State Aid and Partisan Government in the European Union*

Objective. I explore the effects of the partisan composition of government on industrial aid disbursement in 14 EU member states during the period 1992–2004. Methods. Predictions are tested controlling for the impact of international economic integration, the European Commission, domestic institutions, and macroeconomic conditions, using Prais‐Winsten coefficients with panel‐corrected standard errors, a random effects specification, and two‐stage least squares analysis with GLS random effects. Results. Contrary to conventional wisdom, right‐wing governments systematically give out more total and sectoral aid than left‐wing governments. Conclusion. Partisan politics tempers national enthusiasm for a single European market, exposing market reforms to a range of restraining domestic political issues.     

The cyclically-adjusted primary balance: A novel approach for the euro area

This paper presents novel estimates for the cyclically-adjusted primary balance for 18 countries of the Euro area over years 1999–2017. We improve the methodology adopted by the European Commission by using quarterly rather than annual frequency data and providing accurate identification of the budgetary items whose response can be considered automatic to the economic cycle. This disaggregated outcome combined with high frequency data marks a significant improvement with respect to previous studies. The empirical analysis is implemented on two sub-periods to examine the impact of governments’ discretionary fiscal policy before and after the Great Recession. The most striking policy implication is that even though the budgetary policy of most European countries can be qualified in principle as anticyclical, this outcome has been weakened by the impact of discretionary policies of many governments especially after the crisis. The results are robust to the use of different de-trending methods.     

Mind the Covid-19 crisis: An evidence-based implementation of Next Generation EU

This paper develops an evidence-based approach to the selection and prioritisation of Next Generation EU (NGEU) projects for timely implementation and impact of the Recovery Plan for Europe. The analysis of a large sample of projects, currently funded by the European Union (EU) with the same priorities and objectives of NGEU, suggests that a timely implementation should be driven – within the EU Commission coordination framework – by national governments liaising directly with their citizens through participatory procedures, involving relevant stakeholders. Simplified implementation procedures with clear spatial targeting and limited involvement of regional authorities are necessary conditions for the avoidance of implementation delays.     

Fostering inter-European cooperation: Technological collaboration among nations of the European Union

This article examines the reasons for the technology gap between Europe and its Japanese and U.S. counterparts, and assesses the EU's effort towards reducing this gap. The EU considers technological collaboration the best way to reduce the gap, and we assess it for technologies: (1) High Definition Television (HDTV) and (2) telecommunications. These catch up efforts have been only partly successful. The HDTV program did not make much progress, and the worldwide switch from analogue to digital technology has hobbled the European attempt. Telecom manufacturers have cleverly adapted to a number of niche markets, such as Nokia in portable telephones, but the industry remains fragmented and poorly equipped to compete against global rivals such as AT&T. Application of pure research to industrial and commercial uses has been spotty, only half-heartedly been implemented by European states or the EU Commission. Even so, the EU Commission continues to promote a wider European perspective. Future technology policies could usefully promote greater entrepreneurial activity and national technical specialization.     

Regulatory review of environmental policy: The potential role of health-health analysis

Health-health analysis (HHA) posits a seemingly unassailable criterion for regulatory assessment: policies intended to protect human health ought to exhibit positive health benefits. Despite the apparent logic of this criterion, it is important to ask whether it would aid in the quest for better public policies. In the context of environmental issues, we find that HHA can be useful by reminding us that it is thenet health impact of a proposed regulation that can be important. However, we also find that in most applications the health impacts of regulatory compliance costs are unlikely to be significant. Conventional benefit-cost analysis ought to remain the principal tool of economic assessment of environmental laws and regulations.     

Are official forecasts of output growth in the EU still biased?

An effective budgetary process requires accurate forecasts of future economic activity. Using data from Stability and Convergence Programmes and the European Commission’s Spring Forecasts, evidence is presented here which indicates deficiencies in official forecasting in the EU arising under the enhanced EU fiscal framework. Forecasts of output growth are unduly pessimistic, irrational, and influenced by recent economic activity. The article considers the reasons for and implications of such biases and proposes improvements to forecasting processes that could address these issues.     

