of the idea, while Europe of nations can be considered more original in the sense of reflecting on the previously unaddressed challenge of proposing a disintegration theory among many European integration theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at revisiting the empirical evidence on the recent trends of countries' integration in global value chains (GVCs) in Europe. It investigates two potential sources of unbalances that these processes might relate to (i) the sectoral specialization of the patterns of international fragmentation, whether high-technology manufacturing or knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), and (ii) the occupational categories that have benefited or been penalized by these trends. A rich empirical mapping of these trends in the European countries is provided, based on World Input–Output Database and European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) data. The results on the overall and sectoral-specific trends of integration in GVCs and the associated changes in the shares of managers and manual workers show dual-speed and qualitatively different integration patterns in Europe, with Eastern European (EE) countries rapidly integrating in high-tech manufacturing and the core of Western countries strengthening their mutual integration in the KIBS area. Despite the relatively "good quality" integration of EE countries, the evidence does not seem to reveal a mirroring upgrading of employment structures. While this empirical contribution does not attempt to identify causal relationships, the picture provided in the paper shows that, overall, integration in GVCs seems to reproduce and perhaps exacerbate the initial asymmetries in the sectoral and employment structure, with employment shares of manual workers reducing on the whole and knowledge-intensive occupations concentrating in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Comparative Politics is the property of Journal of Comparative Politics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the relationship between equality and social Europe, which has remained underdeveloped in the process of European integration. In contrast to the social dimension of the EU, the principle of equality has been significant from the beginning of European integration. The paper opens with an overview of how equality functions as the basis for a social Europe. Next, two interpretations of equality are introduced. The EU's preferred interpretation, which is based on merit, is in sync with market ideals. One of the shortcomings of merit-based equality as a foundation of social Europe, however, is its inability to properly disconnect the vulnerable person from the employment market. This paper argues that an alternative interpretation of equality based on value is more suitable, because value-based equality can challenge the potentially harmful social structure of the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary conflicts of sovereignty in Europe have gone beyond the clash between national and supranational sovereignty. Sovereignty conflicts are increasingly occurring within member states. This paper develops a conceptual framework that distinguishes between foundational, institutional and territorial conflicts of sovereignty, elaborating on this taxonomy with reference to the historical evolution of the concept of sovereignty in Europe. It provides an account of why we have seen a proliferation in conflicts of sovereignty within European states. This is due in part to the notion of "shared" sovereignty. Central to European integration, this notion has introduced considerable institutional indeterminacy into the political systems of member states, leading to many of the institutional conflicts of sovereignty we see in Europe today. The struggle of national party systems to institutionalize societal conflict via partisan competition is another contributory factor. This has displaced conflict onto the terrain of how popular rule is institutionalized within the national state. In developing this framework, the paper provides a method for distinguishing between political conflicts tout court and those touching specifically upon sovereignty. Moreover, the framework helps us distinguish between those conflicts of sovereignty most destabilizing for a polity and those which are less so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to analyse the involvement of the local and regional authorities within the Conference on the Future of Europe. The former, being closer to the citizens, could play important role in reaching "every corner of the European Union" and helping the citizens to articulate their ideas about the European integration. Therefore, the activity of the subnational level could contribute to the final success of the Conference (or failure - in case of lack of any actions). The analysis is based on the author's own empirical study conducted among the Polish territorial self-government units after the closure of the Conference. The local and regional authorities were asked if they informed the citizens about the Conference, organised events regarding this enterprise or took part in the events organised by other entities. The results show very low level of the activity, even among the territorial self-government units that are present at the European level. The conclusions regard both to the Polish circumstances as well as to the general performance of the Conference. In the first case, they unveil the unwritten practice among the Polish territorial self-government units on their involvement in the European affairs. Regarding the second point, the results indicate that the Conference did not manage to exceed the "European bubble". