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EU Enlargement (eu + enlargement)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	71%
Humanities and Social Sciences	14%

Selected Abstracts

EU Enlargement to Turkey?

EUROCHOICES, Issue 1 2005
Rural Areas: EU Erweiterung um die Türkei?, The Challenges Anead for Agriculture
Summary EU Enlargement to Turkey? The Challenges Ahead for Agriculture and Rural Areas In December 2004 the European Council agreed that accession negotiations with Turkey could begin in October 2005. Although the Copenhagen political criteria have been decisive so far, the criteria relating to the functioning of markets and ability to implement EU legislation will weigh heavily in the negotiations. Despite recent policy reforms, Turkey's agriculture still enjoys levels of protection similar or higher than those of the EU, but its gross value added per worker is relatively very low. One third of Turkey's employment is in agriculture, where most farms are small. The animal health situation is far below the standard achieved in the EU. Food supply chains are fragmented and inefficient. To survive and compete within the single market of the EU, the agricultural and food sectors must undergo deep structural change, which will have far-reaching economic and social repercussions. Projections according to current policy trends show that Turkey could take over one-third of the total cohesion budget allocation. However, the scalingdown or delaying of budget transfers would be short-sighted. If the EU accepts Turkey as a member, it would be in the interest of the EU as a whole that Turkey's economy - and especially its backward rural economy - should embark on a sustainable growth path as soon as possible. Elargir l'UE à la Turquie ? Les défis en perspective pour l'agriculture et les zones rurales. En decembre 2004, le Conseil de l'Union europ6enne a decide douvrir des negociations d'adhesion avec la Turquie en octobre 2005. A la difference de ce qui s'est passe jusqu'ici, le fonctionnement des marches et la capacite a mettre en vigueur l'acquis communautaire seront les crittres principaux, a la place des crittres politiques de Copenhague. Malgrk des reformes politiques recentes, l'agriculture turque profite toujours d'un taw de protection extkrieure analogue a celui de I'UE ou plus Clevi Cependant, sa valeur ajoutee brute par actifest relativement trks basse. Le tiers des emplois en Turquie se trouve dans le secteur agricole, oi,la plupart des exploitations sont de peute taille. La situation sanitaire du cheptel se situe bien au-dessous du niveau de I'UE. Les filieres agro-alimentaires sont fragmentees et peu efficaces. Pour être en mesure de faire face a la concurrence du Marche unique europken, les secteurs agricoles et alimentaires en Turquie devront subir une restructuration profonde, laquelle aura des consequences economiques et sociales de grande envergure. Des projections basees sur les tendances politiques actuelles montrent que la Turquie pourrait bkneficier de plus du tiers des fonds de cohesion de I'UE. Ceci dit, une decision de diminuer ou de dfikrer les transferts budgetaires serait faire preuve d'un manque de prevoyance. Si I'UE accepte la Turquie comme membre, il serait dans I'intkr8t de l'ensemble de 1'Union que I'Cconomie turque - et surtout son economie rurale arrierke - s'engage aussitbt que possible sur un sentier de croissance rapide et durable. EU Erweiterung um die Tükei? Herausforderungen für die Landwirtschaft und ländliche Räume Im Dezember 2004 hat der Europasche Rat beschlossen, dass im Oktober 2005 die Beitnttsverhandlungen mit der Turkei beginnen konnen Auch wenn die Kopenhagener politischen Kriterien bisher entscheidend waren, werden die Kriterien hinsichtlich der Funktionsfhhigkeit der Markte und die Fahigkeit, die EU Gesetzgebung lmplementieren zu konnen, besonderes Gewicht haben. Trotz der letzten Politikreformen 1st die Agrarprotektion in der Turkei gleich hoch oder hoher als in der EU, aber die turkische Bruttowertschopfung le Arbeitskraft ist relativ sehr klein Ein Dnttel der turklschen Arbeitskrafte sind in der Landmrtschaft beschaftigt und die meisten Betriebe sind klein Die Gesundheit der Tiere 1st weit unter den Niveau der EU Die Nahrungsmittel-Zuheferungskette 1st klem struktunert und ineffizient Der Agrar- und Ernahrungssektor kann im Gemeinsamen Markt nur dann uberleben und wettbewerbsfahig sein, wenn em intensiver Strukturwandel mit weit reichenden okonomischen und sozialen Wirkungen einsetzt. Projektionen der gegenwartigen Politikentwicklungen zeigen, dass die Turkei uber ein Dnttel der Mittel des Kohasionsfonds erhalten wurde. Doch wurde die Kurzung oder Veaogerung der Finanzhilfen kurzsichtig sen Wenn dre EU die Turkei als Mitglied akzeptiert, 1st es im Interesse der EU insgesamt, dass die Turkei und insbesondere ihre ruckstandige Agramirtschaft so schnell wie moglich auf einen stabden Wachstumspfad kommt. [source]