R&D in a post centrally-planned economy: The macroeconomic effects in Poland

Half a century of centrally planned policy in the Central and Eastern European countries resulted in outdated technologies, inefficient allocation of resources and low productivity. Following the end of communism there was a fifteen year process of transition which ended in 2004 with eight post-communist countries joining the European Union (EU) of which Poland was the largest. As part of the EU these countries now face the challenge of the common EU strategy Europe 2020, which has set the target of achieving R&D expenditure to GDP ratio (called the R&D intensity) of 3% by 2020 for the Union as a whole in an effort to increase the competitiveness of the region. Poland, like the other post-communist countries, faces a lower target of R&D intensity, set at 1.7%. Nevertheless, the challenge is immense, since the country is still at only half that level and has little experience in developing policies to help achieve it. In this paper we tested two possible policy options to achieve the target: (1) to increase government expenditures on R&D and; (2) to provide tax relief on R&D to businesses. The method applied to assess the options is a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Poland with an explicit link between productivity and R&D stock. The results show that achieving the R&D intensity target via the use of tax relief is 2.5 times more costly to the government budget, but it has a greater impact on the economy in terms of a higher GDP growth. Tax relief proved efficient in the short run while in the long run the government expenditure policy provides better value for money.     

Free provision of services and cross-border labour recruitment

This article identifies how the use of the European Union (EU) mobility rules, as formulated by the EU's Posting Directive, has been linked to the temporary provision of services in practice. It demonstrates how this linkage, legitimised by European Court rulings, undermines the Directive's original intent to provide rights-based regulation of labour mobility in the Union. In the assessment of posting practices, striking findings of two studies co-conducted by the author in 2003 and 2010 are discussed. In the first section, the origins of the Directive are described, followed by sections that contextualise the posting rules in the framework of the fundamental economic freedoms of EU Treaties, and discuss the problems related to implementation and enforcement. Based on the Directive's definition of posting, three issues of governance and practice are raised: (a) regulation of the employment relationship, (b) application of labour conditions and (c) respect for collective agreements. A final section offers policy recommendations in order to deal with the ways in which posting governance and practices currently impede any vision of rights-based mobility in the EU. It is argued that current minimalist interpretation of the posting rules can neither guarantee equal treatment nor protect the rights of temporary migrant workers.     

Mobility,migration and rights in the European Union: critical reflections on policy and practice

This article assesses developments in European Union (EU) migration policy and practice and their implications for rights regulation in the Union, as revealed in this special issue and the wider literature. It identifies how rights are constituted in the complex and multivalent policy-making field of the EU. The article views rights as constituted in the process of migration governance. This governance analysis puts centre stage an assessment of the links between policy, policy-making and policy's social and political ordering effects. The article argues that the significance of the Union needs to be analysed against different aspects of rights regulation. The article adopts an analytical framework which discriminates between the discursive framing of migrants' rights, the specification of such rights in Union and member state policy, and the shaping of rights by actors in context at the local level. The article concludes that, first, the Union has begun to play a significant role in regulating mobility rights across its territory in ways which can undermine the substantive or normative rights accessible to migrants in practice. Second, its policy and legal role are politically significant as it asserts the role of the EU as a source of regulatory authority over the distribution of rights for citizens and non-citizens within its territory.     

Fruit safety regulations in the transatlantic region: How are Africa’s exports faring with the regulations?

The regulations of fruit trade for safe consumption are taken seriously in the EU and US markets to protect the health of the consumers, animals, plants and environmental safety, and thereby reduce health expenditures. The fruit safety regulations as trade policy measures could be either trade-promoting or -impeding. The extensiveness and intensiveness of fruit safety regulations in these markets often have consequences for exporters from Africa and their desire to attain sustainable economic development. The effects of fruit safety regulations are heterogeneous across economic agents. To this end, many stakeholders in Africa’s food system have perceived compliance with these food regulatory measures as necessary conditions to access the developed countries’ markets, particularly in the EU and US. Besides, the competitiveness of Africa’s fruit exports has been impacted by the preponderance of the measures despite its comparative advantages in the fruits sub-sector. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of the EU and US sanitary and phytosanitary measures on Africa’s fruit exports. The empirical strategy involves the use of an augmented gravity model which explore the disentangling of these impact at the extensive and intensive margins of exports. Given the nature of trade data and specifically for this study, the zero trade flows are considered at both margins of exports for 45 African countries from 1995 to 2017. This study finds that the US market is more trade-impeding to Africa’s fruit exports than the EU market. Thus, Africa needs policies tweaking in the fruit value chain quality infrastructure, fruits’ quality and standards enforcement, capacity development, continuous update and modernisation of the fruits’ safety laws, directives and/or regulations. This will enhance the fruits’ quality to propel their access to the transatlantic markets.     

