Latest posts from all blogs
In the world economy, the European Union (EU) is often portrayed as a ‘market power’, able to leverage the large size of its internal market and its considerable regulatory capacity to influence international trade negotiations and shape global market regulation. Moreover, the EU often favours stringent regulation for products and production processes. In finance, after […]
The publication on 21 July of the UK government’s Command Paper came just before the end of the Parliamentary session. Flagged for several weeks, it was presented as the culmination of a long push to secure changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Undoubtedly, the Paper does cap the numerous public statements of Lord Frost, Brandon […]
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, EU Member States managed to agree on key financial instruments to support the economic recovery of Europe. The decision to manage these instruments within the existing European Semester procedure has put this procedure into the spotlight. Adequate parliamentary involvement in this procedure is crucial. The pandemic can serve as […]
Recent
The Treaty of Maastricht (1993), which established the EU and introduced a three-pillar system of policymaking, formalised intergovernmental cooperation in the field of asylum and migration between the 12 EC states. The first pillar, also known as the European Community, was the only pillar with a legal personality and covered the vast majority of EU […]
by Taro Nishikawa This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online) After the European Community (EC) launched the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) in 1970, the question of who influences EC/EU positions in international trade negotiations became an important scholarly research topic. On the one hand, greater control […]
by Magdalena König This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online) Counter-terrorism policy has never been such a prominent policy area in EU enlargement as it currently is. In recent years, the EU has put security policy, and in particular counter-terrorism policy, high on the agenda […]
by Salvatore FP Barillà This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online) In the context of trade policy, economic capacity and market size are often considered central analytical factors. It is assumed that the larger the market size of a state, the more likely it will […]
Perhaps the most striking thing about the breaking of the story about the unexpectedly large size of the UK’s financial liabilities under the Withdrawal Agreement last week was that it generated so little attention. The consolidated EU accounts for 2020 were published on 9 July, but it took a ‘tip-off‘ to RTE to get them […]
by Preksha Shree Chhetri This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online) On 20 May 2021, the European Parliament voted to freeze the ratification of the much-hyped EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) (Reuters, 2021). The bilateral deal had been agreed in principle between the EU […]
In order to receive their allocated portions of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds, member states are required to submit their national recovery and resilience programmes (NRRPs) to the Commission for assessment. Despite various delays, 12 NRRPs had been assessed as of the end of June 2021, and were adopted by the Council […]
It was naïve to believe, mid-pandemic, that austerity had been “buried” in Europe. Like a zombie, the idea has risen from the dead and still retains powerful advocates. In early June, President of the Bundestag and former German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble published an opinion piece in the Financial Times that has attracted much mockery […]
One aspect of the WA/TCA pairing that will generally never get much attention is the meeting roster. Both treaties provide not only for a coordinating body – the Joint Committee (WA) and the Partnership Council (TCA) – but also a raft of more specialised bodies, roughly one for each section of each treaty. These bodies […]
by Bruno Luciano and Cairo Junqueira This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online) The European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) reached an ‘agreement in principle’ in June 2019 for an Interregional Association, after more than thirty years of negotiations. Although a political […]
