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PART 1: POLICY RESEARCH CENTRE ................................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1 I INTRODUCTION OF THE CONSORTIUM ........................................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER 21 CO-OPERATION WITHIN THE CONSORTIUM .................................................................................................. 6
2.1. COMMON LOCATION ......................................................................................................................................................................................6
2.2. CENTRAL CO-ORDINATION BY THE LEUVEN CENTRE FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE STUDIES ..............................................................................7
2.2.1. Scientific co-ordination .......................................................................................................................................................................7
2.2.2. Administrative co-ordination .............................................................................................................................................................7
2.3. DIVISION OF THE FINANClAL MEANS AMONGST THE DIFFERENT PARTNERS .......................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 31 CO-OPERATION ............................................................................................................................................. 8
3.1. JUSTIFICATION OF THE CO-OPERATION WITH PARTNERS ..................................................................................................................................8
3.2. STEERING GROUP ............................................................................................................................................................................................8
3.3. SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD ..........................................................................................................................................................................8
3.4. CO-OPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT .......................................................................................................................................................9
3.4.1. Communication .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.4.2. Availability of data ............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.5. CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER POLICY RESEARCH CENTRES ..............................................................................................................................9
PART 2: RESEARCH ACTlVITIES ........................................................................................................................................ 10
CHAPTER 1 IINTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH ............................................................................................................. 10
1.1 GENERAL APPROACH ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
1.2. GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSALS ..................................................................................................................................... 11
1.3. EVALUATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................................. 12
1.3.1. Internal evaluation ........................................................................................................................................................................... 12
4.3.2. Consultation structures ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
4.3.3. Overview of planned evaluation ................................................................................................................................................... 12
1.4. SAFEGUARDING OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND POLICY QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 1 3
1.4.1. Scientific quality care ...................................................................................................................................................................... 13
1.4.2. Policy quality care .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13
1.5. OVERVIEW OF PLANNED RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 3
1.5.1. General overview ............................................................................................................................................................................. 13
1.5.2. Overview of academic de/iverables .............................................................................................................................................. 15
1.5.3. Overview of policy de/iverables .................................................................................................................................................... 20
1.5.4. Overview of staff days ................................................................................................................................................................... 24
CHAPTER 21 INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW ...................................................................................................... 26
2.1. GENERAL PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR THIS PillAR................................................................................................ 26
2.2. IMPACT OF NON-TRADITIONAL INTERNATIONAL LAW-MAKING PROCESSES IN THE FLEMISH REG ION ............................................................ 27
2.3. MAKING THE MOST OF THE LlBERALISATION OF TRADE IN SERVICES - CONSTRAINTS ON DOMESTIC REGULATORY AUTONOMY? ................. 35
CHAPTER 311NTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN POLICY ................................................................................................. 42
3.1. GENERAL PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR THIS PillAR ................................................................................................ 42
3.2. EXPLAINING VARIATION OF REGIONAL AUTHORITIES' INFLUENCE IN EU LEGISLATION AND IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES .............................. 44
3.3. EXPLAINING VARIATION IN REGIONAL AUTHORITIES' REPRESENTATION IN EUROPEAN UNION EXTERNAL POLICY FIELDS ................................ 52
CHAPTER 411NTERNA TlONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ......................................................................................................... 63
4.1. GENERAL PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR THIS PillAR ................................................................................................ 63
4.2. THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF FLEMISH SERVICE INDUSTRIES ....................................................................................................................... 65
4.3. THE DECISION TO EXPORT: FIRM AND INDUSTRY DETERMINAN.TS .................................................................................................................... 73
4.4. THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN PREFERENTlAL TRADE AGREEMENTS ON FLEMISH FIRMS ....................................................................................... 80
CHAPTER 51 DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION .................................................................................................................. 89
5.1. GENERAL PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR THIS PilLAR ................................................................................................ 89
5.2. CHALLENGING THE STATUS-QUO? THE IMPACT OF THE EMERGING ECONOMIES ON THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION SYSTEM .. 90
5.3. THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION ........................................................................................................... 96
5.4. INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS INTO DEVELOPMENT. A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGIES AND PRACTICES OF SMALL DONORS 100
DEEL 3: BEGROTING ........................................................................................................................................................ 106
HOOFDSTUK 1 I ALGEMENE TOELICHTING ..................................................................................................................... 106
1 .1 . FINANCIERING ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 106
1.2. KOSTEN ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 106
1.2.1. Centrale beheerskosten en overdrachten naar het volgende iaar......................................................................................... 106
1.2.2. Personeels-, werkings- en uitbestedingskosten ......................................................................................................................... 106
1 .3. OVERZICHT BEGROTING STEUNPUNT ......................................................................................................................................................... 107
1.4. INTERNE ALLOCATIE MIDDELEN .................................................................................................................................................................... 107
HOOFDSTUK
21 PERSONEELSKOSTEN ............................................................................................................................ 108
2.1. OVERZiCHT................................................................................................................................................................................................. 108
2.2. TOELICHTING.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 108
2.3. BENODIGDE PERSONEELSBEZETTING ........................................................................................................................................................... 109
2.3.1. Tabel ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 109
2.3.2. Toelichting ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 109
HOOFDSTUK
31 WERKINGSKOSTEN ............................................................................................................................... 110
3.1. OVERZiCHT................................................................................................................................................................................................. 110
3.2. TOELICHTING .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 111
HOOFDSTUK
41 KOSTEN
VOOR ONDERAANNEMING ................................................................................................... 111
Flanders, a Region in the north of Belgium, is not only located in the heart of Europe with Brussels as its
administrative headquarters, it also displays very distinctive constitutional features. Belgium is a federal
State whieh has devolved a great number of important policy-making powers to its constituent parts,
including the power to conduct external policies and conclude treaties with other countries and
international organisations. The present application for a Poliey Research Centre to service the Flemish
Government takes this unique position of Flanders in the Belgian federal context and in international
relations as its point of departure.
Flanders is a reg ion of opportunities. lts very open economy, continuous efforts to respect and promote
human rights and the rule of law, solidarity towards developing countries, and its embrace of diversity
and openness towards other cultures and regions of the world make it an attractive place to invest and to
develop business and other relations. Nevertheless, as a non-State actor in international relations, Flanders
faces a number of challenges in fully deploying its external policies and becoming fully engaged in
international policy- and rule-making. Still, Flemish external policy has the capacity to become a
comprehensive foreign policy integrating politieal, economie and development dimensions. The initiators
wish to endorse such an integrated approach by formulating a number of objectives geared towards the
advancement of Flanders' domestie and broader global interests.
The current architecture of global governance provides an inadequate foundation for addressing the
spread of transnational challenges, the rise of new powers, and the mounting influence of non-State
actors. Actively engaging in improving existing and building new legal frameworks at the international
and European level therefore forms a concrete challenge to Flanders, as weil as the enhancement of its
interests and visibility via multilateral fora. Furthermore, in today's networked international society,
Flanders has to be keenly aware of the importance of interaction through strategie partnerships in order
to define common interests with States, international organisations, regions and private actors in
international and European multi-Ievel policy-making.
Given the international competitiveness of modern economies and the fact that Flanders is dependent on
exports for its growth, continuous multifaceted expertise is needed to support cross-border trade as weil
as to foster Flemish global presence through foreign direct investment. Simultaneously, since this engages
both the responsibility of public and private actors, Flemish entrepreneurs have to be encouraged to make
full use of their potential to promote sustainable development through international investment and tra de.
Thereto, we envision the continued evolution of the Flemish Region towards a small yet co-operative and
locally very present partner for sustainability and development. In order to guarantee effective assistance
to this process as a Policy Research Centre, an integrated approach towards development co-operation,
combining aspects such as the rule of law, respect for human rights and domestie accountability is
indispensable. A final objective is to strive to improve the consistency of the classie development aims with
the new global agenda, characterised by the rapid rise of new themes that go far beyond assistance for
poverty reduction, including migration, climate change, energy and natural resources, global governance
and security.
The initiators of this applieation consider it vitally important to support Flanders in acting as a politieal and
economie partner abroad, making optimal use of its competences, resources and strengths. Having a
compelling vision on foreign poliey, international entrepreneurship and development co-operation that is in
line with Flemish va lues, needs and assets will provide guidance in translating ideas into achievement.
T0 this end, the initiators' vision is as follows.
PART 1: POUCY RESEARCH CENTRE
CHAPTER 1 I INTRODUCTION OF THE CONSORTIUM
The Flemish Inter-University Policy Research Centre for International Policy, International Entrepreneurship and
Development Co-operation, is a consortium of seven entities within four Flemish institutions for higher
education, with leg al, politieal, economie and sociologieal research expertise on development co-operation,
European integration, globalisation, multilateralism, economieal transition, international trade and investments,
federalism, interest group polities, regional polities and the creation of an international legal order.
The consortium will be led by the University of Leuven, Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (GGS),
in which some consortium members of the K.U.Leuven already co-operate on a structural basis. In addition, the
K.U.Leuven Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA), the Faculty of Business and Economics (FEB) and
the Institute for International and European Policy (liEP) will take part in the consortium. In addition, the
consortium contains internationally leading experts from the University of Antwerp (Antwerp Centre for
Institutions and Multi-Level Polities), the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School and the HogeschoolUniversiteit Brussel (H.U.Brussel - Center for Research on Economie Markets and their Environments - Research
Group Globalization, Innovation and Competition).
Each of the participating research centres bring in, besides internationally recognised expertise, a pool of
junior and senior researchers who are currently affiliated with the research centers (see figure 1). In this way
the consortium links the Flemish Government to a large pool of experts on a wide area of relevant topies.
Figure 1
PClUCY
RESEARCH
CENTRE
Next to this, the consortium has selected a number of key external international academie partners to become
part of its Scientifie Advisory Board due to their continuous excellence in their respective research areas. The
Policy Centre will interact on a regular basis with the Steering Group consisting of representatives from the
administration and government. As such the Poliey Cent re is embedded in a network whieh will support
academie excellence and policy relevance. The latter is illustrated in figure 2.
Figure 2
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The policy centre opted to establish a structure of four pillars, co-ordinated by professors at the partner
institutions, to whieh the three main themes introduced by the tender (i.e. subsidiarity and multi-Ievel
governancej international entrepreneurship and international co-operation) were allocated. A Steering Group
will consist of representatives of the consortium and representatives of the administration and government. The
Steering Group will be represented by its members in the Scientifie Advisory Board. The Scientifie Advisory
Board, whieh is established to evaluate the ongoing research from a scientifie point of view, brings together a
set of internationally renowned academies of partner institutions. Members of the Scientifie Advisory Board
will also be involved in the PhD committees of the PhD students and will be available to review research
conducted in the context of the consortium.
The "Steering Group" ensures the continuous exchange of information and meets regularly (at least halfyearly) in view of the aforementioned planning and evaluation activities. Periodieal consultation will also be
organised in co-operation with external partners, most prominently the Scientific Advisory Board, bringing
together the academie representatives. The "Steering Group" ensures the continuous exchange of information
and meets regularly (every quarter of a year) in view of the aforementioned planning and evaluation
activities, in order to ensure a structural partnership.
CHAPTER
21 CO-OPERATION WITHIN THE CONSORTIUM
In view of maxima I efficiency, the initiators opt for a decentralised structure with the consortium's
headquarters integrated in the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, House De Dorlodot,
Deberiotstraat 34, 3000 Leuven. The supervisor-coordinator, the managing coordinator, administrative
support personnel and two PhD candidates affiliated with pillar 1 will be located at the headquarters. The
decentralised structure means that two PhD candidates (pillar 2) will be housed at the Antwerp Centre for the
Study of Institutions and Multi-Level Polities (Antwerp), two PhD candidates (pillar 3) will be placed at the
VIeriek Management School (Leuven) and one doctoral researcher (pillar 4) will conduct research at the
Research Institute for Work and Society (Leuven). The fact that researchers involved will be located within the
premises of the partner institutions and research groups does not negatively affect the operation of the
integrated consortium. Although the preliminary working place for the researchers will be decentralised,
researchers will have access to the headquarters' physieal location as weil as all research means and they wil!
participate in the team meetings. The headquarters will foresee a common working space. Moreover,
depending on the requirements of the partieular research activity, short term visiting research stays are
envisioned in Leuven, Antwerp and Brussels. This enhances the multidisciplinary character of the research team,
whieh will be an asset wh en heterogeneous short term policy questions have to be dealt with.
Headquartered in the inner city of Leuven, the Policy Research Cent re will be clearly recognisable by
appropriate signage. The aim of a recognisable unity will also be pursued through other means, e.g. via our
own unique website. A common working paper series will be set up and will be ,integrally available at the
website, in a format specifieally designed for the consortium.
2.2.1. Scientific co-ordination
The scientifie deliverables to the Flemish Government are the primary responsibility of the coordinators of the
four pillars represented by the supervisor-coordinator. The Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies has
a coordinating role regarding the various research activities. This role is taken up by the supervisorcoordinator, Prof. dr. Jan Wouters. This means that the Centre ensures the interdisciplinarity of the research.
Other assignments of the supervisor-coordinator will consist of:
1. Consultation with government
2. Drafting of the yearly research planning concerning short term assignments
3. Stimulating interdisciplinary co-operation, where considered appropriate
4. Organising reviews regarding guaranteeing control of completed assignments
5. Co-ordination of the valorisation of the research, including organising seminars
6.
Representation of the Poliey Research Centre
2.2.2. Administrative co-ordination
The supervisor-coordinator is also responsible for the administrative co-ordination of the Centre. He will be
supported by a managing coordinator (Dr. Axel Marx) and an administrative collaborator.
The supervisor-coordinator and the manager-coordinator are responsible for:
1. Managing day-to-day activities of the consortium
2. Project administration
3. Follow-up of the Policy Research Cent re (financially and deliverables)
4. Contact with members of the Scientifie Advisory Board
5. Financial management and reporting
6. Human resources management
The administrative collaborator is responsible for:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ensuring uniformity of output (e.g. formatting layout of the working paper series and publications)
Setting up and management of the Policy Centre's website
Support in organising seminars and conferences
Organising internal team meetings, meetings of the Scientifie Advisory Board
Management of project mailing list for dissemination results and call for papers
Communieation with the government
The projected annual budget for the Centre is € 500,000. Each of the four pillars will be provided
approximately with an annual budget of € 110,000. The consortium budgets € 60,000 to be used by the
Centre by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies for the co-ordination of the consortium.
The consortium foresees a 70/30 time balance between long-term, fundamental research and short-term, ad
hoc research activities. The long-term research will be carried out by doctoral researchers. These doctoral
researchers, jointly with their supervisors, will equally accord time to short-term, ad hoc and policy related
questions in their specifie area of knowiedge. Next to this, all four pillars will have means reserved in the
budget for the short-term, ad hoc questions that may arise and general operational expenses.
All financial means are administered centrally by K.U.Leuven who will distribute the budget to participating
institutes and research centres. The managing coordinator ensures that all expenses made in the framework of
the Policy Research Cent re are integrated in a consolidated budget. This makes it possible to produce a
yearly balance sheet for the entire policy centre, as weil as a profit-and-Ioss account: entries and expenses
for personnel, functioning and investment. All expenses - with the exception of overheads - have to be proven
by statements of expenditure.
CHAPTER
31 CO-OPERATION
The international subject matter of this Poliey Research Centre makes co-operation with institutions and
researchers in and outside Flanders a logieal choiee. The entities who are formally involved in the four pillars.
are not only already involved in a large number of international networks but have also opted to propose a
number of high level academie experts, associated with the consortium members and represented in the
Scientifie Advisory Board. This group consists of a number of excellent national and international researchers.
Insofar this is judged to be desirabie by the Government of Flanders, consultation will as weil as be organised
with other Policy Research Centres.
The Steering Group consists of senior researchers (most notably, the supervisor-coordinator and the
coordinators of the pillars) and representatives of the Flemish administration and government. The Steering
Group operates as the main board of the policy centre. It will set the research agenda and priorities. Next to
this, it will become a forum for direct interaction between the Flemish government and the involved academie
experts.
The partners in the Scientifie Advisory Board are on the one hand involved in the processing of the data (joint
research) and will contribute to the consortium in the form of ad hoc expertise, adviee and consultation. On the
other hand, an important task of the Scientifie Advisory Board consists in the common organisation of
valorisation activities (joint seminars and papers). They will as such act as an academie sounding board to the
policy centre.
3.4.1. Communication
The administrative coordinator wiJl function as the centra I contact point of the Policy Research Centre. A
government representative wiJl equally take up the function as centra I contact point. All questions and requests
wil I be transferred through this one-on-one communieation line between the Poliey Research Cent re and the
government. This in order to con trol co-ordination costs. The administrative coordinator will direct short term
research questions and poliey adviee to the substantively competent researcher.
3.4.2. Availability of data
The data sets collected during research conducted in the framework of the Policy Research Centre wiJl be
shared as widely as possible with the government, bearing in mind however the applicable privacy laws as
weil as the commitments of the Policy Centre made towards extern a I partners.
Several other themes for whieh the Government of Flanders subsidises Poliey Research Centres, concern issues
that are linked with foreign poliey. Regarding the multidisciplinary character of the aspired policy-relevant
research, we plan to co-operate and exchange data where this can lead to better results.
Therefore, the initiators intend to make arrangements with the initiators of the following Poliey Research
Centres in order to explore possible synergies:
Policy Research Centre "Ondernemen en Regionale Economie" [Enterprising and regional enterprisingl,
partieularly for the aspects of "export orientation of small and medium enterprises";
Policy Research Cent re "Transitie Duurzame Ontwikkeling" [Transition Sustainable Developmentl,
partieularly for the research questions related to the multi-Ievel policy concerning sustainable
development;
Policy Research Centre "Bestuurlijke Organisatie Vlaanderen" [Administrative organisation Flandersl,
partieularly regarding research questions regarding the impact of EU policies on Flemish governance
structures and poliey positions.
PART 2: RESEARCH ACTlVITIES
CHAPTER 1 IINTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH
Research will be conducted under four thematie pillars, described in the first part of this document, i.e.
'International and European Law/Global Governance' (Chapter 2), 'International and European Policy'
Chapter 3) 'International Entrepreneurship' (Chapter 4) and 'Development Co-operation' (Chapter 5). A
detailed plan of the research work condudes the proposal (Chapter 6). Under each of these pillars, specifie
research proposals provide for a more specifie long-term scientifie commitment. In the short term, this process
will allow for researchers to reach short-term condusions addressing the policy questions in the call. Each of
the research proposals is inspired by the questions from the call on the one hand, and on Flanders' stated
foreign policy on the other (see the 2009 coalition agreement l and the 2009 policy paper on foreign policy,
international entrepreneurship and development co-operation 2 ). Bibliographieal references are available at
the end of each research proposal and demonstrate the scientifie relevance of the proposals. Each of the
research proposals not only contains a dear research plan, timeline, and description of the methodology to be
employed, but also indieates a variety of ways to mobilise the research to achieve distinctly artieulated short
and long-term research outputs and themes, as weil as ad hoc poliey questions.