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While transnational research infrastructure projects long preceded the formal integration process that created the European Union, their advancement is an increasingly central part of EU research policy and of European integration in general. This paper analyses the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure–European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI–ERIC) as a recent example of institutionalized scientific collaboration in Europe that has formally been established as part of EU science policy. BBMRI–ERIC, a network of European biobanks, is expected to contribute to both European science and European integration. Yet its achievements in these domains are interpreted differently by various actors involved. This paper draws on STS conceptualizations of infrastructures as relational, experimental, and promissory assemblages. These support the formulation of a working definition of research infrastructures that in turn helps to explore the heterogeneous meanings attributed to BBMRI–ERIC. The paper describes the creation of this distributed European research infrastructure, and divergent understandings of what it means for BBMRI–ERIC to be distributed, to be European and to be a research infrastructure. This analysis demonstrates how building a research infrastructure is also an effort to define what it means to be European—a process in which what is European about science and what science can do for Europe is continuously (re-)imagined, contested and negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the history of Europe, there are only a few symbols that are common to all 27 EU countries: the Greek and Roman legacy, a common Christian religion, a shared bulk of common values and beliefs. The paper evaluates if Euro as a common currency should be considered as a symbol who may contribute to the European construction process and the role of symbols in the consolidation of a European collective identity. Our hypothesis is that the existence of a bulk of common symbols - among which the Euro currency is one of the most visible, shared widely by EU citizens - will consolidate the process of European construction. The lack of a common identity is often used by extremist parties as an argument in favor of Euro-pessimism and a return to nation state welfare. Our paper highlights the subtle links between money, collective identity and European integration. The results show a link between the rise of awareness concerning a European identity and the adoption of Euro. Fostering European symbols such as a single currency is contributing to create the conditions that allow the emergence of a sense of collective belonging, the European common identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the political origins of diverse peripheral growth models in Europe, focusing on debt-based consumption-led growth model in Southern Europe and FDI-based export-led growth model in Central and Eastern Europe. Contrary to existing approaches that attribute this East-South divergence to their geographic position and systemic features of European monetary integration, the paper argues that these growth models stem from different national and EU-level policy responses to the challenge of core-periphery market integration. While the Southern states sought to protect domestic firms, allowing for, or even directly contributing to deindustrialisation in the face of competition with the European core economies, Central and East European states aimed to preserve their industrial legacy even at the expense of FDI-dependency. These policy responses were, in turn, shaped by distinct patterns of interaction and accommodation between segments of state elites and domestic economic groups, as well as by dramatically different EU strategies of governing integration. In contrast with society-centred perspectives on the politics of growth models, the paper highlights the autonomous role of the state as a key actor balancing between the demands and accommodation of domestic economic groups, and the constraints and opportunities created by regional institutions governing market integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borders prevent the optimal exploitation of socio‐economic and environmental resources. A relevant obstacle due to missed integration is associated with legal and administrative barriers, which cause the emergence of untapped potentials. This paper exploits the case study of the Interreg Central Europe programme. Removing borders among countries in the area enhances scale economies due to a large market for inputs and goods, both within regions and across Central European area regions. This paper identifies untapped potentials by looking at the missed regional GDP growth due to the inefficient exploitation of regional growth assets. Results hint at a complex and heterogeneous spatial distribution of untapped potentials, involving several growth factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Theoria Journal for Philosophy / Theoria Casopis za Filozofiju is the property of Theoria Journal for Philosophy / Theoria Casopis za Filozofiju and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The fear of falling behind has been a driving force of European integration. Historically, Europe's response to the looming angst of declining competitiveness has been more market-creation, not market-direction. Recently, however, Europe has – in the name of safeguarding Europe's technological sovereignty – taken on a much more active role in directing economic activity towards sectors and technologies deemed geopolitically or geoeconomically important. In this paper, we attempt to explain this 'geo-dirigiste' turn. We reconstruct the evolution of EU industrial policy through the lens of Europe's fear of falling behind, drawing not only on primary (including archival) and secondary sources, but also on original interviews and deep transfer learning applied to an original dataset of 66.548 documents. Focusing