Accession's Democracy Dividend: The Impact of the EU Enlargement upon Democracy in the New Member States of Central and Eastern Europe

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 4 2004
Wojciech Sadurski
The purpose of this article is to examine this claim, that accession will provide a ,democracy dividend' in this fashion. To this end, the article begins by examining the political conditionality of the accession process, and the extent to which the process of democratisation can be understood as a result of ,external' pressures. It also discusses the extent to which the effectiveness of political conditionality is likely to survive after the accession takes place. The article then moves on to consider the effects of accession upon democracy in the states of the region by looking in detail at three areas that have been particularly important: the role of national parliaments, the new constitutional courts, and the tendency towards decentralisation and regionalism. The article concludes by noting that, although not all of the developments discussed are necessarily good for democracy in the region, the real dividend coming from the accession process lies in the fact that, on a macro-level, membership in the EU will make the democratic transition in Central and Eastern Europe practically irreversible. [source]

EU Enlargement, Migration, and Lessons from German Unification

GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2000
Hans-Werner Sinn
The paper studies the role of international implications after EU enlargement. Based on a formal model with migration costs for both capital and labor, it predicts a two-sided migration from the new to the old EU countries which is later reversed. As the migration pattern chosen by market forces turns out to be efficient, migration should not be artificially reduced by means of legal constraints or subsidies to the new member countries. The paper draws the parallel with German unification and points out the lessons to be learned by Europe. The analysis concludes with a brief discussion of the second-best problem posed by the existence of welfare states in the old member countries. [source]

Welfare Implications of EU Enlargement under the CAP

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2008
Troy G. Schmitz
The qualitative impacts of European Union (EU) enlargement on intervention prices, variable import levies, and export restitution payments for cereal under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are analyzed using a partial equilibrium framework for EU cereal crops. The welfare implications are developed for both a net exporter and net importer. Consumer surplus, producer surplus, government revenue, and total welfare are compared and contrasted for the EU and the new entrant, both before and after enlargement. Dans le présent article, les répercussions qualitatives de l'élargissement de l'UE sur les prix d'intervention, les prélèvements variables à l'importation et les paiements de restitution à l'exportation des céréales dans le cadre de la Politique agricole commune (PAC) sont analysés à l'aide d'un modèle d'équilibre partiel pour les cultures céréalières de l'UE. Les répercussions sur le bien,être sont élaborées dans le cas d'un exportateur net et d'un importateur net. Le surplus des consommateurs, le surplus des producteurs, les recettes publiques et le bien,être total sont comparés pour l'UE et le nouveau venu, et ce, avant et après l'élargissement de l'UE. [source]

Why are Europeans so tough on migrants?

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 44 2005
Tito Boeri
SUMMARY European migration International migration can significantly increase income per capita in Europe. We estimate that at the given wage and productivity gap between Western and Eastern Europe, migration of 3% of the Eastern population to the West could increase total EU GDP by up to 0.5%. Yet on 1 May 2004, 14 EU countries out of 15 adopted transitional arrangements vis-à-vis the new member states and national migration restrictions vis-à-vis third country nationals are getting stricter and stricter. In this paper we offer two explanations for this paradox and document their empirical relevance in the case of the EU enlargement. The first explanation is that immigration to rigid labour markets involves a number of negative externalities on the native population. The second explanation is that there are important cross-country spillovers in the effects of migration policies, inducing a race-to-the top in border restrictions with high costs in terms of foregone European output. In light of our results, we discuss, in the final section, the key features of a desirable migration policy to be coordinated at the EU level. ,Tito Boeri and Herbert Brücker [source]

Factor mobility and fiscal policy in the EU: policy issues and analytical approaches

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 31 2000
David E. Wildasin
Increased integration of labour and capital markets creates significant challenges for the welfare states of modern Europe. Taxation of capital and labour that finances extensive programmes of cash and in-kind redistribution creates incentives for capital owners and workers to locate in regions where they obtain favourable fiscal treatment. Competition among countries for mobile resources constrains their ability to alter the distribution of income and may lead to reductions in the size and scope of redistributive policies. Mobility of labour and capital is imperfect, however. Recent trends indicate that labour and capital are neither perfectly mobile nor perfectly immobile, but rather adjust gradually to market conditions and economic policies. This paper presents an explicitly dynamic analysis showing that governments can achieve some redistribution when it is costly for factors of production to relocate. As the costs of factor mobility fall, however, the effectiveness of redistributive policies is more limited, and governments have weaker incentives to pursue them. Liberalized immigration policies, EU enlargement, and other steps that promote integration of the factors markets of Western Europe with those of surrounding regions thus present a challenge to policy-makers if they also wish to maintain fiscal systems with extensive redistribution. [source]

