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The political economy of European federalism

Author

Listed:
  • Jean Michel Josselin

    (CREM - CNRS)

  • Alain Marciano

    (University of Reims – CNRS – EconomiX – IDEP)

Abstract

In spite of the clear objective assigned to the integration process in the 1950s, the institutional status of the European Union remains ambiguous and uneasy to define. The argument that we present in this article is that Europe has always hesitated between two forms of federalism. We use an agency framework and demonstrate that before the landmark cases Van Gend en Loos and Costa v. E.N.E.L., the European Union is mainly a confederation but it already contains elements of a federation. Afterwards, the institutional structure of the Union evolves towards a more centralised federalism but still shows lasting elements of a confederation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Michel Josselin & Alain Marciano, 2006. "The political economy of European federalism," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 200607, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    • Handle: RePEc:tut:cremwp:200607
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Voigt, "undated". "Iudex Calculat: The ECJ's Quest for Power," German Working Papers in Law and Economics 2003-1-1066, Berkeley Electronic Press.
    2. James Buchanan, 1996. "Europe as social reality," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 253-256, December.
    3. Robert P. Inman & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 1997. "Rethinking Federalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 43-64, Fall.
    4. Tridimas, George & Tridimas, Takis, 2004. "National courts and the European Court of Justice: a public choice analysis of the preliminary reference procedure," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 125-145, June.
    5. Robert Inman & Daniel Rubinfeld, 2002. "Subsidiarity, governance, and EU economic policy," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 3(04), pages 3-11, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cherry, Barbara A., 2015. "Technology transitions within telecommunications networks: Lessons from U.S. vs. Canadian policy experimentation under federalism," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 463-485.
    2. Cherry, Barbara A., 2013. "Policymaking for the PSTN-to-IP transition within federalism: Lessons from US v. Canadian experimentation," 24th European Regional ITS Conference, Florence 2013 88518, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Federation; confederation; political economy; European Union.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • K10 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - General (Constitutional Law)
    • N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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