Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania
Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania

Author: Milena Nikolova

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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We examine the effect of joining the European Union on individual life satisfaction in Bulgaria and Romania in the context of the 2007 EU enlargement. Although EU membership is among the most important events in Bulgaria and Romania's modern histories, there is no evidence on how it affected the subjective well-being of ordinary people in the two countries. Using a difference-in-differences strategy and Eurobarometer data, we provide the first evidence that joining the EU increased average life satisfaction in Bulgaria and had a positive but statistically insignificant effect in Romania. One explanation is that trust towards the EU increased only in Bulgaria but not in Romania after both countries joined in 2007. Furthermore, Romania's political war of 2007 may have mired the country's positive life satisfaction experiences related to EU membership. We also show that the younger, the employed, and those with a high-school education were the winners from EU integration. Our results are robust to two placebo tests, in which we use two fake entry dates to the EU, and to an estimation using bootstrapped standard errors. Our findings have implications for EU integration policy and future enlargements.

Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region
Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region

Author: Costa, Bruno Ferreira

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2022-01-21

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 1799890570

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Despite all efforts to create a political union capable of improving European citizens’ quality of life, there are several barriers to the European Union’s (EU) expansion to the Balkan Region. The EU enlargement and expansion to the Balkan Region is one of the Union’s greatest challenges and political objectives in recent years. In the turmoil of economic, social, and sanitarian crises, where is the space to debate the enlargement of the EU? Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region presents the EU’s structure, the process of enlargement, and the challenges related to the Balkan region. This book addresses critical issues and challenges in the EU and the emerging trends for the EU’s future. Covering topics such as enlargement policy, integration, NATO, and political challenges, this book is a valuable resource for post-grad students of political science and international affairs, faculty of higher education, researchers, academicians, politicians, world leaders, and policymakers.

Bulgarian and Romanian accession to the EU
Bulgarian and Romanian accession to the EU

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008-01-17

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9780215038081

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Examines the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union under the A2 scheme and how that has had an impact in the UK. Accession makes both countries Member States of the EU, with no restriction on the freedom of movement within the Union.

Economic Policies of Populist Leaders
Economic Policies of Populist Leaders

Author: István Benczes

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-12-05

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1003822614

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Providing a comparative analysis of Central and Eastern European economies, this book explores the economic impacts of populism in those countries in the region which have seen some form of populist rule. Populism has been thriving in the new member states of the EU ever since the outburst of the global financial and economic crisis, but unlike the cases of Latin America, Brexit or the Trump administration, the emphasis has not been on trade protectionism or unsustainable macroeconomic policies in these countries. This book demonstrates that studying macroeconomic variables such as fiscal balance or current account positions cannot tell the whole story of the economic consequences of populism. Instead, a more nuanced scrutiny of who gets what under populist rule is required. Adopting the ideational definition of populism, the volume shows that Central and Eastern European populists have heavily reshaped redistributive policies; yet, they have not neglected the budget constraint of the general government. Instead, there has been a tendency to disregard the institutional constraints of decision-making in the economy and, in turn, to redefine the regulatory framework and property rights structure of the respective economies. This innovative edited volume will be of interest to readers in political economy and political science who wish to better understand the impacts of populism.

The Western Balkans and the EU
The Western Balkans and the EU

Author: Morton Abramowitz

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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Today, more than fifteen years after the end of the wars that accompanied Yugoslavia's dissolution, the "Balkan question" remains more than ever a "European question". In the eyes of many Europeans in the 1990s, Bosnia was the symbol of a collective failure, while Kosovo later became a catalyst for an emerging Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In the last decade, however, the overall thrust of the EU's Balkans policy has moved from an agenda dominated by security issues related to the war and its legacies to one focused on the perspective of the Western Balkan states' accession to the European Union. This Chaillot Paper, which features contributions from authors from various parts of the region, examines the current state of play in the countries of the Western Balkans with regard to EU accession. It brings together both views from the Balkans states themselves and overarching thematic perspectives. For the first time the European Union has become involved in the formation of new nation-states that also aspire to become members of the Union. The EU's transformative power has proved effective in integrating established states; now it is confronted with the challenge of integrating new and sometimes contested states. Against this background, this paper makes the case for a concerted regional approach to EU enlargement, and a renewed and sustained commitment to the European integration of the Western Balkans.