on Europe's changing technological and geopolitical context, its coalitional underpinnings, and the role of ideational politics, we document and explain the historic shift away from market-creation and towards supranational market-direction in EU industrial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new books on landscape (architecture) teaching, provided the rationale for this paper. It aims to place these into the context of the development of the landscape architecture discipline in Europe. A description of the beginnings of European university education follows an outline of the genesis of the profession. Moves towards European integration in the 1980s supported the establishment of an institutional framework, allowing the creation of a critical mass of academics, giving new impetus to teaching and research. An EU-funded Thematic Network supported the preparation of a common education guidance document, responding indirectly to the European Landscape Convention's call for university courses for landscape specialists. The Convention also stimulated a renewed focus on landscape in other fields of study. This has also broadened the horizons of landscape architecture teaching to encompass approaches from related disciplines. Finally, the paper discusses how landscape architecture education should respond to emerging societal challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European space policy is currently at a watershed. In 2021, there will be two institutions responsible for European space activities: The EU Space Agency (EU SPA) and the civilian European Space Agency (ESA) founded in 1975. This article investigates how new objectives and governance scheme(s) of European space activities reflect the increasing securitisation of space in Europe. Linking work in critical security studies to the concept of boundary work from science and technology studies (STS) I outline three phases of boundary work – expansion, expulsion and protection of autonomy – that all show how the dividing lines between peaceful and militarised space activities have become increasingly blurred. The conclusion argues that we currently witness a shift in the visions of European integration in space, with ESA remaining outside the EU framework and open to non-EU members while the EU SPA is accessible to EU members only and explicitly dedicated to the use of space for security. As the strategic potential of outer space is likely to grow, the paper offers a critical empirical investigation of the ongoing transformation in European space policy that has significant consequences for how we envision a "united Europe in space". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All over the world, measures were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing not only had a strong influence on mental health, but also on the organization of care systems. It changed existing practices, as we had to rapidly move from face-to-face contact to remote contact with patients. These changes have prompted research into the attitudes of mental healthcare professionals towards telepsychology. Several factors affect these attitudes: at the institutional and organizational level, but also the collective and personal experience of practitioners. This paper is based on an original European survey conducted by the EFPA (European Federation of Psychologists' Associations) Project Group on eHealth in 2020, which allowed to observe the variability in perceptions of telepsychology between countries and mental healthcare professionals. This study highlights different variables that contributed to the development of attitudes, such as motivations, acquired experience, or training. We found the "feeling of telepresence"—which consists of forgetting to some extent that we are at a distance, in feeling together—and social telepresence in particular as main determinants of the perception and the practice of telepsychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent crisis the European Union had to face raised the question it there still exists a cleavage that divides the “old Europe” from the Eastern regions. The phenomenon, Central Europe can be examined from the historical, cultural, geographic and political perspective searching for the answer, how many parts the European continent can be divided into. Accepting the tripartite division, this “middle” position had various roles in the historical context. The aim of the paper is to investigate the changes in the perception of this special position based mostly on the works of Hungarian researchers. Analysing their thoughts, it is also our intention to examine the Central European concept and to point how this region was searching for its position during the system change, and what additional meaning was given to this region from the 1980s to nowadays. In order to extend the investigation, this paper also focuses on the problem whether Central Europe serves as a historical reference point losing its importance with the European integration, or if it can serve as an obstacle in the deepening of the European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the salient features of the recent populist turn in Europe has been a redefinition of the European. Traditionally, (far) right-wing parties defined themselves as Eurosceptic and focused on national identity. Increasingly, however, they have referred to pan-European heritage, although against the mainstream conceptualization of it. The article looks at the case of Hungary and the image of Europe constructed by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose rhetoric has become a key reference point for other European populist movements. The past decade his government has witnessed, on the one hand, a tendency to redefine what is European against the dominant and institutionalized interpretations, and, on the other, an