European Union Studies Working Group

VI^th Session – March 13, 2012, 13:15h - 15h, Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

The Luxembourg Arrangement of 1966:
A Path-Dependent Phenomenon in EU History

by Philip Bajon (Jean Monnet Fellow, HEC)

Abstract: This project’s central goal is to examine the process of de-legitimizing of the Luxembourg Compromise, an informal agreement of the EC member-states about how to handle voting in the Council of Ministers, during the period between 1966 and 1986. The project aims to reconstruct the transformation over time of core dimensions of the consensus culture that particularly dominated the Council’s decision-making during these two decades: which actors claimed a veto? Which arguments were employed and how did they change? Which conceptions of European Union did these arguments reflect? What influence did structural changes have on the fading of the Luxembourg arrangement and increased use of voting? Utilizing relevant political science theories as ‘heuristic tools’, the project will employ a qualitative source-based research methodology with in-depth research on five case studies and multi-archival research in several EU countries including sources from different state and non-state actors. With this design, the project focuses on key supra- and transnational dimensions of European integration history with great potential for strong impact on contemporary historical and political science research in particular.

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The Impact Of Redistribution On Attitudes Towards Europe:
A Time Series Analysis

by Laurie Beaudonnet (Researcher, SPS)

Abstract: European studies unanimously designate 1992 as a breaking point in European public opinion. After a regular increase in support for Europe during the second half of the 1980s, a record approval rate of 77% was reached in 1991, followed by a steep decrease until the mid- 1990s. According to Dalton and Eichenberg (2007), the 1992 dramatic drop in support was a side-effect of the Maastricht Treaty: the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) raised citizens’ awareness on the integration consequences for the economy and the welfare state in European public opinion. The financial pressures that came along with the EMU raised concerns about the potential consequences for the level of social protection and labour market (de) regulation.

This paper assesses the empirical validity of this hypothesis by analysing the effect of redistribution on support for Europe over time, in three steps. Redistribution is here intended first of all as national redistribution, that is, welfare regime and welfare issues (social protection and inequality reduction). I investigate first the effects of redistribution on general support for Europe. Then, I narrow down the focus to social concerns and analyse who fears the EU’s influence on national social protection. Finally, I investigate specific support for European social policy. I use data from Eurobarometer studies from 1996 to 2009, focusing on the EU Fifteen. Individual data has been aggregated to the national level so the unit of analysis is member state. Consequently, I use fixed effect time series cross sectional analysis.

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