Posts Tagged: European Social Fund

EC4333 — No Comments
24
Nov 08

Economics of EU Integration Lecture 11

This is the last lecture of the course. We’ll look at Ireland in the EU, and do a recap of the course. 

 

Most Irish people drive past the blue signs along new roads up and down the country, indicating that “This project was co-financed by the EU”.  Since joining in 1973, the difference between what Ireland paid in and what the EU paid out is about €55 billion euros.

EU funding has gone into into every aspect of Irish life: building the economy; improving transport and communication networks; increasing trade; creating employment; promoting cultural diversity, peace and understanding; cleaning up the environment; restoring tourism amenities; sustaining a country life and protecting human rights.

Thanks to Ireland’s economic success we no longer qualify for the same volume of EU funding as in the past. For the funding period 2007-2013, Ireland will receive Structural Funds of €750.72 million : €375.36 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and €375.36 million from the European Social Fund (ESF).

 

This lecture examines Ireland’s changing position within Europe since 1973 to 2008, against the backdrop of everything we have learned in lectures to date. We’ll also talk about…

…The Exam

 

For the exam, read the assigned readings, listen to the lectures again, make sure to have a go at the sample exam, the past exam, redo your problem sets, and spend some time working on breadth and depth of coverage of the course, because I’ll be examining both.

Other than that, good luck, and thanks.

 

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EC4333 — No Comments
10
Nov 08

EC4333 Lecture 9: Inequality in the EU

We have seen how the EU has affected economic growth and development across the EU in previous lectures. In this lecture, we will examine how the EU affects the social fabric of its constituent societies, through a series of cohesion funds. We will look at the definitions of inequality in the economics literature, develop some tools to measure this inequality, and expose these tools to available data.

The origins of EU social policy can be found in all three of the original treaties founding the European Communities. Article 46 of the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community refers to the improvement of the living and working standards of workers in the coal and steel industries. The Euratom Treaty sets out provisions for the health and safety of workers in the civilian atomic energy industry. By far the most extensive treatment of social policy is to be found in the Treaty of Rome, which refers to:

  • Free movement of workers (Articles 48–51);
  • Improvement in working conditions and in standards of living (Articles 117–128);
  • Equal opportunities for men and women (see Box 14.1) (Article 119); and
  • The creation of the European Social Fund (Article 123).

In this lecture, I aim

  • To examine the role of the social cohesion funds in the development of economic integration
  • To discuss their history and potential economic effects and affects.
  • To develop the Gini coefficients and Lorenz curves for individual countries and discuss the role of income distribution and redistribution

Activity

Students will construct a hypothetical Lorenz curve in class.

Michie, J., `Unemployment in Europe’, in Amin and Tomaney, eds. Behind the Myth of European Union: Prospects for Cohesion}, Routledge Press, 1995, pgs. 51–82. 337.14 AMI.

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