Alongside the long term strategie research projects outlined (cf. 70%), the consortium will also conduct short
term research projects (cf. 30%) that reflect the policy priorities at that point in time. The short term research
projects will be guided annually by the Steering Group. For these short term research projects the Policy
Research Cent re will utilise its PhD researchers alongside the large pool of other researchers currently
affiliated with the research en ti ties involved with the consortium.
As aresuit, two types of projects will be facilitated- long term research projects and short term research
projects. The long term research projects will be PhD-track research projects whieh will be conducted by
doctoral researchers. The short-term projects will be conducted by researchers working either on the PhD track
or by other researchers affiliated to the research centre (via the participating research centres). The Policy
Research Centre commits to undertake continuous efforts in contributing to the provision of serviees depending
on the concrete needs of the government and in the framework of the genera I 70/30 agreement. One can
think of punctual questions in the framework of international negotiations or short term adviee on topica I issues
the government is confronted with. Doing so, the Policy Centre wishes to contribute to a broad range of topies
in international policy, international entrepreneurship and development co-operation with policy impact.
The Poliey Research Centre is supported by a pool of over a 1 00 researchers affiliated with the different
partner institutions. Their expertise can be used in order to cover very specifie and ad hoc questions.
Temporary researchers can be hired for specifie purposes, e.g. the collection of data for the government. This
approach is iIIustrated in figure 4.
1
2
VLAAMSE REGERING, Regeerakkoord 2009. Een daadkrachtig Vlaanderen in beslissende tijden, 2009.
K. PEETERS, Beleidsnota 2009-2074. Buitenlands Beleid, Internationaal Ondernemen en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, 2009.
Figure 4
70% Long Term
Research projects
The different long-term research proposals are aimed at forming a broad theoretica I background for a
multidisciplinary team of eight doctoral researchers with alegal, political science, or economics background.
This is essential in order to secure the proficiency necessary for the in-depth assessment of Flemish policy
demanded by the project. Research will be structured around long-term research questions, but will also result
in the production of short-term outputs in different forms, including mapping exercises, development of
methodologies, production of data sets for sub-questions, and the analysis of these data sets. These eight PhD
tracks will work within their discipline's distinct theoretica I frameworks in order to cover the different topics
within the call. However, the PhD researchers will engage in a wide range of interdisciplinary discussions to
encourage maximum synergy. Doctoral researchers will mainly focus on long-term research activities
fundamental to the project, but will also engage with Flemish policy makers to address their specific questions.
Furthermore, short-term and ad hoc research activities will be taken up by consortium partners according to
their research focuses. Hence, research takes shape in different, mutually nurturing forms ranging from shortterm policy advice to long-term theory formation. For a more detailed overview and time and budget
balance of the long- and short-term research.
It is the Policy Research Centre's aim to handle the entire 'chain of science' ranging from fundamental research
to basic strategic policy research in order to further disseminate this knowledge to stakeholders and policy
makers by means of policy briefs, interactive workshops and tailor-made advice. In the view of the
participants in the consortium, only through this mix of outcome types can the project provide the necessary
background for a thorough study and evaluation of the impact of Flemish foreign policy, and the development
of new instruments and policy indicators.
The consortium consists of three core units, having specifie evaluation tasks: (1) The policy centrei (2) the
Steering GrouPi and (3) Scientifie Advisory Board.
1.3.1. Infernal evaluation
The internal evaluation of the PhD tracks of whieh deliverables are pre-determined in the research proposals,
is of vital importance. Each project is supervised by the academie supervisor and the doctoral committee
consisting of leading national and international experts. In an annual report to the government, the doctoral
committees will evaluate the progress, quality and output of the research. Further, an internal reporting system
will be set up. Internal evaluation takes place in both the regular meetings of the Executive Board and
Steering Group, presided by the supervisor-coordinator, and by means of assessment talks with supervisors.
This internal evaluation not only upholds the integrity of the research output internally, but also reinforces its
poliey relevanee by recognising new developments and needs, alongside other research done in this field
externally. The individual supervisors and pillar coordinators keep an overview of external research, and will
continue to fuel the discussions within the framework of the Scientifie Advisory Board.
The internal evaluation of the 30% short-term research activities taken up by the policy centre, varies from
that of the long-term research. The research themes, output and deliverables of the short-term research will be
determined in the consortium's annual programme whieh must be approved by the Steering Group. On a
regular basis, consultation between the government and the supervisor-coordinator will be organised. Each
short-term research activity as weil as the researchers involved wil I be evaluated by a follow-up report. The
output of the short term research projects will be scientifieally evaluated by members of the Scientifie Advisory
Board and other recognised external experts. The Centre will organise a standard review process for the
output of short term research projects. Annually, a genera I report on the short-term research activities will be
drawn up for the Steering Group.
4.3.2. Consultation structures
Apart from the internal evaluations, the initiators look to develop a structure whieh enables them to keep in
touch with the opinions of Flemish policy-makers, civil society and other academies. As aforementioned, the
Steering Group is the primary body of the consortium responsible for facilitating co-operation between the
Policy Research Centre and the Flemish authorities. The scientifie evaluation will take place within the structures
of the Scientifie Advisory Board, of which pre-eminent domestie and international academies are members.
Members of this Board will also be part of the different doctoral committees.
4.3.3. Overview of planned evaluation
FREQUENCY
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1.4.1. Scientific quality care
Self-evaluation remains the primary method for quality care. The supervisors of the different research
activities are chiefly responsible for the scientifie and policy quality of the research. The different researchers
and their supervisors within the different entities will each write annual evaluation reports, whieh will be
discussed in special sessions of the board of academie supervisors, entirely devoted to the discussion of these
reports. Quality care also takes place continuously within the infrastructure of the internal evaluation. Internal
seminars (whieh will be open to external researchers) and public events will encourage feedback for the
research. Finally, the supervisor-coordinator and the manager-coordinator will ensure the general progress of
the different projects is in keeping with the intended time frame, and bring issues raised with the researchers
and academic supervisors on the project The scientifie quality control of the consortium will be monitored by
the Scientifie Advisory Board.
Current scientifie practiees will be the leading parameters for the external quality control of the consortium.
External quality care will therefore be provided by the output standards of the consortium. The initiators
intend to publish a minimum of two internationally peer reviewed artieles per year per pillar in highly ranked
(impact factor) journals whieh are ISI indexed. This will allow to track the citations of partieular papers. Next
to this, each pillar will be responsible for the publieation of four other scientifie papers in the format of a book
chapter, an edited volume, or publication in another journal. All senior researchers involved in the Poliey
Research Centre have a track record in internationally peer-reviewed publishing and maintain excellent
contacts with major publishers. Joint papers to be produced with renowned foreign institutions and individu al
research to be disseminated within these networks to maximise the quality of research delivered, will be
encouraged. Another important instrument for external control will be provided for through the reporting
duties of researchers to the doctoral schools of the institutions involved.
1.4.2. Policy quality care
The safeguarding of quality of the consortium in the first place will be assessed in the Steering Group, in
whieh representatives from the Flemish government and administration work c10sely together with the initiators
of the consortium.
1.5.1. General overview
_Ti"."....· Prof. dr. Dirk De Bièvre (ACIM) .. Prof.
Bart Kerremans (IIEB) - Prof. dr. Peter Bursens
>;! .......
finality after termination of the research
Prof. dr.
Huyse(HIVA)
Sltnervli!;ij'h"j"rv"'"
1.5.2. Overview of academie deliverables
Delherables
Topic
Hans mi)lynjt:1ç~:x,• •
Literature study
Analysis of the existing practice based
on literature and case studies
Case studies
Impact analysis research paper
Assessment of the modes of entrance,
impact, status and accountability
mechanisms
of
non-traditional
international law and standards in the
Flemish region
Macro-level econometrie analysis:
macro-study about the trade challenges
and opportunities, based on gravity
approach
Intemationalisation of Flemish Service
Industries
Development of a theoretical microlevel model that allows for a dynamic
impact assessment of preferential trade
liberalisation at the sector-, firm- and
product-level
Mapping of all European PTA activity:
inventory of new features, potential
pitfalls, challenges and opportunities
Individual case reports
preparation and analysis
Seminars and workshops
The role of the private
emerging donors strategies
Journaloutput
Input in mid-term research
1.5.3. Overview of poliey deliverables
The primary policy deliverable of the Policy Research Cent re is the delivery of policy papers and policy
briefs. Next to this the Policy Cent re will, in consultation with the government, organize training sessions as weil
as seminars for government officials. Third, the Centre will undertake valorisation activities to promote project
results and communicate these with a broader range of civil societyactors (e.g. media and NGOs) and public
actors (e.g. Flemish Agencies and the Flemish Parliament).
Policy formation
Elaboration
strategies
(successful
influence of
multilateral norm creation)
Policy report / brief 4
Policy Space in GATS and Services
PTAs
strategies
Policy report / brief 9
Policy implications
Impact
extemal policies:
Assessing impact of policies in 5 areas
Micro-level econometrie analysis: firmlevel and sectoral determinants of
Flemish services exports
Policy report / brief 19
1.5.4. Overview of sfaff days
The role of the private sector m
emerging donors strategies
(210 days/year equals 1 FTE/year)
CHAPTER
21 INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN
LAW
As a small yet very open reg ion, Flanders' domestic policies and regulations are undoubtedly influenced by
international politica I and economie events, such as the consequences of globalisation and multilevel
governance. 3 Over time, less traditional actors in public international law (international governmental
organisations, private actors, enterprises, NGOs) continue to expand their influence at the global level, which
amongst other things has resulted in different ways of international law-making emerging. Globalisation
processes have led to greater involvement of upcoming economies in politica I, economic and legal affairs,
which has compelled the Flemish region to continuously adapt and reassess its tra de and development cooperation relationships.
Flanders holds a rather unique position in international law and within the wider changing and multifaceted
world. As a sub-state actor it fully participates in multilevel governance processes. Thus, although it is
important to continue to actively engage in more classic law and policy making at the international level,4
contemporary trends of international interaction have to be closely followed in order to strengthen its legal
relationships with its key international partners - be it States, sub-state entities, international governmental
organisations or private actors.
The pillar "International and European law" wil I conduct research on the topics of multi-Ievel and private
governance, subsidiarity, international and European trade law and human rights law. In this regard, topics of
genera I public international law, international trade law, human rights law and legal aspects of development
co-operation will be covered.
We opted to cover legal aspects embedded in parts 6.3.1., 6.3.2. and 6.3.3. of the call:
a) Impact of international norms, standards and soft law in the Flemish region (Part 6.3.1., Topic 1,
including all four questions)
b) Interaction between the Flemish region and European tra de policy and international trade law (Part
6.3.2., covering legal aspects of Topics 1-3)
c)
Legal consequences for human rights law, good governance and development co-operation resulting
from the involvement of developing economies and private actors in the third world (Part 6.3.3.,
covering legal aspects of this topic)
An integrated approach is the most accurate and realistic way of dealing with the consequences of
globalisation and increased multilateralism.
The practical organisation of the cluster "Multi-Ievel aspects of Flemish foreign policy" is as follows:
3 VlAAMSE REGERING, Regeerakkoord 2009. Een daadkrachtig Vlaanderen in beslissende tijden, 2009, p. 83: Vlaanderen,
als deelstaat, behoort tot de meest open regio's van de wereld met een sterke interactie tussen het binnenlands beleid en de
Europese en internationale beleidsontwikkelingen [Flanders, as a sub-state entity, is among the most open regions of the wor/d,
characterized by astrong interaction between the domestic and deve/opments in international and European policy]
K. PEETERS, Beleidsnota 2009-2014. Buitenlands Beleid, Internationaal Ondernemen en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, 2009,
p. 64: De Vlaamse Regering zal zijn verdragsrecht aanwenden voor kwesties waar juridische zekerheid onontbeerlijk is, en zal
actief deelnemen aan de voorbereiding en onderhandelingen over gemengde verdragen. [The Flemish Government will use its
4
right to conc/ude treaties to address issues where legal security is essential, and wil/ actively participate in the preparation and
negotiation of mixed treaties.]
1. Two distinct long-term research themes were selected, whieh will be studied in the framework of two
separate Ph.D. tracks in law. The doctoral researchers involved will also analyse short-term policy questions
linked to these long-term research themes.
11
11
"Impact of non-traditional international law-making processes in the Flemish reg ion"
(preliminary title, academic supervisor: Prof. dr. Jan WOUTERS and Prof. dr. Geert DE BAERE
(K.U.Leuven)).
Making the Most of the liberalisation of Trade in Serviees -
Constraints on Domestie
Regulatory Autonomy?" (preliminary title, academie supervisors: Prof. dr. Jan WOUTERS and
Prof. dr. Geert VAN CALSTER (K.U.Leuven)).
2. Furthermore, two legal themes whieh will not lead to a doctoral degree will be taken up by this pillar. A
number of short and longer-term research questions including policy adviee will be grouped on the following
legal topies:
11
11
"Flanders' bilateral relationship with the Netherlands" (academie supervisor: Jan WOUTERS
(K.U.Leuven)).
"Legal analysis of the common trade policy of the European Union" (academie supervisor:
Jan WOUTERS (K.U.Leuven)).
I.
Project details
The proposed research will be entitled "Impact of non-traditional international law-making processes in the
Flemish reg ion" [Doorwerking van niet-traditionele vormen van internationaal recht binnen de Vlaamse
bevoegdheidsdomeinen]. It concerns a long-term research theme to be conducted at the K.U. Leuven Centre for
Global Governance Studies (GGS) and the Institute for International Law (liL), that will result in a doctoral
dissertation. The academie supervisor of this research are Prof. dr. Jan WOUTERS and Prof. dr. Geert DE
BAERE (K.U. Leuven). The PhD research will address the first set of questions introduced in part "6.3.1.
Subsidiarity / multi-Ievel governance" of the call on the impact of international norms and standards in
Flemish areas of competence.
11.
Problem statement
States, sub-state entities and private actors increasingly interact across national borders. At the global level,
alongside the more traditional way to draft international law through the conclusion of treaties, there is an
emerging tendency to engage in alternative methods to generate international agreement (Raustiala, 2005).
Both public and private actors are involved in formulating norms - such as guidelines, standards and
declarations - and in informal policy co-ordination activities. These norms still have an ambiguous position at
the global level and within public international law (Cohen, 2007-2008). Their impact is nonetheless likely to
affect national legal systems whieh would obviously have consequences for Flemish areas of competency.
Scholars tend to disagree on the legal value of these norms and have attributed these terms different names,
such as 'soft law', 'global governance activities' and 'informal international law' to indieate the differences in
the rules that manifest when compared to traditional law-making processes typieal of the international legal
system (Pauwelyn, 2011; Lichtenstein, 2001).
Non-traditional international law finds its origins in different fora, introduced by a variety of actors. On the
one hand, international organisations, subsidiary organs such as general assemblies, Conferences of the
Parties and/or special or functional committees create new international norms through decision-making
processes, the production of guidelines, poliey harmonisation, and standardisation activities (Kingsbury &
Casini, 2009; Von Bernstorff, 2009). The World Health Organisation Assembly, for example, systematieally
formulates recommendations and standards. Although strictly speaking they do not have legally binding
effects, these 'soft laws' are on a regular basis translated into member States' policies. (Art. 23 WHO
Constitution; Un, 2011). On the other hand, private actors - groups of enterprises, economie sectors, NGOs,
etc. - operate in a broad range of poliey areas to set standards in relation to specifie products and product
features, manufacturing and distribution processes, sustainable development and human rights. First hand
examples are the Forest Stewardship Council, proclaiming FSC certifieation schemes for wood produced
according to standards of responsible forest management, and private fishing standards created by the
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (Rafols, & Brander, 2005).
The output of non-traditional international law-making, i.e. norms, standards and guidelines, seems to have
considerable impact at the national, regional and local level (Von Bogdandy et al., 2008). Institutions, such as
parliaments, courts, regions and municipalities, ombudsmen and independent regulators are confronted with a
diverse range of soft, or even, informally created international standards, of whieh it remains unclear whether
these can even be considered 'Iaw' (Kingsbury & Casini, 2009). Since norm creation and standard-setting by
international public and private actors can also be observed in policy areas for whieh Flanders is given
competences - amongst others in sustainable development, economy, environment, work, sport and health - it
is reasonable to assume similar effects in the Flemish reg ion. However, no structural efforts have been made to
systematieally analyse these rules and poliey spaces. If it could be established that these norms and standards
have had an impact on the Flemish regulation and economie sectors, it should furthermore be identified and
explained how these norms have been created on the international dimension, and subsequently introduced at
the sub-state level. Within policy competences, regional strategies need to be developed in order to influence
these international norm development processes. Bearing in mind the somewhat vague legal status of most
norms and standards concluded, when implementing these "new law mechanisms", one must be mindful of
principles of good governance, the rule of law, traditional checks and balances systems as weil as democratie
accountability mechanisms (Wallach, 2001-2002). Partieularly, Flanders will need to ensure the principles of
legal protection and transparency, avoiding an accountability gap for the output of these non-traditional
international law-making processes at the domestie level. In this, the practiee of quasi-automatie
implementation of international norms through simplified treaty adoption procedures and enactment of
standards without Parliamentary approval seems particularly problematie in terms of opposability to
individuals (Van Eeckhoutte & Loose, 2007).
m.
Scientific state of the art
The topie of law-making outside the boundaries of traditional public international law has been studied at
different universities and scientifie institutions. Until now, legal literature primarily focused on theory-forming
at the international level. The Global Administrative Law Project (GAL) of the New Vork University School of
Law focuses on the increasing use of administrative law-type mechanisms. At the Max-Planck-Institut für
ausländisches öffentliehes Recht und Völkerrecht at Heidelberg, Germany, the exercise of international public
authority forms the main theme for a number of projects that analyse the exercise of public authority by
international institutions (Von Bogdandy et al., 2010). The Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law
(HiiL) has a research interest in both the public and private side of the phenomenon of "new international law
and law-making". It currently sponsors a research project on "Private Transnational Regulation: Constitutional
Foundations and Governance Design" and a research project on "Informal International Law-making". The
latter project (executed by the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the Leuven Cent re for Global Governance
Studies and the University of Twente) will generate an inventory of existing informal international law-making
processes with a particular focus on accountability, legitimacy, and domestic implementation. In addition, legal
scholarship has shown specific interest in critica I case studies of public and private standard setters, e.g. in
health and food safety (Büthe, 2008; Clapp & Fuchs, 2009; Wouters et al., 2009) and social and
environmental responsibility (Wirth, 2009). Finally, growing research interests can be observed in the topic
'impact of non-traditional international law in domestic courts and regulatory schemes' (Benvenisti & Downs,
2009).
In the proposed research, insights provided by aforementioned projects and scholarship will be used to apply
the theoretica I framework to the specific Flemish situation, focusing on domestic implementation, the impact of
norms and the Flemish influence in norm creation at the global level.
