Building a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the limits of the international rules-based liberal order across a variety of issue areas, this topical book highlights how the discourse and ...values inherent in these long-established political arrangements are now facing a backlash, and how Europe is responding towards it.
This article focuses on the European single market, which has been one of the central issues in terms of the impacts of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. As the aim of the single market project is to ...open the internal borders of the EU to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor to create cross-jurisdictional markets, the economic and political effects of Brexit will be widespread, if not yet fully understood, outside the British polity. The article looks at the current state of the single market, then highlights the impact of British withdrawal on economic governance, focusing on different market freedoms, given the degree of trade interdependence and integrated supply chains that have evolved in response to changes in goods and services. One of the lessons from Brexit negotiations is the importance of distinguishing between different single market(s) when assessing the impact of British ‘exit’ on member states. The concluding section focuses on the political safeguards of market integration to manage the relationship between the UK and EU, to illustrate how judicial, market, and institutional safeguards create options and constraints in mitigating the effects of ‘exit’.
In this article we investigate how well the single market functions in practice by examining barriers to trade in goods markets and we discuss efforts to improve the governance of the single market. ...We use two unique datasets of specific trade obstacles to empirically examine which barriers continue to undermine EU cross‐border trade, and whether non‐judicial remedies have provided some degree of effective informal market governance in tackling trade impediments. Based on four hypotheses on country, industry and policy variables we test the probability of removing trade barriers in the pre‐litigation phase of infringement proceedings rather than by Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decisions. We then assess the usage and effectiveness of the informal mechanism Solvit to resolve trade obstacles in the single market. We conclude that informal mechanisms operate in the ‘shadow of hierarchy’ as judicialization remains the last resort option when informal co‐operation does not achieve the desired goals.
This ambitious volume provides a trenchant and timely analysis of the creation of a single market in both the EU and the US. Comparing the experience of the US during the nineteenth century and the ...single market of the EU in the twentieth century, the book demonstrates how the political economy of single market formation has followed remarkably similar trajectories. Both cases show evidence of interplay between different levels of government in determining distributive outcomes; evolution of a legal framework for the market; and development of new regulatory strategies to deal with changing economic realities. The book illustrates the process of market consolidation through a detailed comparison of the so-called four freedoms: the removal of border controls; and the largely unrestricted transfer of goods, services, and capital across different jurisdictions. In both cases, establishing one market, one currency, and a more unified banking and financial system transformed largely autonomous or sovereign constituent units into a more unified economic entity. Single Markets also sheds light on critically important questions for both comparativists and international relations scholars regarding the nature of territorial governance and the construction of state interests. The book's interdisciplinary approach to focusing on crucial political and economic developments on both sides of the Atlantic will be of interest to scholars in political science, public policy, law, and history.
In developing an extensive network of trade agreements, the European Union has pushed for liberalization commitments that impinge on the competencies of subnational jurisdictions. This raises new ...challenges in federal systems as the emerging multilevel character of trade politics means subnational authorities could increasingly demand a say in the negotiation or ratification of these trade agreements. To address the tension between subnational regulatory autonomy and collective problem-solving in trade negotiations, Europe needs to avoid suboptimal trade outcomes where actions of contestation by subnational jurisdictions on the grounds of regulatory encroachment can undermine or veto collective agreement. Using the cases of Belgium and Germany, this article illustrates how the growing subnational contestation around trade agreements requires greater coordination and consensus to avoid domestic gridlock in their ratification. The article suggests normative ideas for the EU to address the overlapping authority challenges across multilevel governance. As the values of trade have changed, these normative measures should include the framing of trade narratives, addressing asymmetries of influence, enhancing subnational engagement, and mitigating the distributive costs of liberalization. These avenues for trade policymaking are to be ultimately advantageous for the EU's pursuit of greater integration.
This collection highlights the challenges of policy co-ordination at both the national and European level. Several contributions highlight efforts to improve overall performance under the guise of ...efficiency and economy of legislative outcomes that can generate some of the same problems of accountability, transparency and legitimacy facing governing coalitions. Given the increasing importance of global governance, additional contributions also illustrate how the European Union (EU) exercises leverage through rational calculation and bargaining and ideational approaches, which can generate differential levels of adherence to the regulatory power of the EU, suggesting varied interpretations about the nature and reception of European integration in a wider global context.
Leading scholars explore the complex questions arising from the ongoing transformation of Europe through the deepening and widening effects of European integration. Based on authoritative analyses, ...the book takes account of the many national, transnational and international processes and contexts in which European integration has become embedded.
Efforts to tackle the trade impeding effects of divergent standards and regulations are at the core of European economic relations. This volume draws on literature from several disciplines to develop ...a comprehensive account of the regulatory strategies and institutional arrangements adopted by the EU in promoting the single market in goods. It provides a historical overview and detailed cases studies of the various policy initiatives that have altered the boundaries between the public and private sector in fostering market integration. Tackling interstate barriers to trade has relied heavily on European law to shape the framework of relations between states, and trade liberalization has been facilitated by legal rulings resolving territorial conflicts over regulatory jurisdiction and authority. The European Court of Justice has actively shaped markets, acting as a 'free trade umpire' in balancing the goals of market liberalization and market regulation while fostering market compliance. Although markets are absolutely dependent on public authority, the institutional innovation of the EU has been to use the private sector in an ancillary role to the state. By delegating responsibility to set standards for market access, the EU has chosen to draw on the resources of private actors, resulting in a system of governance that is a distinctive, hybrid model of regulation composed of state and non-state actors. Though the "outsourcing" of public sector regulatory activity was expected to be more effective than the process of regulatory harmonization, progress has been difficult. The current deficit in setting standards for European-wide market access raises concerns about the efficiency and effectiveness of such a regulatory regime. Egan provides a detailed evaluation of that process, highlighting regulatory gaps in the single market and the need to focus not only on the process of market integration, but also its outcome and impact on European business. Comparisons with American efforts to create a national market are made throughout to demonstrate the difficulties of constructing and maintaining a single market. American and European efforts to devise a uniform market for commerce and trade have involved both public and private authorities, though with different degrees of coordination and centralization, as many of the strategies undertaken by the EU echo earlier American market-building efforts. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/politicalscience/0199244057/toc.html
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