Global Policy

Guest editor Damian Chalmers introduces the special issue by highlighting three themes raised by Lord Dahrendorf in a 2003 article: ‘the processes which have led to the Union being a space for technical cooperation rather than vigorous political contestation, the resilience of the characterisation of Europe as a Utopia, and finally Europe’s need to build a common and democratic social space.’

Helmut Anheier and Gesa-Stefanie Brincker set the stage for this special issue: ‘Looking back and looking forth, it is remarkable how valid Lord Dahrendorf’s criticism, and how relevant his suggestions for Europe’s future remain. His reflections about the EU capture some of the fundamental challenges concerning its architecture, performance and communication.’

Has a lack of economics training among prime ministers and finance ministers possibly led to decisions in the EU that focus more on legal issues than on economic sense? Mark Hallerberg and Joachim Wehner compare the “competence” of the principal economic policy-makers in 27 European Union (EU) member states with those in other advanced economies and find that EU prime and finance ministers are more likely to have legal rather than economics training, which distinguishes them from their OECD peers.

Governments in Europe are desperate for advice on how to stop contagion and a new recession. For Anke Hassel and Waltraud Shelkle this seems a pertinent moment for taking stock of what the economic policy consensus of the recent past has been. They argue that there was clearly a consensus on macroeconomic policy that was not monetarist or of the real business cycle variety – or what political scientists would call neoliberalism. Instead, the consensus research programme consisted of an intense analysis of market imperfections and endorsed active policy interventions, especially on the supply side.

Daniela Schwarzer looks ahead to the emergence of a new debate on limits to sovereignty and the technocratisation of politics as a reaction to the reforms launched in 2010, arguing that an institutional set-up which continues to only incrementally adapt to the inner and outer challenges by not strengthening supranational policy making based on its own sources of legitimacy will not be able to solve the collective action problems inherent in the EMU’s asymmetric set-up.

‘We find ourselves in an intermediate stage when the old is dying and the new has not yet been born.’ Loukas Tsoukalis looks at the bigger picture of the European crisis, which is the worst economic crisis for decades, with no end in sight as yet. It will shape Europe and European integration for years to come, but it also risks leading Europe down the road to disintegration.

‘Whatever we decide, we have to decide it together, in a cross-border and transparent way.’ In this speech, Sylvie Goulard calls for a new democratic system after in-depth analysis of the causes of the crisis – a systemic political crisis, not just a financial one – and after launching a public debate.

With the fiscal crises reducing the capacity of many EU member states to support the European Project financially, what mechanisms or policy instruments could, in the sense of social engineering, strengthen social bonds across borders, and re-energise Europe’s social space? Helmut Anheier and Mariella Falkenhain explain the need to revisit the basic model of social integration, elaborate on the relationship between social class and European identity, test the social inclusiveness of two European mobility programmes, and reflect on ways on how to re-energise a common European social space, making it accessible to a variety of population groups.

Norbert Röttgen talks about the nature of the European crisis, the fate of European power, and ways to overcome the democratic deficits of the European Union.

‘Ralf Dahrendorf would have encouraged us to be courageous in order to drive forward the idea of liberty.’ Wolfgang Ischinger calls for more courage in the EU, more mutual appreciation and more interference in a positive way!

In his speech Robert Murphy contends that there has been a quiet crisis of confidence, which predates the financial crisis about the European Union and European Union member states ruling the world stage. This crisis also affects European defence policy.

‘In historical terms the relationship between the United States and Europe constitutes one of the most intimate in modern times. Indeed, if America, in Irving Howe’s view began life as a distinctly European project, Europe’s very own and very bloody ‘thirty years war’ between 1914 and 1945 brought about a major role reversal.’ In this article, Michael Cox looks at two great moments in the history of the transatlantic relationship since the end of the Cold War in 1989.

Mary Kaldor argues that fears about Europe becoming a superpower and overriding national sovereignty are unfounded because the European Union is a new type of polity that could offer a model for global governance, and uses the example of the Common Defence and Security Policy (CSDP), formerly ESDP, as a crucial illustration.

Thomas Risse argues that one cannot begin to understand EU foreign policy without taking identity politics into account. ‘First, the differential Europeanization of national identities explains to a large degree why the current European Security and Defense Policy has not been supranationalized. Second, the gap between the EU’s grandiose rhetoric as a”force for good” in the world and its inability to put this foreign policy identity at work in its practice largely results from the fact that the EU’s construction of a distinct foreign policy identity is inward- rather than outward-oriented.’

Arne Westad argues that ‘just when parts of the European integration project seem to be in significant amounts of trouble, Chinese leaders are beginning to open their eyes to the need for more in-depth cooperation with both the Union itself and with individual European countries. After years of relative neglect, when China’s main priorities have been the United States, the eastern Asian region, and the main developing economies (roughly in that order), Europe is coming into fashion for discussion in Beijing both as opportunity and threat.’