EU Institutions and Policy-Making

EU Institutions & Policy-Making

The institutional makeup of something as complex as the EU is, well, complex. There is the European Council but also a Council of the European Union, and an executive arm, the European Commission, with two bodies co-deciding on law proposals made by the Commission, namely the European Parliament and the European Council. And so on. This area of EconPol analyses the roles and functions of each of the seven key EU institutions, placing particular emphasis on the intricate interplay between these institutions and their impact on policy development and implementation on a wide range of areas, including economic integration, social issues, environmental regulations, and foreign affairs. It also explores the democratic legitimacy, transparency, and accountability of EU decision-making, as well as the challenges and debates surrounding the balance of power among EU institutions and the influence of member states.

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Money

Europe Must Avoid a Subsidy Race

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Expert Opinion
The energy crisis – especially the shortage of gas due to a loss of supplies from Russia – is plunging Europe into recession and causing social tensions and distributional conflicts. European governments are eagerly seeking ways to defuse the situation, but they will succeed only if they cooperate closely. The cross-border energy market must remain open, and the European Union should leverage its market power when purchasing gas in third countries. But without coordinated national crisis-management strategies, Europe’s response could become a self-defeating subsidy race.
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Forum Icon INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WORLD

Why Moving towards a Strong Decentralized Federal State Would Be Beneficial for the European Union

INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WORLD

Vesa Kanniainen

Few politicians dare to think aloud about federal models for the European Union. Even as a concept, the federal state is problematic. The perception of an unwieldy organization arises when the goal is a light consensus federation, where the Commission’s power is limited and the member states have more power to run their own affairs. In the European Parliament elections, each state still has its own electoral district. Some member states are divided into several constituencies. There is no need for EU-wide elections at the parliamentary level, nor EU-wide parties.

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Cover of EconPol Forum 5/2023: Thirty Years of the European Single Market

Thirty Years of the European Single Market ‒ Achievements and Future Challenges

Stefano Micossi, Giuseppe Bertola, Marek Dabrowski, Mehtap Akgüç and Philippe Pochet, Lucia Quaglia and Amy Verdun, Iulia Siedschlag, Andreas Baur and Lisandra Flach

The 30th anniversary of the European Single Market provides an opportunity to celebrate its successes and review what is yet to be achieved. In the future, the European Single Market will play a decisive role in setting a framework of reliable social standards and common goals. It will ensure Europe’s resilience by helping companies adapt their supply chains to future risks and find new business opportunities. The concrete measures of social policy will be left to the member states.

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Forum Icon INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WORLD

Emigration and Elections: The Role of Emigrants' Missing Votes

INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE WORLD

Yvonne Giesing, Felicitas Schikora, Geisi Shima

The number of migrants is continuously increasing worldwide. One in 30 people is a migrant, which amounts to 3.6 percent of the world’s population. This article presents the case of Poland, a country with 12.5 percent of its population living abroad. Many of them still have Polish citizenship and thus the right to vote in Poland. It finds that, the large-scale emigration of young and educated voters causes a negative shift in left-wing voting while there is a substantial increase in right-wing voting with higher emigration. More generally, this effect will depend on the selection of migrants and their voting preferences. Based on this, countries might also want to apply different policies to steer the wheel in either direction.

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Cover of EconPol Forum 4/2023

Reform of the EU Economic Governance – Why and How?

POLICY DEBATE OF THE HOUR

Clemens Fuest, George Economides and Apostolis Philippopoulos, Iain Begg, George Kopits, Paul Dermine and Martin Larch, Wolfram F. Richter, Vesa Kanniainen, Vivien A. Schmidt, Torben M. Andersen, Sebastian Blesse, Florian Dorn and Max Lay, Anne-Laure Delatte

Europe is facing a whole new set of challenges: The cost of living is rising, war is on our doorstep, and an environmental turnaround is needed. How should the EU framework for economic governance change to make Europe stronger, more sustainable and more resilient? The European Commission has recently developed guidelines for a reformed economic governance framework. In March 2023, the European Council endorsed these guidelines. They aim at strengthening national ownership and facilitating the enforcement of projects. At the same time, they are intended to enable strategic investments and set a framework to reduce the high level of public debt. However, such economic policy coordination efforts at the EU level and the individual governance reform proposals open new debates. To what extent do they correspond to the real needs and interests of the EU? And do they take into account country-specific economic, structural and social problems of the member states?

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