IV.
Fundamental and applied research questions
The first long term fundamental research question of the project concerns the assessment of the use and
development of soft norms, guidelines and standards in international law: how (questions of law-making), and
by whom (actors involved) are these generated? In this, it is assumed that the broad range of standards
created at the international level has lead to a fragmented legal framework that nevertheless bears the
potential to impact domestic law. A comparative framework that includes several norm and standard-setting
committees will be established. Case-studies will include public and private actors likely to affect Flemish
policy competences. While working towards an answer to the long term questions posed, a series of other
questions must be attended, most importantly regarding the legal status of the rules that manifest from these
non-conventional norm-creation practices.
A second long term fundamental research question focuses on the influence of international norms resulting
from non-traditional international law-making activities in the Flemish reg ion. To what extent do these
guidelines impact regional regulatory schemes and behaviour? To address this, research will be conducted on
the role of sub-state public authorities and private actors within institutional and procedural designs of global
networks and accountability and review mechanisms. The Flemish-international interaction will therefore be at
the centre of the researcher's interest.
A third long term fundamental research question is formulated having in mind the objective of maximising
Flemish influence in international norm-setting. How can Flemish policy and regulatory schemes influence and
shape non-traditional international law-making? In this, the possible impact of both public (the Flemish
Parliamentary Assembly, administration, regional representatives, ... ) and private actors (economic sectors or
NGOs involved in standard-sectors) will be analysed and concrete policy recommendations will be
formulated.
V.
Research design and methodology
1/ What is the current state of play of law-making outside the formal framework of public international decision
making structures (such as intergovernmental organisations)?
Before elaborating on the research stages, a preliminary mapping of the international actors and fora
responsible for the creation of norms and standards should be carried out. Selected norm creation activity will
be mapped based on a series of resources:
publicly available primary sources: statutes and interest statements of international organisations and
NGOs, standards setting procedures, position papers of interest groups;
context resources such as media and academic Iiterature;
in-depth case study research of a selection of public and private standard-setters having a potential
to have a direct impact on Flemish policy competences.
In consultation with the Flemish government and administration, depending on concrete needs and policyrelated interests, a list of case studies will be composed. An overview of proposed topics, containing both
public and private norm providers, is herewith provided:
Sustainable
Environment
development
&
OECD Guidelines & Policies (sustainable development, sustainable
agriculture);
ISO
standards
(e.g.
14000
on
environmental
management); Forest Stewardship Council, UNFCCC Conference of
the Parties norms.
Road safety
International Road Federation
Sport
International Olympic Committee (IOC), Fédération Internationale de
Football Association
(FIPA), Doping related standards (WADA /
UNESCO)
Health
World Health Assembly regulations
Using the empirical findings and existing Iiterature as a starting point, incidence and variance in design and
operation wiJl be identified and explained. The aim of this preliminary part is to develop data sets, which wiJl
become an indispensable tooi at later stages. Concluding this part, we wiJl also deliver a first report on the
possible impact of norms created by the studied object related to Flemish regulation and policy.
2/ What is the legal framework for norms creafed at the international level that cannot be considered traditional
public international law-making?
Based on the preliminary, empirica I part, a theoretica I framework will be set up to determine the following
sub-questions: (1) questions about the basic structural patterns and institutional design of non-traditional lawmaking; (2) methodological questions concerning the scope of non-traditional law and its sources. More
concretely, research will focus on these variables: First, on actors and fora involved in norm creation. The
research will continue to draw a dear line between public and private actors involved. Although arguably
having direct impact on domestic regulations, policies and behaviours, not all actors may be involved in 'Iawmaking' in a strict sen se. The involvement of the Flemish economic sector in setting norms and standards will be
a primary focus area. Second, the processes under consideration here are international, as opposed to
domestic. They involve cross-border policy co-ordination and/or standard setting, but not by way of formal
international rule making (as wh en treaties are conduded or wh en an international organisation is empowered
to issue binding norms). Third, the research will focus on different forms of output, such as guidelines, standards
and dedarations, which should be categorised as to the different effects these create. The adjustment of
terminology in light thereof will be an integral part of the theory building.
The goal of this aspect of the project is to determine definitions, distinctions and categorisations to be used
throughout the research and to become a tooi in Flemish policy-making. Doing this, the researcher will rely on
the existing legal scholarship - which is well-developed - but focusing in particular on Flemish interests. The
development of a common theory and terminology is a requisite to frame and measure 'impact' at the Flemish
sub-national level and to assess possible deficits in these processes.
3/ How do sources of non-traditional international law enter the national legal order, and more in partieu/ar in
the Flemish region, and what are the eonsequenees for Flemish regu/ation and poliey?
This research question addresses the core issue of the doctoral thesis:
It is of particular interest to map how norms, standards and guidelines created at the international level enter
in the domestic legal order (mapping of modes of entrance). This will be done by comparing how traditional
international law is implemented in Flanders, to the way this is done for less traditional norms and standards.
It can be assumed that norms become more relevant precisely because of their transmission into Flemish
regulation (direct or indirect, e.g. via the European Union), references made in case law or their adoption in
private transactions. Specific emphasis in this part of the research will be put on the role of democratic
mechanisms and principles in these implementation processes. First, after hoving focused on the Flemish
legislative and executive branches, an analysis of the Belgian jurisprudence on the acceptance and impact of
the specific forms of soft law and private standards discussed will be carried out. Through a theoretica I
assessment, the role of EU legislation as a filter for norms and standards to be introduced in the Flemish reg ion
will be measured. Second, emphasis will be put on the adaption of private standards in Flanders, which most
likely differs from the norms created under the auspices of international organisations or by
transgovernmental networks.
Subsequently, the status and impact of the output of the processes in the Flemish reg ion and on Flemish
regulatory schemes will be assessed and evaluated (status and impact analysis). Questions on their status
indudes an assessment of their legal value. Conflicts between domestic law, particularly regional law, and
these norms and standards are of interest too. The empirica I data for this analysis is collected in the first stage
of research.
Next to th is, domestic law can help ensure accountability of the new international law (accountability analysis).
Until this point, it has been undear to wh at extent accountability mechanisms exist in Flanders. Internal
legitimacy to a large extend depends on Parliamentary supervision. Therefore, research will be conducted on
how to reconcile internal procedures of anticipatory parliamentary approval as weil as the specific set of
rules for advisory procedures of the Counseil d'État when implementing more technical international norms.
A more limited, though still vital part of this research will address the previous questions within a different
context than the Flemish one (comparative analysis). Through a comparative analysis of international
federated entities, similar questions (how do non-traditional international norms and standards enter the substate legal orders and policies, and wh at is their legal status?) will be raised. The goal is to assess wh at can
be learned from other regions. There will be points of comparison in other strong "constitutional regions" such
as Catalonia, Scotland and Québec.
4/ Which insfruments and strategies are best suited to optimise F/emish inf/uence at the internationa//eve/?
After having theoretically and empirically framed the impact of non-traditional law-making processes and
their output with a dear emphasis on the Flemish situation, the researcher will seek to identify various types of
instruments and legal strategies best suited to influence these. The results of the research at the global level
will allow us to screen the multilateral context in terms of opportunities and constraints for regions in adapting
domestic policy to the changes in the way international law is made. Since this last part focuses explicitlyon
the strategies of Flanders in different international organisations, public and private governance structures,
the final part of the dissertation will consist of concrete policy suggestions with respect to the development of
instruments, which will also be translated in a final report.
VI.
Valorisation
Valorisation of the research takes place in a variety of ways:
Ol
Frequent feedback with the sound board group and the Steering Group and presentation of
preliminary findings;
..
Frequent reports;
..
Networking with other regions;
..
Capacity building through workshops;
111
Presentations at international and national conferences;
..
Publications in international and national journais;
..
Joint publications with partner institutions and researchers;
11
Ph.D. dissertation;
111
Continuous policy support.
VII. Timing
The timing of this research proposal is influenced by the fact that the researcher will be employed on a basis
of a doctoral scholarship (doctoraatsbursaa/) which imp lies that his dissertation will be delivered in the fifth
year.
Preliminary mapping of international norms with the
potential to have a direct impact in Flemish policy
competences
Flemish
Ad hoc continuous
VIII. Bibliographical references
Benvenisti, E. & Downs, G., 'National Courts, Domestic Democracy, and the Evolution of International Law', Eur.
J. Int. Law (2009), vol. 20, pp. 59-72.
Braithwaite, J. & Drahos, P., Global Business Regulation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000, 704
p.
Büthe, T., 'The Globalization of Health and Safety Standards: Delegation of Regulatory Authority in the SPS
Agreement of the 1994 Agreement', Law & Contemp. Probs. (2008), vol.71 , pp. 219-255.
Chandra, M., 'ISO Standards from Quality to Environment to Corporate Social Responsibility and Their
Implications for Global Companies', J. Int'l Bus. & L. (2011), vol. 10, pp. 107-113.
Clapp, J. & Fuchs D., (eds), Corporate Power in Global Agrifood Governanee, Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press,
2009,pp.312.
Cohen, H.G., 'Finding International Law: Rethinking the Doctrine of Sources', lowa L. Rev. (2007-2008), vol. 93,
pp.65-130.
Fulponi, L., 'Private Voluntary Standards in the Food System: the Perspective of Major Food RetaiIers in OECD
Countries', Food Poliey (2006), vol. 13, pp. 1-13.
Levit, J.K., 'Bottom-Up Lawmaking: The Private Origins of Transnational Law', Indiana Journalof Global Legal
Studies (2008), vol. 15, pp. 49-73.
c., 'Hard Law v. Soft Law: Unnecessary Dichotomy?', The International Lawyer (2001), vol. 35, pp.
Uchtenstein,
1433-1441.
Un, C.-F., 'Global Food Safety: Exploring key elements for an international regulatory strategy', Va. J. 'nt" L.
(2011), vol. 51, pp. 637-695.
Pauwelyn, J., 'The Rise and Challenges of 'Informal' International Law-Making', in Muller, S., Zouridis, S.,
Frishman, M., and Kistemaker, L., The Law of the Future and the Future of Law, Oslo, TOAEP, 2011, pp. 744,
pp. 125-139
Kingsbury, B., Kirsch, N. & Stewart, R.B., "The Emergence of Global Administrative Law", Law and
Contemporary Problems (2005), vol. 68, pp 15-61.
Kingsbury, B. & Casini, L., 'Global Administrative Law Dimensions of International Organizations Law',
International Organizations Law Review (2009), Vol.6, pp. 319-358, pp. 349-356
Rafols, X.P. & Brander L., 'The Stewardship Council Model: A Comparison of the FSC and MSC', J Int7 &
Comp. L. (2005), vol. 11, pp. 637-663.
Rausticila, K., 'Form and Substance in International Agreements', Am. J. Int'l L. (2005) vol. 99, pp. 581-614.
Van Eeckhoutte, D. & Loose, T., 'Wijziging zkt. Instemming. Het probleem van de parlementaire instemming
met vereenvoudigde verdragswijzigingen', K.U. Leuven Institute for International Law Working Paper Nr. 105
- januari 2007, avai/able at https:/Iwww.law.kuleuven.be/iir Ini/onderzoek/wp/WP1 05n.pdf.
Von Bernstorff, J., 'Procedures of Decision-Making and the Role of Law in International Organizations',
German Law Journal (2008), vol. 9, pp. 1939-1964.
Von Bogdandy, A., Dann, Ph. & Goldmann, M., 'Developing the Publicness of Public International Law:
Towards a Legal Framework for Global Governance Activities', German LJ. (2008), vol. 9, 1375-1400.
Von Bogdandy, A., Wolfrum, R., von Bernstorff, J., Dann, Ph. & Goldmann, M. (eds), The Exercise of Public
Authority by International Institutions: Advancing International Institutional Law, Heidelberg, Springer, 2010, pp.
999.
Wallach, L., "Accountable Governance in the Era of Globalization: the WTO, NAFTA, and International
Harmonization of Standards", U. Kan. L. Rev. (2001-2002), vol. 50, pp. 836-837.
Wirth, 0., 'The International Organization for Standardization: Private Voluntary Standards as Swords and
Shields', B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. (2009), vol. 36, pp. 79- 102.
Wouters, J., 'Customary international law before national courts: some reflections from a continental European
perspective', Non-state Actors and International Law (2004), vol. 4, pp. 25-38.
Wouters, J., Marx, A., Hachez N., 'In Search of a Balanced Relationship: Public and Private Food Safety
Standards and International Law', Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies Working Paper No. 29 June
2009,
avai/able
at
ytvVW .qgsJnJleu'!en.be /nieuw Ipublicotions/vvorkinq%20..QQf2ers/
ew series/wp29.pdf, pp. 31.
Wouters, J. & Van Eeckhoutte, 0., 'The en force ment of customary international law through EC law', in J.
Prinssen & A. Schrauwen (eds.), Direct effect: rethinking a classic of EC legal doctrine pages, Groningen, Europa
Law Publishing, 2002, 181-234, pp. 320.
Wouters, J. & Van Eeckhoutte, 0., 'Doorwerking van internationaal recht voor de Belgische hoven en
rechtbanken', in Nederlandse Vereniging voor Internationaal Recht, De nationale rechter en het internationale
recht, No. 131, The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press, 2005, 145-242, pp. 243.
Wouters, J. & Van Eeckhoutte, D. (eds.), Doorwerking van internationaal recht in de Belgische rechtsorde.
Recente ontwikkelingen in rechtstakoverschrijdend perspectief, Antwerp, Intersentia, 2006, pp. 652.
Wouters, J., De Man, Ph. and Hachez, N., 'Internationaal recht voor de praktizijn: hoe omgaan met
handelingen van internationale instellingen en internationale rechtspraak', in K. lenaerts and J. Wouters (eds.),
Internationaal en Europees Recht, Themis Cahier No 49, Bruges, Die Keure, 2008, pp. 57-76.
Wouters, J. Wessel, R.A. and FolIesdal, A. (eds.), Multilevel Regulation and the EU. The Interplay between
Globa/, European and National Normative Processes, leiden - Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008, xxi +
420 p.
WHO Constitution, adopted by the International Health Conference held in New Vork from 19 June to 22 July
1946, signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Off. Rec. Wld Hlth Org., 2, 100), and
entered into force on 7 April 1948.
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I. Project details
The proposed theme for the second long-term research project wil! be 'Making the Most of the Liberalisation
of Trade in Services - Constraints on Domestic Regulatory Autonomy?' [Het optimaliseren van de liberalisering
van de handel in diensten - Begrenzing van de autonome nationale regelgeving?].
The desired candidate will become a member of the K.U. leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies
(GGS) and the K.U. leuven Institute for International law. The research, which will lead to a doctoral
dissertation in law, wil! be carried out under academic supervision of Prof. dr. Jan Wouters and Prof. dr.
Geert Van Calster.
The project addresses a number of questions raised in part 6.3.2 (International Enterprising/ 'Internationaal
Ondernemen') of the call. This part specifies the need for legal analyses on (a) EU Trade Policy, (b) Free (or
Preferential) Trade Agreements (throughout this document the term Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) will
be used: as such it encompasses the term Free Trade Agreement), (c) Trade in Services and (d) Export
Opportunities for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The tender document specifically mentions the
necessity of research on the compatibility of Flemish regulation of the tertiary sector of the economy
(hereafter referred to as the service sector) with international regulations. A second part of the project will
focus on another question raised in the tender document, i.e. the policy space granted by international
regulation on trade in services for sub-state actors to deal with issues such as labour regulations, public health
and the environment.
11. Problem statement
The role of services in the global economy is steadily increasing. In 2010, services accounted for
approximately 70% of global GDP (World Bank, 2010). Trade in services however, is limited and only
accounts for approximately 20% of global cross-border trade (WTO). Gradual liberalisation of trade in
services is one of the cornerstones of the EUs common international trade policy, as witnessed by the fact that
the EU is the world's leading exporter and importer of services (WTO, 2011). Multilateral liberalisation is
sought through the channels of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which deals with services in the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS Agreement). The GATS, still subject to negotiations that are presently
locked, are still largely incomplete (Delimatsis, 2010). Increasingly, provisions covering trade in services are
incorporated into bilateral (or regional) preferential trade agreements.
The proposed research revolves around Flanders' role in the domain of international tra de law and policy.
Centra I to the project will be the question to which extent the existing framework of international rules on
trade in services can enhance Flanders' position in the global services market. The Flemish government has
recognised the importance of services trade in its most recent governmental agreement, in which it states that
the export of services should be increased.5 At the same time, Flanders' has always been active in ensuring
that it can maintain the principle of universal service, and to that end, has negotiated several exceptions. One
author has phrased these conflicts of interests as 'domestic sovereignty vs. international trade liberalisation'
(Munin, 2011 ).
Although liberalisation of the services sector offers opportunities for Flemish service providers who export their
services abroad, due care has to be taken to ensure that regulating authorities maintain sufficient policy
space to adopt measures necessary to protect other societal va lues, such as public morals, public health and
the environment. There is some literature available on the multilateral regulatory framework on services, but
far less is known about the impact on domestic regulatory autonomy that would result from the inclusion of
services provisions in preferential trade agreements.
111. Scientific state of the art
There is a wide range of literature available on multilateral liberalisation of the trade in services (Andenas
and Zleptnig, 2008; R. Wolfrum, P. Stoll and C. Feinäugle, 2008; Panizzon, Pohl and Sauvé, 2008). How can
the liberalisation of trade in services be reconciled with the legitimate societal concerns that some lawmakers
hold? Some authors have focused on the linkages between domestic regulatory autonomy and the GATS
(Delimatsis, 2008). It has been argued that the WTO Appellate Body has confused market access disciplines
with rules on domestic regulations, thereby inappropriately encroaching upon the regulatory autonomy of
WTO Members (Pauwelyn, 2005; Mavroidis, 2007, Wouters and Coppens, 2008). Others have addressed
the question of whether GATS includes what we call 'public services' or 'services supplied in the exercise of
governmental authority' (Krajewski, 2003).
However, there is considerably less institutional knowledge available about about the impact of the inclusion
of provisions on tra de in services in Preferential / Free Trade Agreements. With the Doha Development
Agenda yet again on the brink of collapse, there is a visible proliferation of preferential trade agreements.
Not only are there more of those agreements, they also offer deeper integration and now include issues such
as investment, intellectual property, and technical barriers to trade and services (BagweIl and Mavroidis,
2011). Today, one third of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include provisions on services, compared to
only one tenth in 1990 (WTO, 2011). Even though some authors have looked at the relationship between
multilateral and regional liberalisation of trade in services (Stephenson, 2002; Cottier and Delimatsis, 2011),
and others.have shed some light on additional commitments in PTAs (Roy, Marchetti and Urn, 2007), there are
still many uncertainties that warrant further research, especially when looked at from a Flemish perspective.
