Peter Slominski

Influencing EU Politics? The Case of the Austrian Parliament

The Austrian Parliament has at its disposal the strongest participation rights enabling it to influence European Union (EU) affairs. But does this guarantee a more powerful parliament in real terms? It turns out that the original intention of providing the Austrian Parliament with a strong instrument to contribute to the EU decision-making process has been shattered by party-dominated parliamentary life. After a promising start, the use of this device has decreased significantly. Today, the instrument is mainly used by the opposition parties to obtain information and - to a limited extent - to control the government. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

Experimentalist but not Accountable Governance? The Role of Frontex in Managing the EU's External Borders

In 2005 the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex) was founded. Contrary to the widely used principal–agent approaches, it is more promising to analyse Frontex through the lens of experimentalist governance. This paper has two lines of argument. First, it argues that Frontex may only succeed if Frontex has a sufficient degree of organisational independence and enjoys appropriate and steady support by all member states. This is especially virulent when many member states fail to provide significant contributions in terms of material and human resources as well as time, leading to a suboptimal reduction of duration, scope and operational impact of Frontexs missions. The second argument is concerned with the accountability of Frontex. Contrary to the experimental approach, this article takes a sceptical stance, arguing that important (supra-)national actors are sidelined and relevant legal rules are ignored.

Selbst- und Ko-Regulierung im Mediamatiksektor

Die vorgelegte kumulative Dissertation besteht aus neun Publikationen zum Thema Selbst- und Ko- regulierung im Mediamatiksektor, die im Zeitraum 2002 bis 2011 aus verschiedenen Forschungsprojekten hervorgegangen sind. Im Zentrum der Untersuchungen stehen «alternative Regulierungsformen» die durch die Einbindung privater Akteure in Regulierungsprozesse gekennzeichnet sind (Selbst- und Ko-Regulierung). Die Arbeiten prasentieren Forschungsergebnisse zur Anwendung alternativer Regulierungsformen im konvergenten Kommunikationssektor in Osterreich und auf internationaler Ebene sowie Ansatze zur Evaluierung alternativer Regulierungsinstitutionen. Analysen umfassen die begriffliche und konzeptionelle Einordnung von Selbst- und Ko-Regulierung, Anwendungs- und Diffusionsmuster alternativer Regulierungsinstitutionen und die damit verbundenen demokratischen Implikationen (Legitimitat, Interessenausgleich), Fragen nach ihrer Leistung zur Umsetzung offentlicher Interessen (Erfolgsbewertung, Erfolgsbedingungen) sowie Untersuchungen zur strategischen Nutzung alternativer Regulierungsformen (Governance/ Regulatory Choice). Die Arbeiten liefern Erkenntnisse uber das Governance-Arrangement im Kommunikationssektor mit denen die regulatorischen Beitrage privater Akteure in ihrem Zusammenspiel mit staatlichen Institutionen herausgearbeitet werden. Die kommunikationswissenschaftliche Forschung uber Medienpolitik und Medienstrukturen wird durch die «Governance-Perspektive», mit der Regulierungsinstitutionen jenseits des Staates berucksichtigt sind, gewinnbringend erweitert. Die Analysen bleiben jedoch nicht bei einer rein deskriptiven Beschreibung von Governance-Strukturen stehen, sondern werden auch darauf ausgerichtet, Entwicklungsprozesse zu erfassen, zu erklaren, zu bewerten und zu prognostizieren. Dahingehend liefert ein «erklarender Evaluierungsansatz» richtungsweisende Grundlagen. Der analytische Wert des Ansatzes liegt in einer theoriegeleiteten Modellierung von Zusammenhangen zwischen politischen und okonomischen Kontextfaktoren, institutionellen Merkmalen alternativer Regulierungsorganisationen, ihrer Performance und der Rolle des Staates zur Bewaltigung regulatorischer Herausforderungen. Darin liegt der praktische Nutzen des Ansatzes, der fur systematische Ex-ante- und Ex-post-Evaluierungen alternativer Regulierungsarrangements angewendet werden kann. Self- and Co-regulation in the mediamatics sector is a PhD thesis consisting of nine publications which derived from several research projects conducted between 2002 and 2011. The projects and the papers center around the phenomenon of «alternative modes of regulation» which are marked by involvement of private actors in regulatory processes (self- and co-regulation). The research provides results on the application of alternative modes of regulation institutions in the convergent communications sector and innovative approaches for assessing alternative regulatory institutions. Analyses cover a detailed classification of self- and co-regulation, the patterns of application and diffusion of alternative regulatory institutions and related democratic implications (legitimacy, balance of interests), questions regarding their contribution to the achievement of public policy objectives and analysis of the strategic use of alternative modes of regulation by industry and politics (governance choice). The work provides findings on the governance arrangement in the communications sector with a special emphasis on the interplay between regulatory contributions of public and private institutions. By applying the «governance perspective», the traditional research on media politics and media structures is expanded by taking into account the regulatory institutions beyond the state. Investigations are not limited to the descriptive analysis of governance arrangements however. They are aligned towards grasping, explaining, assessing and predicting processes of development. This is accomplished by means of an «explanatory evaluation approach». The analytical value of this approach lies in a theory-led modelling of interrelations between political and economic contextual factors of alternative regulatory arrangements, their institutional/organisational characteristics, their performance and the role of the state to cope with regulatory challenges. The analytical approach is of practical value for research and policy-making because it allows for systematic ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of alternative regulatory arrangements.

