Tuscan Sun Festival

SECTION A

1) Why are the 1970s and early 1980s commonly described as a period of ‘Eurosclerosis’?

Eurosclerosis refers to a term popularized by a Herbert Giersch, who was a German economist in the 1970s. The word described patters of economic stagnations, especially in Europe, which were probably as a result of government overly, generous social benefits policies and over-regulation. The slow economic growth often was witnessed in labour markets. This period also witnessed a slow political pace towards European integration (Thillaye, 2018). As per the study, Giersch's suggested that Eurosclerosis had its roots in the 1970s. The scholar, while defining the term, suggested that, at this period, Europe grew at a much slower pace compared to Japan and the U.S., especially in the early 1980s. Regardless of the growing economy rate during the 1970s to mid-1980s, the rate of unemployment in the E.C. only increased from 5.5% in 1978 to 11.5% in 1985. Simply, as per Thillaye (2018), the economic stagnation resulted from overly generous welfare policies, excessive regulation, and labour market rigidities.

Other studies by Nayak (2013) suggest that, in this period, industries that had been cushioned against hard economic times in terms of government aid and tariffs had not utilized them as a short-term measure to assist them in enhancing competitiveness. Grinch also suggested that the government had a large share in the European economies. Similarly, in this period, the European Union was in greater crisis. The first crisis is the debt crisis, as well as the desperate trial to keep Greece within the Eurozone. There was also an increased number of refugees who immigrated to European shores (Hall, 2015). These immigrations resulted in another security threat such as terrorist threat. Also, in this period, Intelligence cooperation between European community states remained inadequate. During this time, Greece already revealed disunity with the European community. These crises made the European Union not to deliver as per its member country expectations. Other studies also propose that the E.U. was on the verge of collapsing (Ingham & Ingham 2014).

At the same time, the international economic environment also impacted the economic situation in the European community. For instance, the repercussions of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War completely influenced the economic and political environment within where the European community operated. Also, the oil embargo on OPEC and pro-Israeli states’ decision to increase the oil prices showed a lack of solidarity in the community (Hall, 2015). Also, the U.K. and France failed to defend the Netherlands, which was subject to this embargo. Instead, the countries made bilateral treaties with Arab countries to secure their country’s oil supplies. Due to the economic recession, there was an increase of protectionism among countries as they became less inclined to agree to come up with strategies to keep domestic markets for their member state producers and control the increasing lack of employment. In this case, many countries settled on subsidizing ailing industries at this period of recession. For instance, a country like the U.K. set aside a budget of £1,500 million as a rescue package for British Leyland (Hall, 2015).

However, during this period, the institution-building process still progressed. These processes involved the European Parliament and European Political Cooperation. Studies indicate that by 1974 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Helmut Schmidt were involved in the leadership of German and France (Ingham & Ingham, 2014). This resulted in a wide sense of crisis that dominated the European Community. The newly elected president of France, as well as the German Chancellor, faced the most challenging economic challenges as well as a loss of cohesion and momentum in the European community. From the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system, all trials to create new economic order proved ineffective. Moreover, the energy sector crisis, which was promoted by the Yom Kippur War of 1973 resulted in discordant responses of the members of the European community. The member states sought answers in protectionism other than coordinating the European policies (Nayak, 2013).

Eurosclerosis refers to a term popularized by a Herbert Giersch, who was a German economist in the 1970s. The term described the European Union between the 1970s and 1980s, where the union had increased unemployment level and slow job creation regardless of the increase in economic growth. In contrast, Japan and the U.S. witnessed high economic growth and high job growth. At the same time, the international economic environment also impacted the economic situation in the European community. However, during this period, the institution-building process still progressed. Technological advancement and more unity in the European between the 1990s and 2000s assisted in ending the era of Eurosclerosis in Europe.

References

Hall, P.A., 2015, July. How growth regimes evolve in the developed democracies. In 22nd International Conference of Europeanists, Paris (Vol. 8).

Ingham, H. and Ingham, M., 2014. Towards Eurosclerosis: Will Poland Escape? The World Economy, 37(2), pp.290-310.

Nayak, S., 2013. Eurosclerosis: Causation and Control. In The Global Financial Crisis (pp. 91-97). Springer, India.

Thillaye, R., 2018. Europe as a Platform. A New Narrative for a New Europe, p.237

SECTION B

2) Is enlargement really the European Union’s ‘most successful foreign policy tool’?