attempt to single-out the concept of Central Europe as the locus for maintaining and nurturing European values in contrast to perceived Western decline. This paper examines this discourse through a close reading of major speeches delivered by Orbán on the anniversaries of historical events. Analysis of these speeches reveals the ideological foundations of his political project and presents historical and philosophical interpretations of the European political situation. It seeks to identify how Orbán's discourse evolved across time, by putting the speeches about the past into the present political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the impacts of opening of borders and intensity of cross-border cooperation (CBC) on regional growth across European border regions. The difference-in-difference estimations show that the opening of national borders for free movement of people is associated with a 2.7% increase in regional gross value added (GVA) per capita for the border regions of Europe. Using an extension of this estimation based on European Commission-supported CBC projects data for the 2007–13 period (through the INTERREG programme), the results suggest that the doubling of the number of CBC project partners (per 100,000 population) is correlated with an increase of 2.3% in regional GVA per capita. These results confirm the positive economic benefits of European integration by means of CBC. For future research efforts, these findings also encourage the research community to investigate more deeply the channels through which CBC affects the socioeconomic development of border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the dynamics of structural polarization and macroeconomic divergence in the context of European integration, where the latter is primarily understood as an increase in economic and financial openness. In the process of estimating the dynamic effects of such an openness shock on 26 EU countries, we develop a taxonomy of European economies that consists of four groups: core, periphery, and catching-up countries in Eastern Europe as well as financial hubs. We show that these four country groups have responded in a distinct way to the openness shock imposed by European integration and argue that the latter should be seen as an evolutionary process that has given rise to different path-dependent developmental trajectories. These trajectories are linked to the sectoral development of European economies and the evolution of their technological capabilities. We propose a set of interrelated policy measures to counteract structural polarization and to promote macroeconomic convergence in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union defence sector is not only crucial for the EU's security, but it is also a major industrial asset for EU member states, as it may foster innovation and greater integration among member states, as well as facilitate technology transfer. The understanding of and inferences about the sector, however, are laborious since data on the defence industry in Europe is often contradictory and confused and it is mostly compared at the national not at the European level. As a contribution to address such shortcomings and as opening piece for this Special Issue, this article focuses on the finding, collecting, cleaning, and organizing data on the geographical concentration/location of EU defence industries. This is a fully original descriptive analysis of the current situation, and it provides a reliable basis on the concentration/location of defence companies. This paper represents a firm basis from which to explore (in future research) how defence companies contribute to the technological integration of the EU and it should help the reader to better understand the following articles in this Special Issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of laboratory medicine, the main focus was to provide high quality analytics. Over time the importance of the extra-analytical phases and their contribution to the overall quality became evident. However, as the initial preanalytical processes take place outside of the laboratory and mostly without its supervision, all professions participating in these process steps, from test selection to sample collection and transport, need to engage accordingly. Focusing solely on intra-laboratory processes will not be sufficient to achieve the best possible preanalytical quality. The Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has provided several recommendations, opinion papers and scientific evidence over the past years, aiming to standardize the preanalytical phase across Europe. One of its strategies to reach this goal are educational efforts. As such, the WG-PRE has organized five conferences in the past decade with the sole focus on preanalytical quality. This year's conference mainly aims to depict the views of different professions on preanalytical processes in order to acquire common ground as basis for further improvements. This article summarizes the content of this 6th preanalytical conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Facta Universitatis: Series Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology & History is the property of University of Nis, Serbia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research background: Modern European integration focuses on competition in the internal single market, embracing both competitiveness and consumer protection, and it aims at full harmonization in this arena. The hallmark, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive from 2005, aims to overcome diverse social, political, legal and economic traditions. Is the implied protection against misleading practices an opportunity or a threat for Central European Regions?. Purpose of the article: The primary purpose is to comparatively describe and critically assess the