The Revision of the EU's Emission Trading System
The Revision of the EU's Emission Trading System

Author: U K Stationery Office

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2008-12

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780104014080

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Both the UK and the EU have pinned much of their climate change policy on the effective opeation of the EU emissions trading system (ETS). Now in its second year the scheme has yet to demonstate that it can deliver the substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions that will form the yardstick of its success. This report examines the proposed revisions to the ETS, which would take effect in the scheme's third trading period, scheduled to last from 2013 to 2020. It is ultimately felt that if the ETS is to live up to its full potential, the aim must be to link it up with emissions trading schemes in other parts of the world so as to make the most of emission reduction opportunities in additional countries and sectors. However, the establishment of such links could prove arduous. It is anticipated that the EU may eventually face stark trade-offs between maintaining the environmental integrity of the ETS and extending its reach.

Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations
Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations

Author: Alan B. Krueger

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-11-15

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0226454576

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Surely everyone wants to know the source of happiness, and indeed, economists and social scientists are increasingly interested in the study and effects of subjective well-being. Putting forward a rigorous method and new data for measuring, comparing, and analyzing the relationship between well-being and the way people spend their time—across countries, demographic groups, and history—this book will help set the agenda of research and policy for decades to come. It does so by introducing a system of National Time Accounting (NTA), which relies on individuals’ own evaluations of their emotional experiences during various uses of time, a distinct departure from subjective measures such as life satisfaction and objective measures such as the Gross Domestic Product. A distinguished group of contributors here summarize the NTA method, provide illustrative findings about well-being based on NTA, and subject the approach to a rigorous conceptual and methodological critique that advances the field. As subjective well-being is topical in economics, psychology, and other social sciences, this book should have cross-disciplinary appeal.

House of Commons - Home Affairs Committee - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (April-September 2013) - HC 820
House of Commons - Home Affairs Committee - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (April-September 2013) - HC 820

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-03-28

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13: 9780215070425

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The numbers coming from Bulgaria and Romania since the end of transitional controls appear rather more a trickle than a flood. The Government's failure to commission an estimate of these numbers has led to unnecessary anti-immigrant. It is essential that for future enlargement of the EU the Government commission research on the impact of migration to the UK. The Migration Advisory Committee should be tasked by the Government to provide an estimate of the numbers arriving in our country. The Government must also not sell citizenship to the highest bidder. Those who seek to acquire British citizenship should be fit and proper. The Warnings Index and our borders controls are still not fit for purpose and there is a real possibility that dangerous criminals have been able to enter the UK without the authorities knowing. The verdict in the Baksim Bushati case described UK's defences to illegal immigration to be "leaking like a sieve" and Border Force as "powerless" and as "hopelessly undermanned". The Migration Refusal Pool also remains a concern. Capita have found over 34,000 cases where the person has left the UK. Apart from the fact that we have a system where the Home Office cannot know where over 30,000 people are, we then pay a private company, Capita, to clarify that they have left. Capita appear to get paid for just finding out they aren't here, not actively having to do anything to remove them. This work could have been undertaken by the Home Office directly

Future Financing of the European Union
Future Financing of the European Union

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. European Union Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9780104006290

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Negotiations are underway to agree the details of the European Union budget for the period of 2007 to 2013 (known as the Financial Perspective), covering the newly enlarged EU of 25 member states. Further enlargement is likely, with Bulgaria and Romania due to join in 2007 and the possible accession of Croatia and Turkey being considered. The Committee's report considers a range of issues in relation to the current budget debate, including the merits of the Commission's proposals within the framework of recent and future EU enlargement; the Common Agricultural Policy; Structural and Cohesion Funds; the Lisbon Agenda; other spending categories; the functioning of the 'Own Resources' and a EU tax; UK abatement and the Commission's proposal for a Generalised Corrective Mechanism. Conclusions reached include support for the UK Government's insistence that the UK rebate is non-negotiable, given the inadequate reforms of the CAP; however, if real reform of the budget was offered, then the UK Government should be prepared to negotiate. Structural funds should be focused on the 10 new member states, as well as the two applicant countries of Romania and Bulgaria, with the phasing out of EU regional development funds for all 'old' member states with the exception of Greece and Portugal.

Prèm
Prèm

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2007-05-09

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9780104010617

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The Prèm Treaty is an initiative by seven Member States to enhance cooperation in combating terrorism and serious cross-border crime. There is a move to incorporate it into EU law. As it can only be adopted unanimously, the Government is in a strong negotiating position and has already obtained agreement to delete a provision on "hot pursuit". The Committee recommend that they should also seek agreement on the estimated cost of incorporating the provisions. The Prèm Treaty is mainly concerned with the exchange of data, which raises questions of data protection. It is an opportunity to link the fight against crime with agreement on a Data Protection Framework Decision. This report looks at both the Prèm initiative and other related proposal that are genuine EU initiatives.