Mainstreaming Equality in the European Union provides a critical overview and evaluation of the potential role of the EU in perpetuating or breaking down gender segregation in the EU labour force. ...Teresa Rees draws upon feminist theoretical frameworks in assessing Equal Opportunitues policies and the role of training in the labour market. The same economic imperatives which put women's training on the agenda have heightened interest in designing training which attracts women into mainstream provision. Mainstreaming Equality in the European Union addresses the urgent need for academics, education and training providers, as well as policy makers to be aware of current thinking at EU level on training policy.
Brexit will have significant consequences for the country, for Europe, and for global order. And yet much discussion of Brexit in the UK has focused on the causes of the vote and on its consequences ...for the future of British politics. This volume examines the consequences of Brexit for the future of Europe and the European Union, adopting an explicitly regional and future-oriented perspective missing from many existing analyses. Drawing on the expertise of 28 leading scholars from a range of disciplines, Brexit and Beyond offers various different perspectives on the future of Europe, charting the likely effects of Brexit across a range of areas, including institutional relations, political economy, law and justice, foreign affairs, democratic governance, and the idea of Europe itself. Whilst the contributors offer divergent predictions for the future of Europe after Brexit, they share the same conviction that careful scholarly analysis is in need – now more than ever – if we are to understand what lies ahead for the EU.
As economic competition is introduced into areas formerly served by public sector monopolies, to what extent do governments lose discretion over their use of the public sector? States of ...Liberalization examines the impact of the European Union’s rigorous single-market competition policy on the abilities of Western European governments to use the public sector to achieve political objectives. Examining several politically contentious sectors, including government purchasing of goods and services, postal services, and public sector financial institutions, Mitchell P. Smith explores and explains the scope and the limits of this transformation. While European economic integration and the application of European Community competition policy have substantially infused competition into public services, the process has been more modest, and more deliberate, than a simple reading of Europe’s potent market-making mechanisms would predict.
The Repoliticization of the Welfare State grapples with the evolving nature of political conflict over social spending after the Great Recession. While the severity of the economic crisis encouraged ...strong social spending responses to protect millions of individuals, governments have faced growing pressure to reduce budgets and make deep cuts to the welfare state. Whereas conservative parties have embraced fiscal discipline and welfare state cuts, left-wing parties have turned away from austerity in favor of higher social spending. These political differences represent a return of traditional left-right beliefs over social spending and economic governance. This book is one of the first to systematically compare welfare state politics before and after the Great Recession, arguing that a new and lasting post-crisis dynamic has emerged where political parties once again matter for social spending. At the heart of this repoliticization are intense ideological debates over market regulation, social inequality, redistribution, and the role of the state. The book analyzes social spending dynamics for 28 countries before and after the crisis. It also includes in-depth country case studies representing five distinct welfare state types: Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, and the Czech Republic.
Is the objective that the European Union set itself in 2000, that is, to be «the most competitive knowledge-based society and economy» by 2010 still realistic? The momentous year has arrived, but it ...is discouraging to note that very few steps have been made in the direction that was fixed. What has gone wrong? Were the philosophical, epistemological and economic conditions adequate to achieve the desired result? This book - the result of a research project commissioned by the European Commission - critically investigates the society of knowledge and the way in which the European Union has proceeded towards it, examining first of all the premises and the contributions that the disciplines of Science and Technological Studies can provide. In this way, we have proposed innovative theoretical and epistemological bases for a multidisciplinary approach - making use of the Modelling Approach to Science - and therefore insisting on the function that human sciences can have for a society of knowledge that hinges not so much on an industrialist scenario, but a humanist one that eschews hyper-specialization and instead privileges creativity, flexibility, imagination and innovation economy.
Who are Europe's immigrants? This innovative volume provides a comprehensive overview of the immigration situation in all 25 EU countries. Each chapter follows a common structure, allowing direct ...comparisons to be made between countries. The chapters conclude with a critical assessment of the present migration situation of the country in question and its future prospects.
