RC03 - European Unification

Call for Papers

Summer School on European and Transnational Rulemaking

Organized by the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES)/
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG)

To be held at the University of Amsterdam, July 8-12, 2019

This summer school will bring together PhD candidates, advanced master students, and postdoctoral researchers (<3 years since PhD) with senior scholars from the fields of political science, law, sociology, and international relations to discuss key analytical issues and empirical research in progress on European and transnational rulemaking. For the purposes of this summer school, ‘rulemaking’ is defined broadly to encompass governance processes leading to the adoption of norms, rules, or standards intended to guide the conduct and behaviour of others, both formal and informal, organized through private or multi-stakeholder as well as public bodies. For the EU as an ever more active international actor, this includes EU rulemaking under international law. In the EU context, a wide variety of actors and fora are involved in such rulemaking: European agencies, networks of regulators, comitology committees, open methods of coordination, consultative fora, and operational cooperation among national officials, as well as private and/or hybrid public-private standard-setting and certification schemes. Issues to be considered will include: the organization and effectiveness of different types of rulemaking processes; their relationship to conventional forms of legislative and judicial oversight; the participation in their operation of different types of actors (national/European/transnational; public/private; business/civil society); the relationship between European and international rulemaking; and the normative legitimacy of rulemaking processes beyond the nation-state.

The summer school will be organized in two parts over five days. Each morning, a senior scholar will give a keynote presentation addressing a major issue in the study of European and transnational governance, to be followed by a general discussion. The afternoons will be devoted to presentations of work in progress by PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, with discussion led by senior scholars. The summer school is co-organized by Jonathan Zeitlin, Distinguished Faculty Professor of Public Policy and Governance and Academic Director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES), Christina Eckes, Professor of European Law and Director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG), and Maria Weimer, Assistant Professor of European Law (ACELG). Other participating senior scholars will include: Terence Halliday, Co-Director, Centre on Law and Globalization, and Research Professor, American Bar Foundation; and Veerle Hayvaert, Associate Professor (Reader) in European Environmental Law, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Proposals are invited from PhD candidates, advanced masters students, and postdoctoral researchers interested in participating in this workshop.  The workshop is open to junior scholars within and beyond the EU. The organizers reimburse up to €500 for travel and accommodation costs for a maximum of 10 accepted participants from outside Amsterdam. Those who would like to be considered for reimbursement should state this in their application letter, and confirm that they are unable to raise sufficient funds from their home institution. Applicants should send the application letter, current CV and a 1-2 page project or paper description to Gijs van der Starre, Managing Director of ACES, G.vanderStarre@uva.nl, by February 28, 2019.

Call for papers

IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Brisbane, 21-26 July 2018

Panel title: Differentiated integration in the European Union – Consequences for Relations with Neighbours 

Panel description: There are many interesting processes under way in the European Union nowadays. One of them is the development of differentiated integration, including the emerging division into the core and circles (or centre and peripheries). The process has gained in political weight when the member states began to look for the ways out of the euro crisis and the Brexit issue became a reality. It has consequences not only for the members of the EU but also for its relations with the third countries, particularly its neighbours. The main goal of the panel is to take a close look at the impact of the differentiated integration on the EU policies concerning its neighbours – i.e. the enlargement policy and two dimensions of the European Neighbourhood Policy as well as the relations with other EU neighbours including Russia as well as EEA countries, Switzerland and in the future possibly also the United Kingdom.

Many interesting issues are worth discussing here. Historically, we can talk about some concepts of the European integration being actually the first theoretical models of the external differentiated integration (e.g. “the concentric circles”). The crucial question is which concepts can be taken into consideration by working out the models of the external differentiated integration nowadays. Can the old proposals be refreshed and adjusted to the current situation or is it time for new ideas? Actually, there are some models of the external differentiated integration working already in the case of many EU neighbours and their relationships with the EU. However, it is worth investigating the possible development of these models in the future. It is not a purely theoretical question. The current enlargement policy and the ENP are in a crisis. The prospect of accession of new countries to the EU is very uncertain. The ENP is not effective at all. The EU is losing its influence on the neighbourhood. The question is if the development of new or modified models of the external differentiated integration can be a kind of solution to these problems. The differentiation dynamics points to the inadequacy of conceiving the EU membership in binary (zero - one) terms. In this context, the differentiated integration seems to constitute an opportunity for the stalled enlargement policy, especially when it comes to Turkey. Maybe the new models of differentiated integration can contribute also to revitalization of the relationship between the EU and ENP partners, to improve the relations with Russia and to build a new model of cooperation with the UK after Brexit. 

