From ‘Talking the Talk’ to ‘Walking the Walk’: Implementing the EU Guidelines on Employment through the European Social Fund

Rosa Sanchez Salgado 

University of Amsterdam
June 28, 2013

European Integration Online Papers (EIoP) Vol. 17 (2013), Article 2 
Abstract:      
This article investigates how the European Social Fund (ESF) is being employed to translate Lisbon/Europe 2020 goals on employment into domestic agendas. The emphasis is not only on how European priorities are taken into account by ESF national programming documents (talking the EU talk), but also on how these priorities are translated into concrete actions at the local level (walking the walk). This article pursues this emphasis by combining mainstream studies on the impact of Europe (top-down Europeanisation) with studies on political usages (usages of Europe). This combination reveals new dynamics at work, such as the usages by Europe, and gives a more complete picture of the implementation process. Empirical evidence is drawn from documentary and database analysis and from interviews carried out at the European level and in two member states (France and Spain).

Number of Pages in PDF File: 26

Keywords: Europeanization, employment policy, implementation, social policy, structural funds, European Commission, political science, sociology, Spain, France

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2289246

Bending the Rules: Arrangements for Sharing Technical and Political Information between the EU Institutions

Gijs Jan Brandsma 

University of Utrecht
July 4, 2013

European Integration online Papers (EIoP) Special Issue 1, Vol. 17 (2013), Article 8 
Abstract:      
The European Union is typically modelled as a separation of powers system. Within this context, this article focuses on the exchange of technical and political information on policy-making between the EU institutions. Even though only very few formal rules are specified in the treaties and in legislation, the institutions, and mainly the European Parliament, have improved their institutional position through creative interpretation of these formal rules, resulting in a set of codified quasi-formal rules coupled with the institutions' political rights. This article presents a comprehensive overview of this and demonstrates that the quasi-formal rules give the European Parliament a privileged position across the policy process, which for the greater part is not matched by the Council. The political power of the inter-institutional information regime has made the European Union parliamentarise by stealth.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: Institutionalism, legislative procedure, constitutional change, political science, sociology

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290157

The European Union Legal Order: An Introduction to Its Nature and Scope

Fabian Amtenbrink 

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Law

Hans H. B. Vedder 

University of Groningen
July 5, 2013

A.S. Hartkamp, C.H. Sieburgh en L.A.D. Keus, J. Kortmann and M.H. Wissink (eds.), The Influence of European Law on Dutch Private Law, Kluwer Law, Forthcoming 
Abstract:      
The impact of the European Union legal order on the private law systems of the Member States can only be fully understood when put in the broader context of the raison d'être of European integration and the emergence of a supranational legal order, as well when appreciating the basic mechanics behind the processes that drive the Europeanization of the legal orders of the Member States of the European Union (EU). In fact theses mechanics are quite distinct from those traditionally to be found in the constitutional legal order of states, but also from those in public international law.

Highlighting these differences, this contribution first of all observes the the nature of European law as it has emerged since the establishment of the European Coal and Steal Community and thereafter the European Economic Community (Treaty of Rome). Thereafter the two basic tools driving the integrationist efforts of the EU are explained, followed by an overview of the internal market provisions that - arguably even more so than European legislative activities and harmonization measures - are behind the deep intrusion or, to phrase it in somewhat less hostile terms, the adaptation of the national legal orders of the Member States. Indeed, the removal by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of barriers to the free movement of inter alia goods and services has been instrumental to the assimilation of the Member States across a vast variety of policy areas and legal fields, including private law. Finally, this contribution concludes with a few reflections of the values underlying the EU’s (legislative) activities.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 19

Keywords: EU, internal market, free movement, European Court of Justice, competition law, state aid, direct effect, supremacy

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290206

he Influence of Non-National Law on Domestic Law: Inspiration, Integration, and the Imposition of Standards

Marcelo Dias Varella 

University Center of Brasilia; University of California, Berkeley - School of Law
July 5, 2013

Abstract:      
Domestic law is increasingly influenced by international law, the law of other countries, and even by standards developed and adopted by private networks. Domestic issues are becoming the topics of a new international law created not only through treaties, customs, and negotiations among states but also through other mechanisms. This article analyzes the different means of bulding international law today, of which I identify three primary mechanisms: inspiration, integration, and the imposition of standards. Inspiration occurs when legislators or public officials use standards from other countries, private standards, or international standards as sources for domestic discussions that seek to create a norm to solve a problem or handle a specific situation. Integration occurs through the expansion of frontiers or by regional systems such as NAFTA, Mercosur, and the European Union. Standards are imposed when a stronger state forces the adoption of standards globally or directly in other countries through military, economic, or political means. This paper makes an original contribution by showing how new international law is created by mechanisms other than treaties and customs.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 59

Keywords: International law, imposition of standarts, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, European Union, private networks, global administrative law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, international economic law

