TY - JOUR
T1 - Explaining EU integration dynamics in the wake of COVID-19
T2 - a domain of application approach
AU - Becker, Manuel
AU - Gehring, Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
The bargaining outcome regarding the share of non-refundable subsidies in the package roughly reflects the power distribution among the member states. The Franco-German initiative advocated a €500 billion reconstruction fund with funding provided as grants (German Government, ). The Commission set the agenda by proposing a package including €500 billion in grants, as suggested by France and Germany, plus an additional €250 billion in loans that would help to solve pending issues of the simultaneously negotiated multiannual financial framework (European Commission, ). While this proposal met the interests of the most affected beneficiary states, the ‘frugal four’ rejected the proposal and pushed for financial assistance solely based on loans (Howarth & Quaglia, , pp. 1564–1565). Being net contributors, these countries were in a more favourable bargaining position than the major beneficiaries with their dependence on the programme. However, their power was not unlimited, because the package was linked to the multiannual EU budget (European Council, , p. 1) and blockade would have caused a stalemate of EU politics. Against this backdrop, the ‘frugal four’ compromised. They succeeded in reducing the share of grants considerably – from €500 to €390 billion euros, increasing the share of loans from €250 to €360 billion. Moreover, they obtained significantly higher rebates to the EU budget, which will be financed by all member states (European Council, : paras. 152-153).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - This article explores the heterogeneous and uneven EU response to the COVID-19 pandemic across policy fields and examines how integration theories can contribute to explaining the presence (or absence) of new integration steps and their varying nature. To analyse European activities in three policy fields, namely fiscal policy, centralised European vaccine procurement, and border politics, we develop a ‘Domain of Application’ approach (DOA). Instead of testing integration theories against each other, DOA allows bridging different theoretical traditions by making use of their complementary explanatory power to derive better explanations of complex empirical issues. We find that Liberal Intergovernmentalism and Neofunctionalism offer complementary explanations for several empirical puzzles, which together provide a more compelling picture of the effects of the pandemic on European integration. In addition, DOA advances our understanding of the scopes of both theories.
AB - This article explores the heterogeneous and uneven EU response to the COVID-19 pandemic across policy fields and examines how integration theories can contribute to explaining the presence (or absence) of new integration steps and their varying nature. To analyse European activities in three policy fields, namely fiscal policy, centralised European vaccine procurement, and border politics, we develop a ‘Domain of Application’ approach (DOA). Instead of testing integration theories against each other, DOA allows bridging different theoretical traditions by making use of their complementary explanatory power to derive better explanations of complex empirical issues. We find that Liberal Intergovernmentalism and Neofunctionalism offer complementary explanations for several empirical puzzles, which together provide a more compelling picture of the effects of the pandemic on European integration. In addition, DOA advances our understanding of the scopes of both theories.
KW - Border politics
KW - COVID-19
KW - European integration
KW - NextGenerationEU
KW - domain of application approach
KW - vaccine procurement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122868405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13501763.2022.2027000
DO - 10.1080/13501763.2022.2027000
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122868405
SN - 1350-1763
VL - 30
SP - 334
EP - 353
JO - Journal of European Public Policy
JF - Journal of European Public Policy
IS - 2
ER -