Core-periphery Relations In The European Union: Power And Conflict In A Dualist Political Economy (routledge/uaces Contemporary European Studies)

Successive Enlargements To The European Union Membership Have Transformed It Into An Economically, Politically And Culturally Heterogeneous Body With Distinct Vulnerabilities In Its Multi-level Governance. This Book Analyses Core-periphery Relations To Highlight The Growing Cleavage, And Potential Conflict, Between The Core And Peripheral Member-states Of The Union In The Face Of The Devastating Consequences Of Eurozone Crisis. Taking A Comparative And Theoretical Approach And Using A Variety Of Case Studies, It Examines How The Crisis Has Both Exacerbated Tensions In Centre-periphery Relations Within And Outside The Eurozone, And How The European Union's Economic And Political Status Is Declining Globally. This Text Will Be Of Key Interest To Students And Scholars Of European Union Studies, European Integration, Political Economy, Public Policy, And Comparative Politics. The European Union As A Dualist Economy : Understanding Core-periphery Relations / José M. Magone, Brigid Laffan And Christian Schweiger -- Core-periphery Dynamics In The Euro Area : From Conflict To Cleavage? / Brigid Laffan -- The Centre-periphery Divide In The Eurocrisis : A Theoretical Approach / Angelos Sepos -- National Interests And Differentiated Integration In The Eu Under Crisis Conditions : The Cases Of Germany, France And Britain / Christian Schweiger -- Will The Centre Hold? : Germany, Ireland And Slovakia And The Crisis Of The European Project / Stefan Auer -- From Superficial To Forced Europeanization In Southern Europe : The Lack Of Ownership Of National Reforms / José M. Magone -- Sociopolitical Divisions In The European Union : Discourses Of Southern European Representatives In The European Institutions / Ignacio Paredero Huerta --^ The Increasing Core-periphery Divide And The New Member States : Diverging From The European Union's Mainstream Developments / Attila Ágh -- The Southern And Eastern Peripheries Of Europe : Is Convergence A Lost Cause? / Bela Galgoczi -- Greece And The Troika In The Context Of The Eurozone Crisis / Anna Visvizi -- Confronting Interrelated Crises In The Eu's Western Periphery : Steering Ireland-eu Relations Back To The Centre / Bernadette Connaughton -- Portugal Is A Good Pupil Of The European Union : Living Under The Regime Of The Troika / José M. Magone -- Cyprus : The Troika's New Approach To Resolving A Financial Crisis In A Eurozone Member State / Thorsten Kruse -- The Politics Of Troika Avoidance : The Case Of Spain / José M. Magone -- Italy Between Trasformismon And Transformative Europe / Marco Brunazzo And Vincent Della Sala -- The Hungarian Agony Over Eurozone Accession / Olivér Kovács --^ Peripheries, Or Perhaps Already The Centre? : The Impact Of Ten Years Of Membership In The European Union On The Position And Perceptions Of Poland / Maciej Duszczynsk -- From Core To Periphery? : The Impact Of The Crisis On The Eu's Role In The World / Carolin Rüger -- The Undermining Of Gobal Europe : The Impact Of The Eurozone Crisis On Third Country Perceptions Of The European Union / Edward Yencken. Edited By José M. Magone, Brigid Laffan, Christian Schweiger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half Title 4 Title Page 8 Copyright page 9 Dedication 10 Table of Contents 12 List of illustrations 15 List of contributors 17 Preface 22 Abbreviations 25 1. The European Union as a dualist political economy: Understanding core–periphery relations 30 Conceptualising core–periphery relations in the European Union 30 Recognising the European Union’s dualist economy 33 The end of the benevolent European Union: the invention of the Troika 35 The international dimension of the core–periphery divide in the European Union 38 The structure of the book 40 Conclusions: the centrality of core–periphery relations in the European Union 42 References 42 Part I: Theoretical perspectives 46 2. Core–periphery dynamics in the Euro area: From conflict to cleavage? 48 Introduction 48 Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) 49 Framing the Euro crisis 51 The legacy of the crisis 57 Conclusion: Conflict or Cleavage? 60 References 61 3. The centre–periphery divide in the Eurocrisis: A theoretical approach 64 Introduction 64 Theorizing the centre–periphery divide: a focus on Europe 65 Theorizing capitalism: ‘finance-capital’ and ‘financialization’ and their impact on the centre–periphery divide in Europe 68 Conclusion 79 Notes 81 References 81 Part II: Comparative approaches 86 4. National interests and differentiated integration in the EU under crisis conditions: The cases of Germany, France and Britain 88 Background to the crisis: lack of strategic leadership under the EU’s variable leadership geometry 88 German, French and British approaches towards the crisis: the unavoidable path towards differentiated integration 93 Conclusions 97 References 97 5. Will the centre hold?: Germany, Ireland and Slovakia and the crisis of the European project 101 The tyranny of values: a case against a ‘German Europe’? 102 Mario Draghi as Mephistopheles 105 Ireland as a ‘poster child for austerity’: a case for a German Europe? 109 Whose solidarity? For whom? 111 Concluding remarks 112 Notes 113 Bibliography 113 6. From ‘superficial’ to ‘coercive’ Europeanization in southern Europe: The lack of ownership of national reforms 116 Introduction: southern Europe as the periphery of the European Union 116 Conceptualising southern Europe and Europeanisation 117 Common features of European integration among southern European countries 117 The impact of the Euro and sovereign debt crisis in southern Europe: the introduction of coercive Europeanisation 122 Conclusions: reforming the southern European model of capitalism 124 References 124 7. Sociopolitical divisions in the European Union: Discourses of southern European representatives in the European institutions 128 Introduction 128 Theoretical framework 129 Methodology and research strategy 131 Research strategy 132 The discourses of Southern European representatives in the institutions of the EU 133 Conclusions 141 Note 142 Bibliography 142 List of interviews 144 8. The increasing core–periphery divide and new member states: Diverging from the European Union’s mainstream developments 146 Introduction: the increasing core–periphery divide and the current transformation crisis 146 Western bias as a conceptual trap in discussing DI in NMS 147 National resistance and negative externalities: the double evil in the NMS 150 Conclusion and discussion: the need for a new start for NMS within the EU 152 Notes 155 References 156 9. The southern and eastern peripheries of Europe: Is convergence a lost cause? 