2013

1997

Most current studies of the EC/EU assume that the Realist ratio scripta of international relations no longer has anything important to say about politics in Western Europe. Three propositions are widely taken for granted. First, having been written in the language of power, Realism is no longer an appropriate guide to the interaction among Community governments. Especially economic integration represents the interests of societal actors who seek to maximize their material gains in the context of interdependence. Second, the Realist warnings of the dangers of international anarchy are irrelevant in the EC/EU. There governments have stopped to distrust each others' foreign policy intentions because they have come to believe in each others' commitment to the spirit of joint problem-solving. Third, the Realist proposition that states hold fast to sovereignty in order to preserve their self-help capabilities no longer applies to Western Europe. Responding to, the popular cries fo...

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2007

Schmidt's book is a valuable and well-written contribution to the analysis of the impact of European integration on national democracies. According to the author, democracy has become an issue for Europe and the suspension of the ratification process on the Constitutional Treaty, following the failures of the referendums in France and the Netherlands, shows that it will remain a problematic issue in the near future. The institutional reforms envisaged in the Constitutional Treaty may reduce the problem of EU democracy, but they would not solve the democratic deficit at the national level. The problem at stake refers to Europeanization, which means that national conceptions of democratic power and authority, access and influence, vote and voice remain mostly unchanged. National leaders have failed to initiate ideas and discourse that would engage national publics in the discourse about the EU-related changes to national democracy. Therefore, a key question here is 'how should national leaders proceed in such a discourse?' Firstly, they should decide what the EU is, in order to assess what their countries are becoming. Thus, the fundamental assumption of Schmidt's book is the idea of the EU conceived as a regional state. It is a regional union of nation states, where sovereignty is shared with Member States, boundaries are not fixed, identity is understood in terms of 'being' and 'doing', governance is dispersed. Schmidt argues that in such a fragmented democracy, the EU's legitimacy is in question because it is compared to the ideal of the nation state. However, if it is conceived as a regional state, the democratic deficit would not be so great. But the problem is much more significant in relation to national democracy. The author convincingly argues that this is because while the EU makes policy without politics, its Member States realize politics without policy. National citizens have little direct input into the EU policies that affect them. This results in the problems of voter disaffection and political extremism characterizing the EU Member States nowadays. To solve this problem, Member States have to come up with new national ideas and discourse in order to adjust the EU-related changes to the traditional performance of their national democracies. But firstly it is necessary to conceive how institutions affect European democracy at EU and national levels. Thus, Schmidt's book is about the nature of the EU governance system and its impact on national democracies. In Chapters 2-4, the author examines the impact of the EU upon national institutions, taking into account in turn the policy-making processes and the representative politics of the EU and the Member States. A special merit of Schmidt's work is that the author illustrates her argument with examples of four countries: Britain and France, as

Rocznik Integracji Europejskiej, 2023

The European Union and World Politics, 2009

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014

As 'the world's most successful case of multilateralism' the European Union has demonstrated since its early beginnings a commitment to multilateralism as the preferred form of global governance. In particular, it recognized the UN as the apex of the international system, with which the EU aspires to cooperate and through which it intends to pursue its policy objectives. However, the Union's engagement with the UN has in practice been fraught with difficulties. The EU, as a regional international organization with strong supranational features, has been faced with the challenges of multilateral diplomacy in a predominantly state-centric global institution. It has so far not only been unable to assume the aspired leadership position, but faces a general lack of effectiveness. This paper seeks to provide an overview of the legal basis for EU participation at the UN and the various forms that this participation can take. It addresses issues of EU internal coordination and external representation at the UN, takes a closer look at the practical EU-UN cooperation on the ground and highlights the ensuing challenges and opportunities. While the Lisbon reform of the EU external relations architecture has led to noticeable improvements in terms of continuity and effectiveness, considerable challenges still remain.

The European Union as a Global Health Actor, 2016

This course will introduce to the history & main political features of European integration, the political system of the European Union, European parties & policies, and current issues of democracy in Europe. We will seek to understand and examine the political institutions, historical development, and philosophical foundations of the EU, and its relationship to the EU member states in comparative perspective. Students will become familiar with the history and the contemporary polity, politics, policy-making and policies of the European Union.