Portability of Supplementary Pension Rights in the European Union

European Union (EU) legislation on portability of supplementary pension rights accrued by private-sector migrant workers is at an early stage. The recent directive on this topic, aiming to preserve accrued pension rights at least at the level guaranteed in the case of within-borders mobility, emphasizes the role of country-specific legislation on pension portability issues. This paper analyses EU as well as national pension portability regulation for a representative sample of EU countries, in the light of recent empirical evidence outlining the role of occupational pensions in individual job mobility choices in these countries.     

Transition Countries of Central Europe Entering the European Union: Some Social Protection Issues

A brief overview of essential choices facing the transition countries of central Europe with regard to social security policy precedes the discussion of some selected issues related to their entry into the European Union (EU). While not much weight is given to the idea of these countries bringing in yet another social model, the problem of social dumping is considered more seriously, particularly in view of the continuing impact of neoliberal ideology. The central issue of maintaining equilibrium between economic and social development is then examined in the context of current preparations for accession, and attention is drawn to the inherent weakness of the present EU policy, which deals with economic aspects of social protection only and fails to give the populations concerned a clear vision of attainable social goals for the future.     

Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries

Figari F, Matsaganis M, Sutherland H. Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries This study explored and compared the effectiveness of Minimum Income (MI) schemes for persons of working age in the European Union (EU). Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD, we estimated indicators of coverage and adequacy of MI schemes in 14 EU countries. In terms of coverage, we found that in several countries, some individuals are ineligible for MI even when they fall below a poverty line set at 40 per cent of median income. With respect to adequacy, we show that in certain countries, a large fraction of those entitled to MI remain at very low levels of income even when MI benefit is added. Overall, our findings suggest that MI schemes in Europe remain divergent, and that their clustering may be more complex than has hitherto been allowed for. Key Practitioner Message: ?The ability of European welfare states to fight poverty is a key policy question, especially at times of crisis;?Adequacy and coverage of Minimum Income schemes are crucial aspects of the answer;?Microsimulation allows us to separate the effectiveness of MI schemes ‘by design’, from issues of benefit administration, targeting errors and so forth.     

The European flexicurity concept and the Dutch and Danish flexicurity models: How have they managed the Great Recession?

In the mid‐2000s, the flexicurity concept was developed into a key EU policy concept. It drew its inspiration from the Danish and Dutch practices to combine labor market flexibility and security. However, the crisis' focus on bringing down national deficits and debts left little room to advance the concept. Lately, more emphasis has been placed on the need to take into consideration the social aspect of economic policy‐making. Current EU level documents see flexicurity as a guidance for structural reforms. However, the European flexicurity initiatives seem never to have had much impact in Denmark and the Netherlands. There are few accounts of the recent adjustment to the flexicurity models, be it at the EU or at national levels. Therefore, this article assesses the fate of flexicurity by scrutinizing its (adjusted) use as a political concept as well as a socio‐economic model. Although the Danish flexicurity model resembles the European flexicurity concept to a large extent, recent reforms have, overall, weakened rather than strengthened the flexicurity model. The Dutch flexicurity model has a narrower focus on normalizing atypical work, while recent reforms support this narrow flexicurity model. Meanwhile, the EU level concept has been changing every year, encompassing a growing number of issues.     

Rise of the Regulatory Welfare State? Social Regulation in Utilities in Israel

This article explores the relation between economic liberalization, regulation and welfare. It asks how the state regulates, delays or prevents service disconnection due to debt and arrears, and what this kind of policy implies regarding the use of regulation as a form of social policy. This is done through a comparative study of the electricity and water sectors in Israel after liberalization. It finds that after initial economic reform, both sectors saw a growth in regulation intended to compensate for the social effects of reform, in what may be termed the ‘regulatory welfare state’. However, this form of social protection has been residual and incoherent. The article argues that trying to separate economic reform from its social consequences is unrealistic and may lead to adverse social and economic results. Second, findings raise concerns regarding the potential of the regulatory welfare state to deliver effective and fair social policy.     

