Paulo Vila Maior | Universidade de Coimbra (original) (raw)
Papers by Paulo Vila Maior
The paper surveys the theoretical arguments emphasising why the Stability and Growth Pact will no... more The paper surveys the theoretical arguments emphasising why the Stability and Growth Pact will not be strictly enforceable and the reasons that encourage a rigid implementation. Then, the events of the second half of 2003 that affected the implementation of the pact are reviewed. If the pact seems virtually dead, the truth is that prominent actors didn't put their signature on the pact's death sentence. Therefore ambiguity comes to the surface, feeding the uncertainty that ultimately affects Economic and Monetary Union. resumo O artigo apresenta os argumentos favoráveis à flexibilização do Pacto de Estabilidade e Crescimento e à sua aplicação rígida, sem envolver quaisquer desvios às regras aceites por todos os Estados membros. Os acontecimentos da segunda metade de 2003, que vieram por em causa o pacto, são analisados de forma crítica. Se, na aparência, o pacto parece estar morto, nenhum dos principais actores envolvidos na sua aplicação admite este resultado. A ambiguidade é o mote para um clima de incerteza que afecta a credibilidade da União Económica e Monetária.
Annual Conference and 11th. Research Conference, ‘Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2006 - Visions of Eu... more Annual Conference and 11th. Research Conference, ‘Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2006 - Visions of Europe: Key Problems, New Trajectories’, 36, Limerick (Ireland), 2006.
Apesar da polémica, a Constituição da União Europeia tem predicados. Neste artigo concentramo-nos... more Apesar da polémica, a Constituição da União Europeia tem predicados. Neste artigo concentramo-nos no reforço da participação dos parlamentos nacionais na tomada de decisão da União. Olhando ao passado recente-esboroamento da base parlamentar, fuga do poder executivo para as decisões tomadas no Conselho de Ministros da União-a Constituição permite a reconquista de poderes pelos parlamentos nacionais. Por aí, retoma o ponto de contacto com os cidadãos. Neste sentido, a Constituição é um passo em frente na democratização da integração europeia.
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
População e Sociedade, 2021
The results of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections cast an unprecedented challenge for th... more The results of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections cast an unprecedented challenge for the European Union (EU). Growing popularity of right-wing and left-wing, populist and radical political parties and the rising number of members of the parliament materialise the challenge. The article explores the seismic effects of the reconfiguration of the political landscape for European integration. The rising number of populist and radical political parties’ members of the parliament might weaken the political centre of gravity in the EP. Since the EP plays an important role on the legislative process of the EU, populist and radical parties’ Euroscepticism (if not their standpoint against the EU) might pervade the EP and threaten the EU with the prospect of setback, or at least stagnation.
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaki... more The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies o...
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2020
Antropologicas, 2009
Fernando pessoa. o oBErCID é um observatório permanente de cidadania.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008
A political-economic model largely influenced by the monetarist school inspires European Economic... more A political-economic model largely influenced by the monetarist school inspires European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Accordingly, neither income redistribution nor resource allocation is the cornerstone of economic policy mix. That role is reserved to the stabilisation function. Among those scholars who discuss whether the EU is comparable to existing cases of "conventional fiscal federalism", the analysis is frequently concentrated on allocation and redistribution. Despite macroeconomic stabilisation is the key aspect of EMU, the paper undergoes a comparative analysis between the European Union (EU) and five mature federations (United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland) as far as resource allocation is concerned. It first surveys the operation of the allocation function in these countries, concluding that there are remarkable differences when the countries under examination are measured within a centralisation/decentralisation continuum. Resource allocation is subsequently reviewed in the context of EMU to capture convergences and divergences with the federations examined-and to what extent do convergent aspects contribute to put a label on the EU in terms of fiscal federalism. The awareness that the discussion is sometimes plagued with conceptual oversight-the confusion between the desirability and feasibility of fiscal federalism in the European integration context-paves the way to the empirical dimension. The paper concludes with an input from statistical data assessing to what extent interstate solidarity exists (or is absent) in the EU
International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2013
In the context of the sovereign debt crisis, the prevailing perception is that decisions implemen... more In the context of the sovereign debt crisis, the prevailing perception is that decisions implemented bear the imprint of national interests. EU institutions representing supranational interests (especially the commission and the European Parliament) seem to be largely absent, or at least deprived of resources to counteract intergovernmental activism. Within this context, recent events are examined through the lens of European integration history. The question is whether events represent a setback on the supranational ideal of European integration, or do they just symbolise 'business as usual'. For that purpose, I bring to the analysis key events of European integration historiography to find out which actors (national authorities or EU institutions) prevailed and compare their theoretical imprint with the assessment of recent events in the Euro-zone crisis' context.
Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da união europeia (ue). A conseq... more Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da união europeia (ue). A consequência mais notória é o acréscimo de heterogeneidade no interior da ue. Como as assimetrias de rendimento entre os estados membros são mais acentuadas, ...
Resumo: O artigo passa em revista o fracasso do Tratado Constitucional, indagando sobre os elemen... more Resumo: O artigo passa em revista o fracasso do Tratado Constitucional, indagando sobre os elementos de continuidade e ruptura entre este tratado eo Tratado de Lisboa. Como pouco mudou de um tratado para o outro, e como os líderes europeus subtrairam o ...
Resumo: Acusa-se a União Europeia de ser opaca. Quando se esboça a sua teorização, a complexidade... more Resumo: Acusa-se a União Europeia de ser opaca. Quando se esboça a sua teorização, a complexidade adensa-se. As divergências sobrepõem-se aos aspectos de concordância. Daí que a integração europeia seja um aluvião de teorias: governação supranacional, ...
Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da União Europeia (UE). A conseq... more Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da União Europeia (UE). A consequência mais notória é o acréscimo de heterogeneidade no interior da UE. Como as assimetrias de rendimento entre os Estados membros são mais acentuadas, ...
Annual Conference, Portsmouth (United Kingdom), 2007
The literature strongly suggests that the creation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was large... more The literature strongly suggests that the creation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was largely influenced by the "power of ideas", an accommodation to international markets challenges. The outcome was EMU's political-economy inspired by the monetarist school, a considerable disempowerment of national governments. Put in the perspective of European integration theories, EMU seemed to reject liberal intergovernmentalism claims that member states' interests are the major input to European integration developments. However, since the monetary union was launched several events showed that national governments recaptured the influence they theoretically lost with EMU. Notably the persistent breach of the Stability and Growth Pact might be the evidence that EU institutions (especially the Commission) and other societal actors lost ground to national governments. The paper asks whether the operation of EMU reflects a paradigm change in terms of European integration theories: how liberal intergovernmentalism emerged as the theory with greater explanatory potential of EMU in motion. * This paper is part of the research project "EUROPA-The Construction of the European Polity: a Survey on Theories of European Integration" within the Research Centre on Applied Anthropology of Universidade Fernando Pessoa (Porto), involving the author and his colleague Cláudia Toriz Ramos. The project is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Lisboa, Portugal).
The paper surveys the theoretical arguments emphasising why the Stability and Growth Pact will no... more The paper surveys the theoretical arguments emphasising why the Stability and Growth Pact will not be strictly enforceable and the reasons that encourage a rigid implementation. Then, the events of the second half of 2003 that affected the implementation of the pact are reviewed. If the pact seems virtually dead, the truth is that prominent actors didn't put their signature on the pact's death sentence. Therefore ambiguity comes to the surface, feeding the uncertainty that ultimately affects Economic and Monetary Union. resumo O artigo apresenta os argumentos favoráveis à flexibilização do Pacto de Estabilidade e Crescimento e à sua aplicação rígida, sem envolver quaisquer desvios às regras aceites por todos os Estados membros. Os acontecimentos da segunda metade de 2003, que vieram por em causa o pacto, são analisados de forma crítica. Se, na aparência, o pacto parece estar morto, nenhum dos principais actores envolvidos na sua aplicação admite este resultado. A ambiguidade é o mote para um clima de incerteza que afecta a credibilidade da União Económica e Monetária.
Annual Conference and 11th. Research Conference, ‘Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2006 - Visions of Eu... more Annual Conference and 11th. Research Conference, ‘Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2006 - Visions of Europe: Key Problems, New Trajectories’, 36, Limerick (Ireland), 2006.
Apesar da polémica, a Constituição da União Europeia tem predicados. Neste artigo concentramo-nos... more Apesar da polémica, a Constituição da União Europeia tem predicados. Neste artigo concentramo-nos no reforço da participação dos parlamentos nacionais na tomada de decisão da União. Olhando ao passado recente-esboroamento da base parlamentar, fuga do poder executivo para as decisões tomadas no Conselho de Ministros da União-a Constituição permite a reconquista de poderes pelos parlamentos nacionais. Por aí, retoma o ponto de contacto com os cidadãos. Neste sentido, a Constituição é um passo em frente na democratização da integração europeia.
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
População e Sociedade, 2021
The results of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections cast an unprecedented challenge for th... more The results of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections cast an unprecedented challenge for the European Union (EU). Growing popularity of right-wing and left-wing, populist and radical political parties and the rising number of members of the parliament materialise the challenge. The article explores the seismic effects of the reconfiguration of the political landscape for European integration. The rising number of populist and radical political parties’ members of the parliament might weaken the political centre of gravity in the EP. Since the EP plays an important role on the legislative process of the EU, populist and radical parties’ Euroscepticism (if not their standpoint against the EU) might pervade the EP and threaten the EU with the prospect of setback, or at least stagnation.