To what extent are the additional commitments in PTAs compatible with existing WTO obligations. In this
respect, a detailed analysis of Art. V GATS will be undertaken. Secondly, one can ask whether the evolving
practice of incorporating services provisions in PTAs can lead to 'modeis' that can eventually be used to
further the multilateral liberalisation process. In this respect it would be an astute decision to closely monitor
5
VLAAMSE REGERING, Regeerakkoord 2009. Een daadkrachtig Vlaanderen in beslissende tijden, 2009, p.33.
both the negotiation processes for new preferential trade agreements, as weil as the developments in the
DDA negotiations on Rules on Domestic Regulations in the GATS framework.
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
Research will be conducted on two separate, but related, levels. The fundamental, long and 'medium
length' activities of the project will result in articles being published in international academic journais, such
as the Journalof International Economic Law, World Trade Review and the Journalof World Trade. The
outcome will be the researcher defending his dissertation to obtain a PhD in law.
Main research questions:
How is the international trade in services regulated at the international level? This question de
lege Iata will result in a descriptive mapping of the current international regulatory
11
framework. On the multilateral level the GATS offers a forum for further liberalisation under
the auspices of the WTO. On the bilateral and regional level, numerous Preferential Trade
Agreements have been concluded, many of which also incorporate provisions on services
libera lisation.
To what extent does current international regulation allow the autonomous Flemish lawmaker
to advance principles of sustainable development, labour rights, public health and cultural
diversity in its trade policy concerning services? This question is built upon an analysis of Article
XIV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services that forms part of the World Trade
Organization and which incorporates the general exceptions to GATS obligations. However,
the rules underlying the multilateral trading system are increasingly being incorporated, in
different ways, into preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Therefore, this part will also
address the genera I exceptions to the rules on trade in services incorporated in the FTAs
concluded by the EU (for example the EU - South Korea FTA). What effect does the
incorporation of provisions on services have on (Flemish) regulatory autonomy?
11
What impact does the shift of negotiations on the liberalisation of services, from the
multilateral to the bilateral/regional level, have on Flemish external trade poliey? Will the
multilateral field eventually be abandoned altogether? What effects will the proliferation of
PTAs with services provisions have? Some authors have suggested that preferential trade
negotiations can be a stepping-stone for multilateralism (Persin, 201 0). Will this hypothesis
hold true?
11
The short-term research and policy issues related to this research project may concern a number of topics:
11
The impact of the EU Common International Trade Policy on Flanders' capacity to regulate
the services sector;
11
The legal aspects of the external EU Trade Policy in a WTO context;
11
The formulation of Flemish policies and positions with regard to the formation of EU positions
in multi- and bilateral trade negotiations;
11
Compatibility of (proposed) Flemish regulation with GATS obligations;
11
Compatibility of (proposed) Flemish regulation with provisions on serviees in preferential
trade agreements;
The results of this short-term research mayalso be incorporated, where appropriate, into the final
dissertation.
V. Research design and methodology
How is the international trade in services regulated at the international level?
The first stage of research consists of preliminary mapping of the international regulatory framework on trade
in services. First, at the multilateral level, the GATS will be examined. Through an analysis of publidy
available primary sources and context resources (academic literature / press releases) this agreement will be
examined. What position does this agreement take in the multilateral field of trade liberalisation? Secondly,
a number of bilateral / regional preferential trade agreements that incorporate provisions on services will be
studied. These indude in the first place the agreements the EU has negotiated in the context of its common
extern a I trade policy, and which have a direct on Flanders. Sy way of a comparative analysis a number of,
yet to be determined, FTAs mayalso be examined. These could indude NAFTA, AUSFTA and the ASEANFramework Agreement on Trade in Services (AFAS). The aim of this mapping exercise is to get a dear view of
the state-of-play in trade in services liberalisation.
To what extent does current international regulation al/ow the autonomous Flemish lawmaker to advance
principles of sustainab/e deve/opment, labour rights, public health and cultural diversity in its trade policy
concerning services?
The preamble of the GATS Agreement explicitly recognises the 'right to regulate' that WTO Members
reserve. This second part focuses, first, on the issue of domestic regulation which is dealt with in Art. VI of the
GATS Agreement. A structured analysis of this artide will incorporate:
•
The negotiating history and ratio leg is;
•
The obligations contained in the artide;
•
The relationship with other GATS artides;
Second, this part deals with the general exceptions incorporated in Art. XIV GATS. National regulations that
do not comply with GATS obligations may be justified under Art. XIV and XIV bis of the GATS Agreement. A
study of the artide will look at the explicit justifications listed, such as public morals, public order and human,
anima I or plant life or health, as weil as implicit justifications such as the environment, sustainable
development, human rights, labour standards and culture. Part of the analysis will focus on whether these
implicit grounds are covered by Art. XIV GATS. Moreover, an analysis will be made of the requirement that
measures adopted with a view of protecting one of the mentioned objectives does not constitute 'arbitrary
and unjustifiable discrimination.' This analysis incorporates GATS-related WTO case law, particularly the USGambling (Weil er and Irwin, 2008; Ortino, 2006) and China - Publications and Audiovisual Products
(Pauwelyn, 2010) cases.
What impact does the shift of negotiations on the liberalisation of services, from the multilateral to the
bilateral/regionalleve/, have on Flemish external trade policy?
The goal of this part of the research is to establish a pattern, if any, in the liberalisation of trade in services.
To this end, the evolution of PTAs on this issue will be assessed and evaluated. One aspect in which some PTAs
differ from the GATS is the way in which its drafters have adopted a 'negative list' rather than a 'positive list'
approach, thereby trying to achieve deeper liberalisation. This part aims to discern whether the adoption of a
'negative list' approach in PTA negotiations conducted by the EU would offer significant advantages. On the
other hand, it will be examined whether this approach has negative side effects in terms of the loss of policy
space. The empirical data retrieved from the mapping exercise developed under the first stage of the
research will be built upon here. The monitoring of the development of services disciplines in preferential
trade agreements should eventually lead to proposals on which provisions should or should not be transposed
to the multilateral level.
VI. Valorisation
Valorisation of the research wiJl cover:
11
Presentations at international conferences;
11
Publications in international and national journais;
11
Continuous policy support;
11
Capacity building through workshops;
11
Frequent reports;
11
Ph.D. dissertation;
11
Continuous policy support.
The research will be conducted following the doctoral program of the K.U.Leuven, which stresses the
importance of international publications.
VII. Timing
The researcher will be able to fully benefit from the expertise available at the Institute for International Law
as weil as the K.U. Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (GGS). This expertise not only covers
detailed knowledge of international economic law and policy, but also the economic background of the
process of trade liberalisation. The first years of the project wiJl largely be devoted to research activities,
after which the researcher will be able to cater for 'on demand' research requests and policy support.
Year 1
Long term PhD research:
1.
State-of-Play of Services
(Multilateral and regionallevels)
Liberalisation
Literature research
Output: literature study; state-of-play
2. Policy Space in GATS and Services PTAs
Interviews
Year2
Year3
Year4
Output: impact assessment
3. Liberalisation of Services through WTO DDA /
PTAs.
Output: impact assessment;
practices; policy guidelines
analysis
of best
4. Elaboration of Flemish negotiation strategies
Output: policy formation
Dissertation (academie capacity building)
Continuous policy support
VIII. Bibliographical references
K. Alexander and M. Andenas (eds.), The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services, (Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers: leiden, 2008).
K. BagweIl and P. Mavroidis (eds.), Preferential Trade Agreements: A Law and Economics Ana/ysis, (Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge, 2011.
P. Delimatsis, 'International Trade in Services and Domestic Regu/ations: Necessity, Transparency and Regulatory
Diversity', (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2008).
P. Delimatsis, 'Concluding the WTO services negotiations on domestic regulation - hopes and fears', World
Trade Review (2010),9:4,643-673.
P. Delimatsis, N. Diebold, M. Molinuevo, M. Panizzon and P. Sauvé, 'Developing trade rules for services: a
case of fragmented coherence?' in T. Cottier and P. Delimatsis (eds.), The Prospects of International Trade
Regulation: From Fragmentation to Coherence, (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2011).
M. Krajewski, 'Public Services and Trade Liberalization: Mapping the legal Framework', Journalof
International Economic Law (2003), 6(2), 341-367.
P. Mavroidis, 'Highway XVI re-visited: the road from non-discrimination to market access in GATS', World
Trade Review (2007), 6: 1, 1-23.
N. Munin, 'The GATS: alegal perspective on crossroads of conflicting interests', World Trade Review (2011),
10:3, 325-342.
F. Ortino, 'Treaty Interpretation and the WTO Appellate Body Report on US - Gambling: A Critique', Journal
of International Economic Law (2006), 9: 117-148.
M. Panizzon, N. Pohl and P. Sauvé (eds.), 'GATS and the Regulation of International Trade in Services',
(Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2008).
J. Pauwelyn, 'Rien ne va Plus? Distinguishing Domestic Regulation from Market Access in GATT and GATS',
World Trade Review (2005), 4:2, 131- 170.
J. Pauwelyn, 'Squaring Free Trade in Cultural Goods and Services With Chinese Censorship: The WTO
Appellate Body Report on China - Audiovisuals', Melbourne Journalof International Law (2010), 11, 1-22.
D. Persin, 'Market Access for Small versus Large Service Enterprises: The Preferential and Multilateral Trade
liberalization Tracks Compared', Journalof World Trade (2010),45(4),785-819.
M. Roy, J. Marchetti and H. lim, 'Services liberalization in the new generation of preferential trade
agreements (PTAs): how much further than the GATS?', World Trade Review (2007), 6:2, 155-192.
S. Stephenson, 'Regional vs Multilateral liberalization of Services', World Trade Review (2002), 1:2, 187-209.
G. Van Calster, 'Faites vos jeux - Regulatory autonomy and the World Trade Organisation after Brazil Tyres',
Journalof Environmental Law (2008) 121- 136.
G. Van Calster, 'An overview of regulatory innovation in the European Union', Cambridge Yearbook of
European Legal Studies, eds. Catherine Barnard and Okeoghene Odudu, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2009, 289321.
G. Van Calster and K. Hectors, 'De invloed van het Europese milieurecht op de decentrale overheden in
België', in L. Hoornaert, G. Straetmans, A-M Van den Bossche (eds), Lokale Besturen: dichtbij en EU-nabij,
Antwerpen, Intersentia, 201 0, 11 5- 1 38.
J. Weiler and D. Irwin, 'Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services (DS
285), World Trade Review (2008), 7: 1, 71- 113.
R. Wolfrum, P. Stoll and C. Feinäugle (eds), 'WTO-Trade in Services, Max Planck Commentaries on World
Trade Law, vol. 6, 2008.
J. Wouters, 'Enkele beschouwingen over GATS en hoger onderwijs', in Ad amicissimum amici scripsimus:
vriendenboek Raf Verstegen (Die Keure: Brugge, 2004, 386-390).
J. Wouters and D. Coppens, 'GATS and Domestic Regulation: Balancing the Right to Regulate and Trade
liberalization' in K. Alexander and M. Andenas (eds.), The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services,
(Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: Leiden, 2008).
J. Wouters and B. De Meester, The Wor/d Trade Organization: alegal and institutional analysis, (Intersentia:
Antwerp, 2007.) .
WTO, 'Trade Policy Review Report: Report by European Union', WTjTPRjGj248, 1 June 2011.
WTO, 'Understanding the WTO: The Agreements - Services: rules for growth and investment', available at
http:j jwww.wto.orgjenglishjthewto_ejwhatis_ejtiCejagrm6_e.htm.
WTO, 'World Trade Report 2011 - The WTO and Preferential Trade Agreements: From co-existence to
coherence', available at http:j jwto.orgjenglishjres_ejpublications_ejwtr11_e.htm.
CHAPTER 3 I INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN POLICY
Whilst the European Union faces a number of extern a I and internal challenges (uprisings in the Arab region,
the Euro crisis, economie reform, and so on), the impact of day-to-day EU policymaking upon member states
and regions increases every day. The Flemish Government has recognised the relevanee of the European
governance level in several of its core policy documents and initiatives, and considers an increased
involvement of Flanders in EU policymaking to be a top priority.6 Flemish Foreign Affairs Minister Kris Peeters
has devoted substantial attention to the EU in his policy prioritiesl In partieular, Flemish foreign policy has
included in its list of key goals a focus on strengthening the role of regions in the EU and investing in tools to
influence European policies. Finally, the overarching, long term program 'Flanders in Action' (Vlaanderen in
Actie - ViA) positions the EU and its economie policies (EU2020), as crucial for the economie development of
Flanders.
The call explicitly mentions four issues whieh will be tackled by this 'International and European Policy' pillar.
Page 34 lists th ree issues and page 36 raises the fourth:
(1) Best practices for regional interest representation in EU decision-making
(2) Institutional impact of the Treaty of Lisbon and subsequent opportunities for regions
(3) Impact of EU external policies on Flemish foreign policy
6
7
VLAAMSE REGERING, Regeerakkoord 2009. Een daadkrachtig Vlaanderen in beslissende tijden, 2009.
Beleidsbrief Buitenlands Beleid, Internationaal Ondernemen en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, 2010.
(4) Organisation and activities of the service sector in EU economie and trade policies
We have reorganised these questions into two encompassing PhD tracks (research activity 1 and 4). These
doctoral projects simultaneously cover both the PhD research tracks and the 4 concrete research questions
explicitly derived from the call (research activity 2-3,5-6). A total of six activities will be carried out by two
PhD students under supervision of 4 promoters from 2 consortium partners (University of Antwerp and
K.U.Leuven). Institutionally, they will both be based at the Antwerp research centre ACIM and the overall
Poliey Research Centre consortium. In addition, all collaborators will be involved in continuous support of
policymakers along the lines agreed within the Steering Group and under guidance of the genera I
coordinator of the consortium.
The first PhD track focuses on poliey fields with a predominantly internal-EU character while the second has a
largely external-EU policy outlook. Among the EU-internal poliey fields are the single market policies,
environmental poliey, research and development, intellectual property, and so on. While some EU internal
market poliey fields have EU-external implications, some extern a I EU policies a/so have implications for
regulation within the EU. By closely coordinating the two projects, the analytieal distinction provides clarity
and maximises the efficiency of each PhD researcher. Among the EU-external policy fields are issues of trade
and investment.
The first track aims at mapping and explaining the success of regional interest representation in EU-decisionmaking. Adopting a mixed method approach by combining a quantitative large-N strategy with some
qualitative in-depth case studies, this track will not only result in PhD and academie output (research activity
1), but will also answer the call's questions 1 (best practiees) and 2 (institutional impact of lisbon) through
research activities 2 and 3 respectively.
The second track also aims at mapping and explaining the success of regional interest representation in the
EU-decision-making system through a series of EU external policy fields. The PhD project (research activity 4)
wil! consist of two complementary comparisons. The first comparison will assess the degree of impact of EU
external policies in different fields on Flanders, while the second will compare different forms of regional
interest representation within those policy fields - hence providing answers to question 3 (impact of external
policies) through research activity 5. In addition, this track will also be involved in the more multidisciplinary
research into the serviees sector, therefore addressing the call's question 4 through research activity 6.
Both PhD students / researchers will be based at the ACIM (Antwerp Centre for Institutions and Multi-Ievel
Polities), composed of 3 professors, 3 post-doe researchers and a dozen PhD students. The overall research
agenda of the group is to study the impact of multi-Ievel institutional configurations on changes in government
and governance, policy and polities and state - society relations. Clearly, the impact of the EU on regional
authorities and the constraints and opportunities that follow from the process of European integration fit
squarely into the core of its research agenda. The group has established three research lines: the polities of
multi-Ievel government, the polities of interest representation, and regulatory and judicial polities. The four
research questions put forward by the Flemish government fall within the first; the research activities
developed for the first track also has empirieal linkages with the second and third research lines. The group
has already gained substantial experience in studying the position of regions in the EU and the strategies of
both functional and territoria I EU interest group organisations. What we propose builds cumulatively upon
several ongoing projects, whieh means that we will be ab Ie to create synergies with already existing
expertise and data-sources. We stress that ACiM is a strong international player whose faculty is involved in
numerous collaborative research projects with different global partners and networks. Faculty in the group
are partners in the European Science Foundation CRP INTEREURO - Comparative research on interest group
polities in Europe, steering members of the ECPR Standing Group on Interest Groups, and have extensively
collaborated with the University of Edinburgh on federalism and interest representation in federal politieal
systems. In this regard mutual and added-value exchanges of expertise and data is assured. On top of this,
and within the consortium, we envisage close co-operation with senior members of the KU-Leuven Institute for
International and European Policy.
In addition to the incorporation of the projects in ACiM and the broader consortium we plan to explore
synergies with other Policy Suppor Centres, especially the EU tracks in 'Bestuurli;ke Organisatie / Slagkrachtige
Overheid', whieh will deliver valuable opportunities for co-operation. We also envisage close collaboration
with the 'Departement Internationaal Vlaanderen' and several of its agencies, Flanders Investment and Trade
F.I.T., the Flemish Delegation within the Belgian Representation to the EU and the Flemish - European Liaison
Offiee (Vlaams - Europees Verbindings Agentschap -VLEVA). For valorisation initiatives, we plan to work
together with training institutions such as Prospex.
I. Project details
Explaining Variation of Regional Authorities' Influence in EU Legislation [Invloed van regio's in Europese
wetgeving. Op zoek naar verklaringen voor de variatie in succes]
Antwerp Cent re for Institutions and Multi-Ievel Polities (ACIM), Universiteit Antwerpen
Supervisors: Prof. Peter Bursens and Prof. Jan Beyers
PhD student / researcher: to be hired
This track 1 explicitly addresses the following items identified in the cal!:
a. 'Een vergeli;kend onderzoek naar de wi;ze waarop verschillende substateli;ke actoren (cf het grote aantal
regiokantoren) invloed uitoefenen op de Europese besluitvorming. Een onderzoek naar 'good practices'.
Hoe scoort Vlaanderen hier in, hoe kan Vlaanderen zijn prestaties hierin verbeteren?' (call p. 34) The
large-N-part of the PhD-research project wil! be combined with in-depth case studies in order to
achieve both academie output and recommendations based on knowledge about practiees adopted
by other European regions
b. 'Welke (institutionele) hernieuwingen zi;n relevant voor substateli;ke actoren en welke opportuniteiten
liggen er concreet voor Vlaanderen?' (call p. 34) This track wil! take 2009-2011 as a timeframe.
Hence, it wil! provide the necessary data and analysis to answer also the first question mentioned in
the cluster 'European Union' .
11. Problem statement
Regions are affected by a broad range of European policies. Regional authorities are of ten responsible for
the implementation of EU legislation whilst the scope of their policies can be constrained by a large number of
EU policies, even when these do not belong explicitly to their domestic competencies. Obviously, regions all
over Europe have recognized the substantial impact of the EU and have engaged in a wide array of influence
strategies. Moreover, in various ways the EU institutions themselves take an open attitude towards regional
involvement in the EU polieymaking process. The core objectives of this project are (1) to map the successes
(and failures) of regional authorities in influencing EU legislation and to explain the variation in success, (2) to
derive best practiees and (3) to identify new opportunities and challenges brought about by the introduction
of the Lisbon Treaty. The latter 2 objectives are elaborated upon in the two sections discussing the policy
deliverables.
