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The European Union: A Politically Incorrect View

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Author Info
Alberto Alesina
Roberto Perotti

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Abstract

In this paper, we present our view of the recent evolution of European integration. We first briefly describe the main features of the institution and decision making process in the European Union, with particular attention to the debate between federalists and super nationalists. We then identify two key issues in the process of European integration: 1) an emphasis on institutional balance' based on a complex web of institutions with overlapping jurisdiction; 2) A conflict between a dirigiste versus a more laissez faire approach to government. We argue that the first problem leads to a lack of clarity in the allocation of powers between European institutions, confusion in the allocation of prerogatives between national governments and EU institutions, and lack of transparency and accountability. This dirigiste culture produces verbose rhetoric, which moves the European policy debate in the wrong direction. We then study how these problems play out in four important areas: employment policies, culture and scientific research, foreign and defense policies, and fiscal policy. Finally, we study the implications of the recently proposed European Constitution as a potential solution of these two problems.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10342.

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Date of creation: Mar 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10342

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E0 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General
H0 - Public Economics - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Alesina, Alberto F & Angeloni, Ignazio & Schuknecht, Ludger, 2002. "What Does the European Union Do?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3115, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Rui Henrique Alves, 2004. "Europe: Looking for a New Model," FEP Working Papers 154, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto. [Downloadable!]
  2. Philip R. Lane, 2006. "The Real Effects of EMU," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp115, IIIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Rui Henrique Alves, 2004. "New Constitution, New Europe: What About (Fiscal) Federalism?," ERSA conference papers ersa04p652, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
  4. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Vincenzo Galasso, 2008. "The Euro and Structural Reforms," Working Papers 344, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Catherine Mathieu & Henri Sterdyniak, 2007. "How to deal with economic divergences in EMU?," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2007-14, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Floriana Cerniglia & Laura Pagani, 2007. "The European Union and the Member States: Which Level of Government Should Do what? An Empirical Analysis of Europeans’ Preferences," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  7. Olivier Blanchard, 2004. "The Economic Future of Europe," NBER Working Papers 10310, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Islam, Roumeen, 2004. "What are the right institutions in a globalizing world? and... can we keep them if we have found them?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3448, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  9. Marco Montanari, 2006. "Between European integration and regional autonomy: the case of Italy from an economic perspective," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 277-301, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Kaarel Kilvits & Alari Purju, 2005. "Structure of Public Governance Institutions and Their Impact on Delocalisation of Labour-Intensive Industries," Working Papers 130, School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology. [Downloadable!]
  11. Floriana Cerniglia & Laura Pagani, 2007. "The allocation of competences between the European Union and the Member States: an analysis of the determinants of Europeans’ preferences," Working Papers 118, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised 2007. [Downloadable!]
  12. Annette Bongardt, 2005. "Competition Policy and EU Governance," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 28, Departamento de Economia, Gestão e Engenharia Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro. [Downloadable!]
  13. Sjef Ederveen & George Gelauff & JacquesPelkmans, 2006. "Assessing subsidiarity," CPB Documents 133, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
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