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Referendums on specific EU policies or EU integration more generally have become a familiar feature of EU politics. Dermot Hodson and Imelda Maher consider three main explanations for governments’ increasing call for referendums: to secure bargaining advantages at the EU level, to enhance political standing domestically and to (de-)legitimize EU decision-making. Based on case studies of eight single issue referendums in five EU member states, they demonstrate that governments tend to call a referendum when the issue at stake can be approved under domestic law, but lacks political legitimacy. Government leaders use referendums either to manage internal party differences, gain electoral advantages over rivals or boost their personal popularity. In light of these results, Dermot and Imelda contend that referendums as a strategic instrument of direct democracy will remain a prominent feature of EU politics in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has an uneven economic impact with women facing more negative financial consequences than men. To understand whether this unequal economic burden translated into gendered differences in support for national governments, Jacopo Mazza and Marco Scipioni analyze survey data on European citizens’ attitudes and opinions during the COVID-19 pandemic between April and October 2020. They show that the initially high support for governments has generally decreased in the period under investigation and that the decline in government support was most pronounced amongst working women. This finding can be explained by the higher burden placed on women who tend to be employed in sectors heavily exposed to pandemic-containment measures in comparison to men. Overall, the article provides further evidence that socio-demographic groups most affected by the crisis are also the ones who express lower support for their government.

Under which conditions do individuals support a universal basic income (UBI)? Taking a comparative perspective, Leire Rincon investigates how the specific design of UBI shapes public support for such a policy compared to other policy proposals. Leire argues that its universality and unconditionality generate opposition to UBI since these principles depart from traditional welfare rationales of giving those in need. Hence, if deservingness considerations are met, support for UBI should increase. The results of a conjoint experiment conducted in Spain reveal that while universality is the most controversial feature of the policy, unconditionality is not. Additionally, using progressive funding mechanisms such as taxing the rich and limiting eligibility increase support for UBI. The findings imply that support for UBI may be fostered through policy design (i.e. if the policy is funded by the rich) so that even unpopular features may enjoy public backing.

Another turbulent year draws to a close. We would like to thank you, our dear reviewers, authors and readers, for making 2021 a busy and successful year for JEPP.  Only thanks to your support, JEPP’s machine kept humming despite the ongoing difficult situation and uncertainties surrounding the COVID pandemic.

Hopefully, all of you can enjoy a well-deserved break over the holidays. We are looking forward to seeing you in the next year! Stay tuned for our upcoming issues, debate sections and special issues. Follow us on Twitter (@jepp_journal), read and subscribe to our newsletter.

Season’s greetings and all good wishes,

Your JEPP team

PS: And if you’re keen to know how JEPP’s editorial team will spend their holidays, go ahead and scroll down!

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Since last year’s wishes of a bit more “old normal” only partly came true, Michi and his family decided to come to terms with the new normal and moved into a new apartment with a small garden, while staying in their favorite quarter of Munich, Neuhausen. Desk and books are already arranged zoom-friendly, but almost three months later, there is still enough to be done for the holiday break – lights, curtains, and most importantly a new guest sofa.

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In 2021, with the birth of little Tilda, Sarah’s life turned upside down. Since summer, for most parts, instead of writing and reading, she found herself changing nappies and rocking the baby to sleep during extensive walks. These days, she has swaped her hiking boots for cross-country skis and profits from (‘tourist-free’) empty slopes during lockdown. Hopefully, Tilda will finally start liking her car seat so that she (well, and Alex and Sarah) can enjoy her first ride to the Black Forest where they will spend Christmas together with Sarah’s family.

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Pandemic lifestyle changes take their toll, because Berthold was pretty nervous when he took his first flight in two years to travel to Rome for a small workshop. Aimlessly wandering around the eternal city in the early morning hours was definitely one of the highlights this year. Staying safe (and sane) is  no lesser highlight, so Berthold is extremely grateful to his family (and cat) for being so wonderful. And in 2021 he finally learned how to brew a proper espresso.

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Tess and Molly will be joining Sonia and I at our Akaroa house for our, now traditional, New Zealand Christmas.  Murphy will also be coming along. He loves the car ride to Akaroa, but the real plus for him is that our two cats stay at home and he gets all our attention. The girls will go kayaking if the weather holds, but Sonia and I will stay on the beach with Murphy. He is none too keen on actually going into the (usually cold) sea. Murphy is no fool! Indeed, he is so clever that I suggested he might make a submission to JEPP, but as yet he shows not the slightest interest. I showed him the latest rankings too. Maybe he is not as clever as I think he is?

At the EU level, policy outputs reflect compromises between a wide range of actors. Amongst these actors, the European Parliament takes up a special position since it is the only directly elected EU institution. To further shed light on the EP’s role in this complex policy-making process, in his recently published article, Rory Costello examines how the EP’s ideological positioning feeds into legislative negotiations. Covering the period between 1999 and 2019, Rory finds that the policy positions adopted by the EP more closely reflect the ideological profile of the major party groups (the EPP, S&D and ALDE) than the median MEP. In addition, the EP tends to adopt a pro-integration position in line with its ideological composition, but there is no evidence of a systematic policy bias towards integration relative to the member states. Overall, the findings indicate that MEPs adhere to the policy programs on which they were elected and do not prioritize increasing the influence of the EP through deeper integration. The EP, thus, seems to be more responsive to the voters than some critics might suspect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though most Council delegations are composed of coalitions of ideologically diverse parties, its members are often conceptualized as a single player per member state. Questioning the monolithic interpretation of national interests in the Council, Petia Kostadinova and Amie Kreppel investigate in their article the extent to which partisan differences within government coalitions manifest themselves in the positions expressed within the Council. They argue that delegations consist of multiple actors who might have different preferences than the partners in the national government. To account for the potential preference divergence, Petia and Amie analyze the differences between the policy position of each member state in the Council and the preferences of the respective governing coalitions between 1996-2018. The analyses demonstrate that ministers can indeed shape a state’s position to align more closely with their own preferences rather than to one of their coalition partners. Coalition agreements, however, reduce policy drift, possibly because they constrain ministers or because they reduce the minister’s need to shift policy outcomes since they represent policy compromises. Overall, this study suggests that when analyzing decision-making at the EU level, future research should take into consideration that member states in the Council are not necessarily unitary actors.