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaki... more The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies o...
The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union, 2021
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2020
Antropologicas, 2009
Fernando pessoa. o oBErCID é um observatório permanente de cidadania.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008
A political-economic model largely influenced by the monetarist school inspires European Economic... more A political-economic model largely influenced by the monetarist school inspires European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Accordingly, neither income redistribution nor resource allocation is the cornerstone of economic policy mix. That role is reserved to the stabilisation function. Among those scholars who discuss whether the EU is comparable to existing cases of "conventional fiscal federalism", the analysis is frequently concentrated on allocation and redistribution. Despite macroeconomic stabilisation is the key aspect of EMU, the paper undergoes a comparative analysis between the European Union (EU) and five mature federations (United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland) as far as resource allocation is concerned. It first surveys the operation of the allocation function in these countries, concluding that there are remarkable differences when the countries under examination are measured within a centralisation/decentralisation continuum. Resource allocation is subsequently reviewed in the context of EMU to capture convergences and divergences with the federations examined-and to what extent do convergent aspects contribute to put a label on the EU in terms of fiscal federalism. The awareness that the discussion is sometimes plagued with conceptual oversight-the confusion between the desirability and feasibility of fiscal federalism in the European integration context-paves the way to the empirical dimension. The paper concludes with an input from statistical data assessing to what extent interstate solidarity exists (or is absent) in the EU
International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2013
In the context of the sovereign debt crisis, the prevailing perception is that decisions implemen... more In the context of the sovereign debt crisis, the prevailing perception is that decisions implemented bear the imprint of national interests. EU institutions representing supranational interests (especially the commission and the European Parliament) seem to be largely absent, or at least deprived of resources to counteract intergovernmental activism. Within this context, recent events are examined through the lens of European integration history. The question is whether events represent a setback on the supranational ideal of European integration, or do they just symbolise 'business as usual'. For that purpose, I bring to the analysis key events of European integration historiography to find out which actors (national authorities or EU institutions) prevailed and compare their theoretical imprint with the assessment of recent events in the Euro-zone crisis' context.
Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da união europeia (ue). A conseq... more Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da união europeia (ue). A consequência mais notória é o acréscimo de heterogeneidade no interior da ue. Como as assimetrias de rendimento entre os estados membros são mais acentuadas, ...
Resumo: O artigo passa em revista o fracasso do Tratado Constitucional, indagando sobre os elemen... more Resumo: O artigo passa em revista o fracasso do Tratado Constitucional, indagando sobre os elementos de continuidade e ruptura entre este tratado eo Tratado de Lisboa. Como pouco mudou de um tratado para o outro, e como os líderes europeus subtrairam o ...
Resumo: Acusa-se a União Europeia de ser opaca. Quando se esboça a sua teorização, a complexidade... more Resumo: Acusa-se a União Europeia de ser opaca. Quando se esboça a sua teorização, a complexidade adensa-se. As divergências sobrepõem-se aos aspectos de concordância. Daí que a integração europeia seja um aluvião de teorias: governação supranacional, ...
Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da União Europeia (UE). A conseq... more Resumo: O último alargamento é um acontecimento singular na vida da União Europeia (UE). A consequência mais notória é o acréscimo de heterogeneidade no interior da UE. Como as assimetrias de rendimento entre os Estados membros são mais acentuadas, ...
Annual Conference, Portsmouth (United Kingdom), 2007
The literature strongly suggests that the creation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was large... more The literature strongly suggests that the creation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was largely influenced by the "power of ideas", an accommodation to international markets challenges. The outcome was EMU's political-economy inspired by the monetarist school, a considerable disempowerment of national governments. Put in the perspective of European integration theories, EMU seemed to reject liberal intergovernmentalism claims that member states' interests are the major input to European integration developments. However, since the monetary union was launched several events showed that national governments recaptured the influence they theoretically lost with EMU. Notably the persistent breach of the Stability and Growth Pact might be the evidence that EU institutions (especially the Commission) and other societal actors lost ground to national governments. The paper asks whether the operation of EMU reflects a paradigm change in terms of European integration theories: how liberal intergovernmentalism emerged as the theory with greater explanatory potential of EMU in motion. * This paper is part of the research project "EUROPA-The Construction of the European Polity: a Survey on Theories of European Integration" within the Research Centre on Applied Anthropology of Universidade Fernando Pessoa (Porto), involving the author and his colleague Cláudia Toriz Ramos. The project is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Lisboa, Portugal).