The representative quality of EU treaty reform: a comparison between the IGC and the convention

This article assesses whether the Convention on the Future of Europe is more representative than the traditional way of Treaty reform by IGCs. The concept of representation is analysed and five dimensions are specified. By applying these dimensions both to IGCs and the Convention the article concludes that the setting‐up of the Convention has led to a more balanced representation based not only on a broader presence of representatives but also on proper authorisation, room for manoeuvre and voting rights as well as an improved degree of responsiveness. The Convention was thus more appropriately reflecting the compounded pluricentric system of European governance. In all these aspects, the Convention is by no means perfect but still a considerable improvement to an IGC.

Energy and climate policy: does the competitiveness narrative prevail in times of crisis?

Abstract There is little research on how the economic crisis has affected the EU’s climate and energy policies. Addressing this research gap, this article argues that the economic crisis has not fundamentally changed the broad trajectory of EU energy and climate policy. Broad policy objectives and the preferences of EU member states have remained stable. However, within these broad parameters the main impact of the economic crisis has been on the EU energy and climate discourse that, in turn, has influenced the EU decision-making process and policy outcome in two ways, both of which have led to a certain decline of ambition in EU climate policy. First, it has changed the hierarchy of priorities of EU policy-makers to paying more attention to economic problems rather than climate change, renewables or energy efficiency. Secondly, the crisis has strengthened the concerns of cost implications of climate measures. While both developments impede an ambitious climate policy, we also found evidence that measures which are designed to stimulate economic recovery may also facilitate policy reform and further integration in the field.

Sub-Constitutional Engineering: Negotiation, Content, and Legal Value of Interinstitutional Agreements in the EU

This article analyses the roles and impact of Interinstitutional Agreements (IIAs) in the EU, taking into account their relationship to primary law. Concretely speaking, these roles range from (a) explicitly authorised specifications of Treaty provisions via (b) not explicitly authorised specifications of vague Treaty law to (c) pure political undertaking. Based on the distinction between the constitutional and the operational level of the political game, we challenge the assumption that IIAs usually strengthen the European Parliament. As our case study, the 1993 interrelated package of IIAs on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity, illustrates, the European Parliament is not the only institution that benefits from IIAs, especially if they lack a sufficiently precise Treaty basis. Furthermore, if Treaty provisions underlying IIAs are precise, they also tend to produce precise and thus legally relevant content. Conversely, if IIAs deal primarily with elusive concepts they are likely to be legally ambiguous or even irrelevant at all.