These and many more questions will be posed within the panel organised within the RC03 – European Unification. Welcomed are paper proposals of young and experienced scholars, dealing with both theoretical and empirical aspects of the aforementioned topics. Single case studies and comparative analyses are equally acceptable.

If you are interested in participating in the panel, please, send the paper proposal including the title and short abstract (up to 250 words) to Prof. Adam Szymanski, ar.szymanski@uw.edu.pl by 1 October 2017. You will be notified by 3 October 2017 whether your proposal has been accepted to the panel. Please, bear in mind that you will have also to submit the paper proposal to the IPSA website by signing in your individual IPSA account by 10 October 2017. 

Call for Papers International Conference "Rethinking governance in an era of global insecurities, regional tensions and rising nationalism", July 17-19, University of Melbourne: http://www.eucentre.unimelb.edu.au/events/rethinking-governance/

The  study  of  regional  governance  has  gained  momentum  in  recent  years.  The  European  Union,  often  regarded  as  the  preeminent  regional  body  is  perceived  as  not  only  being  in  crisis  but  on  the  verge  of  disintegration.  At  the  same  time,  regional  bodies  such  as  the  Association  of  Southeast  Asian  Nations  (ASEAN)  have  been  seeking  to  deepen  their  patterns  of  regional  cooperation,  though  also  experiencing  challenges  with  the  process  of  regional  integration.  Emerging  powers  in  the  global  context  and  shifting  power  dynamics  of  the  US  and  China  suggest  greater  complexity  in  tackling  global  challenges.  The  uncertainly  following  the  election  of  Donald  Trump as the next US President, the  shifting  power  dynamics  of  Russia  and  China,  and  rising  populism  all  point  to insecurities  at  the regional  and  national levels.

In the face of a strategic shift in the balance of power in international relations, might regional cooperation provide a means to manage global challenges? How might territorial disputes, nationalism, Brexit, a US ‘retreat’ and populism be tackled? These and other issues will be examined and rigorously debated. The conference is open to academics, policy makers and practitioners from across discipline areas and to interested members of the public.

Themes to be examined at the conference will include:

1. Brexit and beyond
2. The power of populism and nationalism
3. Tackling global challenges: Regional solutions?
   1. Climate change
   2. Terrorism
   3. Poverty and development
   4. Refugee crisis
4. Security, instability and conflict
5. The EU-Australia relationship
6. Global trade and contestation
7. Economic crises and wealth disparities
8. Drivers of integration and disintegration in regional bodies
9. Assessing the EU Global Strategy
10. Awkward states in regionalism

The EU Centre is now accepting panel proposals and papers. Submit by 20 February 2017 to Prof Philomena Murray, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam and EU Centre Research Director, Regional Governance.
Email: pbmurray@unimelb.edu.au

Call for Papers: “The Euro-crisis and European identity: changes and dynamics on the demos-to-be”, IPSA World Congress of Political Science, July 23-28, 2016

Panel chair: Simona Guerra, University of Leicester

Abstract: Although analyses have found that the economic crisis is not a source of Euroscepticism, positive attitudes are declining in countries suffering most from it. Concurrently, trust towards the EU has halted at very low levels, 31% (EB81 2014, 9), and turnout at the 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections decreased to 42.61% (it was 53% in 2009 and EP official data reported a few percentages up to 43.09% until the end of June 2014). As Paul Taggart and Aleks Szczerbiak underline, despite the current crisis can enrich these EP elections with more Europe, it is important to distinguish the crisis, a general economic crisis, a specific euro crisis and the domestic contexts (2014). Addressing the crisis, the decreasing level of turnout and low trust for the EU institution, this panel ‘looks out for’ the impact of the Euro-crisis on European identity. We invite submissions discussing the limits of the concept, the debates underlying its notion and discourse, studies on the relationship between national and European identity, and analyses on functional and affective dimensions, cross-border interaction and cognitive mobilization, and addressing the impact, if any, of the Euro-crisis.

Deadline: October 7th 2015.

For further information, please contact Dr. Simona Guerra (gs219@leicester.ac.uk).

Call for panels and papers for the Section on ‘Euroscepticism and the 
rise of EU contestation’ for the 8th Pan-European Conference on the 
European Union, ‘The Union’s Institutional and Constitutional 
Transformations: Stress or Adaptation?’, University of Trento, Italy, 
16-18 June 2016

Section 14. Euroscepticism and the rise of EU contestation

Section Chairs: Simona Guerra, University of Leicester (gs219@leicester.ac.uk), Hans-Jörg 
Trenz, University of Copenhagen (trenz@hum.ku.dk).