transposed legal frameworks. The secondary purpose is to study and evaluate their coherence in the light of the case law and their impact in Central Europe, in particular whether it represents an opportunity or a threat for the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, i.e. boosting competitiveness and innovation along with consumer welfare. Methods: The cross-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional nature of this paper, and its dual purposes, implies the use of Meta-Analysis, of various interpretation techniques suitable for legal texts and judicial decisions, of the critical comparison and of a holistic assessment of approaches and impacts. Legislation and case law are explored and the yielded knowledge and data are confronted with a field search and case studies. The dominating qualitative research and data are complemented by the quantitative research and data. Findings & Value added: For over one decade, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive has required full harmonization of the protection against, among other items, misleading commercial practices, by legislatures and judges in the EU. The exploration pursuant to the two purposessuggests that this ambitious legislative and case law project entails a number of transposition approaches with varying levels of coherence, importance and impacts on the competitiveness and innovation of business and consumer welfare in Central Europe. Therefore, full harmonization should be either readjusted or relaxed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way in which Cohesion Policy is perceived by citizens is a crucial issue for the process of European identity-building. Based on the idea that citizens' perceptions depend on the local socioeconomic context in which Cohesion Policy is implemented, the paper seeks to define alternative combinations of the economic, social and institutional features of different local policy implementation settings, and to identify them empirically in European NUTS-2 regions. The results highlight a broad variety of policy settings, whose characteristics are relevant to the outcome of Cohesion Policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the evolution of per capita income inequality among 197 European regions between 1977 and 2003, and seeks evidence of the relationship between the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and interregional income inequality. The conclusion is that overall interregional income inequality has decreased since 1977, owing to a decrease in between-country inequality. The panel analysis conducted in this paper suggests that the adoption of the common currency has, thus far, exacerbated regional inequality in poorer EU countries, while it has not significantly affected regional inequality within richer countries. Inequality in less advanced countries has also increased with the establishment of the convergence criteria and with the implementation of the Single Market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between openness to trade and wages at the industry level (15 manufacturing and 6 service industries) in 25 EU countries over the period from 1995 to 2005. By applying a cross-country and industry-specific approach, it is possible to control for unobserved heterogeneity at both country and industry levels. We also differentiate between intra and inter-industry trade and we try to assess the relative importance of foreign wages versus domestic productivity developments in an open environment. We find that trade is not an important driver of wages, since the wage response to trade is small. Moreover, in line with the Stolper-Samuelson reasoning, the overall wage impact is always positive if significant in central and eastern Europe, while in western Europe we often observe a negative response, particularly in resource-based industries. Nevertheless, increased trade reinforces the productivity-wage link and weakens the co-movement of wages in eastern Europe, while there is less evidence of a similar wage-disciplining effect of trade in the west. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to identify, analyze and assess the main challenges, difficulties and benefits of teaching European economic integration to non-economic students. The paper draws on evidence from a series of courses delivered within the framework of a Jean Monnet European Module to students registered in different faculties of Transilvania University of Brasov. The results of the teaching activity can be measured in terms of the number of students participating in the lectures and tutorials, the quality of their exam papers and essays submitted for evaluation as well as the share of students finally graduating the Module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to discuss the 1970s as a breaking point in both urban and transport history. The dominant narrative of urban planning sets two periods after 1945 in opposition: the post-war modernist and car-oriented city on the one hand, and on the other hand the (more) sustainable and pedestrian-oriented city that supposedly started to arise in the 1980s. This time frame reveals the importance given to the narrative of the avant-garde, the great intellectual figures, and the national policies in urban history. The paper decentres the investigation into the history of pedestrianisation in Europe and highlights how "anonymous" city engineers and local urban planners produced alternative pathways to modernisation as early as the 1950s. The European municipal movement for pedestrianisation appears as the missing link between the radical functionalist approach of post-war modern planning, and the present trend in favour of public space and walkability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to develop new avenues of research for the study of the Ukrainian press in Europe in a retrospective