Bücher der Reihe Cite Europeenne/European Policy

Transatlantic economic relations remain extremely important for the European Union as well as for other countries in the world. When it comes to trade and foreign direct investment, the EU and the United States remain arguably the world¿s most powerful actors, despite the financial crisis which started in the United States in 2007 and subsequently spread to Europe and to the Eurozone in particular. This crisis has created great economic strain on both Europe and North America, with politicians trying to muddle through and disagreeing on which strategy to adopt. The dominance of the Atlantic countries in the global political economy is now challenged by new emerging powers, including the so-called BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). These countries have succeeded in keeping much higher growth rates than Europe and North America, although they too are now affected by the global economic crisis. This book is focused on these issues as well as other issues in transatlantic relations, including competition and environment policy. Given the complex interdependence of transatlantic countries they need to work together to solve the issues that divide them.

La rupture observée au début des années 90 dans la courbe du soutien public à l'intégration européenne a posé avec acuité le problème de la place de l'opinion publique dans l'ensemble du processus d'intégration. L'émergence de ce débat européen ne saurait occulter le fait qu'il se décline en fonction des situations nationales. Le choix a donc été fait de proposer dans cet ouvrage un article par pays, en retenant une sélection représentative de chaque étape: l'Allemagne, la Belgique, la France et l'Italie parmi les six fondateurs; le Danemark et la Grande-Bretagne pour le premier élargissement, outre la Norvège; le Portugal pour celui de 1986; l'Autriche pour 1995; enfin deux pays adhérents, la Hongrie et la République tchèque. Cette démarche offre l'avantage d'apporter un éclairage inédit sur certaines opinions publiques négligées en tant que telles par les publications et de permettre de fructueuses comparaisons. L'objectif est aussi de conjuguer dans une approche pluridisciplinaire un regard historique et des clés d'explication politologiques. The importance of public opinion in the process of European integration was brought into sharp focus at the start of the 1990s. Discussion about the future of Europe comes in a variety of forms, however, depending on the circumstances of the country concerned. This book brings together important and insightful articles about public opinion in countries at the centre of this European debate. These concern Germany, Belgium, France and Italy, from the founding members; the UK and Denmark from the first enlargement, with Norway; Portugal, from the 1986 enlargement and Austria, from the 1995 one; Hungary and the Czech Republic, two candidate-countries due to accede to the EU in 2004. This volume re-evaluates the importance of particular strands of public opinion which are often overlooked in the academic literature. Seen in this fresh light, interesting comparisons and contrasts emerge. The aim of this book is also to bring together both history and political theory.

Supporters of European integration have always argued that it has brought peace. Yet no scientific study has ever developed a critical approach to such a claim. To remedy this surprising deficiency, the author builds a typology that will help to distinguish the two main opposing approaches to this question: that of the Europeanists and that of the Eurosceptics. The dialectical confrontation between these two approaches is the red thread of the book. Taken up in each of the chapters, it provides a synthetic point of view aimed at overcoming this opposition. The author shows that the contribution of the European construction to peace lies in the nuances, thus distinguishing itself from the irenical slogans of the Europeanists while dismantling the arguments of the Eurosceptics. He concludes that the EU will never be able to prevent extremist and belligerent tendencies among the European states and/or peoples. It can, however, limit the damage those tendencies could cause through the rules and institutions which the Member States have committed to respecting.

L¿évaluation des politiques jette un regard objectif sur la conduite de l¿action publique. Elle informe les décideurs politico-administratifs et les citoyens, concernés par le fonctionnement de l¿État, sur les effets induits par la mise en ¿uvre des politiques. À travers une comparaison détaillée de situations observées dans quatre pays, cet ouvrage présente les configurations institutionnelles mises en place pour favoriser l¿essor de la pratique évaluative. La compréhension des facteurs explicatifs des différences entre les cas étudiés s¿attache aux principales caractéristiques du système politique et administratif, ainsi qüaux éléments de nature conjoncturelle tels que la lutte contre les déficits publics ou la volonté de renforcer la légitimité des institutions publiques. En plus d¿offrir une des premières analyses comparées en la matière, cet ouvrage éclaire, sous un angle nouveau, les théories institutionnalistes et d¿analyse des organisations en s¿appuyant sur une recherche empirique approfondie.