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, truth and sincere dialogue with the electorate. In the same vein as the New Democracy administrations, once in power, the leadership of PASOK did not want to acknowledge the meaning of Greece’s participation in the EMU, the Stability Pact, the restriction of deficits and debt imposed by the Treaties, globalisation and broader economic constraints. The PASOK administration believed that, in a club of developed states, everything could be settled amicably and without pressure. Economic and social matters played second fiddle to political and public relations activity
covered in this volume, participate in the EU’s Regional Cooperation Council which superseded the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe in 2008. Turkey has its own bilateral relationship with the EU and has had an AA since 1963. For reasons of space we have not looked at the operation of these in detail in this chapter but many of the problems of the external governance approach of the ENP also apply to these relationships.
Maastricht of 1992 included provisions for harmonising the economic and monetary policies of EU member governments (articles 99–104). The four policy areas were: interest rates, inflation, government budget deficits and accumulated indebtedness. The Growth and Stability Pact (GSP) of July 1997 set out the maximum acceptable level of deficit for euro countries at 3 per cent of GDP, with the three non-euro EU members (UK, Denmark and Sweden) agreeing also to converge on this fiscal rule. The idea of a common fiscal stance was pressed especially by the German government to
changes, one can also see a pattern in the specific Dutch policy priorities.6 The traditional commitment to pillar one integration continues: full support is given to economic and monetary integration (Single Market, EMU, convergence criteria and the stability pact), to a more efficient and reformed CAP, and also to a stronger EU environmental policy. However, in social affairs the Dutch take a more low-key approach. Whenever the harmonisation of social security legislation in the Union might threaten the Dutch competitive position in terms of productivity or production
14 3/12/02 2:05 pm Page 347 Austria 347 appears to lack a strong political will by key players among the Member States. This is partly due to the self-imposed budget constraints as a result of the Treaty of Maastricht and the Stability Pact, and partly to the urgent, yet unanswered, need for institutional reforms. At the same time, the postponement of negotiations on Agenda 2000 to the German Presidency was closely linked to the question of enlargement. Interestingly, the Austrian ‘Programme of the EU Presidency’ vaguely touched upon this highly delicate
its structures’ (European Council, 1999: paragraphs 65 and 72). After the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, the Union set up a special aid programme (OBNOVA), which has been updated since the Kosovo war and renamed CARDS (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation). The Union has pledged a great deal of money for the programme: 5.5 billion Euro for 2000–6. Some of this money will come from resources redeployed from other programmes but a large sum (1.8 billion Euro) has still not been provided (CEC, 2000). The Union is sponsoring the Stability
more strictly to the EU Growth and Stability Pact than even Germany and that it was the private sector that engaged in extensive borrowing. Never theless, mainstream economists insist on using the ‘structural deficit’ as the master concept because the success of the state in raising revenue during the Celtic Tiger era is attributed to its reliance on taxes from construction and profits more generally. Lane concludes, for example that ‘[w]e find that Ireland failed to sufficiently adapt to the rigidities of MUP_CoulterNagle_Printer3.indd 71 24/04/2015 16:36 72
2002, Ankara initiated the formation of the loose group of Regional Countries bordering Iraq that have since been co-opted by the UN in the search for a viable future for post-Saddam Iraq. 12 Turkey belongs to the Mediterranean Forum, formed in 1994, and has played a leading role in the multiplicity of groupings concerned with the Balkans – the Stability Pact, the South-East European Cooperation
. The EU for example provided over €300 million in aid to the country between 1991–2000, though this was targeted primarily at humanitarian relief during the war years, and post-conflict reconstruction and refugee return subsequently, rather than specifically at security sector reform. It also established the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe in June 1999 in order to
the enlargement process, the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and the European Neighbourhood Policy – have been largely delegated to the Union. It is the post-Westphalian condition of the European state that requires the subordination of sovereign prerogatives to the imperative of solidarity, yet the electorate’s continuing expectation that national governments remain responsible for governing