Desmond Dinan

Developments in the European Union

PART 1: INTRODUCTION - Reconciling Theory and Practice L.Cram, D.Dinan & N.Nugent - PART 2: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM - The European Council and Council of Ministers F.Hayes Renshaw - The Commission L.Cram - The European Parliament K.Neunreither - The Court of Justice and the Legal System D.Wincott - Interests S.Mazey & J.Richardson - Decision-Making N.Nugent - PART 3: POLICIES AND POLICY OBJECTIVES - Creating a European Market: M.Calingaert - Promoting Solidarity and Cohesion J.Mitchell & P.McAleavey - Environmental Policy J.McCormick - Trade and Aid: The EU in the Global System F.Laursen - The Common Foreign and Security Policy M.Holland - Co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs Matters: E.Ucarer - PART 4: KEY ISSUES - Enlargement M.Baun - Treaty Change in the European Union: The Amsterdam Experience D.Dinan - The Political Synamics of Economic and Monetary Union K. Featherstone - Democracy and the European Union B.Laffan - PART 5: CONCLUSIONS - The Evolving European Union L.Cram, D.Dinan & N.Nugent - Index

Reconciling Theory and Practice

This book focuses on developments in the European integration process and, more especially, developments in the European Union (EU). The chapters which follow cover a wide variety of topics and issues. The purpose of this first chapter is to lay a foundation for these following chapters by outlining key underlying questions.

The Post-Lisbon European Council Presidency: An Interim Assessment

This article examines the evolution of the European Council in the post-Lisbon period. Having a standing president is a major innovation: the European Council is no longer subject to national grandstanding, occasional weak leadership and uneven presidential performance. The new arrangement provides continuity and consistency. Herman Van Rompuy became the first elected president in an exceptionally challenging policy environment, with the European Council emerging as a quasi-permanent forum for crisis management. Fissures erupted between the eurozone members and non-members; between and among the big and small member states; and between the United Kingdom and the rest. A preliminary assessment suggests that the standing European Council presidency and Van Rompuy’s incumbency have been highly beneficial for the EU, which fared better than it otherwise would have under the pre-Lisbon rotating presidency.

Governance and Institutional Developments: Coping Without the Constitutional Treaty

If all had gone well, the Constitutional Treaty would have entered into force on 1 November 2006. In the event, the negative outcomes of the Dutch and French referendums in spring 2005 consigned the Constitutional Treaty to limbo. Even if the Dutch and French referendums had turned out differently, the Constitutional Treaty might have been blown off course by a negative referendum result in another Member State, such as the United Kingdom. Alternatively, implementation would possibly have been held up by an unfavourable ruling in the German Constitutional Court. Whatever might have been, the Constitutional Treaty remained unimplemented by the end of the year. Public opinion throughout the European Union (EU) was supremely unconcerned about this situation. By contrast, many politicians and officials directly involved in EU affairs continued to advocate implementation of the Constitutional Treaty and grew increasingly frustrated with the status quo. Understandably, perhaps, they blamed the Dutch and French results on the vagaries of domestic politics and the actions of a few highly-motivated malcontents. While claiming to be aware of the extent of public unease throughout the EU, European elites seemed incapable of putting the Constitutional Treaty aside and, instead, using the formidable array of legal instruments and political opportunities already at their disposal to enhance institutional efficiency and improve policy output. JCMS 2007 Volume 45 Annual Review pp. 67–87

Governance and Institutional Developments: In the Shadow of the Constitutional Treaty

No abstract available.

Leadership in the European Council: an assessment of Herman Van Rompuy’s presidency

Abstract In November 2009, the European Council elected Herman Van Rompuy its first standing President, under the terms of the newly-implemented Lisbon Treaty. Using the analytical framework developed by Ingeborg Tömmel to assess the performance of three Commission presidents, this contribution examines Van Rompuy’s leadership in the European Council during two terms in office (2009–2014). First incumbents are generally influential in shaping the positions they occupy. Van Rompuy’s personal qualities helped him meet the demands of an inherently difficult job in an extremely challenging situational context. Yet, institutionally, the presidency of the European Council is a weak office. It brings prominence and close proximity to power, but not the potential of power itself. Nevertheless, Van Rompuy was an effective President because he understood the formal and informal rules of the game, making a modest contribution to leadership in the European Council during a severe financial and political crisis.

The European Community, 1978-93

The European Community underwent a remarkable transformation in the mid-1980s. The Single Market Program (1992) became synonymous with a revitalized Community moving rapidly toward greater political and economic integration. The end of the Cold War, to which the Single Market Program undoubtedly contributed, posed enormous internal and external challenges. The most common concern was that Germanys preoccupation with unification, and the Communitys preoccupation with Germany, would derail the Single Market Program and the most recent initiative for economic and monetary union. Instead, German unification spurred renewed interest in European integration, culminating in the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992. Yet growing popular concern about the Communitys development sparked the Maastricht Treaty ratification crisis. In the past, crises have acted as a catalyst for deeper European integration. The Maastricht ratification crisis could have a similar impact, especially by focusing attention on the Communitys democratic deficit.

The Evolving European Union

Drawing on themes that have emerged in the book, this chapter examines how the EU is evolving and how it is likely to develop in the years ahead. The examination is divided into four sections: institutions and governance, politics and policies, involvement of the citizenry, and the nature of the EU polity.

The Arc of Institutional Reform in Post-Maastricht Treaty Change

Abstract Though best known for its coverage of key policy areas, the Maastricht Treaty also introduced important institutional reforms. Building on the Single European Act, these pertained mainly to strengthening the legislative role of the European Parliament and extending the scope of qualified majority voting to more policy areas. Treaty-based institutional reform continued in the post-Maastricht period. Due to the twin challenges facing the EU in the aftermath of Maastricht — Central and Eastern European enlargement, and the gaping ‘democratic deficit’ — the focus of such reform shifted to the modalities of qualified majority voting and the size and composition of the Commission. The highly contentious nature of these issues thwarted effective institutional reform in the 1990s, overshadowed the work of the 2002–2003 Constitutional Convention, and dominated the intergovernmental conferences preceding the failed Constitutional Treaty and the subsequent Lisbon Treaty.