The image of the EU across public opinion has been viewing increasing 
negative evaluations, since the economic and financial crisis hit its 
peak, in 2010 and 2011.  The crisis has affected public attitudes and 
perceptions of legitimacy and identity, but it has also mobilized 
political parties and citizens in opposition to the EU. Although 
opposition towards the EU has been pitched as a temporary phenomenon, 
it has now become a distinctive characteristic of the EU integration 
process, described as ‘embedded’, pervasive and enduring. 
Euroscepticism, as outright and contingent opposition, has become 
structured in terms of party alignment, negative attitudes and 
cleavages. Yet, at the domestic levels, the Eurosceptic opposition 
takes different colours and chooses different targets and strategies. 
This Section invites panel proposals that address different forms of 
Euroscepticism and the roles of political and social actors involved, 
in particular:

1.     Who/What drives political opposition towards the EU?

2.     How is Euroscepticism manifested in political contestation 
through political parties and the citizens domestically and in a 
transnational, comparative perspective? (e.g. in national and 2014 
European Parliament elections?)

3.     How does the (re)politicization of European integration 
restructure the political landscape of the EU and its member states in 
terms of conflicts, cleavages and identities?

4.     How do the media (new and old) contribute to the expression of 
Euroscepticism?

5.     What are the effects on the EU integration process and what are 
its long term consequences for the EU project?
We invite theoretical and empirical analyses, and comparative and case 
studies touching upon any of these themes.

Section available at:

http://ecpr.eu/Events/SectionDetails.aspx?SectionID=490&EventID=105

Deadlines and key dates available at: 
http://ecpr.eu/Events/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=105

The Institut de Sciences Politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) is inviting applicants for a PhD within the project PATHWAYS. PATHWAYS is a comparative study of the representation of citizens with an immigrant origin in eight European democracies (Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain). Selected applicants would be invited to submit an application for an FNRS PhD grant of 4 years (aspirant FNRS).

http://www.uclouvain.be/506844.html

The applicant is preferably knowledgeable in both French and Dutch (English is also a great advantage) and must have a good knowledge of the Belgian political system. The applicant is free to tailor his or her research question(s) around the proposed research project, within the norms of the availability of data and expertise. Comparative projects are also stimulated.

Description

BE-PATHWAYS is an innovative and comparative inter-university collaboration of a team of junior and senior scholars examining the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin in Belgium. It is part of an international PATHWAYS consortium (http://pathwayseu/), which analyses the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin in seven additional European democracies (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK). The principal goal of this particular project is twofold. On one hand, the project seeks to advance the knowledge and scholarship of the descriptive representation of citizens of immigrant origin (CIO) in Belgium's legislative assemblies, at the regional (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) and national levels. On the other hand, and as part of its innovative nature, the project seeks to analyse the parliamentary activities of representatives of immigrant origin (substantive representation). The project seeks to advance the study of democratic representation of CIOs in a number of ways:

   To provide tightly defined - hitherto unavailable - comparative data on the descriptive and substantive representation of CIOs in Belgium (currently data are often restricted to issues such as citizenship, e.g., Eurostat 2011).
   To provide comparative data on important institutional and socio-demographic contextual variables alongside different institutional levels in Belgium.
   To offer innovative explanations of cross-national, cross-regional, cross-level and diachronic variations in descriptive and substantive representation by building on a flexible analytical framework, which allows for the incorporation of a variety of theoretical approaches (e.g. social capital, path dependency, rational choice).
   To integrate the data with other research efforts in the field, most notably the PATHWAYS and IDEA projects.

Data collection and methodology

The research design combines a systematic approach to data collection on two levels of government, national and regional. The inclusion of the regional level is of particular importance, as this is where immigrants can more easily build capacity to win political office and where barriers to get elected should be easier to overcom. The data collection includes primary and secondary sources of information and will be organised in the following way :

   National level : the project collects information on (1) the descriptive representation of CIOs for all elections since 1991, and (2) on particular legislative activities (substantive representation) of minority and comparable non-CIO parliamentarians in the last completed legislative term (2010).
   Regional level : the project collect information on descriptive representation for the last completed legislative term (2009). Given the generally large number of regional assemblies throughout Europe, the variability of access to sources and the lack of general research on representation at this level, this will still be a major advance and will allow comparisons between Belgian regions, across European regions, or even between the national level and the regional level.

Send a brief research proposal (1 page max.) and curriculum vitae to Steven M. Van Hauwaert (steven.vanhauwaert@uclouvain.be) by 5 pm on 13 February 2015.