111. Scientific state of the art
The role of regions in the EU and the impact of the EU upon regional authorities has been studied widely for
over two decades. Most of this work is embedded in the regionalism Iiterature (Jeffery 1997, 2000; Keating
1998, 2008), the multilevel governance literature (Hooghe and Marks 1996, 2001) and the Europeanization
Iiterature (Graziano and Vink 2007, Bursens 2007, 2011). Another strong empirieal research agenda has
focused on the impact of non-state actors in European policy-making. This research agenda is primarily
embedded in interest group polities and lobbying Iiterature (Beyers 2002, Beyers and Kerremans 2007,
Bouwen 2002, Coen & Riehardson 2009, Greenwood 2011). It has delivered numerous empirieal analyses of
interest group influence in EU policymaking.
It is notabie that both research tracks are increasingly being combined and integrated, whilst the involvement
or territorial interests in the EU influence production process is more closely scrutinised. Nevertheless, we still
lack systematie data of the influence of regional authorities in European decision-making and EU legislative
processes. Only recently, this gap has been identified by Thatham (2008, 2010), Blatter and Kreutzer (2008,
2009), and by our own research group 'ACIM', as we currently manage an ongoing PhD-project that aims to
examine the advocacy tacties of territorial interests in the EU (Verboven 2011; Verboven, Beyers and Roeien
2011). One key component of this project consists of mapping all regional actors represented in Brussels
(there are approximately 450 of these) and explaining the variation of organisational formats regional
authorities use when they mobilise in Brussels. The Policy Research Centre research will take the data collected
within the ongoing project as a starting point.
In short, in this research activity we aim to combine the expertise, knowledge and methodologies of two large
research programs - interest group polities on the one hand and regionalismjmultilevel governance on the
other - into an innovative strategy that will determine how to map and to account for the variations in
influence of regional authoritiesjterritorial interests in EU legislative decision-making?
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
This project allows for theoretica I innovation because it combines insights and expertise from different areas
of political science through the study of how interest organisations lobby in Brussels on the one hand, and via
the Iitany of Iiterature on regional representation in Brussels on the other.
This will, first of all, enable us to test the scope of some existing propositions on territoria I interest
representation: are these theories on lobbying applieable to territorial interests, do they need minor or major
adjustment, or do we need a substantially different set of theoretica I propositions to explain territorial
interest's influence in EU decision-making? Another reason for this combination is that regional interests
operate in Brussels, an environment where the vast majority of interest organisations are non-territoria I or
functional (Beyers, Eising, Maloney 2008). The question is how regional interests can navigate effectively in a
dense community where they are only one player among many others.
Secondly, the project adds to our empirical knowledge regarding an important aspect of the behaviour of
regional authorities in the EU, namely why these authorities are sometimes effective in their lobbying efforts
and less so at other times. What (types) of regions are successful in influencing which kinds of legislative
issues? What explains their success? Which areas are more easily influenced compared to other areas? These
questions refer to a broader interest in politica I science on issues pertaining to how to measure and explain
politica I influence and power. Because of the innovative combination of research traditions and because of the
combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the project can result in a number of peer reviewed
publications and in a PhD.
In addition to this, the empirical results wiJl be extremely interesting for policy-makers. Our approach wiJl
make it possible to identify successful regional strategies and to point to explanations as to why some regions
have been successful in defending their interests at the European level. To this end, the large N approach wiJl
be complemented by in-depth case-studies. In other words, we wiJl be able to identify best practices and to
suggest how Flemish policymakers can learn from these examples.
V. Research design and methodology
The large N design wiJl be an important souree for the PhD research while the case studies will on top of that
be used to derive concrete suggestions for the Flemish government.
For the large N quantitative analysis we have developed the following strategy. The first step is to map the
issues that trigger influencing activity by the Flemish government. We wiJl start from a randomised stratified
sample of 100 legislative proposals that is currently drawn from the complete set of legislative initiatives
2008-2010, derived from PreLex/EurLex (n=636 directives, regulations, Green Papers and White Papers).
This sampling is part of an ongoing research project - INTEREURO, funded by the European Science
Foundation - led by Jan Beyers. In order to sufficiently capture the post-lis bon era, we will add a
randomised stratified selection of 20 legislative proposals from 2011. The sample of issues wiJl be submitted
to a selection of Flemish actors (officials, private organisations, members of ministerial cabinets, politicians),
who are in one way or another involved in EU legislation. They wiJl be asked in which of these proposals
Flanders has had an interest and/or where it has tried to influence EU decision-making. This wiJl result in a list
of legislative issues in which Flanders invested politica I resources, which could entail many different things
ranging from very small investments (such as an isolated effort by the Flemish administration to seek
information from the European Commission) to very large lobby campaigns the Flemish government becomes
involved in.
As we presume that the Flemish government wiJl - as most other regional governments - prioritise its efforts to
influence the EU, we also presume that the number of remaining issues will be much lower than the 120 issues
we start with. A systematic measure of what the Flemish government - in collaboration with other actors lob bies on, is in itself interesting. It is important to note that this design does not select legislative proposals
because they are part of the regional competence catalogues in Belgium. This is important because also
legislative proposals that belong to the federal level can be relevant as these can have impact on Flemish
economy, actors and policies. Examples of these include EU legislation in the area of the budget, energy and
social affairs.
The second step is to map other European regional authorities that undertook action in the (selected) issues.
For this we use a dataset established within our own research group which contains all regional authorities that
are active in Brussels as weil as the large data-archive that is currently developed within INTEREURO. Our
main sou ree of information to find out which regions have also developed lobbying activity is online data from
the consultation procedures of the European Commission. Other sou rees such as specialised European media
(Agence Europe, European Voice and online media) will be explored as weil. This mapping is important as it
allows us to identify systematieally the allies and opponents the Flemish representatives at the EU-level are
confronted with. Such a systematie mapping of allies and opponents is important as we know from the
lobbying literature that most lobbying is conducted by large coalitions of interest organisations (Gray an
Lowery 1998; Heany 2005; Beyers and Kerremans 2004; Hula 2009).
It is relevant to point out that this design will enable us to move beyond the group of usual suspects, i.e. strong
legislative regions from Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and the UK. These will surely be part of the research.
Yet, we know that the representation of regions in Brussels is much more multifarious and diverse than is
traditionally considered (Ver boven, Beyers and Roeien 2011). For instance, we expect other kinds of regional
authorities such as big eities and coalitions of regions to be active in a number of policy issues. Comparing
lobbying from Flanders with the lobbying of these kind of regional authorities can shed new light upon the
overall Flemish performance.
The third step is to measure influence through a comparison of the legislative text - the outcome - and the
preferences of the regional interests. All these legislative texts are available electronieally through EURLEX
and will be coded by INTER EURO (more preeisely by the US team at the University of Virginia, with whieh
ACiM collaborates closely). We will conduct a detailed measure of the preferences of regional authorities by
analysing the online consultative procedures of the Commission, the websites of the regions and by press
reports (e.g. from Agence Europe). Depending on the quality of the data, we can then proceed in two ways. If
the data is detailed enough we can use computerised content analysis to compare the final legislation with the
initia I preference. If not, we will reduce the data to the level of identifying whether regions we re supported
or opposed to a number of relevant issues in the legislation. In the latter case, we will analyse broad policy
positions.
In the end, this strategy will deliver a dataset with issues that have been subject to lobbying by regional
authorities including knowledge about whieh regions we re successful in shaping EU polieies according to their
preferences. In terms of learning from other regions, the identifieation of successful regions will be a
point for the selection of a limited number of regions and cases that will be analysed in more detail.
to be emphasised that, as we will collect data in a broad range of policy fields, we can also
variation within Flanders in order to address the question to wh at extent is Flanders more successful
policy fields than in other and why.
starting
It needs
explore
in some
Finally, we will look to explain the variation in success, i.e. the identifieation of explanatory variables and the
mechanisms at play. It needs to be emphasised that much of the theoretieal work of the PhD-student will be
focused on the conceptualisation and measurement of politica I influence; here we will build upon the most
recent and advanced politieal seience knowledge that is available to us (for examples see Arts and
Verschueren 1999; Duer and De Bièvre 2007). Fortunately, there is already much expertise on the matter
available in ACiM. Basieally, we will develop a set of hypotheses from the existing lobbying literature. We
will start from the set of independent varia bles gathered from other ongoing projects within ACIM. The set of
explanatory variables will consist of th ree clusters:
(1) characteristies of regions (finaneial resources, personnel resources, internal organisation, domestie coordination, constitutional position, ideologieal orientation of government in power, ••• ),
(2) strategies / advocacy tacties of regions (coalition partners, both public and private, lobby
strategies, lobby venues, lobby instruments, ••• ) / political resources invested in the issue,
(3) issue and poliey field characteristies (salience, type of policy domain, ... ).
VI.
Valorisation
The academie valorisation will consist firstly of a PhD. Derived from th is, the PhD student and the promoters
will submit several artieles to peer reviewed journals and books. In addition all involved staff will present
results during international conferences (ECPR, EUSA, APSA, UAC ES, and so on). On top of this, the project will
build several datasets whieh can be used in future research projects and by Flemish governmental agencies:
an inventory of territoria I interests in the EU, and a dataset with policy issues relevant for regional authorities.
As such, the project will be an important element in our endeavour to establish cumulative knowledge on the
involvement of regional actors in multi-Iayered systems such as the EU, one of the objectives of ACiM. Further,
the project will entrench itself on the international stage by participation in critieal international conferences,
and the use of Policy Research Cent re as a tooi to strengthen our participation in international research
networks. This will add important value to Flanders as it ensures that Flemish academies continue to play a
leading role in European research networks that focus on regionalism and the role of regional and sub-state
authorities.
Policy Deliverable 1: Good Practices in EU Legislative Lobbying
The first PhD track seeks to answer the question put forward in the call regarding a comparative analysis of
territorial lobbying in the EU in order to derive best practiees. 'Een vergeli;kend onderzoek naar de wi;ze
waarop verschillende substateli;ke actoren (cf het grote aantal regiokantoren) invloed uitoefenen op de Europese
besluitvorming. Een onderzoek naar 'good practices'. Hoe scoort Vlaanderen hier in, hoe kan Vlaanderen zi;n
prestaties hierin verbeteren?' (call p. 34). Hence, the policy goals are clearly complementary to the theoretieal
goals of the first PhD track. How does Flanders perform? Under whieh conditions is the Flemish government
influential and under whieh conditions does it lack influence? Do other regions perform better and if so, wh at
factors attribute to their success? And ultimately, can the Flemish government learn from other regions? To
what extent are regional authorities comparable? How can the Flemish government apply a smart copy-paste
strategy in order to optimise its own impact on EU poliey-making?
The approach follows directly from the design of the PhD track described above. First, all relevant poliey
issues from 2008-2011 will be identified. Secondly, we will select those issues that triggered lobbying activity
from the Flemish government. Thirdly, we will identify all other regions that have been active with respect to
these issues. Fourth, we will measure the influence of these regions. Next, we will conduct a quantitative
analysis to identify the factors under whieh regions can be successful in legislative lobbying. This will present
us with a list of conditions that the Flemish government can take into consideration when engaging in lobbying
activities towards the EU. The advantages of structuring the research by issues is that we will supersede the
obvious selection on regions and policy fields. This is important because we believe that the Flemish
government might also learn from other regions than those who also enjoy legislative competencies and from
other poliey fields than their own.
While the former steps are all equally included in the PhD research, we proceed with an additional stage in
order to formulate poliey recommendations for the Flemish government. We will select a limited number of
successful cases (either other regions or partieular issues or policy fields) and analyse in more detail the
strategies used. We will investigate to what extent the Flemish case is comparable to the these examples and
ultimately look into what way the Flemish government would be able to transpose the strategies to Flanders.
Multiple valorisation outputs are envisaged from this approach. First of all, the project in combination with
other ongoing projects within the research group will deliver datasets that can be used by the Flemish
government in future efforts to influence EU policy-making. The dataset comprising information on all regional
authorities active in Brussels will enable the Flemish Government to seek allies to collaborate with in partieular
cases. The dataset whieh is composed of all relevant policy issues covering the years 2008-2011 can be used
to scan the kind of issues that are relevant for Flemish policy-competencies. The pre- and post-Lisbon variation
allows us to make inferences on the impact of changes in the overall EU institutional infrastructure.
Secondly, we will produce reports covering the quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis, identifying
good practiees in other regions, including a careful analysis of strategies that can be usefully transposed into
the Flemish context. A workshop for Flemish officials and officials coming from best practiee regions, including
some academies from other prestigious research centres, can be useful to transfer knowledge and skilIs in EU
interest representation.
Thirdly, we can envisage training for officials who are involved
in EU policy-making. A collaboration with
VLEVA and private training experts seems to be useful to provide hands-on training in lobbying EU legislative
processes. Training can be organised in collaboration with other training initiatives of the overall consortium
and with external partners.
Policy Deliverable 2: Institutional Change under the Treaty of Lisbon upon Flemish Foreign Policy
Opportunities
Treaty changes throughout the history of European integration have always had an impact on the
opportunities available for member states to act within the EU. Obviously, this is also true for regions with
legislative competences such as Flanders, who equally engage in legislative lobbying. The call therefore
correctly asks to what extent the Lisbon Treaty has altered the interest representation environment for regions:
'Welke (institutionele) hernieuwingen zi;n relevant voor substateli;ke actoren en welke opportuniteiten liggen er
concreet voor Vlaanderen?' (call p. 34)
Within the first PhD track, we will therefore deal with the impact of the institutional environment of the EU
upon constraints and opportunities for Flemish foreign policy.
Theoretieally, we will frame this project within the research agenda of Europeanisation (Featherstone and
Radaelli 2003, Graziano and Vink 2006, Bulmer and Lequesne 2006) whieh examines the way issues of
polity, poliey and polities within member states adapt to the ongoing process of European integration. Here,
we focus on the impact of institutional changes on the European level (the Treaty of Lisbon) upon the strategies
of regional authorities.
The academie goal is clear: we seek to make an exhaustive overview of all relevant changes in the Lisbon
Treaty for regional authorities. Many legal and politica I analyses have already been made. While most of
these focus on the impact upon the member state level, we go one step further and consider the impact upon
the regional level. Once the impact has been identified, the policy goal becomes obvious: does the new
institutional context put limits on regional involvement in the EU, or did it rather bring new opportunities? We
seek to identify the major challenges and the most important new avenues for Flanders to play the European
game. Note that the objectives identified for the large-N-research are closely interrelated with this poliey
deliverable.
The first task is to make an inventory of all artieles of the Treaty that have changed and have entailed
potential consequences for regional authorities. We look at the major changes: new institutions (EC president,
High Representative), the abolishment of the pillar structure, the changes in the rotating presidency, the new
voting system in the Council, increased role for the EP, the new and more extensively used ordinary legislative
procedure, the ex ante engagement of the national and the regional parliaments, the External Action Serviee,
the mutual solidarity c1ause, stricter rules for the implementation of EU policies, new comitology rules, legal
status of the fundamental rights charter, newly defined policy areas into exclusive, shared and supporting
competencies, and so on). Obviously, the impact of more explicit 'regional' changes will be considered. The
Treaty mentions in this respect "territoria I cohesion" among the objectives of the Union; respect for minorities
and protection of Iinguistie and cultural diversity; the recognition of regional identities; respect for local and
regional self-government; involvement of regional and local levels in the provisions concerning the subsidiarity
principle; recognition of the specificity of certain areas and regions; the right of the Committee of the Regions
to bring a case in front of the European Court of Justiee to proteet its own prerogatives, as weil as respect for
the subsidiarity principle; the consultation of the Committee of the Regions for new areas, su eh as energy and
civil protection. We might think here of a report largely composed of 5 columns: Treaty changes, positive
effects for regions, negative effects for regions, identifieation of challenges and opportunities,
recommendations • Analytieally, the impact will be divided into different aspects relating to impact upon
policy, polities and polity. Did the Lisbon Treaty respectively influence the content of regional policies, the way
regions deal with the EU or the way the regions are organised internally? As this track will tackle the period
2009-2011, the PhD student wiJl also have the opportunity to study how similar regions than Flanders have
reacted to the changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty. During the interviews of the qualitative part, officials of
comparable regions wiJl be asked to assess the Lisbon changes and to present the reactions of their own
regions. Additionally, as the Treaty will already be into force for more than two years at the start of the
project, we wiJl be able to make an empirica I analysis of how the Flemish Government and other regions have
responded. We envisage drawing upon good practiees both within Flanders and from other regions to feed
recommendations with respect to how get the most out of Lisbon.
Valorisation of this activity wiJl be threefold. First a report wiJl be delivered discussing the impact and the
opportunities brought by the lisbon Treaty, together with recommendations for the political and the
administrative level. Next, the project wiJl present a database on the relevant treaty artieles and the impact.
Third, we plan to organise a workshop for officials and politica I actors from the Flemish government to
disseminate the results of the project. For the latter, we wiJl seek co-operation with the Vlaams-Europees
Verbindingsagentschap VLEVA.
VII.
Timing
The PhD track wiJl run throughout the entire 5 years. Obviously, the PhD wiJl only be finished at the end, while
other academie (papers, journal articles) and policy output (reports, datasets, training) are also envisaged in
earlier stages. The first policy valorisation wiJl deliver its activities during year 3 and 4 (2014-2015) as it wiJl
build heavily upon the data-collection in 2012-2013. Datasets, reports will be available as from 2014,
workshops and training wiJl be organised throughout 2015. The second policy valorisation will be carried out
during the first two years. The institutional analysis and subsequent report is envisaged for 2012. The results
of the comparative analysis are timed for the end of 2013, in order to make optimal use of the field work for
the overall data-collection.
Year 1
Research Activity 1:
Long term PhD research:
Issue-mapping and actor mapping
Measuring influence
Explaining variation
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Editing dissertation and journal output
Keisearch Activity 2:
Policy Oeliverable 1: Good Practices
Analysis and data-sets
Report - workshops - training
Research Activity 3:
Policy Oeliverable 2:
Treaty
Impact of Lisbon
Institutional analysis
Comparative analysis
Continuous policy support
VIII. Bibliographical references
Arts, B. and P. Verschueren (1999). "Assessing Politica I Influence in Complex Decision-making. An Instrument
Based on Triangulation." International Politieal Science Review 20(4): 411-424.
Beyers, J. (2002). "Gaining and seeking access. The European adaptation of domestie interest associations."
European Journalof Politica I Research 41 (5): 585-612.
Beyers, J. and B. Kerremans (2004). "Bureaucrats, Politicians, and Societal Interests. How is European polieymaking politicized?" Comparative Politica I Studies 37( 10): 1 -31 •
Beyers, J. and B. Kerremans (2007). "Critieal Resource Dependencies and the Europeanization of Domestie
Interest Groups." Journalof European Public Policy 14(2): 460-81.
