| Author (Person) | Janning, Josef |
|---|---|
| Publisher | European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) |
| Series Title | Policy Brief |
| Series Details | February 2018 |
| Publication Date | February 2018 |
| ISBN | 978-1-911544-45-6 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog, Report |
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Background The European Council on Foreign Relation first published a new tool called the 'EU Cohesion Monitor' on the 11 May 2016, as part of its Rethink: Europe initiative. The EU Cohesion Monitor is a quantitative index to assess the willingness of the 28 member states of the European Union and their societies for joint action and cooperation. Defining as broad a term as cohesion is tricky. People may answer the question differently depending on whether you ask a sociology professor, an economist, or a bureaucrat managing the EU’s regional cohesion funds. The EU Cohesion Monitor approaches cohesion in terms of willingness and readiness of Europeans to act together. It assumes that strong cohesion is a precondition for a strong capacity to act, and it assumes that acting together successfully will in turn strengthen cohesion. The EU Cohesion Monitor relied entirely on datasets that are publicly available. The most prominent sources include Eurostat tables and Eurobarometer surveys. These datasets were gathered for 2007, 2014 and 2017. Rethink: Europe is an initiative of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Stiftung Mercator. The project examines the underlying forces shaping European cohesion and the continent’s capacity to act on the global stage. Rethink: Europe offers spaces to think through and discuss Europe’s strategic challenges. It does this by inviting thought leaders and policy practitioners from national capitals, the European institutions, as well as from outside Europe to reconsider and reflect upon European integration and exchange new ideas and forward thinking on Europe. It is an initiative of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Stiftung Mercator.Summary of the results in the EU Cohesion Monitor 2018 + The EU Cohesion Monitor evaluates data from all 28 member states to measure levels of cohesion within Europe. Contrary to expectations, it found that the EU’s overall cohesion increased between 2007 and 2017. + The monitor analysed two kinds of cohesion: structural cohesion, which measured ties between member states such as trade flows, participation in common policies, and geographical proximity to other EU states; and individual cohesion, which measured citizens’ engagement and experiences with, and views of, the EU. + The data indicated that there had been substantial growth in structural cohesion in eastern central EU states, while individual cohesion had risen in most northern EU states. However, some countries – including France, Italy, and Spain – have experienced a decline in individual and structural cohesion. + The financial crisis and the refugee crisis had affected Engagement (which measures voter behaviour) more than any of the other nine indicators. Along with a decline in the Resilience indicator, this trend reflected the political divide between east and west that continued to shape EU policy. + Due to diverging trends in cohesion across the EU, cohesion-building strategies should be increasingly tailored to individual countries. Policymakers, institutions, and civil society organisations should make a particular effort to strengthen individual cohesion by encouraging citizens to interact with people from other EU countries. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/ECFR-_245_-_Crisis_and_Cohesion_-_A_10_Year_Review_Janning_WEB.pdf |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