of the 20th century. Specifically, it aims to present here a comprehensive overview of the Ukrainian periodicals issued in the West European languages during the Ukrainian Revolution (1917–1921). In the process of the search work conducted during 2012–2019, the corpus of the Ukrainian foreign-language press in Europe spanning the Ukrainian national liberation movement/Ukrainian Revolution has been identified. This has been accomplished through a comprehensive study of the foreign-language bibliography (by means of the bibliographic heuristics' method) and scholarly reference sources, as well as systematic fieldwork in the holdings of both Western and Ukrainian archives and libraries. The Ukrainian press in the West European languages of Europe of that period serves as a barometer of receptions by different West European media outlets of the Ukrainian Revolution (1917–1921). Its structure, editorial policies, and content serve both as a record, as well as a digest of the foreign (i.e., West European) press receptions about the Ukrainian national revolution. The complex nature of this cluster of the Ukrainian press thus enables researchers (both Ukrainian, and foreign scholars) to use it as an important (and sometimes indispensable) source of information about the development and transformations of the Ukrainian Revolution. This study argues that this corpus of publications is a unique phenomenon in the history of Ukrainian journalism in terms of its transformation, diversification, internationalization and subsequent integration into the European public sphere. This study also shows that there are yet many gaps in the fields of media history, Slavic and East European Studies, and Ukrainian Studies of the interwar period awaiting attention of future bibliographers and scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teorija in Praksa is the property of Teorija in Praksa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Many integration theories predict that heightened integration in Europe will give rise to a European identity. As integration advances, so does the scholarly debate on identity. This article endeavours to contribute to the debate by investigating the relationship between European integration and European identity longitudinally in 14 countries over 21 years from 1992 to 2012. Using Eurobarometer and EU Index data, this relationship is found to be exponential with current integration levels predicting the imminent emergence of a European identity. In order to better understand whose identities are impacted or formed most by integration, the paper then turns to three intervening concepts: (1) cognitive mobilization, (2) optimism, and (3) support of the EU. All of these amplify the effect of integration on identity with the noteworthy exception of optimism. Finally, the article evaluates the implications of these findings for neofunctionalism and the literature on European identity more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013 it was declared that 'the eurozone crisis is over'. However, in fact, the series of financial crises since 2008 may have interrupted the process of EMU enlargement, which in turn triggered a continuing crisis of confidence in the euro. In this paper we extend the sigma-convergence test to provide a more precise understanding of real interest rate parity ( RIP) convergence. On the basis of this, we predict the timing for eliminating the cost of economic asymmetric shocks. Our estimation indicates the RIP among EMU members and accessions were still valid after the disruptions of the 2008 financial crisis. However, the situation has been even worse since the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis, and ceteris paribus, symmetry cannot be achieved without further policy actions. This implies that the EMU authority must do its best to strengthen symmetry and thereby solidify the EMU, at which point it will be better able to re-start the process of enlargement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forced integration of European socialist states following WWII is usually viewed as a history of political misunderstandings and genuine social failures. From the early modernism and avant-garde periods onwards, socialism was also a common experience for the whole of East and Central Europe. Since the late 1950s, the densifying network of relations among culture departments of socialist parties, culture ministries of individual countries, writer associations, publishers or literary journals has resulted in thus far unknown transnational literature circulation. This article analyzes the transnational links between the GDR literary system and the literatures and literary institutions of the European Eastern Bloc. The paper aims to discuss two specific research questions. First, the international literature published in the GDR is examined statistically and regarding the prevailing concepts and practices of transnationality. Second, the transnationally networked places of socialist literature planning are presented. Documents preserved in East German archives form the basis for the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a case study approach, the paper traces how technological expectations have been influential in the creation of European institutions, R&D programmes and regulatory instruments and how they have contributed to processes of European integration. The first case study shows how the promises of a coming 'Atomic Age' have been mobilized to support the foundation of the European Atomic Energy Community and, thus, contributed to European integration in the post-WW2 era. The second case study analyses how the security stream within the EU's framework programmes for R&D is shaped by the promise of 'technosecurity' and enacts the normative claim of the EU's security integration in the post-Cold War era. The third case