Challenges Of Good Governance In The European Union

This book approaches the notion of good governance from three different angles. First it establishes whether it is a meaningful notion at all by taking a closer look at the parameters of good governance. Secondly, the authors look at the institutional translation of the criteria of good governance. In a third dimension, the concept may be analysed in relation to a number of substantive issues.

The implementation of the principle of good governance includes a number of detailed initiatives. The book deals with one of the most significant problems, that is, the functioning of the public sector in theory and in practice. The objectives of this book were formulated in reaction to the discussion that was started a decade ago concerning the role of the state in the 21st century, the future of integration processes and the facing of globalisation challenges. Currently, good governance is associated with the improvement of management methods in the European Union in all aspects of the realisation of domestic and EU policies, going beyond the issues of state capacity and the effectiveness of management. The importance of issues related to social participation in the work of administration and the verification of public authorities' (and administration) decisions is growing. Indirectly, all the abovementioned refer to the social legitimisation of public performances in the European Union.

Investigates the efficacy of the European Union's promotion of good governance through its funding and conditionalities both within EU proper and in the developing world.

Rethinking the Future of Europe has brought together three contrasting collections of contributions: the incrementalist perspective concerning the step by step development of Europe, the more radical reform/restructuring approach to the future of Europe, and a view of Europe from the outside.

This volume brings together experienced Professors and PhD researchers from all over Europe to summarise the crucial dilemmas that the European Union has to confront during its current multilevel crisis. The chapters are organized into four parts. The first section deals with constitutional issues of the EU, namely multilevel democratic governance, gender equality, and participatory democracy, and the impact of the crisis on them. The second analyses public governance issues, with reference to urban planning as a new policy for the EU, state aid and privatization of public companies, corporate governance principles for public companies, and EU case law on freedom of establishment of companies. The third part discusses certain issues of the EU internal market and external trade, namely the Europeanisation of labour relations, the relation between EU environmental law and international agreements, the dilemma between regionalism and multilateralism in international trade law, and the Eurasian Economic Union. The fourth section explores the Eurozone crisis from different perspectives and areas, namely political philosophy, economics, political science, administrative science, and law.

This last title in the series covers the most important findings of the five yearsEU sponsored ANTICORRP project dealing with corruption and organized crime.How prone to corruption are EU funds? Has EU managed to improve governancein the countries that it assists? Using the new index of public integrity and avariety of other tools created in the project this issue looks at how EU funds andnorms affected old member states (like Spain), new member states (Slovakia,Romania), accession countries (Turkey) and the countries recipient of developmentfunds (Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia). The data covers over a decade of structuraland development funds, and the findings show the challenges to changing governanceacross borders, the different paths that each country has experiencedand suggest avenues of reforming development aid for improving governance.

It has become apparent that a clear gap exists between European Union (EU) level policymaking and Member State implementation. Previous research has neglected to fully define factors that encourage or prevent implementation processes and instead focused on upstream decision making processes or downstream effects of policy. Simona Milio here proposes a shift in analytical focus towards policy-implementation since this constitutes a crucial common pathway that determines whether a policy actually becomes effective or not. EU implementation deficits appear to be influenced by problems related to the multi-level structure of European policy making. Successful implementation will only occur if relevant policy actors at national and sub-national levels are persuaded to co-operate with EU policy goals. Furthermore, this co-operation is not possible unless all parties manage the complex policy networks and implementation regimes responsible for putting European policies into force. Within this framework, this book answers three important questions: 1 Is the EU multi-level governance system weakening the implementation of policies? 2 Are national and sub-national governments capable of dealing with the challenges imposed by multi-level governance? 3 Which factors account for differences in implementation performance among Member States? In order to answer these questions, Simona Milio's research explores the influence of two variables on implementation processes: Administrative Capacity and Political Stability. Cohesion Policy is chosen as the focus of this study since it has demonstrated a dramatically different implementation pace among EU Member States over the past 20 years. Three EU Member States are chosen to test the hypothesis. Italy appears to be a pertinent example, given its constant struggle to conform to EU directives and to implement Cohesion Policy. Spain is chosen since, in contrast to the Italian scenario, it represents the best performing Member State in terms of implementation. Finally Poland is studied, as a case where a shift from centralization towards decentralization has occurred in order to implement Cohesion Policy and integrate the multi-level governance system.

At a time when many regions of the world, including Europe, see a resurgence of authoritarianism, three countries of Eastern Europe – Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova – are struggling to counter this trend with the aim of developing European-style democracies in the framework of their Association Agreements with the European Union. This book offers an in-depth analysis of this challenge, with expert contributions on the workings of these countries’ democratic and judicial institutions, their anti-corruption policies and the hazards they must overcome, including the strong presence of oligarchs. Other themes include how these countries are adapting to their precarious geo-political positioning between the EU and Russia and how the quality of their political and economic governance compares with the Balkan states. The book complements three landmark Handbooks (now in their 2nd edition and also published by Rowman & Littlefield International) explaining the progress achieved in implementing the comprehensive Association Agreements that each of these countries has entered into with the EU. The struggle to advance good democratic governance in these close neighbours of the EU represents a test case of the highest strategic significance for both the EU and the three states themselves. For the most part, the jury is still out over its outcome.

This book's principal aim is to critically address the institutional and substantive legal issues resulting from European enlargement, chiefly those relating to the legal foundations on which the enlarged Union is being built. The accession of new Member States creates the potential for a stronger and more powerful Europe. Realising this potential, however, will depend on the ability of the EU to develop functional and effective governance structures, both at the European level and at the level of the individual Member States. While the acquis communautaire will ensure that formal laws in the new Member States will be aligned with those of existing members, the question remains as to how effective institutions will be in implementing changes, and what effects the imposed changes will have on the legitimacy of the new legal framework. This book, containing the work of leading scholars in law and social sciences, examines the current and future legal framework for EU governance, and the role that new members will - or will not - play in the creation of that framework, paying particular attention to the specific challenges membership in the EU poses to the acceding states of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a book which will contribute to and influence debates over constitutionalism and legal harmonisation in the EU.

The European Union (EU) support for good governance reforms has been the cornerstone of its conditionality and funding policies and contributed its role as a transformative power. This book re-evaluates the EU’s governance promotion capacity both within the EU and beyond its borders in light of the simultaneous decline in democracy in Europe in particular, and across the whole world in general. The book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the EU’s good governance transfer to member and accession countries. Part II examines how and to what extent the EU’s governance promotion strategies travel beyond its borders and focuses on neighbours, partners, and aid recipient countries especially in Africa. Part III turns to other regional and global actors and discusses the implications of illiberal contesters such as China and Russia on the future of EU’s good governance promotion efforts. The findings of the book bring fresh insights for the scope and depth of the EU’s governance transfer capacity.