Assessing the Fiscal Costs and Benefits of A8 Migration to the UK,

FISCAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2010
Christian Dustmann
J61; H20 Abstract This paper assesses the fiscal consequences of migration to the UK from the Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in May 2004 (A8 countries). We show that A8 immigrants who arrived after EU enlargement in 2004 and who have at least one year of residence, and are therefore legally eligible to claim benefits, are 59 per cent less likely than natives to receive state benefits or tax credits and 57 per cent less likely to live in social housing. Furthermore, even if A8 immigrants had the same demographic characteristics as natives, they would still be 13 per cent less likely to receive benefits and 29 per cent less likely to live in social housing. We go on to compare the net fiscal contribution of A8 immigrants with that of individuals born in the UK, and find that in each fiscal year since enlargement in 2004, irrespective of the way that the net fiscal contribution is defined, A8 immigrants made a positive contribution to the public finances despite the fact that the UK has been running a budget deficit over the last few years. This is because they have a higher labour force participation rate, pay proportionately more in indirect taxes and make much less use of benefits and public services. [source]

Current guidelines applicable for the approval of topically applied dermatological drugs in the EU

FUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
Myrjam Dorothea Straube
Abstract Dermatologicals as well as other medicinal products are submitted to the rules governing medicinal products in the European Union (EU) (Directive 2001/83/EC). With appreciation of the EU enlargement those regulatories deserve a recent consideration with special regard to the peculiarities of external dermatological therapy, recently passed novel and future guidelines. As regards the criteria for authorization of a medicinal product it is set out in Regulation (EEC) 2309/93 Article 11(1) that a marketing authorization shall be refused if it appears that the quality, the safety or efficacy of the medicinal product have not been adequately or sufficiently demonstrated by the applicant. Article 26(1) of Council Directive 2001/83/EC is worded a little differently but the criteria are the same irrespective of the procedure for the marketing authorization. For the final evaluation of the benefit/risk profile of a topically applied dermatological medicinal product not only the active agent but the whole galenic formulation as well has to be taken into account as the extent of penetration of the active compound might be influenced by changing the non-active substances. Furthermore the vehicle itself , independent of the active agent , influence the dermatological disorder, often in dependence on the stage of the dermatopathy. With special concern to safety/tolerability the (photo)toxic and (photo)allergic potential of the dermatological drug have to be taken into consideration too. In case of total body therapy in children the differing percutaneous resorption due to another body surface/body weight relation deserves special concern. The following review gives a survey of the current most important EU-guidelines for the evaluation of the benefit/risk profile of topically applied dermatological medicinal drugs and an outlook on further developments. As systemically applied dermatological medicinal products are assessed like other systemically applied drugs they are not treated in the following contribution. [source]

EU Enlargement, Migration, and Lessons from German Unification

International Migration and State Sovereignty in an Integrating Europe

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 6 2001
Andrew Geddes
This article examines the development of migration policy competencies of the European Union (EU) since the 1990s. It pays particular attention to policy framework that developed after the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties entered into effect in 1993 and 1999 respectively. In order to chart these developments, the article focuses on five analytical themes that illustrate key trends in EU migration policy. Reasons for and implications of shift from "pillarization" in the Maastricht Treaty to "communitarization" in the Amsterdam Treaty. , Blurring of the distinction between external and internal security. , The role that supranational institutions such as the European Commission are playing (or trying to play) in policy development. , Debates about migrants' rights in an integrating Europe. , Links between migration and EU enlargement. It is argued that far from weakening EU member states or symbolizing some "loss of control", EU cooperation and integration have thus far helped member states consolidate and reassert their ability to regulate international migration through the use of new EU-level institutional venues. This raises legitimacy issues as the EU moves into politically sensitive policy areas. Although talk of "fortress Europe" is overblown, the EU is likely to face legitimacy challenges on both the "input" (democracy, openness and accountability of decision-making) and "output" (implementation and compliance) elements of decision-making. [source]