CfP Panel on“Europeanization and Turkey: Changing Dynamics, Challenges and Responses”, 40th BISA Anniversary Conference in London, June 2015

The BISA South East Europe Working Group is looking for abstracts for a panel on Europeanization and Turkey: Changing Dynamics, Challenges and Responses

Debates on how accession, candidate and neighbouring states respond to the changing dynamics of EU conditionality and deal with the evolving nature of the impact EU has on these states is as pressing as ever. Turkish domestic politics, shaped by ongoing political, economic and ideological debates as well as the heavy involvement of civil society organizations in these public deliberations, also changed the course of Turkey’s relations with the EU/Europe, which have mainly revolved around such issues as democratization, minority rights and the Kurdish question, the rise of political Islam and secularism. We invite papers that discuss how Turkey deals with the changing nature of EU conditionality, re-shape processes of Europeanization, addresses challenges of interacting with sets of international organizations and respond to the changing perception about the role of the EU.

Expressions of interest (title & abstract 200 words max) should be sent to Ceren Ak (c.z.ak@qmul.ac.uk<mailto:c.z.ak@qmul.ac.uk>) by Wednesday, November 26.

Call for Papers: ‘New Perspectives in European Studies: Europeanisation in the EU and the Neighbourhood’

UACES CRN Centrifugal Europe - Annual Research Symposium 2015, Queen’s University Belfast, 6-8 March 2015

The European Union (EU) has faced increasing difficulties in recent years relating to the processes of political, economic and societal integration. Despite the change promoted during accession negotiations, EU candidate and neighbourhood countries have challenged the linear understanding of Europeanisation in a variety of areas across the continent. In recent years, research of Europeanisation has emphasised diffusion mechanisms and differentiated integration to explain variation in outcome rather than the lack of precision in and the direction of travel of European norms. Indeed, candidate and neighbourhood countries have remarkable leeway in deciding which aspects of European norms to adopt, and how to implement them. This raises questions about the role of the EU in policy convergence in candidate countries and the ENP and about the norms the EU endorses in practice. Yet, the Europeanisation phenomenon has effectively travelled to the neighbourhood of the EU and in the absence of membership prospects for the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries, such a development is puzzling.

The ongoing European crisis has created new challenges and brought tensions (old and new) to the surface at both state and sub-state level, leading to debates about the relationship between the national and the supra-national, and the limits of sovereignty within the EU in its current form. Such developments represent an unprecedented reversal of the centripetal forces that characterised European integration in the decades prior to the current crisis, and ask serious questions about the future of the EU and its integration project. Against the background, our conference explores the Europeanization in the EU proper, enlargement and ENP countries (incl. Turkey, Western Balkans and previous accession countries). We welcome contributions which ask whether the integration of European norms in the wider European context is going ahead despite crisis or has it been put on back burner?

The event is hosted as a part of the UACES sponsored CRN Centrifugal Europe annual symposium and will provide postgraduates the opportunity to develop contacts and offers a valuable opportunity for participants to engage with leading academics concerned with the future of European integration project. We particularly welcome postgraduate students to apply and have set funds aside to support accommodation for postgraduate students from outside Northern Ireland attending. Please let us know – insert the note at the end of your proposal – that you would like to avail of such support.

Please submit your paper proposal of max. 250 words and details (name, institutional affiliation, contact details) online at http://jotformeu.com/form/43252541852351. by midday (UK time) on December 15 2014. In case of any queries please contact both organisers: Ada Regelmann a.regelmann@qub.ac.uk and Timofey Agarin t.agarin@qub.ac.uk.

Call for Papers – EU politics of memory, Global Governance Programme/RSCAS(EUI) and COST Action IS1203, Florence, 19-20 June 2015

http://globalgovernanceprogramme.eui.eu/news-events/call-for-papers-eu-politics-of-memory/

This workshop wants to explore the different dimensions involved in shaping EU memory policies: the conflicts on diverging and often contested memory facts and their projection to the EU/European level; the role of different group of actors as memory entrepreneurs at the supranational level, their cooperation and competition; the role of EU institutions; the strategies pursued by actors and institutions; the fitting of EU policies with national policies, etc. The workshop invites papers analyzing specific policy issues (denial of crimes, EU memory museum policies, comparing different national cases of actors/strategies in pursuing these European policies, theoretical papers, etc. Single country cases are not preferred although submissions may be considered and decided upon on the basis of their merits.

Submission of proposals. Proposals for papers should contain a title and a brief summary (up to 300 words). Deadline for submission is 30th November 2014. Applicants should include a brief CV. Papers accepted will be taken into consideration for the publication agenda of the Working Group on Politics of Memory. Proposals should be uploaded at http://www.rscas.org/registration_form/?p=1425

Funding: Members of the COST ISTME network will have their costs covered through the standard COST procedures. A certain amount of funding may be available for those selected applicants lacking funding.

Organization. The Workshop is jointly organised by the COST ITSME , the EUI RSCAS Global Governance Programme and the Research Committee on European Unification of the International Political Association (IPSA) . For further information, please, contact Carlos Closa or Georges Mink