Beyers, J., R. Eising, and W. Maloney (2008). "Researching Interest Group Polities in Europe and Elsewhere:
Much We Study, Little We Know? ." West European Polities 31 (6): 1103-1128.
Blatter, J., M. Kreutzer, et al. (2008). "The Foreign Relations of European Regions: Competencies and
Strategies." West European Polities 31 (3): 464-490.
Blatter, J., M. Kreutzer, et al. (2009). "Preconditions for Foreign Activities of European Regions: Tracing Causal
Configurations of Economic, Cultural, and Politieal Strategies." Publius 40(1): 171-199.
Bouwen, P. (2002). "Corporate Lobbying in the European Union: The Logie of Access." Journalof European
Public Policy 9(3): 365-90.
Bulmer, S. and Ch. Lequesne, (2005) "The Member States of the European Union", Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Bursens, P. (2006). State Structures. In P. Graziano and M. Vink "Europeanization: New Research Agendas".
Basingstoke, Palgrave: 115- 127.
Bursens, P. (2011) Subnational Authorities in S. Bulmer and Ch. Lequesne (eds.) "The Member States of the EU",
Oxford, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Coen, 0., and Riehardson, J. (2009) "Lobbying the European Union. Institutions, Aetors and Issues" (eds.)
Oxford, Oxford University Press
Dür, A. and D. De Bièvre (2007). "Inclusion without Influenee? The Involvement of NGOs in European Trade
Poliey." Journalof Public Poliey 27(1): 79-101.
Featherstone, K., Radaelli,
c., Ed. (2003) "The Polities of Europeanization". Oxford, Oxford UP.
Gray, V. and D. Lowery (1998). "To Lobby Alone or in a Floek. Foraging Behavior Among Organized
Interests." Ameriean Polities Quarterly 26( 1): 5-34.
Graziano, P., Vink, M., Ed. (2006). "Europeanization. New Research Agendas". Basingstoke, Palgrave.
Greenwood, J (2011) "Interest Representation in the European Union" Basingstoke: Palgrave Maemillan.
Heaney, M. T. (2006). "Brokering Health Poliey: Coalitions, Parties, and Interest Group Influenee." Journalof
Health Polities, Poliey and Law 31 (5): 887-994.
Hooghe, L., (1996) "Cohesion Poliey and European Integration: Building Multi-Level Governanee" Oxford,
Oxford University Press.
Hooghe, L., Marks, G. (2001) " Multi-Ievel Governanee and European Integration" Lanham, Rowman &
Littlefield.
Hula, K. W. (1999). Lobbying Together. Interest Group Coalitions in Legislative Polities. Washington,
Georgetown University Press.
Jeffery, C. (1 997). "The Regional Dimension of the EU" London, Cass.
Jeffery, C. (2000). "Sub-National Mobilization and European Integration." Journalof Common Market Studies
38(1): 1-24.
Keating, M. (1998) "The New Regionalism in Western Europe: Territorial restrueturing and Politieal" Change.
Cheltenham, Eigar.
Keating, M. (2008). "Thirty Years of Territorial Polities." West European Polities 31 (1-2): 60-81.
Tatham, M. (2008). "Going Solo: Direct Regional Representation in the European Union." Regional and
Federal Studies 18(5): 493-515.
Tatham, M. (2010). "'With or without you'? Revisiting territoria I state-bypassing in EU interest representation."
Journalof European Public Poliey 17( 1): 76-99.
Verboven, T. (2011), The Organizational format of territoria I Lobbying in Brussels', unpublished paper.
Verboven, T., J. Beyers, and E. Roeien (2011). Explaining the organizational format of territoria I lobbying in
Brussels. ECPR General Conference 25-27 August 2011. Iceland, Reykjavik.
I. Project details
Explaining variation in regional authorities' representation in European Union external policy fields
[Op zoek naar verklaringen voor de rol van regio's in externe beleidsdomeinen van de Europese Unie]
Antwerp Centre for Institutions and Multi-Ievel Poli tics (AClM), Universiteit Antwerpen
Supervisors: Prof. Dirk De Bièvre (ACIM), Prof. Bart Kerremans (IIEB) and Prof. Peter Bursens (AClM)
PhD student / researcher: to be hired
This track 2 PhD project will analyse the way regional authorities are represented in EU external policies. By
doing so, it will provide answers to the following items identified in the call:
1.
'Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar de wijze waarop verschillende substatelijke actoren (cf het grote aantal
regiokantoren) invloed uitoefenen op de Europese besluitvorming. Een onderzoek naar 'good practices'.
Hoe scoort Vlaanderen hier in, hoe kan Vlaanderen zijn prestaties hierin verbeteren?'. Whereas the track
1 PhD project focuses on internal, legislative policy making in the EU, this PhD project focuses on regional
authorities' representation in EU external affairs. The project will analyse two aspects of variation:
differences between extern a I policy fields (tra de in goods, trade in services, investment, health,
intellectual property, ... ), and before and af ter the lisbon Treaty.
2.
Within this systematic framework the PhD will be able to answer the other following questions in the call's
cluster 'European Union': 'Wat is de impact van de ontwikkelingen inzake het Europees Gemeenschappelijk
Buitenlands en Veiligheidsbeleid op het Vlaamse buitenlands beleid, zowel op institutioneel als beleidsmatig
vlak?' (p. 34), 'Welke (institutionele) hernieuwingen zijn relevant voor substatelijke actoren en welke
opportuniteiten liggen er concreet voor Vlaanderen?' (p. 34), and 'Waarom is de dienstensector veel minder
goed georganiseerd in federaties en koepels vergeleken met de industriële sector? Wie kan de belangen van
de dienstensector(en) verdedigen en communiceren? Hoe kan de Vlaamse overheid (DiV) de
dienstensector(en) op een efficiënte manier bereiken en consulteren?' (p. 36)
11. Problem statement
The distribution of competences among regional, national and European levels has been undergoing a
significant shift recently. Since the adoption of the lisbon Treaty, the European Union has acquired new
competences in the areas of trade in services, investment, intellectual property, standards, environmental
policy, etc. All these issues enhance the role that the EU can play in international relations and international
negotiations, and potentially the role of supranational institutions such as the European Parliament and the
European Commission. This raises the question how regional authorities such as Flanders can effectively
represent their interests in EU external affairs.
The objectives of this project are therefore (1) to map the different possible forms of regional involvement in
EU external affairs, (2) to assess the differences in efficacy of each of these forms, and (3) to explain these
differences. In achieving these objectives, the fundamental difference between EU external affairs and EU
internal affairs needs to be kept in mind. In the case of external affairs, EU actors act at the international
level on behalf of the EU and under control of different politica I actors within the EU such as the European
Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the EU member states. This acting at the international level creates
challenges for those who are represented at that level, and thus also for regional entities. The latter may even
face even larger challenges than the other actors do. Principal Agent Theory will clarify why this is the case.
111. Scientific state of the art
As noted in the scientifie state of the art of Research Activity 1, the role of regions in the EU and the impact of
the EU upon regional authorities has been studied widely for over two decades. Most of this work is
embedded in regionalism literature (Jeffery 1997; 2000; Keating 1998; 2008), multilevel governance
literature (Hooghe and Marks 1996; 2001) and Europeanisation literature (Graziano and Vink 2007; Bursens
2007; 2011). To understand the role of regional authorities in the EU's external affairs, research on the
involvement of such authorities in the EU needs to be combined with research on the EU's external affairs.
There is first the literature on the development of competences and policies in this area and the factors that
drive these. This literature covers both developments in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Poliey, EU trade
policies, and the interaction between these two (Keukeleire and MacNaughtan 2008, Hili and Smith 2011, Dür
and Elsig 2011, De Bièvre and Eckhardt 2011, Gstöhl 2009, Gstöhl and De Bièvre in preparation).
There is secondly, the literature on principal-agency theory (Epstein and O'Halioran, 1999; Shapiro 2005;
Gailmard 2009), its application to the EU in general (Tallberg 2002; Pollack 1997; 2003; Franchino 2007)
and to the EU's external policies in partieular (Meunier and Nieolaïdis 1999; Kerremans 1994; De Bièvre and
Dür 2005; Damro 2007; Elsig 2007; Delreux 2011). This literature analyses the tension between the EU
negotiator in international affairs on the one hand, and the EU representatives of member states on the other
hand. The former is seen as the agent, and the latter as the principals. Principal-agent models have been
developed and empirieally researched to show how the external role of the EU agent affects the ability of
the principals to control the agent, the tools the principals apply here, and the constraints that the agent faces
(Kerremans 2004; 2006; Delreux 2008; 2009; Delreux and Kerremans 2010). Information asymmetry is
crucial here. Because the EU agent acts as an EU representative in international negotiations and
deliberations, it has access to information to whieh the principals have less or no access to, complicating
member state principals' efforts to control their EU Commission agent - a diffieulty that regional authorities
may be confronted with to an ever greater extent. Member state principals may find it more diffieult to
control their agent under qualified majority voting (QMV) than under unanimity. In the case of unanimity in the
Council, each principal has a veto over the outcome - reducing agency losses. When the policy field in
question falls under QMV, such institutional prerogatives may disappear, unless member state principals act
under an informal consensus decision mode. Importantly, however, principals - such as member states or
regional authorities - can revert to other institutional venues to alleviate their disadvantaged position (see
more on this below). Agency losses at the detriment of principals also vary with the kind of privileges that the
EU principals can call upon at the international level, such as their participation rights in international
organisations, and the existence of large member state permanent representations with such organisations.
Wh en negotiations are conducted in a multilateral setting, decisive negotiations tend to take place in more
informal settings where the EU agent tends to enjoy near-exclusive participation rights to the detriment of the
EU principals. The question is th en how principals can prepare for this reality, how they ensure that the agent
will take into account their interests in informal negotiations, and what channels they should follow to remain
informed about what is going on behind closed doors. This question has so far been approached for member
state representation at the EU level as weil as the representation of sector interests at the EU level, yet can
and must be complemented by an analysis of regional authorities' (such as Flanders') possibilities to monitor
and influence EU external poliey making.
Thirdly, there is the literature on the role of small states in international relations (Ingebritsen, Neumann, Gstöhl
and Beyer 2006). This literature points at factors that matter for small players in international relations such
as coalition formation with other small partners (and a division of labor with them), close collaboration with
large partners, the need to focus on a limited number of highly politicised issues, and the potential importance
of close co-operation with supranational institutions. Some of these may be important as weil for a relatively
small reg ion like Flanders that at the same time possesses important legislative competences.
Timing to conduct this research is very propitious: the institutional changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty,
bring about a near experimental environment to assess the impact of this institutional change to the practices
of regional interest representation in EU external affairs, allowing for a neat and simple analysis of before
and af ter (see also the planned legal analysis in other parts of this Policy Research Centre application).
Especially the fact that the competency to conclude bilateral investment treaties has now been transferred
from the member states to the EU level, requires careful consideration of the effects of this institutional change
on the representation and defence of firm and sector interests (especially services) by national and regional
authorities in EU decision making (Woolcock 2006; Manger 2009; Kleimann 2011). Institutional characteristics
- such as the question whether exclusive or shared competences exist in an area, or whether QMV or
unanimity rules in the Council - may be particularly important for a reg ion that wants to defend its interests,
and for the channels that it needs to use in order to do so.
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
This PhD research project aims at mapping and explaining the impact of regional interest representation in
the EU-decision-making system in different EU external policy fields. It will do so by a systematic analysis of
different ways in which regions tend to defend their interests in the EU's external policy fields, and the
perceived effectiveness of these ways. For that purpose, a systematic comparison will be conducted of the
way in which four different regions with legislative powers in the EU defend their interests in six different
external policy fields of the EU: trade in goods, trade in services, intellectual property rights, investment,
environment, and competition. We will elaborate on the precise case selection of the 3 other regions apart
from Flanders in the section on 'Research design and methodology', since this depends crucially on the mix of
institutional and policy preference differences and similarities that will allow for maximisation of the validity
of the findings. In this comparison, the situation before, but especially af ter the en try into force of the Lisbon
Treaty will be scrutinised in order to identify the opportunities that this Treaty has brought about for regions
with legislative powers in the EU. Throughout this work, the focus will be on the ways in which, and the channels
through which these regions try to limit the information asymmetries that emerge as a consequence of the fact
that it concerns external policy fields. We elaborate on such possible channels of regional representation in
the next section.
Regions with legislative powers within EU member states have numerous institutional venues at their disposal
through which they can represent themselves and defend the interests of their firms and citizens, and thus
through which they can try to exert control on the EU actor that negotiates on behalf of the EU in international
negotiations. Firstly, such regions can be directly involved in the determination of the position that their
member state will take in the EU Council, the COREPER, the Council working groups and, in the case of
extern a I policies, the committees through which the member states control and assist the EU negotiator on
international negotiations (such as the Trade Policy Committee in the Council and the European Parliament
INTA committee on International Trade, in which interestingly there is currently not one single Flemish or
Belgian MEP ... ). Secondly, such regions can be directly present in these bodies, albeit not as representatives
of themselves only but of their member state as a whoie. But the direct presence in bodies such as the EU
Council, the Council working groups, and certainly in the committees that assist and control the EU negotiator
provides important potential informational advantages to a region. Thirdly, regions can insert their
preferences in comments that the Committee of the Regions provides to the European Commission and the
other EU institutions. Fourthly, regions can engage in close co-operation with other regions whenever their
preferences converge, or even with the authorities of other member states.
Each of these channels may have its own benefits, its own constraints, and its own pitfalls depending on the
distribution of competences between the EU and the member states, the distribution of competences inside the
region's member state, the extent to which regions agree or disagree among themselves on the ways to follow
in an international negotiation, the international negotiating setting (multilateral, bilateral), the knowledge
intensity of the issues at stake, and the level of politicisation of these issues.
like in the first PhD project, by comparing the practice of several important regional entities within the
European politica I system, we intend to co me to a systematic explanation for why such sub-national entities
choose particular venues above others or choose to combine some of these. One of the most important
explanations lies in the variation across different policy fields. Quite obviously, Flanders has strong
competences in a number of policy fields with a crucial extern a I dimension, such as environment and external
trade policy. Yet, between those areas where Flanders and other European Union regions do have strong
legislative competencies and those where they don't have them, there is likely to be systematic variation in the
way they represent themselves and defend their interests in international negotiations.
In the area of trade and investment relations, the positioning of Flanders within the new institutional
architecture of the European Union is of paramount importance for the region. The lisbon Treaty has indeed
enhanced the EU's trade competencies with those in the field of bilateral investment treaties. Contemporary
bilateral or regional trade agreements, often contain very important sections on investment conditions,
intellectual property rules, and service industry regulation. Especially in the area of investment, the
simultaneous development of the decline of the so-called bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the newly
acquired competence of the EU to conclude all new bilateral investment treaties on behalf of its member
states, is an important development, the impact of which this research project wiJl seek to assess (Woolcock
2006).
In the policy field of industrial and scientific innovation, it is important to map and explain different types of
regional interest representation on behalf of the Flemish reg ion. Interestingly, these policy fields overlap with
a federal Belgian field of competence, intellectual property. Since such rules very often also form part and
parcel of so-called free trade agreements, the search for an optima I representation of academic and
industrial intellectual property owners on the international level is of great importance.
In the area of the services industry, many trade agreements are concerned with regulations on market access
that are very different from tariff or other trade barriers in trade in goods. Since Flanders is a highly
competitive reg ion in the area of services such as logistics, or maritime services, it has important interests to
defend in international negotiations conducted by the EU. But it is not the only EU reg ion in this situation.
Regions in other EU member states face similar challenges even if the distribution of competences with their
national authorities may be different. A systematic comparison of the ways in which these different regions
defend their interests in these different policy fields will yield a solid empirical and theoretica I basis to
formulate suggestions for improvements in the future.
As has been indicated above, the question of regional impact on the EU's external policy fields wiJl be
approached on the basis of a principal-agent model. The idea is there that as the EU negotiates
internationallyon these issues, the relationship between the EU-negotiator and the EU member states can be
characterised as one between an EU agent and a range of EU principals. As principal, a member states faces
so-called agency losses. These refer to the reduction in the ability to exactly determine what the agent does in
the international negotiations. Principals try of course, to minimise this reduction in ability. They do so by
controlling and sanctioning the agent. The setting of amandate, the definition of negotiating directives, and
the close observation of the agent through committees such as the Trade Policy Committee are part of the
controlling. The refusal to approve an agreement that the agent has negotiated is the ultimate sanction. The
problem that the principals face is however one of information asymmetry. They are not as closely involved in
international negotiations as the agent is. And as such, whenever concessions are made that they dislike, they
have to make a calculated guess whether this was due to a cheating agent (an agent that paid attention to its
own interests rather than those of its principals) or to factors beyond the agent's control. Wh en agents
disclaim responsibility and argue that external pressures were detrimental to negotiations is this really the
case? In case the principals reject an agreement that was indeed the best the EU could get, they will not get a
better outcome by doing this, and will bear the reputational cost of having jeopardised an internally
negotiated agreement. In case they accept an agreement that could have been improved, the outcome will be
worse than would have been the case wh en information asymmetries would have been smaller.
In international negotiations conducted by the EU, the member states as principals thus face agency losses.
That is, the priee they are prepared to pay in order to allow the EU as a whole to make maximum use of the
joint market power of its member states - the priee of speaking with one voice. What these member states try
to do th en is limit these losses. They have the tools to do so, given their rights as members of the EU Council,
and in case of shared competencies, the direct involvement of their domestie politica I systems in the ratifieation
of the agreements. Given these tools, it is a matter of reducing the information asymmetries in order to know
how and when to activate these tools.
For regional authorities, this is more challenging because the probability of agency losses is higher. Their codecision rights in the EU are often (but not always) weaker. Their ability to express a position (and thus to
push the agent) depends on the agreement of other regions (either in their own member state or, when we
refer to the Committee of the Regions, in other member states), and/or their national (federal) government. In
the Belgian case for instance, a veto expressed by a reg ion in the Belgian co-ordination system, results in an
abstention of Belgium in the EU Council in case the other Belgian players don't follow.
Their participatory rights may be weaker as weil. Are they able to directly participate in the EU Council?
Given the Belgian rotation system, the answer may be 'yes' at partieular moments and 'no' at others. Are they
involved in the EU committees that assist and control the EU agent, especially in-between ministerial sessions or
conferences? Are they involved in the informal networks through whieh agent and principals tend to interact in
international negotiations? Are they involved in the informal networks between the EU member states and the
EU's external negotiating partners? That may depend on them being their country's delegation leader in the
Council, and/or their involvement in their country's permanent representations with international organisations
or embassies with individual countries with whom the EU negotiates. Each negative answer on each of these
questions increases the probability that information asymmetries between a region and an EU agent will be
high, and each negative answer thus undermines a region's ability to fully defend its own interests.