The European Commission on Factors Influencing Labor Migration

POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2001
Article first published online: 27 JAN 200
A controversial issue in discussions on enlargement of the European Union beyond its existing membership of 15 countries is the migration flows that admission of new members could generate. Given major differences in income and wage levels between the EU states and the candidates for membership, casual theorizing suggests that the potential for massive international migration is very high. The fact that such migration has thus far been of modest size by most plausible criteria is attributed to the restrictive policies of the potential destination countries, policies that reflect national interests, in particular protection of labor markets, as perceived by voting majorities. With accession to membership in the EU this factor is removed: a cardinal principle of the Union, established by treaty, is the free movement of persons, including persons seeking gainful employment. The factors governing migratory movements between member states then come to resemble those that shape internal migration. This should facilitate analysis and forecasting. A clear sorting-out of the relevant forces affecting such "internal" migration remains of course an essential precondition for success in that task. An "Information note," entitled The Free Movement of Workers in the Context of Enlargement, issued by the European Commission, the EU's Executive Body, on 6 March 2001, presents extensive discussion of relevant information, opinion, and policy options concerning its topic. (The document is available at «http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlarge-ment/docs/pdf/migration_enl.pdf».) An Annex to the document. Factors Influencing Labour Movement, is a lucid enumeration of the factors migration theory considers operative in determining the migration of workers and, by extension, of people at large, that is likely to ensue upon EU enlargement. This annex is reproduced below. As is evident from the catalog of factors and their likely complex interactions, making quantitative forecasts of future migration flows, envisaged primarily as originating from countries to be newly admitted to the EU and destined for the countries of the current EU15, is exceedingly difficult. This is reflected in disparities among the existing studies that have made such forecasts. Yet there appears to be a fair degree of agreement that major increases in migration are unlikely, suggesting that the overall effect on the EU15 labor market should be limited. Typical forecasts (detailed in the Information note cited above) anticipate that in the initial year after admission, taken to be 2003, total migration from the eight prime candidate countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania: the "CC8") might amount to around 200,000 persons, roughly one-third of which would be labor migration. According to these forecasts, the annual flow will gradually diminish in subsequent years. After 10 to 15 years the stock of CC8 migrants in the EU15 might be on the order of 1.8 to 2.7 million. The longer-run migration potential from the candidate countries would be on the order of 1 percent of the present EU population, currently some 375 million. (The combined current population of the CC8 is 74 million.) Such predictions are in line with the relatively minor migratory movements that followed earlier admissions to the EU of countries with then markedly lower per capita incomes, such as Spain and Portugal. The geographic impact of migration ensuing from enlargement would, however, be highly uneven, with Germany and Austria absorbing a disproportionately large share. Accordingly, and reflecting a prevailing expectation in these two countries that enlargement would have some short-run disruptive effects on labor markets, some of the policy options discussed envisage a period of transition following enlargement,perhaps five to seven years,during which migration would remain subject to agreed-upon restrictions. [source]

Similarity in trade structures, integration and catching-up1

THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 2 2008
Luca De Benedictis
CEECs; export composition; growth; EU enlargement Abstract In this paper, we look at the role of export composition in the growth process, considering how increased similarity in trade structure among countries can induce catching-up in income levels in a group of countries in transition. We analyze the sectoral export patterns of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) by comparing them to those of the current members of the European Union (EU), focusing on countries' specialization as suppliers for the EU market, and we assess whether similar export patterns foster the catching-up process of the CEECs. Our main result is that similarity in export composition has a positive, significant and non-linear impact on catching-up, and seems to be driven by the growth of the main export market and delocalization of production more than by other factors. [source]

European Enlargement and Agro-Food Trade

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2008
tefan Bojnec
This paper investigates the level, composition, and differences in the dynamics of revealed comparative advantage and trade specialization patterns of the 12 new member states (NMS-12) as part of the enlarged European Union 27 countries (EU-27). The NMS-12 are classified into four country groups: the Baltic States, the CEFTA-5, and the Mediterranean and the Balkan regions. The empirical analysis employs a regression framework, a duration analysis, Markov transition probability matrices, and mobility indices. Trade increases with the EU enlargement and so does revealed comparative advantage in agro-food products. There are catching-up difficulties, as indicated by revealed comparative advantage, in higher added-value processed products. Le présent article examine le degré, la composition et les différences de la dynamique des avantages comparatifs révélés ainsi que les caractéristiques de la spécialisation du commerce des douze nouveaux pays membres (NPM-12) de l'Union européenne élargie (UE,27). Les 12 nouveaux pays membres sont divisés en quatre groupes: les États baltiques, les cinq pays membres de l'ALECE, la région de la Méditerranée et la région des Balkans. L'analyse empirique utilise un modèle de régression, une analyse de durée, des matrices de probabilités des transitions (Markov) et des indices de mobilité. Les échanges augmentent avec l'élargissement de l'UE tout comme les avantages comparatifs révélés des produits agroalimentaires. On observe des difficultés de rattrapage, comme l'indique l'avantage comparatif révélé, dans le cas des produits transformés à forte valeur ajoutée. [source]