europedebate.ie

Irish perspectives on European governance

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Armaments, corruption and debt

A recent report found that “the governments of countries of lending countries – like Germany and France – are emphatic on the priority of [Greece] settling outstanding bills with arms suppliers…, while at the same time insisting on swingeing cuts in public spending and other austerity measures”, despite the fact that there is evidence of corruption in at least some such armaments contracts. This article from Irish Left Review argues that core country decision makers can legitimately be Read more [...]

Does the European Union need to become a community?

Analysts of European integration often contend that the European Union must build not only institutions but also an identity. Assuming that the Union cannot get by on (at any rate uncertain) popular perceptions that it is economically beneficial, they argue that only a shared sense of belonging to an overarching European communal unit could help Europeans develop the trust and commitments a democratic polity needs.   Accordingly, difficulties in the European integration process – the present Read more [...]

Austerity in the Eurozone periphery

The latest issue of the online journal Intereconomics features articles about Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Aidan Regan and I wrote the article on Ireland. As we know well here in Ireland, they're an oddly-sorted bunch, because each faces a rather different set of domestic policy challenges. Each also has problems that need to be addressed in a wider European context, and they're not always the same problems. Read more [...]

Home truths about the Euro crisis

Jean-Claude Juncker said some remarkably candid things to the European parliament yesterday. His role as the chair of the Eurozone group of countries has given him limited scope to speak freely to date. Indeed he’s someone who is quoted as saying 'I’m for secret, dark debates'. Now that he’s about to step down, he’s made some extremely critical comments about the entire approach the EU has adopted in response to the crisis. I have some reflections on this, and especially on high and rising Read more [...]

And you thought QMV was complicated…

Voting systems in the European Union often attract criticism and/or debate. Complex voting systems are not the sole prerogative of the EU however. The US system for electing its President also has its complications, as both the campaign and past election results have shown. Nobody will count electoral chickens before they hatch in the present tightly-fought US Presidential election campaign. Nevertheless, as Ezra Klein of the Washington Post has put it, “unless the polls are systematically wrong, Read more [...]

The full Monti

Aidan Regan at the EUI has a fascinating account of Mario Monti's thoughts on a range of European issues here. Monti is particularly keen on increasing the capacity for effective decision-making at European level, and indeed the slow-motion political response to the crisis in the Eurozone has revealed how badly this is needed. Monti wants to see a stronger role for the European parliament relative to the Council, which would over-ride most of the current powers of national systems - something more Read more [...]

Ireland and the big game changer

Here is an essay I have done on Ireland for the Heinrich Boell Stiftung in Brussels as part of a commissioned series on the euro crisis. I emphasise how closely Ireland's decisions on European integration are entangled in its relations ns with the UK, a consideration coming once more into clear focus. Paul Gillespie http://www.boell.eu/downloads/Gillespie_Ireland_and_the_Big_Game_Changer(2).pdf   Read more [...]

Fear, Anger and Resignation: It’s Nearly Referendum Day

Before the conventional wisdom sets in stone, a few thoughts on the referendum campaign. First, win or lose, this looks to have been a good campaign for the left of the ‘no’ side. The profile of key Sinn Fein and ULA spokespeople will have been raised significantly as will their political credibility in key sectors of the electorate. The right of the ‘no’ side has been less successful. The prevarication of key actors (Ganley and Ross for example) and their late entry to the campaign didn’t Read more [...]

Citizens Left out of Plan for EU Reform

While I am second to none in my admiration of Vincent Browne for his willingness to engage with the legal issues raised by the Fiscal Treaty, I would have difficulties with some of the assertions made by him in his article in the Irish Times today. 1) I am unable to see how the Pringle case (or any other case) can be the source of a legal threat to the Fiscal Treaty’s validity (as opposed to the ESM Treaty’s). The Fiscal Treaty is a normal intergovernmental treaty which the member states are Read more [...]