TY - JOUR
T1 - Financing social and cohesion policy in an enlarged EU
T2 - Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?
AU - Kay, Adrian
AU - Ackrill, Robert
PY - 2007/11
Y1 - 2007/11
N2 - The development of the Open Method of Coordination, agreement on the Lisbon Agenda and EU enlargement offered the prospect of a new and substantial EU social policy agenda. This article considers EU social and cohesion policies in the context of the recent negotiation of the EU budget for 2007-13. We find the Commission's wish to redistribute EU spending in favour of these policy areas and new member states was thwarted by key political features of EU budget making: CAP spending levels which are downwardly sticky; institutional arrangements which provide for budget making as, at best, a zero-sum game; and the preferences of contributor member states in the EU-15 to contain overall spending while preserving their net budget positions. Questions are thus raised as to the ability of the EU to make any progress, from a budgetary perspective, on the social and cohesion policy agenda in an enlarged EU.
AB - The development of the Open Method of Coordination, agreement on the Lisbon Agenda and EU enlargement offered the prospect of a new and substantial EU social policy agenda. This article considers EU social and cohesion policies in the context of the recent negotiation of the EU budget for 2007-13. We find the Commission's wish to redistribute EU spending in favour of these policy areas and new member states was thwarted by key political features of EU budget making: CAP spending levels which are downwardly sticky; institutional arrangements which provide for budget making as, at best, a zero-sum game; and the preferences of contributor member states in the EU-15 to contain overall spending while preserving their net budget positions. Questions are thus raised as to the ability of the EU to make any progress, from a budgetary perspective, on the social and cohesion policy agenda in an enlarged EU.
KW - Budget constraints
KW - EU enlargement
KW - EU social and cohesion policies
KW - Financial perspectives
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34848839302&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0958928707081067
DO - 10.1177/0958928707081067
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34848839302
SN - 0958-9287
VL - 17
SP - 361
EP - 374
JO - Journal of European Social Policy
JF - Journal of European Social Policy
IS - 4
ER -