Forms of Governance in European Union Social Policy: Continuity and/or Change?

This article addresses the question of the evolution of regulatory and distributive social policy at European Union (EU) level, with special emphasis on its quantitative aspects. Data collected in meticulous detail on the EU's powers in the area of social policy and their practical implementation from the early days of European integration through to the end of 2002 are presented in a range of figures and tables. It becomes apparent that, quantitatively speaking, the body of EU social law in existence to date is impressive. Contrary to expectation, non‐binding forms of action have not replaced those which are binding, or at least not yet. Soft law and the “open method of coordination”, the subject of so much recent debate, are rather a complement to classic legislation, entailing a minimum of harmonization. In terms of political science and legal theory this means that while the neo‐voluntarism and legalization hypotheses highlight important aspects of EU social policy, neither of them represents the whole story.     

A New Kid in Town? Active Inclusion Elements in European Minimum Income Schemes

This article assesses the current variation in activation strategies directed towards able‐bodied persons of working age relying on a minimum income guarantee in 19 EU member states. First, we argue that the active inclusion notion developed by the European Commission in its Recommendation on the active inclusion of persons excluded from the labour market provides a useful tool to categorize current activation strategies towards minimum income protection (MIP) recipients. Consequently, we assess the empirical viability of active inclusion strategies in a fuzzy set ideal type analysis of purpose‐collected institutional data. We find that there are only few countries where the activation discourse has remained a dead letter. Most countries implement policy measures that aim to discourage benefit dependency among MIP recipients. Nevertheless, behind the realities of activation strategies towards MIP recipients seldom lies the notion of active inclusion as defined by the European Commission. Particularly, many countries focus predominantly on incentives to increase labour market participation rates of MIP recipients, rather than enabling measures.     

The European Court of Justice and the free movement of patients in the European Union

At present, health policy in the European Union (EU) is being developed in an extremely disconnected fashion. EU member States independently develop their own health systems, based on the goals they wish to pursue, without really considering consistency with European Community (EC) law. The impact of European integration is, in turn, mainly indirect and has emerged from European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings. These rulings have arisen either from considerations in other sectors or through the process of addressing particular issues within single cases, leaving major issues of applicability unresolved. The evolving issue of free movement of patients is instructive. While not completely outlawing the use of a prior authorization system, recent ECJ rulings have radically restricted member States' discretion to determine their own policies by requiring that their decisions be necessary, proportional and based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. By linking EEC Regulation 1408/71, on which cover for healthcare abroad has been traditionally based, with the free provision of services, the ECJ seems to have created difficulties and important uncertainties for the system of coordination of social security schemes.     

Resonant Texts: Sounds of the American Public Library

ABSTRACT

Public libraries have long been associated with silence and order. Historians have argued that the architecture of library buildings has served in disciplining patrons into silent reading subjects. I argue that, in light of evolving, subjective definitions of and responses to noise, changing philosophies of librarianship and library design and the proliferation of media formats and the sounds they emit, we need to consider new ways of thinking about sound in the library, not as something to be eliminated or controlled, but as something to be orchestrated, and even designed for. In order to do so, I propose that we consider first what sounds people, buildings and media make, and then use architectural design to promote their cooperative interaction.     

Spins of (Dis)Integration: What Might "Reformers" in Canada Learn from the "Social Dimension" of the European Union?

Viewed superficially, Canada and the European Union are both multi-tiered systems with a social identity problem, albeit one arrived at via different routes. This paper examines the extent to which Canada and Canadians might or might not be able to profit from the experience of the EU in respect of social policy development. First, the paper offers an outline review of where the "social dimension and social policy are at" in the EU. This it does with reference to the workings of three distinct processes: attempts at (a) positive activist social reform; (b) negative reform arising from the European Court of Justice's imposition of market compatibility requirements; (c) indirect, de facto pressures towards integration resulting from the demands of adapting to a single market and single currency area. The paper then goes on to review the two main schools of proposals for restructuring Canada politically—"reversing the founding process" (a Québécois/separatist perspective), as against replacing Canada's federal system with a "pure interstate compact"—in the light of this EU experience. In neither set of cases, as it turns out, does the experience and example of the EU offer promising pointers of relevance to Canada.