Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In this paper, I argue that the accountability of national bureaucrats when they fail to enforce European Union legislation is enhanced by the creation of informal networks of national and supranational officials.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Since the early 1990s, scholars have argued over how much the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has influenced European integration. Recently scholars have demonstrated that the ECJ was responsive to threats of legislative override and threats of non-compliance throughout the 1990s. While this evidence suggests significant limits upon the ECJ’s ability to influence European integration, it still leaves important questions unanswered. For example, how has ECJ influence changed over time, and does its influence depend upon the structure of the European Union (EU) institutions? Relying upon a novel dataset consisting of all decisions made by the ECJ from 1960-2000, this paper examines how ECJ influence has changed over time and why. Specifically, we test among four existing arguments in the international organizations literature: 1) the ECJ does not influence the direction of EU law; 2) it can influence the development of EU law but only consistent with government preferences; 3) its ability to influence EU law has increased over time with its institutional legitimacy; and 4) it operates like any national court in a separation of powers system where its constraints depend upon the checks and balances built into the EU institutions.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper aims at shedding light on how civic engagement matters for the emergence of a European public sphere. It inquires the citizen’s role in constituting it and asks how citizens being located in different cultural and political contexts participate in and appropriate EU-political communication. First, the paper develops a pragmatic approach to the European public sphere emphasizing the importance of citizens’ communicative participation. It is assumed that the constitution of public spheres – representing social constructions fulfilling democratic functions – ultimately rely on citizens’ (media based) perception of the impact of common problems and political decisions as well as on their subsequent participation in public discourses (Dewey 1927). The second part of the paper presents the findings of empirical case studies conducted in France, Italy and Germany to explore citizens’ engagement in and appropriation of the European constitutional debate.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: Rapid media change, increasing competition complaints, and the emergence of new players challenge the concept and the attendant organizational structure of public service broadcasting (PSB) in Europe. Strong pressures for change result from the European Commission’s state aid policy. This has prompted governance responses from member states and has come to influence the definition and handling of the public service remit, especially with regard to Internet activities of public broadcasters. The European Commission considers the funding of PSB as state aid, subject to certain conditions (e.g., clear remit definition) and incompatible with the common market if it results in distortions of competition. The paper analyzes the current Commission’s investigation and decision-making practice on public service financing and the commitments (e.g., public value tests) of various EU member states to assure compliance with state aid rules, the manageability of these measures, and the effects on Internet activities of public service broadcasters.