The European Union is the first international organization that has tried to adopt a common foreign policy. Though the union has had some challenges for the last 40 years, it has also received critic for failing to perform as per its member state expectations. One of the critics is the fact that enlargement policy is the only successful policy in the union. Based on the facts other policies have been unsuccessful, I would agree that the policy is more successful. The success has been witnessed in terms of internal transformation and spreading the transformative power of the E.U. to its environment. This paper depicts the enlargement policy as the most successful foreign tool in EU.

Studies show that in 2012 the European Union was awarded Peace Prize by the Nobel Prize Committee. This award was awarded based on the role of the union to enlarge its region and it's transforming 'Europe from a war-oriented continent to a peaceful continent (Bomberg et al., 2012). Moreover, the ability of the union to welcome its neighbouring states into the union, via the use of conditionality and the 1993 Copenhagen accession criteria is a device of power. This, therefore, is considered a success due to its role of enhancing extended stability, peace, democracy, and, prosperity in the region. The fact that countries are still hoping to join the European union ascertain the success of the union and the influence of the union to create state-building and peacebuilding outside of its official boundaries. However, other studies question if enlargement is a true example of supranational community foreign policy (Hadfield et al., 2017).

Besides, beyond enlargement, the European Union has been experiencing challenges in agreeing on common foreign policy (Sjursen & Smith, 2004). Therefore, this has resulted in too few foreign policies which have been implemented. Some of the challenges are created due to the failure of countries to coordinate because of sovereignty issues as well as conflicts of interest between national foreign ministries. Another reason why most other policies have not succeeded is due to weak foreign policy. For instance, the use of NATO as an alternative established military alliance. This suggests that it is true that, enlargements are only successful foreign policy (Sjursen & Smith, 2004). Moreover, regardless of the European Union is an effective actor in certain fields closely related to a foreign policy like and international environmental policy and humanitarian aid policy, it has failed to act to come up with a united position in crucial conflict situations like those witnessed in Iraq and the military intervention in Libya, etc. studies also indicate that, only in few scenarios, the E.U. has reached agreement among all members concerning foreign policy. For instance, the union never reached consensus while applying the 2012 Iran sanctions to curb its nuclear program (Wood, 2017). This is an indication that most foreign policy has not succeeded therefore, enlargement depicted as the most successful.

Studies also suggest that enlargement is the key project of the European Union (Ker-Lindsay et al., 2017). The study also suggests that the policy is among the most successful policy in the European Union. Regardless of the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, it is critical to note that a community that started with six members is now increasing its member state to beyond 28 member states. There is also a perception to increase this number in the future (Ker-Lindsay et al., 2017). For instance, Turkey is among the largest state, which are vying to join the E.U. However, regardless of its success, the concept of enlargement, especially in the Western Balkans, is witnessing some difficulties. The region is still recovering from the 1990s bitter crisis. The concept of enlargements is also witnessing security challenges, including organized crimes, corruption, as well as secessionist challenges. Also, some regions of the union are poorer compared to others (Ker-Lindsay et al., 2017). This view makes the success of enlargement questionable.

Studies by Piedrafita & Torreblanca (2005), suggest that the significance of enlargement is quite evident through the enlargement, states have witnessed improved trade and capital flows. The enlargement has alsoz enabled freedom of movement within the region, has created better jobs and workers' protection, and has also enabled access to health benefits. Moreover, the enlargement has lowered the prices of goods and services as well as the development of underdeveloped member regions. This enlargement has, therefore, increased member state potential for growth. The availability of a larger market has promoted the supply of cheaper labour and resources and economies of scale. Therefore, it can be argued that enlargement has to strengthen European competitiveness, especially in the global market. However, the enlargement is a risk to businesses since businesses require additional financial resources to beat the competition of the more developed states.

References

Bomberg, E., Peterson, J. and Corbett, R. eds., 2012. The European Union: how does it work? Oxford University Press.

Hadfield, A., Manners, I. and Whitman, R.G., 2017. Introduction: Conceptualising the foreign policies of EU Member States. In Foreign Policies of EU Member States (pp. 1-19). Routledge.

Ker-Lindsay, J., Armakolas, I., Balfour, R. and Stratulat, C., 2017. The national politics of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 17(4), pp.511-522.

Piedrafita, S. and Torreblanca, J.I., 2005. The three logics of EU enlargement: interests’ identities and arguments. Politique européenne, (1), pp.29-59.

Sjursen, H. and Smith, K.E., 2004. Justifying EU foreign policy: the logics underpinning EU enlargement. Rethinking European Union Foreign Policy, pp.126-141.

Wood, S., 2017. Germany and East-Central Europe: political, economic and socio-cultural relations in the era of EU enlargement. Routledge.

