Documents economic integration 210 results

"Is the EU enlargement the success EU institutions proclaim? Based on fifteen years of fieldwork research across Central and Eastern Europe and on migrants in the UK and Germany, this book provides a less glittering answer. The EU has betrayed hopes of social cohesion: social regulations have been forgotten, multinationals use threats of relocations, and workers, left without institutional channels to voice their concerns, have reacted by leaving their countries en masse. Yet migration, for many, increases social vulnerability.

Drawing on Hirschman's concepts of ‘Exit' and ‘Voice', the book traces the origins of such failures in the management of EU enlargement as a pure economic and market-creating exercise, neglecting the inherently political nature of labour relations. The reinforcement of market mechanisms without political counterbalances has resulted in an increase in opportunistic ‘exit' behaviour by both employers and employees, and thereby in a worsening quality of democracy, at workplace, national and European levels. As a result of this process, the EU has become more similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement between USA, Canada and Mexico, where social rights are marginalized and economic integration does not translate into better development. "

"75 years of globalization have produced a highly integrated global economy, but now globalization is reversing due to geopolitical divisions and their impact on international policy cooperation. • This report explores the risks of fragmentation – where debt restructuring and payments systems lack cohesion and where other rules and standards diverge – in the international financial and monetary systems. • Rules and institutional governance need to be adjusted to reflect the present dynamics of the world economy so that policy cooperation can be underpinned by “strong, balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth”."

"Der europäische Integrationsprozess war immer eng mit wirtschaftlicher Liberalisierung verbunden, die meist unzureichend sozial eingebettet war. Seit den Erweiterungsrunden ab 2004 sind die Mitgliedstaaten zudem sozioökonomisch heterogener. Diese Diskrepanz zwischen sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Integration hat auch die Europäische Union (EU) erkannt und mit verschiedenen Initiativen darauf reagiert. Haben sich die Erfolgsaussichten für ein soziales Europa dadurch verbessert? Dieser Beitrag geht dieser Frage am Beispiel der Entsendung von Drittstaatsangehörigen nach. Dabei konzentrieren sich die Autoren auf den nationalen Umgang mit der Entsendung von Drittstaatsangehörigen in zwei wichtigen Entsendeländern: Polen und Slowenien. Sowohl auf administrativer als auch auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene findet zwischenstaatliche Zusammenarbeit mit Zielländern statt, um sozialen Schutz zu fördern. Allerdings sind die Regeln so komplex und die Kontrolle der Entsendung administrativ kaum zu bewältigen, sodass Ausbeutung schwer verhindert werden kann."

"Eine zentrale Grundlage für den sozialen Zusammenhalt der EU war die wirtschaftliche Konvergenz ihrer Mitgliedstaaten. Die Konzentration wissenschaftlicher, technologischer und unternehmerischer Kompetenzen hat in den letzten Jahren jedoch dazu geführt, dass die wirtschaftlichen und Einkommensunterschiede insbesondere in den alten EU-Mitgliedstaaten nicht weiter konvergieren. Die mittel- und osteuropäischen Länder hingegen profitierten in den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten noch von den wirtschaftlichen Integrationsprozessen in Europa. Im Ergebnis ist die EU durch erhebliche Ungleichheiten zwischen verschiedenen Ländern, aber auch zwischen verschiedenen sozialen Gruppen gekennzeichnet. Diese können auf Grundlage eines multidimensionalen Benachteiligungsindex erfasst werden. Sowohl die Grenzen europaweiter Konvergenzprozesse als auch die territorialen und sozialen Ungleichheiten in Europa konfrontieren die EU mit der Herausforderung, den sozialen Zusammenhalt durch eigenständige transnationale Politiken sicherzustellen. Hierfür gibt es bisher keine Blaupause."

"This note argues that one should lay the focus of future European growth policy on integration and technology. This focus should be on maximising the growth effects of their interaction, with an emphasis on the importance of deep integration. The note provides three examples that show how deep integration has contributed to stop the relative economic decline in the UK vis-à-vis the EU founding members; how deep integration increased productivity in Sweden, Austria, and Finland compared to that in Norway; and how a key mechanism to advancements in the new EU member states has been the capacity of deep integration to generate institutional change."

"Perspectives on Global Development 2017 presents an overview of the shifting of economic activity to developing countries and examines whether this shift has led to an increase in international migration towards developing countries. The report focuses on the latest data on migration between 1995 and 2015, and uses a new three-way categorisation of countries. It describes the recent evolution of migration overall as well as by groups of countries according to their growth performance.It analyses what drives these trends and also studies the special case of refugees. It examines the impact on migration of migration policies as well as various sectoral policies in developing countries of origin as well as of destination, and studies the impact of migration on these countries. The report also develops four illustrative future scenarios of migration in 2030 and recommends policies that can help improve the benefits of migration for origin and destination countries, as well as for migrants. Better data, more research and evidence-based policy action are needed to prepare for expected increases in the number of migrants from developing countries. More needs to be done to avoid situations that lead to refugee spikes as well as to foster sustainable development."

"Ob als Gründer, Inhaber mittel- und kleinständischer Unternehmen oder Selbständige in einem freien Beruf, Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund leisten heute einen wichtigen Beitrag zu einem vielfältigen und leistungsstarken Mittelstand und zu einem gesunden Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland. Mehr als zwei Millionen Personen waren 2014 in Deutschland dank der unternehmerischen Tätigkeit von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Arbeit. Es gibt jedoch große Unterschiede zwischen den Bundesländern. Investitionen in Bildung und bedarfsgerechte Förder- und Beratungsstrukturen in den Bundesländern können den Leistungsbeitrag der Selbstständigen mit Zuwanderungsgeschichte für Wirtschaft und Integration vergrößern. Dies zeigt die Studie."

"Solidarity and prosperity fostered by economic integration: this principle has underpinned the European project from the start, and the establishment of a common currency was supposed to be its most audacious and tangible achievement. Since 2008, however, the European Union has ricocheted between stagnation and crisis. The inability of the eurozone to match the recovery in the USA and UK has exposed its governing structures, institutions and policies as dysfunctional and called into question the viability of a common currency shared by such different economies as Germany and Greece.

Designed to bring the European Union closer together, the euro has actually done the opposite: after nearly a decade without growth, unity has been replaced with dissent and enlargements with prospective exits. Joseph Stiglitz argues that Europe's stagnation and bleak outlook are a direct result of the fundamental flaws inherent in the euro project - economic integration outpacing political integration with a structure that promotes divergence rather than convergence. Money relentlessly leaves the weaker member states and goes to the strong, with debt accumulating in a few ill-favoured countries. The question then is: Can the euro be saved?

Laying bare the European Central Bank's misguided inflation-only mandate and explaining why austerity has condemned Europe to unending stagnation, Stiglitz outlines the fundamental reforms necessary to the structure of the eurozone and the policies imposed on the member countries suffering the most. But the same lack of sufficient political solidarity that led to the creation of a flawed euro twenty years ago suggests that these reforms are unlikely to be adopted. Hoping to avoid the huge costs associated with current policies, Stiglitz proposes two other alternatives: a well-managed end to the common currency; or a bold, new system dubbed 'the flexible euro.' This important book, by one of the world's leading economists, addresses the euro-crisis on a bigger intellectual scale than any predecessor."