The Role of Law in EU Foreign Policy‐making: Legal Integrity, Legal Spillover, and the EU Policy of Differentiation towards Israel

Little systematic effort has been made to examine the role of law and its implications for EU foreign policy-making. Addressing this research gap, we identify key legal dynamics that operate in supranational policies, but have increasingly led to legal ‘spillovers’, both institutionally and discursively, into the Common Foreign and Security Policy. We illustrate the relevance of these dynamics for the case of EU–Israeli relations. Since the late 1990s, legal inconsistencies in EU–Israeli co-operation have been addressed by the Commission via soft law, by various MEPs via parliamentary questions, and by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Simultaneously, external actors like NGOs and corporations have used the EUs legal infrastructure to confront the EU with the fact that its de facto relations have not lived up its de jure position. Over time and also as a consequence of the Lisbon Treaty, even the Council found it difficult to ignore non-compliance with its own legal position.

Theorizing third country agency in EU rule transfer: linking the EU Emission Trading System with Norway, Switzerland and Australia

ABSTRACT The transfer of European Union (EU) policies has predominantly been studied as an EU-driven process. Transcending this EU-centric perspective, we provide a novel conceptualization of the role of third country actors as initiators and drivers, rather than as reactive receivers, of policy transfer. Based on our novel conceptual framework, we identify four strategies through which governments may overcome domestic veto-players and build stakeholder support. Specifically, third country governments may promote the transfer of EU policies by legitimizing policy choices, distributing the costs and benefits associated with a policy; rely on learning from the EU as a ‘resource’; and lock in a certain policy through an agreement with the EU. We demonstrate the empirical relevance of these strategies with respect to the transfer of the EU Emission Trading System to Norway, Switzerland and Australia.

The Silence of the Shepherds: How the Austrian Parliament Informs its Citizens on European Issues

Since the legislative and control functions of national parliaments have largely fallen prey to party politics in domestic as well as in European Union (EU) politics, the information function could be a last resort for the justification, explanation and communication of executive politics. National parliaments could provide the missing link between a national electorate and ever more supranationally acting executives. But the communication and information function can also be hampered, with parliamentary communication being perceived along the lines of government and opposition, or Europe being considered to be outside the area of national parliamentary responsibility. Focusing on the Austrian parliament, this study investigates the communication strategies of three different sets of actors: the parliament as an institution; parliamentary party groups; and individual MPs, and shows how these strategies have changed over time, notably in the context of the EU Treaty ratification debates.

Political Elites and the Future of Europe: The Views of MPs and MEPs

Institutional questions range high on the European agenda since the beginning of the 1990s at the latest. A rapid series of intergovernmental conferences — Maastricht, Amsterdam, and Nice — kept the reform debate alive in the public. Inocously called “left-overs”, the key questions touched on nothing less than a reorganisation of political power in the European system. The Union’s enlargement from 15 to 25 members put additional pressure on the system which basically resembled the model drawn up for only the six founding members. One question which is jutting out in this reform process is the empowerment of the European Parliament. In addition, the Treaty of Maastricht, turned academic attention to the role of national parliaments either by focusing on their influence on European politics (Holzhacker 2002; Pollak/Slominski 2003) or by studying their loss of relative influence towards national executives (Andersen/Eliassen 1996; Goetz/Hix 2000; Green Cowles/Caporaso/Risse 2001; Katz/Wessels 1999; Maurer 1999, 2002; Maurer/Wessels 2001; Norton 1996; Raunio 1999; Raunio/Hix 2000; Raunio/Wiberg 2000; Wessels/Maurer/Mittag 2001). Thus, the parliamentary dimension of European politics is gaining ground amidst a considerable number of articles deploring the democratic quality of the European Union. As a corollary of this we witness a growing literature on party positions towards European integration and on the development of a party system in the European Parliament (Faas 2003; Gaffney 1996; Hix/Lord 1997; Hix 2003; Marks/Wilson 1999; Ray 1999; Scully/Farrell 2003; Thomassen/Schmitt 1999; Wesels 2003).