European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 3

European Policy Analysis - Volume 2, Number 1 - Spring 2016

E

Editorial Introduction to the Third Issue of
European Policy Analysis (EPA)
PA begins its second year of publication with a fresh new format. We have
widened our range by adding two new sections: the “Forum” and “Why you
should read my book” and hope you’ll enjoy the new EPA spring 2016 edition.

Following this Editorial Introduction, you will now find the Forum, a section that gives
invited colleagues the opportunity to express their views on very topical European
policy issues. The currently dominating dispute on the high number of refugees and its
impact on the European Union opens this section. We are grateful to Klaus von Beyme
(Uo Heidelberg) and Randall Hansen (Uo Toronto) who agreed to set standards.
The ne xt section—Contributions—brings together single articles that passed our
thorough double-blind review process.
On the basis of a network approach Karin Ingold (Uo Bern) and Géraldine Pflieger
analyze “the potential difference between a nation’s domestic climate policy and its
position in the international climate regime” and argue not only “that it is crucial to
identify actors who participate in both the national and foreign policy making… but
point on the importance of political actors who “should play a central role in both
processes, and defend similar policy interests on the two levels, in order for them to be
able to coordinate actions and produce coherent outputs in overlapping subsystems.”
Frieder Wolf (Uo Heidelberg) and Georg Wenzelburger (Uo Kaiserslautern) ask
“Why it turns out to be so difficult for” the newly established European Insurance
and Occupational Pensions Authority(EIOPA) “to create a single market for private
pensions.” On the basis of the complete feedback on the EIOPA discussion paper, they
found “Unlocking potential economies of scale is attractive to certain large providers,
yet it is hindered by member states’ widely differing tax rules and raises various
distributional questions.” On the other side, analyzing the position of EIOPA “vis-àvis both the Commission and national regulators” they discovered a “strategic shift
towards consumer protection.”
Daiva Skučiene and Julija Moskvina (both Lithuanian Social Research Center) address
the complex situation for older workers in East and Central European countries to
decide whether to leave or to stay on in the labor market. On the basis of different
sources and statistics as well as a multimethod approach, they found a variety of
influencing factors. “The analysis revealed the demand for effective policies in the fields
of promoting productivity and fighting discrimination.”
doi: 10.18278/epa.2.1.1
3