TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - Differentiated Integration and Accountability in the European Union – An Analytical Framework N2 - Differentiation has become an established feature of European integration in the past decades, and a variety of forms of differentiated governance have been established either within the EU Treaties, by the EU Treaties or outside the EU legal framework. At the same time, differentiated integration poses particular questions about how to organise accountability in an EU in which different groups of member states participate in very different forms of integration. Bringing together the accountability and differentiation literature, the paper develops an analytical framework allowing for an indicator-based assessment of accountability mechanisms. By proposing an analytical framework with concrete indicators for the assessment of accountability in various differentiated integration formats, this paper closes a gap in the literature and opens new paths for the comparative analysis of accountability across various shades of European integration. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-36999 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - The EU’s new rule of law mechanism-How it works and why the ‘deal’ did not weaken it N2 - After Hungary and Poland almost derailed the EU budgetary negotiations over rule of law conditionality, the EU found itself in a weeks-long game of chicken before the drama finally culminated in the European Council conclusions of December 2020. The conclusions were widely criticised for postponing the enforcement of the rule of law mechanism and for upsetting the EU‘s institutional balance. In this Policy Brief, Thu Nguyen explains how the rule of law mechanism works and takes a more balanced approach: The rule of law mechanism was not weakened by the conclusions, nor did the European Council encroach upon the Commission’s prerogatives in a meaningful way. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-37137 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/detail/publication/der-neue-rechtstaatsmechanismus-der-eu ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Koenig, Nicole A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - Five takeaways from the German “Corona Presidency” N2 - On 31 December 2020, Germany’s rotating EU Council presidency will come to an end after a particularly difficult term. Corona burst upon an already crowded policy agenda, including the negotiation of the EU’s next seven-year budget, rule of law conditionality and the finalization of the Brexit negotiations. On top of a packed agenda, the German presidency faced considerable institutional and corona-related constraints. In this Policy Brief, Nicole Koenig and Thu Nguyen look back at the German presidency and develop five key takeaways for the upcoming corona presidencies, notably Portugal (first half of 2021) and Slovenia (second half). The German presidency has shown that they should prepare for more corona crisis management,internal divisions and unexpected crises. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-37166 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/detail/publication/five-takeaways-from-the-german-corona-presidency ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu A1 - Heimbach, Henriette T1 - Time to unlock the potential of bi-parliamentarism - The Franco-German model N2 - The inception of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly in January 2019 marked an important step towards the institutionalization of Franco-German relations on a parliamentary level. The Assembly provides a forum for binational debate and democratic scrutiny, and has the potential to strengthen Franco-German cooperation and leadership at EU level by fostering practical compromises and solutions bilaterally before they are being brought to Brussels. The Assembly nevertheless falls short of its potential. In their policy brief, Henriette Heimbach and Thu Nguyen assess the Assembly’s shortcomings and provide suggestions for improvement. Apart from enhancing the transparency of its work, the Assembly should focus on addressing concrete bilateral problems and channeling them into concrete demands. At the same time, the Assembly should act as coordination forum for Franco-German positions at EU level to foster common positions. The authors conclude that despite its shortcomings, the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly can serve as a role model for other member states to establish and institutionalize similar forms of bi-parliamentarism. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-36899 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu A1 - Redeker, Nils T1 - Check yourself before you wreck yourself N2 - Strengthening the EU’s capacity to act in economic policy making has become a fashionable talking point on the European policy agenda. At the same time, there is little debate about the institutional preconditions to be able to live up to these ambitions. In this policy brief, Nils Redeker and Thu Nguyen argue that the combination of grand policy ambition and institutional neglect constitutes a dangerous mix. Without new financial tools and decision-making procedures, the agenda is bound to disappoint. The authors argue that the debate on EU economic sovereignty needs to start talking about real reforms or else stop raising false expectations. Y1 - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-40183 U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4018 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - The Commission is political: Time to act upon this truth in the run-up to 2024 N2 - How ‘political’ can and should the European Commission be? This question is a long-standing one. On the one hand, European integration demands more and more political and distributive choices to be taken at European level. On the other hand, there is the fear that a political Commission would undermine its own role as the neutral, objective guardian of the Treaties. In this policy brief, Thu Nguyen revisits the concept of a ‘political Commission’ and argues for a reinforcement of its political character in the run-up to the 2024 European elections. Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/detail/publication/the-commission-is-political U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4025 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - A matter of principle: An infringement procedure against Germany N2 - On 9 June 2020, the European Commission announced that it is bringing an infringement procedure against Germany because of the PSPP judgment of its Federal Constitutional Court. On 5 May 2020 the German Court had declared a ruling by the European Court of Justice ultra vires and therefore not legally binding on Germany. In this policy position, Thu Nguyen argues that the Commission is right to initiate an infringement procedure against Germany: It is a matter of principle and a signal that the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaties, will not accept breaches of EU Treaty obligations, no matter the member state or authority in breach of EU law. Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/detail/publication/a-matter-of-principle U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4026 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Guttenberg, Lucas A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - How to spend it right - A more democratic governance for the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility N2 - The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will be the core of the EU’s new Recovery Instrument to fight the economic fallout of the pandemic. Under the RRF, 310 billion euros in additional EU spending will be allocated by the European Commission to member states based on individual Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs). In this Policy Brief, we argue that the proposed governance to decide on the assessment of RRPs lacks democratic elements as parliaments are largely sidelined. This should be changed to ensure necessary political ownership at national and European level; to include a second pair of European eyes to prevent misspending; and to avoid a roll-back of EU democracy. Therefore, we propose that the European Parliament get a veto over the Commission decision assessing individual RRPs and allocating funds. National parliaments should also have a say in the adoption of the RRP of the respective member state. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-35594 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/detail/publication/how-to-spend-it-right-a-more-democratic-governance-for-the-eu-recovery-and-resilience-facility ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Thu T1 - Managing expectations - The German Council presidency N2 - On 1 July 2020 Germany will take over the presidency of the Council of the EU. Major European issues such as the Commission’s proposal for a Recovery Instrument, the EU multiannual financial framework, or the negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship will fall within its term. If expectations were high before corona that a member state with the political weight and capacities of Germany would be able to significantly advance the political agenda at EU level, such expectations are even more prevalent now. At the same time, the institution of Council presidency has lost much of its bite under the Treaty of Lisbon. Germany does not only find itself wedged between different institutional actors with a limited time frame to achieve political results. It is also faced with an overcrowded agenda and many practical limitations caused by the pandemic. This policy brief analyses and assesses the expectations as regards the German Council presidency, in particular by considering the institutional context in which it operates and the limitations imposed by the pandemic. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-35669 UR - https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/detail/publication/the-german-council-presidency-managing-expectations ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Nguyen, Hoai-Thu A1 - Chamon, Merijn T1 - The ultra vires decision of the German Constitutional Court - Time to fight fire with fire? N2 - The German Constitutional Court’s ruling on the ECB’s PSPP put Europe in a turmoil. By declaring a ruling of the European Court of Justice ultra vires, and therefore not legally binding on Germany, the Bundesverfassungsgericht openly called into question the primacy of EU law and the authority of the ECJ. In this policy paper we argue that on these grounds there is good reason for the European Commission to bring infringement proceedings against Germany in order to, amongst others, protect the European legal order and emphasize the notion of equality of States in the EU. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-35242 ER -