3) From the perspective of the current applicant states, what are the main arguments in favour of joining the E.U.? What are the main arguments against?

The European Union was formed in 1993 in November. However, from the 1950s, various industries, such as steel and coal, have worked to serve the whole Europeans instead of bordered nations. It is an economic and political union that consists of 28 members as of 2018 (Greenwood, 2017). Most of these countries are located in Europe, though some overseas territories are also included. Through joining the union, member states gain some advantages. For instance, small countries become more competitive, similarly to larger states on a global scale. Thus, allows them to achieve similar levels of GDP growth. In this view, there are strengths and shortcomings of joining the European Union. This paper, therefore, discusses the main arguments in and against the favour of joining the E.U.

Joining the European Union results in freedom of movement, better workers protection, and better jobs among member states. Citizens within all member states have the freedom to move from one state to another without the necessity of travel documents (Nugent, 2017). This indicates that citizens can work, travel, live, and study in any E.U. state. Joining this union do away with the need for using visa, passport, visa as well as other travel requirements. This gives the member state many options to travel, find work, study compared to non-members. This means that member states can reduce unemployment effectively. The free movement also ensures that British citizens have an opportunity to choose whether to work locally or in any European member state which is an indication of more job opportunities. Currently, world manufacturers are shifting their business to E.U. states due to the lower operating cost. At the same time, the E.U. has come up with a Working Time Directive to protect workers' rights. As per the directives, the average time of working is 48 hours per week.

Joining the union means protection against outside aggression. For more than 50 years in Europe, there has been a time of great peace compared to the last 1,000 years of history. After the formation of the European Union, Europe has witnessed fewer wars than any other reign. Studies show that the European Union has created stability since all the states belonging to the agreement work together to protect each other (Nugent, 2017). However, this does not reduce the cost of operation due to the existence of both national and international governments which require funding. Moreover, other studies indicate that European nations were disunited in the past years (Klüver, 2013). Such divisions include wars and other crises leading up to the 20th century. The formation of the European Union assisted to lessen the number of conflicts that occurs. This is an indication that there is increased security.

The applicant might perceive developments. Some countries have low economic power compared to other states. Therefore, by joining the E.U. can promote the development of the state. Studies suggest that in an objective to reduce disparities between undeveloped as well as redeveloped regions in Member countries (Nugent, 2017). The European Union has set aside structural funds which are categorized into two types. One category is known as the European Regional Development Fund which is aimed at developing infrastructure as well as support job production investments. The other category is the European Social Fund which is a category involved in training strategies to assist disadvantage and unemployed to enjoy an income. The union has also helped in modernizing countries. In this case, via the help of the E.U., countries have already become modern.

Additionally, there is a high membership fee. Studies show that becoming a member of the European Union is not easy (Klüver, 2013). The cost of membership is very expensive. For instance, the United Kingdom gave 13.1 billion pounds to the E.U. This indicates that, regardless of the many benefits, there is also a need for consideration due to the high cost involved. Studies show that only a small percentage- 2% of the total E.U. funding comes from outside sources (Klüver, 2013). This indicates that countries are responsible for paying for the rest. With an addition to the costs of NATO, states must pay several billion dollars each year to be part of this governing structure.

There are also challenges to policies. Studies indicate that the unity of the European Union has resulted in common policies (Panke, 2010). Most off these regulations are however meaning to protect smaller member countries which in some cases, affect the larger countries. This is because the European Commission takes care of the interests of the entire union other than the particular country. Therefore, states which are wealthier tend to share their resources with other member States. This is witnessed in the example of Germany bailing out Greece. Moreover, the E.U. has taken away particular decision-making processes responsibilities as well as power from particular states. This comes as a disadvantage of joining the E.U. Other studies also suggest that the union lacks transparency, especially in the election (Panke, 2010). This makes it challenging for member countries to have individual control. This, therefore, limit the country's abilities and power.

The European Union was formed in 1993 in November. As of 2018, it consisted of 28 members. Joining the union has very many advantages, though there are still some shortcomings, first Joining the European Union results to better jobs, freedom of movement as well as workers' protection among member states, additionally, it results from the protection against outside aggression. Also, it promotes developments. However, joining the union is very expensive and also there is a lack of transparency especially in terms of policies.

References

Greenwood, J., 2017. Interest representation in the European Union. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Klüver, H., 2013. Lobbying in the European Union: interest groups, lobbying coalitions, and policy change. Oxford University Press.

Nugent, N., 2017. The government and politics of the European Union. Palgrave.

Panke, D., 2010. Small states in the European Union: coping with structural disadvantages. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.