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This book a study on the work of the Eurogroup—monthly informal meetings between euro area finance ministers, the Commission and the European Central Bank. It demonstrates how this small, secretive circle of senior decision-makers shapes European economic governance through a routinised informal policy dialogue. Although the role of the Eurogroup has been contested since before the group's creation, its actual operation has never been subject to systematic evaluation. This book opens the doors of the meeting room and shows how an understanding of the interplay of formal provisions and informal processes is pivotal to the analysis of euro area governance. The book advances the conceptual understanding of informal negotiations among senior European and national decision-makers, and provides an in-depth analysis of historical episodes of policy coordination. As other areas of European decision-making rely increasingly on informal, voluntary policy coordination amongst member states, the Eurogroup model can be seen as a template for other policy areas.
electoral politics through the back door provided by the European Parliament. In the second part of Chapter 4, I examined the constitutional reforms of 2000 in the only two semi-presidential political systems in the European Union, France and Finland. In France, the reform seems to have strengthened the president's powers whereas in Finland power was transferred from the president to the government. In both cases, domestic political culture, the power interests of executive politicians - partly in relation to European decision-making - and the window of opportunity
2006). Thus, the threat of a complaint to the ECJ may constitute an important political resource in the European decision-making process for both the Commission and individual member states. For example, while attempting to introduce stricter emissions limits for automobiles in the 1980s, the German Federal Government was faced with harsh resistance by the other member states and thus threatened to unilaterally enforce its position under reference to Article 30. Consequently several member states announced that they would initiate a Treaty violation procedure against
Affairs 2444Ch7 3/12/02 2:03 pm Page 170 Figure 7.1 The national level of European decision-making – Greece 2444Ch7 3/12/02 Greece 2:03 pm Page 171 171 Directorates, often reporting directly to the Minister or to the Minister’s Office. In cases less involved with Brussels, European Affairs are dealt with in the context of International Relations Directorates. Participation in daily Brussels negotiating routines is through expert missions and by the attendance of officials detached at the Permanent Representation. Now numbering some eighty people, the Permanent
, which we feel offers a valid explanation for the bulk of the period of UK membership since 1973. But we do need to point out the very special circumstances enjoyed by the Blair government. It was elected in 1997 with a majority of 179 seats. 2444Ch17 3/12/02 2:07 pm Page 393 Figure 17.1 The national level of European decision-making – United Kingdom 2444Ch17 3/12/02 394 2:07 pm Page 394 Member States and the European Union Furthermore, generational turnover among Labour MPs reduced the number of Eurosceptics in the party. Hence the government had a
character of the European decision-making process. The diversity of national interests and preferences often results in vague and openended provisions which offer ample room for interpretation when it comes to implementing them. On the other hand, this tendency does not change the fact that EU policies often require far-reaching and costly adaptations of policies and policy structures at the national level. Hence, as pointed out above, member states generally attempt to integrate EU requirements into existing national structures, a strategy which easily leads to poor
influence between the different ministries and 2444Ch5 3/12/02 2:02 pm Page 118 Figure 5.1 The national level of European decision-making – Germany 2444Ch5 3/12/02 Germany 2:02 pm Page 119 119 institutions on each level. Three constitutional rules govern this framework of joint decision-making. The first is the principle of ministerial responsibility (‘Ressortprinzip’), according to which ministries at the federal level are independent and competing actors. Unlike the situation in France or the United Kingdom, this principle hinders the different branches of the
integration, which is useful insofar as it guarantees Bavarian sovereignty. But within Europe, Bavaria must not become ‘Europeanised’ – the party argues vehemently against a multicultural society. The BP also briefly supported the idea of a Europe of the Regions. In 1990, the party issued a manifesto that argued for a greater role for the regions in European decision-making. The BP’s ‘Europe of the Regions’ programme entailed four parts: (1) EU laws guaranteeing the rights of Länder in their spheres of sovereignty; (2) the establishment of a second European ‘Regional
regional actors to articulate and often defend territorial interests in the face of European challenges. In particular, the creation of a single market opened up regions to greater economic competition and forced regions to adapt and modernise their industries or lose investment. In order to make their demands heard, some regional actors demanded more participation in European decision-making, became involved in transregional lobbying and established regional offices in Brussels. However, many of these demands were led by a core group of ‘strong’ regions, whose interests
same way by designating either a person or a unit to this role. In addition, there are many interdepartmental co-ordination bodies. At present, no ministerial department has been created in Belgium to deal specifically with European issues. Rather, the existing bodies have been adapted to participate in drawing up and implementing Community decisions. At the 2444Ch3 3/12/02 2:02 pm Page 74 Figure 3.1 The national level of European decision-making – Belgium 2444Ch3 3/12/02 Belgium 2:02 pm Page 75 75 political level, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is