Given the challenges that regions as potential principals face, our research design focuses on the question of
information asymmetries, the efforts of regions to reduce such asymmetries, and the factors that influence both
their ability and propensity to do so. Indeed, efforts to reduce an information asymmetry are never cost-free.
There is an opportunity cost related to them. Sometimes, these costs may be prohibitive. Sometimes, it is the
cost-benefit ratio that is too negative.
Principal-agent theory looks at two strategies that principals follow to reduce the information asymmetries
they potentially face: police-patrol and fire-alarm deviees (Pollack, 2003). In the first case, principals closely
follow the agent, scrutinising their activities, and assessing whether efforts should be made to rein in the agent.
In the case of EU extern a I policy fields, regions' decisions to maximise their use of the forma I channels, like the
Council, like the Trade Poliey Committee, like the Committee of the Regions, like their domestie co-ordination
systems, reflect such a police-patrol approach.
A fire-alarm approach leaves the investment in information asymmetry reduction to others. In the literature,
interest groups or civil society are of ten seen as these "others". Because of their direct interests, interest groups
are expected to closely follow what the agent is doing with the issue at stake to them. If an agent's actions
become problematic, such groups are expected to alarm the agent's principals as these are directly able to
rein him in. At that point, the principals will become active, based on the information they get from such
groups. The benefit of such an approach is its relatively low cost for the principals, something which may be
attractive for regions with a rapidly widening scope of issues that they need to follow up. Given the changes
in the lisbon Treaty and the growing role of the EU in international negotiations of concern to a region like
Flanders, using a fire-alarm approach may be attractive. Such fire-alarm procedures exist in the area of
trade in goods, as in antidumping cases, interest groups can highlight to the Commission, the member states, or
even the European Court of Justice, that they think their trading opportunities are unduly harmed by a
proposal to impose anti dumping duties (De Bièvre and Eckhardt 2011). However, the cost of a fire alarm
approach is that a principal depends on the willingness of others to invest in the issues, something that is more
problematic in the services sector than in the manufacturing sector (De Bièvre and Eckhardt 2011). In addition,
what interest groups perceive as problematic is biased. Thus, the reduction in information asymmetry brought
about by such groups is of ten biased as weil (Milner, 1997). It is weil established in the literature that the
manufacturing sector is far better organised in its sector trade associations than the services sector. Several
reasons beyond the control of policy makers as weil as sector firms may weil account for this difference in
capacity to mobilise politically to inform policy makers, in case regional Flemish policy makers, of vital
interests to be defended at the international level. Policy deliverable 6 therefore develops a strategy to
assess this lower degree of service interest group mobilisation in Flanders, and - in congruence with the
economists' analysis of Flemish service industry's comparative advantages - will propose ways to alleviate this
structural disadvantage.
A region's effective strategy to reduce information asymmetries may thus consist of a mixture of police-patrol
and fire-alarm approaches. And the effectiveness of that mixture may vary across policy fields, given the
already mentioned distribution of competences in each of these fields, both in the EU and in the region's
member state. Our research design makes maximum use of this variation.
V. Research design and methodology
To attain this aim, the research project will proceed along a similar track as Research Activity 1 'Explaining
Variation of Regional Authorities' Influence in EU Legislation'. The project will be able to draw on
comprehensive datasets in order to proceed to a controlled comparison of selected cases in a second phase
of the research project. The data we will rely on consists of a dataset of (1) all regional interest
representations in the EU (Verboven 2011; Verboven, Beyers and Roeien 2011), (2) all interest groups active
in Flanders and Belgium, based on National Bank of Belgium data (Frausen and Beyers), and (3) all interest
groups active on EU policy making (INTEREURO-database).
The first dataset on all regional interest representations in the EU will allow us to select cases of regions that
have similar and/or comparable legislative competencies in areas of EU external policy and have similar
and/or comparable policy preferences. It is therefore likely, but by no means fixed as yet, that we will be
analysing and comparing regional representation across different policy fields in regions such as North-Rhine
Westphalia or Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg or Bremen, Veneto, Catalonia, or Rhone-Alpes. The second and
third dataset will allow us to map and explain patterns of interest group involvement in 'police patrol'
monitoring and influencing of EU policy fields (through participation in meetings) as weil as 'fire alarm'
monitoring and influencing of those fields, i.e. by activating mechanisms of consultation whenever vital interests
of certain economic sectors are touched upon in EU extern a I policy making.
The main difference between internal and external EU poliey making lies in the fact that the former can be
studied best by looking at EU legislation, while extern a I policies consist of the monitoring and influencing of
international negotiations in a bilateral or regional setting, or within the framework of firmly established
international organisations. After the comprehensive mapping of both regional representations' approach to
monitoring and influencing of EU external policies, as weil as of Flemish and Belgian interest groups
involvement in monitoring and influencing EU extern a I policies, the second phase of the research project will
consist of a controlled comparison of regional representation by Flanders and three other selected regions
with legislative capacity in the six policy fields of trade in goods, trade in serviees, investment, intellectual
property protection, environment, and competition poliey.
The aim of this PhD research project therefore is to compare a set of four important regional entities, find out
through whieh venues they seek to influence EU policy making, account for variation across regions and poliey
fields, identify lacunae in the representation and interest defence by Flanders and identify best practiees, and
draw up systematie suggestions for the improvement of this interest representation.
VI. Valorisation
The academie valorisation will consist in the first place of a PhD. Derived from this, the PhD student and the
promoters will submit several artieles to peer reviewed journals and books. In addition all involved staff will
present results during international conferences (ECPR, EUSA, APSA, UACES, and so on). As for the policy
adviee part goal of this study, our target audience will be the Department Internationaal Vlaanderen and
Flanders Investment & Trade, as weil as sector specifie interest organisations in the different policy fields
analysed. More specifieally, we plan the two following policy deliverables, explicitly derived from the call, to
be delivered by the PhD researcher and the promoters: a study on the impact of EU external policies upon
Flemish foreign policy opportunities, and a study on the organisation of serviee sector interest groups. Both
policy deliverables will result in a report and the organisation of a training workshop to bring together
academies and practitioners. These workshops will be organised by the Keerbergen-based public affairs
consultancy firm Prospex, specialised in the training of public officials (Iike at the OECD) to bring together
people with specialised, technieal knowiedge, and make it useable for policy practitioners and international
negotiators (www.prospex.com).
Policy Deliverable3: Impact of EU External Policies upon Flemish Foreign Policy Opportunities
This research activity will deal with the third research question mentioned in the cluster 'European Union' (call
p. 34). 'Wat is de impact van de ontwikkelingen inzake het Europees Gemeenschappeliik Buitenlands en
Veiligheidsbeleid op het Vlaams buitenlands beleid, zowel op institutioneel als beleidsmatig vlak.' The PhD track
research will therefore be designed to gradually, systematieally analyse Flemish regional representation in EU
external poliey fields, but also to come to an overview of all the extern a I policy fields of the European Union
and an assessment of their relative importance for Flemish governmental authorities and Flemish firms active
on the international market. This policy deliverable will therefore focus on the following aspects of the EU's
external policies. First, we will identjfy the impact of the EU's external trade poliey (its common commercial
policy) in trade in goods. Here it will be important to assess the impact of changes to the tariff structure due
to changes in applied (as compared to WTO bound) ta riffs, EU trade partners' antidumping practiees, and
the effects of EU Free Trade Agreements with third countries, as weil as those that are under negotiation by
the European Union (the latter two in close co-operation with Leuven economist Jan van Hove and his economie
analysis of PTAs). Second, we will identify the impact of the EU's trade poliey in the area of trade in serviees.
Given the importance of the serviee sector for the Flemish economy (insurance, banking, law firms, logisties,
etc.), it is crucial to map Flemish defensive and offensive interests in this area. Third, as since the Lisbon Treaty
the EU has the competency to negotiate bilateral investment treaties it will be important to map the constraints
and opportunities, the continuing legal force of existing bilateral investment treaties, as weil as the new ones
associated with new bilateral investment treaties the European Commission may be negotiating with third
countries. Fourth, we will explore the implications of the EU's new patent legislation on the international level,
especially under the Conventions administered by WIPO.
These five goals will be attainable through collaboration with the pillar 'International Entrepreneurship j
Internationaal Ondernemen' of this application, the use of the database elaborated within ACiM in the ESF
INTEREURO project (Beyers, De Bièvre, Kerremans), as weil as the World Trade Institute in Bern (Ass. Prof.
Manfred Elsig and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Jappe Eckhardt)
Policy Deliverable 4: Service Sector Interest Groups
This research activity will analyse the problem identified on page 36 of the call: 'Waarom is de dienstensector
veel minder goed georganiseerd in federaties en koepels vergeleken met de industriële sector? Wie kan de
belangen van de dienstensector(en) verdedigen en communiceren? Hoe kan de Vlaamse overheid (DiV) de
dienstensector(en) op een efficiënte manier bereiken en consulteren?'.
Collective action theory (Olson 1965) takes us a considerable way in explaining why diffuse and
heterogeneous interests are more difficult to mobilise than concentrated interests. In comparison to firms active
in the sector of goods production, such as manufacturing, the service sector has traditionally always been less
weil organised in the form of trade associations. Although many other factors have been identified that may
alleviate the smaller mobilisation potentialof the services sector, the fact that it is more difficult to represent
services interests poses a serious policy making challenge, as policy makers lack systematic input in order to
identify key interests of their large and economically important service provider sectors during the process of
negotiations on trade in services, investment treaties, or intellectual property rules.
This research activity will therefore rely on the comprehensive ESF INTEREURO dataset of interest groups
active in European lobbying, and their FlemishjBelgian members in order to identify all existing service sector
interest groups. This will allow regional Flemish authorities to have complete information on the existing
population of interest groups in the sector. This will then be compared to the organisation of the services
industry in other regions and countries, in order to identify best practices elsewhere, to compare it to the
manufacturing sector, and to bank on the economic comparative advantages that will be identified in the
economic analysis in the project '4.1. The internationalisation of Flemish service industries'. This systematic
information will allow to identify avenues for a more efficient flow of information between services firms and
Flemish representatives in EU committees on trade in services.
VII. Timing
Year 1
Research Activity 4:
Long term PhD research:
Mapping of regional representation in EU
Year 2
Year 3
Year4
external policy fields
Explaining variation
Editing dissertation and journal output
Research Activity 5:
Policy Deliverable 3: Impact of EU external
policies
Assessing impact of policies in 5 areas
Report - workshops - training
Research Activity 6:
Policy Deliverable 2: Service sector interest
groups
Data all service sector interest groups
Comparisons
Continuous policy support
VIII. Bibliographical references
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European Journalof Politica I Research 41 (5): 585-612.
Beyers, J. and B. Kerremans (2007). "Critical Resource Dependencies and the Europeanization of Domestic
Interest Groups." Journalof European Public Policy 14(2): 460-81.
Beyers, J., Kerremans, B. (2007), "The Press Coverage of Trade Issues. A Comparative Analysis of Public
Agenda-Setting and Trade Politics", Journalof European Public Policy 14(2): 269-292
Bouwen, P. (2002). "Corporate Lobbying in the European Union: The Logic of Access." Journalof European
Public Poliey 9(3): 365-90.
Bursens, P. (2006). State Structures. In P. Graziano and M. Vink "Europeanization: New Research Agendas".
Basingstoke, Palgrave: 115- 127.
Bursens, P. (2011) Subnational Authorities in S. Bulmer and Ch. Lequesne (eds.) "The Member States of the
EU", Oxford, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Coen, 0., and Richardson, J. (2009) "Lobbying the European Union. Institutions, Actors and Issues" (eds.)
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Damro, C. (2007), "EU Delegation and Agency in International Trade Negotiations: A Cautionary
Comparison", Journalof Common Market Studies, 45(4): 883-903
De Bièvre, D. and Eckhardt, J. (2011), 'Interest groups and EU anti-dumping policy'. Journalof European
Public Policy, 18(3): 339 - 360.
De Bièvre, 0., Dür, A. (2005), "Constituency Interests and Delegation in European Union and American Trade
Policy", Comparative Politica I Studies, 38(10): 1271-1296
Delreux, T. (2008), "The EU as a negotiator in multilateral chemica Is negotiations: multiple principals, different
agents", Journalof European Public Policy, 15(7): 1069- 1086
Delreux, T. (2009), "The EU negotiates multilateral environmental agreements: explaining the agent's
discretion", Journalof European Public Policy, 16(5): 719-737
Delreux, T. (2011), The EU as International Environmental Negotiator, Farnham, Ashgate
Delreux, T., Kerremans, B. (2010), "How Agents Weaken their Principals' Incentives to Control: the Case of EU
Negotiators and EU Member States in Multilateral Negotiations", Journalof European Integration, 32(4):
357-374
Dür, Andreas and Manfred Elsig (2011), The EU's External Economie Policies, london: Routledge (reprint of a
special issue of the Journalof European Public Policy).
Elsig, M. (2007), "The EU's Choiee of Regulatory Venues for Trade Negotiations: A Tale of Agency Power?",
Journalof Common Market Studies, 45(4): 927-948.
Epstein, D., O'Halioran, S. (1999), Delegating Powers. A Transaction Cost Polities Approach to Policy Making
Under Separate Powers, New Vork, Cambridge University Press.
Franchino, F. (2007), The Powers of the Union. Delegation in the EU, New Vork, Cambridge University Press.
Gailmard, S. (2009), "Multiple Principals and Oversight of Bureaucratie Policy-Making", Journalof Theoretieal
Polities, 21 (2): 161-186.
Graziano, P., Vink, M., Ed. (2006). "Europeanization. New Research Agendas". Basingstoke, Palgrave.
Greenwood, J (2011) "Interest Representation in the European Union" Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gstöhl, S. (2009), '''Patchwork Power' Europe: The EU's Representation in International Institutions", European
Foreign Affairs Review, 14(3),385-403.
Gstöhl, S. and De Bièvre, D. (in preparation), The Trade Policy of the European Union, European Union Series,
london: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hooghe, L., Marks, G. (2001) "Multi-Ievel Governance and European Integration", lanham, Rowman &
Littlefield.
Jeffery, C. (2000). "Sub-National Mobilization and European Integration", Journalof Common Market Studies
38(1): 1-24.
Keating, M. (1998) "The New Regionalism in Western Europe: Territorial restructuring and Political Change",
Cheltenham, Eigar.
Keating, M. (2008), "Thirty Years of Territorial Polities", West European Polities 31 (1-2): 60-81.
Kerremans, B. (2004), "Wh at Went Wrong in Cancun? A Principal-Agent View on the EU's Rationale Towards
the Doha Development Round", European Foreign Affairs Review, 9(3): 363-393
Kerremans, B. (2006), "Pro-Active Policy Entrepreneur or Risk Minimizer? A Principal-Agent Interpretation of
the EU's Role in the WTO", Eigström, O. and Smith, M. (eds) The European Union's Roles in International Polities,
Oxford, Routledge, pp. 172- 1 88
Manger, M.S. (2009), Investing in Protection. The Polities of Preferential Trade Agreements between North
and South, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Meunier, S., Nieolaidis, K. (1999), "Who Speaks for Europe? The Delegation of Trade Authority in the EU",
Journalof Common Market Studies, 37(3): 477-501.
Milner, H.V. (1997), Interests, Institutions, and Information: Domestic Polities and International Relations,
Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press.
Olson, M. (1 965) The Logie of Collective Action. Public Goods and the theory of groups, Cam bridge, Mass.,
Harvard University Press.
Pollack, M.A. (1997), Delegation, Agency, and Agenda Setting in the European Community, International
Organization, 51 (1): 99- 1 34.
Pollack, M.A. (2003), The Engines of European Integration. Delegation, Agency, and Agenda Setting in the EU,
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Shapiro, S.P. (2005), "Agency Theory", Annual Review of Sociology 31: 263-284.
Tallberg, J. (2002), "Delegation to Supranational Institutions: Why, How, and with What Consequences?",
West European Polities 25(1): 23-46.
Verboven, T., J. Beyers, and E. Roeien (2011). Explaining the organizational format of territoria I lobbying in
Brussels. ECPR Genera I Conference 25-27 August 2011. Iceland, Reykjavik.
Woolcock, S. (Ed.) (2006), Trade and Investment Rule-making: The Role of Regional and Bilateral Agreements,
Tokyo, United Nations University.
CHAPTER 411NTERNATIONAl ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The thematie piJIar regarding international entrepreneurship consists of three long-term research projects that
wil I be developed in three doctoral research tracks. Although each doctoral track includes fundamental
research in order to guarantee the quality of the Ph.D. dissertation and in order to optimise the international
publication op ti ons, the policy context as weil as the policy implications will always be stressed. Moreover,
short-term research projects are embedded in each long-term research project whieh provides for specialised
advise to be given for any ad hoc policy-related questions that arise. Finally, as requested in the tender
(point 1), ad hoc policy advise wiJl be provided to general issues related to the effects of European external
trade policy on Flemish international entrepreneurship and its context. For the latter, the Policy Research
Centre goes beyond merely legal analysis, but aims to use the full potentialof this multidisciplinary research
consortium: multi- and interdisciplinary advise (Iegal-economie-politieal) wiJl be provided whieh is the
appropriate approach given the complex reality of international trade policy nowadays (see PhD track 2).
Generally speaking, this research pillar aims to study, from an economic, business and politieal economie
perspective, some of the main challenges and opportunities that Flemish firms face in the globalised world, in
partieular given the Flemish economy's openness to international tra de. The three long-term research projects
that wiJl be developed respectively deal with the internationalisation of serviee industries, the decisions to
export of small and medium-sized enterprises and the impact of preferential trade agreements. Each
research project includes an empirieal analysis that focus mainly on Flanders and that compares the Flemish
situation with international evidence.
Both macro-economie and miero-economie analysis wiJl be applied throughout the long-term research projects.
Including and starting from a macro-economie analysis has several advantages. First, by studying the macroeconomie situation first, we get acquainted with the genera I context as weil as with any specifie and relevant
Flemish economic characteristies. Secondly, for the macro-economie analysis we can always rely on wellestablished methodologies in the literature. As there is already relatively accessible statistieal data, this
enables us to start up the analysis in an early stage of the Policy Research Centre. Finally, knowing the
macro-economie situation enables us to put the miero-economie analysis in the right context.
Nevertheless, the main focus of all three long-term research projects is on miero-economic analysis and
evidence. A similar approach is followed for each research project, i.e. the analysis of firm-Ievel dataB.
Studying firm-Ievel evidence has several advantages. First, it allows us to get a better insight into dynamies at
the firm-Ievel. Contrary to macro-economie or even sector-level studies, a more detailed approach helps to
understand how individual (Flemish) firms are dealing with the challenges and opportunities of globalisation.
From previous evidence we know that firm-Ievel characteristies, strategies and performance are
heterogeneous. Neglecting this heterogeneity would lead to wrong conclusions and recommendations.
