European Industrial Policy

At the end of the 20th century with stagnating industrial output, unemployment in many European countries has climbed to levels not seen since the 1930s. Interventionist industrial policies thus find new popularity after the gentle flirtation with liberalization in the early 1990s. Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union was granted industrial policy powers for the first time. The present study aims to contribute to an understanding of European industrial policy by introducing an historical perspective. National policy continuities and the considerable time over which industrial performance responds to changed environments emerge with greater clarity in the long run. The chapters in this book take a broad view of industrial policy, including those policies that establish the `framework', such as competition law, as well as sector for firm specific policies. The overall conclusion is that improved framework policies, such as liberalization and re-regulation, are still essential. Monetary union in the `core' will increase tensions arising from economic inflexibility. Although there are often strong political barriers blocking implementation of appropriate industrial policies, they will be even more necessary under monetary union.

In this volume Europe's leading industrial economists explore the theoretical basis for industrial policy in Europe and practical proposals for making industrial development happen. They approach the subject on a micro-, macro- and meso- level.

This book provides a new analytical framework for legal problems concerning the economic order of the European Union. In order to determine the remaining scope for national economic sovereignty, and the improvement of the economic order of the Community itself, the focus of the book is the contentious relationship between competition and industrial policy under European law. The theoretical perspective used is based on a comparison between the concepts of the Treaty as an economic constitution and as a political constitution. On this basis, the convergence of competition and industrial policy at the Community level is explained as the result of the rationalisation of public policy, and the reduction of the economic independence of the member states. The study concludes that the market orientation of the European Union is not in doubt, but that a clear link remains to be established between the legitimacy of public intervention in the economy and the distribution of power in the Community system.

This volume focuses on how European national champions have fared in an increasingly globalized industrial context. After setting the four national policy contexts of France, Germany, Britain, and Italy, the work compares for major industrial sectors: electricity, aerospace, air transport, and telecommunications. This work will be of interest to scholars and students of European politics and policy, political economics, and industrial relations.

The development of the welfare state has been accompanied by greater freedoms being granted to workers in industrialized capitalist countries. The themes of this volume concern how governments, trade unions, and workers have acted to promote economic growth and economic accountability with active industrial or worker self-management policies. The key dimensions of economic, social, and political change in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Sweden are analyzed in the book's essays--focusing on workplace reforms and economic management in a variety of national settings.

The UK has pioneered the introduction of competition into previously monopolistic utility industries--such as telecommunications, gas, electricity, railroads, and even waterworks. The radical policy innovations behind these moves have been controversial. This book looks at the lessons that have thus far emerged from the UK in this regard, considering the implications for future UK policies as well as for other countries following its precedent. The volume combines papers by independent experts with the work of specialist regulators to provide a comprehensive analysis of the issues.