In July 1997 the Commission of the European Union presented its Agenda 2000. This document not only suggested to start accession talks with some East and Central European countries (CEEC) in early 1998 but it also provided proposals for a restructuring of EU expenditures. On this background this...

The main question addressed in this paper is what happens when the usual sociological predictors (family background and educational attainment, for example) fail to predict labour market success and failure The paper presents evidence from surveys conducted in 1999 among 1300 25-26 year olds in...

This paper explores the relationship between administrative co-ordination of EU affairs at the national level and compliance with EU law. First, we develop two hypotheses about the impact of co-ordination. We expect that the strength of the co-ordination structure (level of centralisation and...

Research on EU conditionality in equality policy in Hungary shows that while the formal EU acquis has been transposed in a fast and successful way, its enforcement and application largely lag behind. Most researchers explain this weak enforcement with factors such as state capacity problems, the...

When firms locate segments of their production process abroad we are in presence of international fragmentation of production. This paper discusses the issue both theoretically and empirically. We first assess the absence of a well-articulated and verified theoretical framework to explain the...

This paper sets out to explore the puzzle of possible institutionalization or reversal of rules 'imported' by new member states from Central and Eastern Europe during their preparation for accession to the EU. It argues that the institutionalization of formal rules adopted as part of enlargement...