159 Introduction 159 From convergence to divergence 160 The role of the structure of the economy 163 Foreign direct investment as a key driver of convergence 167 Wages are just one factor of competitiveness 171 Conclusions 172 References 173 Part III: Country studies on the political management of the Troika Adjustment Programmes and the sovereign debt crisis 176 10. Greece and the Troika in the context of the Eurozone crisis 178 Introduction 178 Placing the crisis, the bailout and the Troika’s engagement with Greece in perspective 179 The key components of the Greek rescue programme 180 Structural problems of the Greek economy and the insolvency issue 183 Negotiations over the bailout programme and description of the final bailout programme 184 Conclusion 192 Note 192 References 192 11. Confronting interrelated crises in the EU’s Western periphery: Steering Ireland–EU relations back to the centre 195 Introduction 195 The interrelated crises: global, European or home-grown? 195 Confronting the crisis: ‘no bank can be allowed to fail’ 196 Enduring the crisis: from the guarantee to the bailout 197 Introducing the Troika programme 199 Implementing the EU/IMF programme: institutional arrangements 201 ‘Fixing the country’: reputational, banking and fiscal adjustment 201 Exiting the bailout 205 Conclusions 205 References 206 12. Portugal as the ‘good pupil of the European Union’: Living under the regime of the Troika 208 Introduction: the tale of the ‘good pupil of the European Union’ 208 The emergence of the Troika in Portugal 209 The implementation of the programme of austerity measures: process and first assessment 212 Democratic institutions and rudimentary welfare states under pressure 215 Conclusions 216 References 216 13. Cyprus: The Troika’s new approach to resolving a financial crisis in a Eurozone member state 219 Introduction 219 From British Crown colony to a problem case in the Eurozone 219 The beginnings of the Cypriot crisis 220 The Mari explosion 222 The 2011 Russian loan 223 The Greek haircut and its effects on Cyprus 224 Cyprus on the road to insolvency 225 The Troika in Cyprus 226 Presidential elections and the final agreement 227 The bail-in 228 The implementation of the bailout deal and its consequences 229 Challenging topics in 2015 230 Conclusions 231 References 231 14. The politics of Troika avoidance: The case of Spain 234 Introduction 234 The development of the Spanish economy 234 Managing the crisis I: the José Luis Zapatero administration (2008–2011) 236 Managing the crisis II: the Mariano Rajoy administration (2011–2015) 239 Conclusions 242 References 242 15. Italy between transformismo and transformation 245 Italy and Europe: on the margins of both centre and periphery 246 The centre does not hold 251 Conclusion 254 References 255 Part IV: Case studies on the impact of the crisis on non-Eurozone member states in the periphery 258 16. The Hungarian agony over Eurozone accession 260 Introduction 260 The socio-economic development landscape in Hungary 261 Political-social factors behind agonising uncertainties 271 Concluding remarks 274 Notes 275 References 277 17. Periphery, or perhaps already the centre?: The impact of ten years of membership in the European Union on the position and perceptions of Poland 280 Introduction 280 The economic and political situation of Poland before accession to the European Union 281 Ten years of economic and social development: sufficient to change Poland’s status within the EU? 282 The political importance of Poland 289 Conclusions 292 Notes 293 References 293 Part V: Global dimension 296 18. From core to periphery?: The impact of the crisis on the EU’s role in the world 298 Introduction 298 Understanding the multidimensional mosaic of the EU’s role in the world 299 Consequences of the crisis for CFSP and CSDP 300 Consequences of the crisis for other EU external policies 303 Strategic implications for the inner-European power structure and the EU’s role in global power plays 304 The euro crisis: blow or boost for the EU as a global actor? 306 Conclusions 307 Notes 308 References 308 19. The undermining of ‘global Europe’?: The impact of the Eurozone crisis on third country perceptions of the European Union 312 Introduction 312 From internal to external: the emergence of the Eurozone crisis as a potential factor in EU external relations 313 EU–Australia relations and the Eurozone crisis: from stability to instability? 316 Perception versus reality: the limited tangible impact of the Eurozone crisis on EU external relations 319 Conclusion 322 Notes 323 References 323 List of interviews 325 20. Core–periphery relations in the European Union: Some conclusions 327 The nature and sources of the core–periphery divide in the EU 327 Has the cleavage become more severe during the financial and sovereign debt crisis? 328 What are the effects of a deepening core–periphery cleavage for the governance of the European Union or its legitimacy vis-à-vis its citizens? 329 The international dimension 331 Conclusions: learning to understand Europe as a ‘dualist economy’ 332 References 332 Index 334 Most of the contributions were presented in a previous version at a conference entitled 'Core-periphery relations in the European Union as an emerging cleavage of European politics and public policy? Empirical studies of differentiated integration', at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (BSEL) on 11-12 October 2013. A first volume of the project was published in September 2014 as a special issue under the title 'The effects of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis: Differentiated integration between centre and the new peripheries of the EU' in Perspectives in European Politics and Societies, Vol. 15, No. 3. A book on the same topic edited by Christian Schweiger and José M. Magone was published by Routledge in 2015. This second volume complements the first one; however, it focuses less on the Eurozone and more on core-periphery relations and the implications for European integration