study analyses how the EU's AI strategy and AI act articulate the vision of a 'human-centric AI' and how this vision is related to the EU's current attempt to restore citizens' trust in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radical right European contestation is analyzed mainly as claims denouncing European integration. Less focus is put on narratives suggesting how a supposed 'truly European' political process should be and work. This paper explores how radical right actors use such counter‐European claims within their competition strategies. Computer‐assisted qualitative analysis of communication by Front National, Alternative for Germany and Fidesz during the humanitarian crisis debate 2015–16 demonstrates that radical right counter‐Europeanism constitutes a nuanced tactical resource deployed to normalize nativist supply in the name of Europe. Unlike Eurorejectionist FN, Fidesz and AfD redefined Europe in nativist terms, attempting to draw legitimacy from association with European identity and cooperation. Concurrently, both actors justified Euronativism not only as antithetical to current EU values and political principles, but mainly as their more fundamental practice juxtaposed against 'not (truly) European elites', effectively 'hijacking' Europe from within. The findings deepen our understanding of radical right Europe‐contesting competition strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crises of the European Union and the geopolitical shifts in its international environment have generated a backlash against the post-Cold War 'debordering' of European integration. Whereas integration theories focus almost exclusively on the EU's internal boundaries and developments, this framework paper conceptualizes and theorizes integration as a process of internal debordering and external rebordering. It sketches the history of European integration in a bordering perspective and proposes general assumptions about the EU's bordering process. Accordingly, rebordering pressures result from widening boundary gaps at the EU's external borders, exogenous shocks to cross-border transactions, growing community deficits of debordering, and their politicization. Whether external rebordering succeeds and how it interacts with internal boundary formation, depends on EU-level boundary negotiations and the relative costs and benefits of external vs. internal rebordering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the foundation pillars of European unification, namely solidarity and democracy, are under serious threat, perhaps more serious than that from the 2008 economic crisis, Brexit, the migration crisis and COVID-19 combined. As happened in the past, space and geography are again at the forefront asking for interpretations. A once progressive academic field such as urban and regional research is due now to regain its progressive reflexes together with broader political concerns about the future of the European Union (EU). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The productivity slowdown in European countries is among the major stylised facts of the last two decades. Several explanations have been proposed: some focus on demand-side effects, working through Kaldor’s second law of economic growth (also known as Verdoorn’s law), others on supply-side effects determined by a misallocation of the factors of production, caused either by labour market reforms or by perverse effects of financial integration (in Europe, related to the adoption of the euro). The latter explanation is put forward by some recent studies that stress how low interest rates brought about by the monetary union may have lowered productivity by inducing capital misallocation. The aim of this paper is to investigate the robustness of the latter empirical findings and to compare them with the alternative explanation offered by the post-Keynesian growth model, which instead emphasises the relation between foreign trade and productivity, along lines that go back to Adam Smith. To do so, we use a panel of industry-level data extracted from the EU KLEMS database, comparing these alternative explanations by panel cointegration techniques. The results shed some light on the role played by the single currency in the structural divergences among euro area member countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of national borders in the process of European integration and its destiny, border areas remain relatively misrecognised. This is particularly true as regards the contemporary geography of border cities across Europe. It is therefore difficult to assess what importance border cities and cross-border urban regions have and how they have evolved in parallel with the transformation of European borders. The aim of this paper is to highlight the urban dimension of border regions in Europe and, in particular, the diversity of configurations present. Through an original cartography of border cities, we hope to draw the attention of the research community interested in borders and border regions to an unfamiliar aspect of European borderlands and some of the issues and questions it raises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracy is in deep crisis today: this is indicated by decreasing turnout at elections, media that blur the distinction between information, defamation and propaganda, and the hidden influence of business corporations through tax evasion and lobbyism (Barber 1994; Crouch 2004; Preiss/Brunner 2013; Merkel 2015). In this situation, direct democracy seems to offer a new way to strengthen citizens' political participation. However, several recent referenda have shown that the former can be used by the elites as an instrument for advancing their ambitions to power, and legitimating specific (often problematic) political aims. This paper uses a theoretically informed historical-sociological