Author Archives: JamesPCross

UCD politics student Lucie Martin argues that on paper, gender equality is high on the EU agenda, but in practice major political and institutional hurdles remain. In his 10 ‘Commandments’, President Juncker has committed to a more gender-balanced Commission; the European Parliament has maintained continued pressure on other institutions to present and adopt regulatory measures;Continue reading “Gender equality in the EU: the mountain that gave birth to a mouse?”

A guest post from Dr. Alexandre Afonso (University of Leiden). There has been a lot of discussion recently about the rise of left-wing Euroscepticism in Southern Europe in the midst of the Eurozone crisis, with parties like Syriza and Podemos conquering power (in the case of the former) or appearing as serious challengers to mainstream partiesContinue reading “A Map of the Southern European Party System”

Dublin has long been known as a key base for tax avoidance by multinational companies, often setting up “brass plate” operations in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and elsewhere in order to channel profits through their “Irish” subsidiaries and thus minimise their tax liabilities. As Jim Stewart of Trinity College Dublin has shown, suchContinue reading “Ryanair and Dublin’s Role in Undermining European Labour Rights”

The question of taxing labour income continues to elicit fierce debate in Ireland. Much of this has centred on the question of whether Ireland has a “high” or “low” income tax regime. Confusingly, there has been a lack of consensus on the fundamental question: do workers in Ireland, relative to workers in other countries, payContinue reading “Taxing Labour: Beyond “too much” or “too little””

The Greek people have sent a resounding message to European institutions that they have had enough of their one-sided failed policy of austerity. The very fact that so many Eurocrats, policymakers, politicians and academics across the European continent, lambasted Alexis Tspiras and the Syriza leadership for daring to consult Greek citizens on whether or notContinue reading “Greferendum: The Last Battle of Economic Ideas in Europe”

A fascinating and perhaps unforeseen corollary of Russia’s invasion, occupation and annexation of parts of Ukraine, is the reappraisal of security and defence in Europe’s neutral and non-aligned states. In the post-Cold War interregnum, these states were ideally placed to contribute to the construction of a new EU foreign and security policy grounded in collectiveContinue reading “Whither Ireland and other Neutral and Non Aligned states in the new European Security Environment?”

It has been a truly remarkable few years for Ireland and the European Union. In the space of five years Ireland has gone from being the basket case of the European Monetary Union to it’s number one success story. Economic growth is now the strongest in the Euro area, and according to the most recentContinue reading “Debunking Myths: What Really Explains the Irish Economic Recovery?”

“It’s your fault, you got into this mess yourself”. “No, it’s your fault, you lent us all that money”. “You need structural reforms to generate growth”. “We have a humanitarian crisis on our hands”. “This is a Greek crisis of your own making”. “No, this is a crisis of the Euro area”. “You must implement reformContinue reading “Negotiating in Bad Faith: Who Should Decide the Grexit?”

This blog post is the third in a series of posts that come from students of our 3rd year undergraduate “Politics and Policy Making in the EU” course. As part of the course, students were asked to write about an issue pertaining to EU politics. The best blog posts have been selected to provide an opportunityContinue reading “The Effects of Direct Effects: An Analysis of the Problems surrounding the implementation of EU environmental policies in Ireland and how they might be resolved”