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290240

The Supremacy Clause, Original Meaning, and Modern Law

Michael D. Ramsey 

University of San Diego School of Law
July 6, 2013

Ohio State Law Journal, Vol. 74, 2013, Forthcoming 
Abstract:      
Under the U.S. Constitution, if federal interests conflict with state law, when must the latter give way? Although the Constitution’s text appears to resolve the question in Article VI’s supremacy clause, important recent scholarship argues that an approach anchored by the supremacy clause’s text cannot provide a practical account of modern law nor useful guidance for the future. More broadly, these critiques use the example of the supremacy clause to cast general doubt upon text-based originalism as a practical tool for resolving modern disputes. This article defends a textual approach to key modern issues of supremacy, including executive foreign affairs preemption, preemptive federal common law, and non-self-executing treaties. It finds that, while modern doctrine and modern conceptions of law differ somewhat from the outlook of the founding era, these differences are not insurmountable obstacles: a combination of text and stare decisis, as indicated by the Supreme Court’s approach to executive preemption in Medellin v. Texas, can supply workable solutions to modern supremacy debates. The article thus suggests that conventional academic concerns over the practicality of text-based originalism may be considerably overstated.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 68

Keywords: originalism, federalism, preemption, supremacy

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290580

Co-Operative Arrangements in Comparative Perspective

Cheryl Saunders 

Melbourne Law School
July 8, 2013

in G Appleby, N Aroney and T John (eds), The Future of Australian Federalism: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Cambridge University Press (2012)
U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 646 
Abstract:      
Australia has a broad network of intergovernmental arrangements across almost every area of government activity. The growth of intergovernmental arrangements of various kinds has been fuelled by pressures for harmonisation and federal dominance of financial resources. This chapter examines intergovernmental arrangements in Australia, including recent governance changes to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), ministerial councils and financial agreements. It suggests that, lacking a broad vision and principled framework, these initiatives fall short of providing adequate transparency and accountability, with adverse consequences for representative and responsible government and the rule of law. It may be that the time has now come to accept that intergovernmental arrangements and practices in Australia now represent a distinct mode of governance for which more structured provisions should be made, in the interests of federalism and constitutionalism more broadly. Drawing on insights from other federations facing similar problems, in particular Germany, the European Union and the United States, the chapter argues that Australia should adopt a formal, public and principled institutional framework for the network of intergovernmental ministerial councils; increase the involvement of parliaments in intergovernmental decision-making; and explore the possibility of a suitable constitutional amendment to provide the legal framework for a transparent, effective and genuinely cooperative intergovernmental schemes.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 20

Keywords: comparative, federalism, intergovernmental, Australia, constitution

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2291300

New Perspectives on EU-Member State Relationships

Christian Lequesne 

Fondation nationale des sciences politiques (FNSP) - Center for International Studies and Research (CERI)

Simon Bulmer 

University of Manchester - School of Social Sciences
January 1, 2002

Questions de recherche / Research Questions, Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS) 
Abstract:      
This paper aims to review the "state of the art" for examining EU-member state relations. It recognises first of all that EU-member state relationships are interactive. Member states are key actors in making EU policy, and their role in this process is central to policy-making studies. However, European integration has an important impact upon the member states: the phenomenon that has come to be termed Europeanization. We review the literatures concerned with these two directions of flow: the analytical issues raised and the theoretical perspectives deployed. We then turn to the empirical literature on EU-member state relationships, and how it operationalises the theoretical literatures (if at all). This empirical literature tends to be organised in two ways: individual or comparative studies of member states' relationships with the EU; or studies of the impact of the EU on types of political actor/institution or on policy areas/sectors. We review both these literatures. On the basis of the identified strengths and weaknesses in the different literatures examined, we suggest a research agenda for future theoretical and empirical work.

Cette étude est une revue critique de la littérature portant sur la relation entre l'Union européenne et ses Etats membres. Elle part du constat que ces relations sont interactives. Les Etats membres restent des acteurs incontournables de l'élaboration des politiques publiques dans l'Union européenne et leur rôle apparaît donc essentiel dans l'analyse du policy-making. Cependant, l'intégration européenne a aussi un important impact sur les Etats membres eux-mêmes: le phénomène est souvent décrit à l'aide du terme "européanisation". L'étude fait une recension détaillée de ces influences mutuelles, des problèmes analytiques qu'elle soulève et des perspectives théoriques qu'elle permet de déployer. Elle examine ensuite la littérature empirique qui s'est intéressée à la relation entre l'Union européenne et les Etats membres, et sur la manière dont cette relation est rendue opérationnelle par la littérature théorique. Cette dernière comprend en effet deux dimensions: des études monographiques et comparatives sur les relations entre les Etats membres et l'Union européenne; des études sur l'impact de l'Union européenne sur certains acteurs et institutions nationales, ou sur certaines politiques ou secteurs d'activités économiques. Sur la base de cet examen critique, nous suggérons enfin un agenda de recherche permettant de progresser au double plan de l'analyse théorique et empirique.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 35

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2290922