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Conflicts-law constitutionalism in the EMU: how much unity can European diversity sustain?; Anna Peychev; European Law Open, 2025-01, p.1-16

The core of the contract between economic and monetary union is set in not so much the formally legal, if economically irrational and practically contentious, divide of the Treaties, but rather, the rules for governing the right balance of EMU are found in its economic governance framework, set up to condition national budgetary policies into optimal function in service of Union monetary policy. Within those rules we can differentiate two ‘worldviews’ of constitutionalism. The first we may refer to as ‘optimal function EMU’ where sovereigns are equal, democracies may pick their own socio-economic policy and make equally valid claims to be managed by the conflicts law approach of cooperation within the preventive arm of the European Semester based on Article 121 TFEU, and where we may pretend the economic-monetary divide erected by law is a real, tangible phenomenon. The alternative version of constitutionalism is found beyond ‘optimal function EMU’, in fact, as soon as any risk to the model arises. This worldview institutes a strict legal hierarchy that establishes monetary supremacy over the economic realm. Within this setup, the very existence and proper function of the single currency rationalise the ultimate truth – that all Member States are equal, but some are more equal than others. Can conflicts law constitutionalism offer a way to recalibrate unity and diversity in a format fit for the purposes of the contemporary financial and economic context, while simultaneously re-claiming the space for national collective choice and protecting Union values?

Remuneration and attractiveness of EU blue economy sectors; Antonio Borriello, Jordi Guillen, Simone Quatrini; Marine Policy, 2025-08, Vol.178, Article 106720

Significant efforts are devoted in the European Union (EU) to increase the attractiveness of blue economy jobs, address skilled workforce shortages and reduce the skill gap between business requirements and qualifications offered by the education and training systems. This article investigates how the job attractiveness of the different blue economy sectors has changed over time in the EU by analysing the evolution of labour cost per employee measured in full time equivalents (FTE) as a proxy of the remuneration. This is complemented with the analysis of two other factors influencing job attractiveness, namely job security and job safety. Our findings show the existence of substantial labour cost differences for different maritime sectors, which explain distinct job attractiveness patterns between the EU blue economy as a whole and the rest of the economy. In particular, economic activities that employ highly-skilled labour force and generate higher labour productivity provide higher salaries than those employing less skilled workers. However, working in a riskier environment often does not necessarily correlate with a higher remuneration. Outcomes from this analysis help to better understand the reasons behind current labour shortages in some EU blue economy sectors, and provide important insights for designing more targeted investments in key human capital gaps and for calibrating policies to reduce workforce shortages in the EU labour markets.

Monetary Integration Effects on Foreign Direct Investments in New EU Member States; Velić, Ismar; Cvečić, Igor; Journal of Economic Integration, 2024, 39(1), p. 55-85

This study examines the impact of accession to the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the 11 New Member States (NMS), during the period 2005-2018. Using panel regression analysis and the gravity model, the influence of macroeconomic indicators on FDI outflows from 21 industrialised countries (including EU and non-European counties, such as Japan and USA) to the NMS is assessed. The empirical results suggest that favourable macroeconomic indicators in the NMS, such as a stable exchange rate, lower inflation, long-term interest rates and EU/EMU membership, are positively correlated with FDI inflows from NMS. Conversely, rising inflation and exchange rate volatility in the NMS are negatively associated with FDI inflows, while inflation in the FDI origin countries is positively correlated with investment in the NMS. The results suggest that joining the EMU has a statistically significant and positive relationship on FDI inflows to the NMS. [...] 

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