This book maps out, from a variety of theoretical standpoints, the challenges generated by European integration and EU citizenship for community membership, belonging and polity-making beyond the ...state. It does so by focusing on three main issues of relevance for how EU citizenship has developed and its capacity to challenge state sovereignty and authority as the main loci of creating and delivering rights and protection. First, it looks at the relationship between citizenship of the Union and European identity and assesses how immigration and access to nationality in the Member States impact on the development of a common European identity. Secondly, it discusses how the idea of solidarity interacts with the boundaries of EU citizenship as constructed by the entitlement and capacity of mobile citizens to enjoy equality and social rights as EU citizens. Thirdly, the book engages with issues of EU citizenship and equality as the building blocks of the EU project. By engaging with these themes, this volume provides a topical and comprehensive account of the present and future development of Union citizenship and studies the collisions between the realisation of its constructive potential and Member State autonomy.
This book examines the law developed by the EU to control cartels. The law, including case-law, is carefully documented and analysed against a standard of legitimacy which questions the EU's ...enforcement measures, its institutional structures, policy choices, substantive law, evidentiary standards and procedures and sanctions. It includes a unique catalogue of over 150 EU cartel decisions, as well as novel analyses of difficult borderline issues such as mixed horizontal and vertical cartels, single-brand dealer cartels and buyer cartels. The effect on trade in cartel cases is analysed with reference to established law and deterrence theory. Throughout the book the author asks whether EU law also applies at the national level, or whether certain assessments need to be made according to national law. This approach makes the book particularly helpful for national authorities, courts and private practitioners. The book includes in-depth comparisons with US law as well as a comprehensive survey of the secondary (academic) literature on cartels. As such it presents not only a comprehensive practical view, but also a sound theoretical framework for better understanding cartel law. This is a work which will be of utmost importance to those working in competition authorities and competition courts in the EU Member States, as well as those working for EU institutions and in private practice and academia.
Monetary politics Oatley, Thomas H
1997., 20100525, 1998, c1997., 19970101
eBook
A single currency--and the necessary prior condition of exchange rate cooperation and the stabilization of exchange rates--has been an elusive goal of many European leaders for more than twenty ...years. While much of the literature on exchange rate cooperation within the European Union focuses on the integration of national economies as the driving force, Thomas Oatley draws on public choice models to develop an explanation of exchange rate cooperation based on domestic politics. The author then tests hypotheses derived from this model in a detailed consideration of the various efforts to stabilize currencies since the 1970s. Oatley argues that monetary policy has distributional effects and is used by policy makers to achieve domestic policy goals. Thus domestic politics plays an important role in defining the approach leaders take to monetary integration. Oatley suggests that leaders supported the creation of the European Monetary System because governments saw a link to the Bundesbank as a useful instrument to help slow the growth of wages, redistribute income from labor to capital, and achieve domestic stabilization. The later collapse of the System reflected the unwillingness on the part of many leaders to continue to follow the Bundesbank's lead as well as the Bundesbank's own reservations about monetary integration.
Given the rising strife in countries such as France over the domestic costs of monetary integration, Oatley's domestic politics explanation will be useful in understanding the continued efforts of European policy makers to work towards an integrated currency. This book should appeal to political scientists and economists interested in international cooperation, the European Union and exchange rate systems.
Thomas Oatley is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina.
What is the impact of political language upon public opinion towards European integration? Based upon media analysis, public opinion data and over 140 in-depth interviews with senior officials and ...campaigners, Ece Özlem Atikcan examines six EU referendum votes: in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on the European Constitution in 2005; and in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 and 2009. In all instances, polls show that the voting public favored the referendum proposals before the campaigns began, yet this initially positive public opinion melted away in three of these six cases. Why did this occur? Atikcan demonstrates that the key to the puzzle lies in political campaigns, where argument strategies can, at least temporarily, reverse public opinion enough to affect referendum outcomes. Providing a critical analysis of campaign strategy and EU communication policy, this book will be essential reading for academics, policymakers, politicians and future campaigners.
