Small States in the European Union. Coping with Structural Disadvantages
Principal Investigator: Diane Panke
Project Outline: The most recent rounds of European Union enlargement considerably increased the number of small member states. Of the EU-27, 19 countries have fewer votes in the Council of Ministers than the EU average. These small states face structural disadvantages in uploading national policies to the EU level due to less bargaining power and less financial and administrative resources. This project focuses on the day-to-day negotiations in the EU. It analyses whether and how small states can counterbalance structural disadvantages in order to shape European policies according to their interests. Do some small states manage better than others to exploit the strength of their weakness and are, thus, more likely able to influence the content of EU policies? In order to answer this, the project inquires into two subsequent research questions. Are some small states more active than others and why? Under which conditions are which small state strategies successful?
Funding Agency: IRCHSS
Start and End date: 2009 - 2010
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