approach with the intent of explaining elites' attitudes toward democracy. I start from democratic elite theory, which argues that elites are indispensable for the management of large and complex societies, but that they will pursue their own interests if not checked by a strong opposition and civic action from below. Six concrete hypotheses are developed: Direct democracy increases in the course of realizing democratic systems; elites are much more sceptical concerning direct democracy than citizens; the use and implementation of referenda depend on the political system (distinguishing three types); and the dysfunctions of direct democracy are mainly due to its misuse by elites, while the outcomes of strong direct democracy are mostly positive. These hypotheses are tested by looking at applications of direct democracy (referenda) in totalitarian, authoritarian and elitist democratic systems in recent European history. The paper concludes with some considerations about the necessary measures for solving the problems of direct democracy as articulated by the elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality of an ageing Europe has called attention to the importance of e-inclusion for a growing population of senior citizens. For some, this may mean closing the digital divide by providing access and support to technologies that increase citizen participation; for others, e-inclusion means access to assistive technologies to facilitate and extend their living independently. These initiatives address a social need and provide economic opportunities for European industry. While undoubtedly desirable, and supported by European Union initiatives, several cultural assumptions or issues related to the initiatives could benefit from fuller examination, as could their practical and ethical implications. This paper begins to consider these theoretical and practical concerns. The first part of the paper examines cultural issues and assumptions relevant to adopting e-technologies, and the ethical principles applied to them. These include (1) the persistence of ageism, even in e-inclusion; (2) different approaches to, and implications of independent living; and (3) the values associated with different ethical principles, given their implications for accountability to older users. The paper then discusses practical issues and ethical concerns that have been raised by the use of smart home and monitoring technologies with older persons. Understanding these assumptions and their implications will allow for more informed choices in promoting ethical application of e-solutions for older persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the evolution of Plaid Cymru's attitude towards Europe. It does so by focusing in turn on: the place of Europe in the ideas of Saunders Lewis, the dominant figure in the party between its foundation in 1924/25 and 1945; the more ‘northern’ or Nordic vision of Europe that gripped the party in the post -World War II era; and the waxing and waning of the party's most EU-enthusiastic phase between the mid -1980s and the present day. By adopting a longer timeframe than is normally the case, the paper argues that Europe has played a wider role in the thinking of the party than is often conceded; a role that was not at all or only tangentially related to actually existing institutions. The paper goes on to argue that it was in part the chastening impact of Plaid Cymru's eventual exposure to actually existing European institutions that led the party in 2003 to abandon its utopian commitment to a post-sovereign Europe in favour of an explicit commitment to ‘independence’ as its long-term aim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border integration in Europe is a complex and multifaceted process, which has contrasted impacts on border regions. In order to contribute to better depict it, this paper provides, with the help of statistical indicators, a systematic and multidimensional analysis of cross-border integration along all the EU internal borders. It highlights the similarities and discrepancies that can be observed between the different European regions with regards to the intensity of cross-border practices (the functional dimension of cross-border integration), the level of mutual social trust between border populations (the ideational dimension), and the involvement of stakeholders in cross-border cooperation projects (the institutional dimension). The different patterns that emerge from this analysis show that there can be no unique cross-border cooperation strategy at the EU scale to accompany the dismantlement of EU internal borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open method of co-ordination (OMC) has received much attention in the recent EU literature. The predominant view claims that the OMC is not only a new but also an effective policy-making instrument. This paper raises doubts about both claims by offering a comparison of soft law policy co-ordination in three international organizations. More specifically, this paper compares the European Employment Strategy to the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines of the EU, the OECD Economic Surveys, and the IMF Article IV Consultations. Based on expert interviews, it seeks to demonstrate that these procedures are forms of multilateral surveillance that do not differ in kind. Such a comparative analysis of the OMC refutes claims to its novelty. Having compared the four procedures, a more general model of multilateral surveillance consisting of six elements is generated that facilitates further comparisons. This paper concludes that governments select voluntarist procedures mainly to secure their own competencies rather than to realize common goals. Effective problem-solving is therefore not necessarily the dominant objective of soft law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]