This article analyses the causal factors behind the Brexit vote, aiming to contribute to the literature on European disintegration. It addresses how, amidst external factors such as the EU debt ...crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis, pre-existing ideological forces deeply ingrained in a society can surface and steer a country's trajectory in relation to European integration. Employing a rigorous process-tracing design, it highlights the forces that led to the referendum and its outcome, identifying key patterns that can be extrapolated to comparable cases within the field of EU integration theory. The analysis operates at two levels: it scrutinizes the constraints faced by Cameron's government in the lead-up to the vote, and it probes the British electorate's attitude toward EU and how it was influenced by the Leave campaign. The study draws from an empirical case to identify some of the patterns of this ongoing political process.
The different views on EU–Polish relations articulated by different political actors in Poland illustrate two opposite approaches toward the shape of the integration process. The ongoing political ...debate on Poland’s raison d’état (reason of state) in the European Union calls for the necessity to define this notion in the current geopolitical context. In light of recent challenges and declared plans of the European Commission to transform the EU’s foreign policy it seems particularly reasonable to analyze Poland’s raison d’état in reference to the EU’s enlargement policy. Therefore, the major purpose of the article is to define and explain the essence and evolution of Poland’s position on the issue of EU enlargement. To be precise, the case study is concentrated on the developments caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a trigger for the reconsideration of the EU’s foreign policy. By doing so, the author makes an attempt to answer the research question on the essence of Poland’s raison d’état as regards further EU enlargement and Polish structural potential to promote its interests and shape the EU’s foreign policy overall.
Refined baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set per European Union Member State (MS), in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The inventories are based ...on the initial assessment of the MSFD (2012) and the updated data of the European Alien Species Information Network, in collaboration with NIS experts appointed by the MSs. The analysis revealed that a large number of NIS was not reported from the initial assessments. Moreover, several NIS initially listed are currently considered as native in Europe or were proven to be historical misreportings. The refined baseline inventories constitute a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation, providing an improved basis for reporting new NIS introductions, facilitating the MSFD D2 assessment. In addition, the inventories can help MSs in the establishment of monitoring systems of targeted NIS, and foster cooperation on monitoring of NIS across or within shared marine subregions.
•Refined MSFD baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set in EU.•The inventories are given per EU Member State (MS) and MSFD subregion up to 2012.•The NIS lists provide a basis for reporting new NIS introductions in EU after 2012.•Our work constitutes a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation.
The citizenship jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice has raised hopes for a more social Europe and triggered fierce debates about 'social tourism'. The article analyses how this case law is ...applied by EU member state administrations and argues that they are actively containing the Court's influence. As a result, rather than reconciling the logics of 'opening' and 'closure', they are heading towards an uneasy coexistence between free movement and exclusive welfare states. The argument here is illustrated with empirical evidence from Austria and Germany. Although both countries have taken different approaches to EU migrants' residency and social rights, they produce similar effects in practice: increasingly, EU migrants are being tolerated as residents with precarious status without access to minimum subsistence benefits. Ironically, attempts to restrict residency rights have resulted in a temporary extension of EU migrants' access to welfare in some instances.
The transition toward the circular economy of European small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is one of the focuses of the Agenda in Europe. The paper aims to evaluate if this drive should ...transform the SMEs and keep European production sustainable and competitive. The paper offers a comparative analysis of the circular economy SMEs shift within the 13 sectors of EU Member States, that have involved innovative SMEs and have begun to use or have long adopted smart technologies for the needs of control, effectiveness, efficiency, and environmental protection and energy aspect. The study highlights and evaluates the transition in 13 sectors with the highest SMEs performance with a major specialization in Smart Technologies. Five key points are identified and evaluated to analyze, the transition degree of every sector toward the circular economy. The research shows a heterogeneous transition with both sectors and countries during which the existence of best practices, are discovered, but cannot be transmitted to other sectors. A series of deterrents to the transition from a linear to a circular economy is composed within the SMEs sectors, specifically technical, commercial, and regulatory.
El Tratado sobre la Carta de la Energía (TCE), tratado mixto concluido por la UE y 26 Estados miembros, incluye la resolución de litigios entre inversores y Estados (“ISDS”). En su sentencia Komstroy ...(C-741/19), el Tribunal de Justicia de la UE dictaminó que la ISDS del TCE es contraria al derecho de la UE. Los negociadores de los 54 Estados parte del TCE llegaron a un acuerdo en junio de 2022 para modernizar el tratado. Este tratado de modernización incluye la exclusión de la ISDS para los litigios intracomunitarios, lo que a la larga debería impedir las demandas de arbitraje de los inversores de los Estados miembros contra España. Sin embargo, al no estar satisfechos con la modernización prevista, siete Estados miembros, entre ellos el Reino de España, se plantean denunciar la Carta de la Energía.
This article assesses the factors associated with member states’ bargaining success during the negotiations in the European Council's 2010 task force on strengthening economic governance, the ...pre-decision stage for the Six-Pack. We test theories of decision-making based on the expertise of institutions, and EU member states’ preferences and power resources using new data. With methods derived from the decision-making in the EU projects, we find that proximity to the European Central Bank was associated with greater bargaining success for member states and that the opposite was the case for closeness to the Commission's preferences. We find mixed evidence that member states’ level of indebtedness is associated with bargaining success, defined as the minimum distance between the position of a member state and the final outcome. The findings indicate the importance of the ECB's role given its technical expertise, in defining the outcomes of the task force.
The legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) includes all the necessary requirements and tools to implement a unified approach to preparing Module 1 of the electronic Common Technical ...Document (eCTD) for the concerned member states (CMSs). However, the approaches to the matter and the recommendations provided to applicants differ across member states. This causes significant ambiguity and imposes an excessive burden on the applicants. Drafting of a guideline on preparation of eCTD Module 1 for the CMSs will allow for tackling this important grey area in the EAEU regulatory framework, as regulatory authorities are lacking consensus on country-specific submissions. Currently, pharmaceutical industry stakeholders consider the Russian experience of implementing the legislation in question the most successful, so it is proposed to convey this experience to the common market of the EAEU.
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