Secondly, by opting for this firm-Ievel approach, we follow the international literature. Hence it strengthens
the academie quality leading to better publication opportunities. Finally, a firm-Ievel analysis can be
translated into more precise and more direct adviee to Flemish companies, strengthening them on the
international markets.
A substantial research consortium will take care of this research pillar. The consortium consists of researchers
from VIeriek Leuven Gent Management School, the Centre for Economie Studies (CES) as weil as the Research
Unit Managerial Economies, Strategy and Innovation (MSI) of the Faculty of Business and Economies of
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Institute for International and European Poliey (liEP) of the Faculty of Social
Sciences of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Centre for Research on Economie Markets and their
Environments (CREME - Research Group Globalization, Innovation and Competition (GIC)) of the Faculty of
8 Access to the firm-Ievel data must be granted by one of the responsible federal institutions. Contacts with the National Bank
of Belgium have been established. Access to the required data is, nonetheless, dependent on the formal agreement by the
National Bank of Belgium.
Economics and Management of Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB-EHSAL vzw). The entire research pillar
will be co-ordinated by Prof. Dr. Leo Sleuwaegen and the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
The remainder of this chapter will consecutively describe the three long-term research projects in more detail.
I. Project details
Promoters:
Leo Sleuwaegen (Full professor at K.U.Leuven and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School) (research
project co-ordinator)
Rene Beiderbos (Full professor at University of Leuven and professorial fellow at Maastricht
University)
Jan Van Hove (Associate professor at Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB-EHSAL vzw) and at
K.U.Leuven)
Research Assistant: Bursaal (100 % - active during entire period of Policy Research Centre, partly financed by
alternative, academic project - during first 2 years full-time financed by Policy Research Centre)
In addition, doctoral researcher Peter M. Smith (currently Ph.D. student at K.U.Leuven, formerly former
administrator EU Commission and former member of BEPA) will be involved in this project since his Ph.D. deals
with aspects of international services liberalisation. Both Peter Smith and the new doctoral student will be
involved in short term research in addition to the long-term doctoral research track proposed in this research
project description.
The project responds to the research issues identified in the call:
11
lil
measuring the importance and performance of the Flemish services (sub)sector(s)
identifying the competitive advantagesj comparative advantages of services (aggregate and
subsectoral approach) in Flanders in an international context
calculating the trade potential (challenges as weil as opportunities) for Flemish services activities in
a bilateral perspective
11
identifying the strategic interests of Flemish services sectors and firms in bilateral and multilateral
trade agreements related to services, taking into account both offensive and defensive interests
11
identifying the firm and sectoral determinants of services exports
lil
measuring the impact of innovation and research co-operation on the internationalisation of
services
Note that the legal aspects of services liberalisation and its impact on the Flemish economy are dealt with in
Research Pillar 1.
11. Problem statement
Since Flanders is one of the economically most developed regions of the world, services are very important
for the Flemish economy. On the one hand, many high-quality services are provided in Flanders; on the other
hand, Flemish people wish to have easy access to good services and are prepared to spend a large
proportion of their income on them. The importance of services in the Flemish economy, however, strikingly
contrasts with the limited international openness of the services sector. Although services constitute a large part
of Flemish gross domestic product, they are only a small part of Flemish international trade (20-30 % of total
trade). A similar situation can be observed in many other European countries. However, because of recent
European and international liberalisation efforts (e.g., EU services directive, negotiations in the World Trade
Organisation), new markets are being opened which may create opportunities for Flemish service providers in
the near future, while more competition caused for foreign services providers becoming active on the Flemish
market can be expected.
Nevertheless, the importance of services within the entire Flemish economy is currently not (yet) reflected in the
Flemish export pattern and performance. This research project therefore aims to inventory the strengths and
weaknesses of the Flemish services sector and its subsectors in order to measure the competitive and
comparative advantages of Flemish services in a worldwide context. Based on a quantitative macro-economic
and micro-economic analysis, the export potential and export determinants of Flemish services will be
calculated. As such we will be able to detect the strategic interests for the Flemish services sectors as weil as
the problems they may have to cope with in the future.
The data collection for Flanders will be part of the research design. However, some stylised facts regarding
the international openness of services can be derived from Belgian statistics as weil as from recent studies for
Belgium (e.g., Piette and van der linden, 2009). First, Belgian services trade is very small compared to trade
in manufactured goods. Moreover, the share of services trade in total Belgian trade is rising only very slowly.
Although this is not only the case for Belgium (e.g., a similar situation can be found in The Netherlands), it
remains surprising. The underperformance in terms of international trade may either reflect fundamental
disadvantages, or alternatively, may point to a large export growth potential in the future once particular
barriers to international trade disappear (e.g., legal and regulatory barriers). Secondly, not only is the
Belgian share of services in total exports relatively low, but also the structure of that trade is unfavourable.
Compared to the average of EU-27, Belgian exports are much more directed towards traditional services as
weil as towards royalties and services between affiliated enterprises, reflecting the strength of traditional
multinationals in the Belgian economy. Traditional services are those related to trade in goods as weil as most
services provided to households such as non-business-related travelling. High value added services are
overwhelmingly concentrated in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) area. They cover in
particular, telecommunications, computer services, R&D and professional services. In 2009 only 27.7% of
Belgian exports of services were for high value services down from 34.7% in 2006. Among comparable
countries only Denmark relied more on exports of traditional services (overwhelmingly shipping). Finland
(35.7%), Sweden (40.4%) and particularly Ireland (72.3%) all had much higher shares of high value added
exports than Belgium. This is striking since high value added services are important within the domestic
economy. Hence it seems that the internalisation of these sectors lags behind. However, a more detailed and
in-depth analysis may reveal other and more fundamental tendencies. Thirdly, the degree of concentration of
Belgian exports of services on markets with high growth potential is also weak. Over two thirds of exports of
services are directed to other EU countries and 87% to the developed countries members of the OECD. Only
3.3% of exports are to the emerging BRIC countries. Hence it seems that Belgian services exports are mostly
oriented towards markets close to the domestic market, at least to some extend neglecting new trade
opportunities further away from home.
Hence, summarising, the data on exports of services show a number of worrying features. However, it remains
a puzzle as to why the Belgian performance of these exports remains bel ow that of most of the comparable
small open economies of north-west Europe. Moreover, evidence regarding the Flemish situation is not
available. The reason why the relatively successful development of high value added services domestically
has not led to a similar concentration among exports also calls for an explanation. Such explanations require
a far more extensive analysis of where and how Flemish enterprises in the service industries are growing. The
heterogeneous nature of services requires that the analysis will be undertaken at a far more detailed level
than is available from current macro-economic statistics. Therefore this project will aim to study the
international potentialof the Flemish services sector both from a macro-economic and micro-economic
perspective.
111. Scientific state of the art
There are two major strands in the literature on trade in services: on the one hand, the economics literature on
international trade (for recent overviews see Francois and Hoekman (2009) and Lejour and Smith (2008))
and, on the other hand, the management literature on international business. A number of important issues
regarding trade in services has been identified and studied in one or both of these fields which should not be
neglected in any new study. First, the literature recognises that worldwide services liberalisation is an ongoing
process. Although the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been dealing with it for many years, trade is
services remains more limited due to the sensitivity of services liberalisation. In order to avoid that
international liberalisation negotiations are hampered by the sensitivity of particular services activities, a
distinction is made between different 'modes'. Liberalisation negotiations proceed by commitments by
members of the WTO within each mode, either for specific services sectors or horizontally across all sectors.
The following modes can be distinguished:
11
Mode 7 - cross-border trade: when suppliers of services in one country supply services to consumers in
another country without either supplier or consumer moving into the territory of the other;
11
Mode 2 - consumption abroad: process by which a consumer resident in one country moves to another
country to obtain a service;
11
Mode 3 - commercial presence: enterprises in an economy supply services internationally through the
activities of their foreign affiliates abroad;
11
Mode 4 - movement of natural persons: process by which an individual moves to the country of the
consumer in order to provide a service.
This imp lies that any country or reg ion should decide about the modes, the sectors and the extent of
liberalisation one is willing to liberalise or one is looking for concessions from other WTO members. In order to
make these decisions, an economic impact assessment is indispensable. Secondly, as pointed out by Francois
and Hoekman (2009), technological change stimulates international tra de in services since, for many services
activities, it is no longer necessary to supply the service at the same place where it is consumed. However,
services provision of ten has an element of "jointness in production" which requires complementary inputs for an
effective provision of services abroad. Consequently, as also reflected in the different modes, studying trade
in services cannot neglect the interaction with foreign (direct) investment related to the services activities,
similar to issues addressed by the literature on horizontal versus vertical foreign direct investments by goodsproducing firms. Thirdly, many studies look into the impact of regulatory barriers on trade in services.
Contrary to trade in goods, trade is services is particularly hampered by individual countries' rules,
legislations, etc. Francois and Hoekman (2009) provide a very interesting typology of policies affecting
foreign services transactions (see Figure 5).
Figure 5: A Typology of Policies Affecting Foreign Services Transactions
n
I
Impact
entry/establishment
on
Impact on operations
E.g.,
A
E.g.,
A. Non discriminatory
A limit of three mobile
phone providers pennitted
to operate in the country
E.g.,
B
Discriminatory
nationality quotas for
managers of afiUiates;
minimum equity stake
required for national
investors; economie needs
tests
all retail banks required
to maintain a minimum
level of capital,
independent of type of
legal entity
E.g.,
foreign insuranee firms
not permitted to offer
certain types of coverage
or product innovations;
price controls
Source: Francois and Hoekman (2009)
Within this typology a distinction is made between the (non-)discriminatory nature of the regulations and the
impact on either entry / establishment or on operations. Finally, one should not neglect the interaction between
trade in services and trade in goods. Services may be complementary to the goods exported. Hence trade in
goods may stimulate trade in services. Comparatively, services may facilitate trade in goods (e.g., processing,
transport, logistics etc.).
Both macro-economic and micro-economic studies have dealt with trade liberalisation and trade in services.
The lack of good quality data on trade in services as weil as on regulatory barriers causes challenges to
research about the impact of services liberalisation and trade in services. Nevertheless, thanks to the recent
improvement of macro-economic databases as weil as to the recent disclosure of firm-Ievel databases in
several countries, many new studies have been published in recent years. At the macro side, gravity equations
have been applied to study the determinants of services by Ceglowski (2006) and Kimura and Lee (2006),
Walsh (2006) and implicitly by Piette and van der Linden (2009). Recent studies also use micro-level data to
study trade in services. For instance, Li, Whalley and Chen (2010), Fillat-Castejón et al. (2008) and Christen
and Francois (2009) study whether local presence benefits trade in services. Other studies use large microlevel databases include Jensen and Kletzer (2005), Breinlich and Criscuoio (2008) and Gaulier et al. (2010).
An alternative view on the issue of forms of internationalisation appropriate to goods or services on the basis
of tasks is provided by two recent papers using micro-data sets by Oldenski (2009) and by Ariu and Mion
(2010). Blomstermo et al. (2006) study foreign market entry mode, which is a particularly important subject
for service firms, using a sample of 140 Swedish professional service firms following 71 qualitative interviews
with managers in internationally active services firms. In order to test for the difference in entry mode
between service sectors, the authors make a distinction between hard and soft services. Hard services are
those for which production and consumption can be decoupled, such as software. Soft services decoupling is
not possible and the service provider must be physically present near the user. In turn, entry can take the form
of a high control mode such as a wholly owned subsidiary or a low control mode such as licensing or direct
exporting. They find that managers in soft services are much more likely to choose a high control entry mode
than those for hard services. They further find that the fundamental process of internationalisation and foreign
market entry mode is similar to that of manufacturing industry for hard services, but that there are some
unique aspects for soft services. A limitation of the study is that the sample consists of professional service firms
with relatively high knowledge content. Such services are of course provided to other businesses. The results
may therefore not be extrapolated to services with a lower knowledge content to services provided to
consumers.
The micro-economic studies, although substantially different in terms of the methodological approach, are
related to the international business literature that stresses the strategic aspects of cross-border trade in
services (for an overview see Van Looy et al. (2003)). Välikangas and Lehtinen (1994) distinguish between
three types of services and their appropriate international strategies. The first is 'standardisation'. The service
is provided in the same manner to each cu stomer. Such services can also be considered "industrialised" wh en
they are provided according to highly routinized procedures with little initiative possible on the part of either
the provider or the cu stomer. Budget hotels, fast food restaurants and standardised software are considered
by the authors as standardised services. Low cost and predictability are key qualities associated with these
services in the eyes of the cu stomer. We should also consider the possibility of breaking down a service into a
number of discrete tasks, some but not of all which may be subject to standardisation. Where customer
interaction is present, standardised services wil! be provided through a wide network of service units, of ten
established through licensing or franchising.
The second type of strategy examined is that of specialisation. It is limited in scope by the amount of ski lied
resources available for a firm. Such a service will usually be targeted at a narrow market segment and take
advantage of some unique competence or competences of the service provider. Clearly, specialisation implies
a high degree of differentiation. Many professional service firms in fields such as consuiting or auditing follow
a specialisation strategy. Establishment of local subsidiaries or partnerships are typical forms of
internationalisation in order to keep control over specialised knowledge and maintain quality. Where the
service is sufficiently specialised, provision through a firm's staff travelling abroad mayalso be a feasible
form of internationalisation. Finally customisation can represent a viabie strategy where each customer or
each project is unique. Advertising campaigns are an example. In these cases, sending staff abroad
represents the dominant form of internationalisation although when sufficient business is generated local
subsidiaries or regional centres will also be established.
Although the research on trade in services is expanding, many research questions remain unanswered. Javalgi
and White (2002) pointed to the need to develop testable empirical frameworks taking into account the
specific characteristics of services activities. Until now such framework is still missing. In this research project we
will attempt to fill this gap by combining the macro- and micro-perspective on international tra de in services
as weil as by providing new evidence for the Flemish economy.
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
From a research point of view this research project aims to measure the importance of and evolution in the
Flemish services sector and its subsectors. Many macro-economic characteristics will be studied including value
added, employment, wages, trade, investments, innovation etc. Apart from a getting a better insight into the
structural characteristics of services in Flanders, this data collection also enables us to calculate the competitive
and comparative advantages of Flemish services in an international context.
Next, this project aims to calculate the trade potential (challenges as weil as opportunities) for Flemish service
firms as a result of recent and ongoing European and international liberalisation From both the macro-
perspective (which subsectors will gain/loose? On which markets will Flanders gain/loose?) and the microperspective (which kind of firms will benefit from/ loose from international services liberalisation?).
As such, this research project combines the overall dimension with a very detailed, firm-Ievel analysis that
incorporates potential heterogeneity among services subsectors as weil as services firms. A good
understanding of the heterogeneity should result in a better assessment of the potentialof firms to participate
in international services markets.
To the extent possible, this analysis will pay attention to the specific characteristics of international
agreements (e.g., services-related issues in preferential trade agreements -see e.g., Park and Park, 2011),
regulatory barriers (e.g., kind of barriers to services trade)) and trading partners (e.g., specific regulations
applicable). For such detailed analysis we will undoubtedly benefit from the multidisciplinary nature of this
research consortium as weil as from the extensive expertise within the Leuven Cent re for Global Governance
Studies.
V. Research design and methodology
This research project consists of a literature review, an extensive mapping of services activities, macroeconomic and micro-economic research as weil as policy recommendations.
In the literature review we will provide an detailed overview on the previous evidence regarding services
liberalisation and trade in services. Such overview is in particular useful to compare our later Flemish evidence
with the international context.
Since services activities are very diverse and since existing databases do not cover the full spectrum of
economic characteristics, a new database will be developed that brings together relevant existing data on
services in Flanders as weil as international regulatory barriers to tra de. For the latter we can rely of the
expertise within this research consortium as weil as on previous data collection and expertise within the Leuven
Cent re for Global Governance Studies. Such exercise allows to study evolutions in Flemish services as weil as
differences across various services sectors. Based on this data, the competitive and comparative advantages
of Flemish services will be calculated. Finally, the database will also be used in the macro- and micro-part of
the analysis.
The macro-economic part of the analysis will study the impact of different kinds of regulatory barriers on the
Flemish bilateral trade in services, controlling for a number of trading partners' characteristics. To this end an
augmented gravity model will be developed, based on previous similar studies, but adapted to the specific
Flemish context. Both total and sectoral trade will be studied, given the specific and various characteristics of
services activities.
The micro-economic part will turn to a firm-Ievel analysis, similar to the two other research projects within this
research pillar, which will include a number of aspects. First, the determinants of firm-Ievel trade in services
will be studied. Secondly, the potentialof existing and new export destinations will be calculated taking into
account the specific Flemish competences as weil as the growth potentialof foreign markets. Thirdly, the
impact barriers to trade, in particular of regulatory barriers to trade, will be studied.
In proposing this methodology the willingness of the National Bank of Belgium to provide us with the essential
data has been verified.
VI. Valorisation
The project's results wil! become available in a set of working papers that will be submitted to leading
international journals in the field of international business. They wil! also be part of a doctoral dissertation
project currently who wil! work on the project.
The result wil! also be presented in several workshops organised at the K.U.Leuven, Hogeschool-Universiteit
Brussel and other universities in Flanders and abroad, including the universities and business schools with which
the research groups is currently working (IESE, Barcelona, Bocconi, Milan, Queens University, Charlotte, USA,
Sorbonne-Panthéon, Paris, Erasmus University, Rotterdam). The intention is to present the results in specialised
international conferences organised by the Academy of International Business and the European International
Business Academy.
Specific workshops related to policy issues will be organised in collaboration with the administration of the
Flemish community, FIT, SERV and Flemish Foreign Affairs Council and supranational organisations, including
the EU and OECD.
VII. Timing
Long term PhD research: Assistanf N.N. in coon with Drs. Peter Smith
Research activity 1
Liferature review
Collecting and Preparing the data
Deve/opment of indicators reflecting Flanders
and
comparative
international
competitive
advantages
LJUIUU'I'
database
+ research
Research activity 2
Macro-level econometric ana/ysis: macro-study
abouf the trade challenges and opportunifies,
based on gravity approach
research
+ int. conferences
Research activity 3
Micro-level econometric ana/ysis: firm-Ievel and
sectoral determinants of Flemish services exports
Output research paper & workshop & policy
Research activity 1
Database and monitoring instrument on the
importance and performance of Flemish services
rnCllun.rnn in an international context
Research activity 2
Answer to ad hoc
VIII. Bibliographical references
Ariu, A. and Mion, G. (2010), Trade in Services: IT and Task Content, Working Paper Series 200, National
Bank of Belgium.
Blomstermo, A., Sharma, D. and Sallis, J. (2006), Choice of foreign market entry mode in service firms.
International Marketing Review, 23(2), pp. 211-229.
Breinlich, H. and Criscuoio, C. (2008), Service Traders in the UK. Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, CEP
Discussion Papers 0681.
Ceglowski J. (2006), Does Gravity Matter in a Service Economy?, Review of World Economics, 142(2), pp.
307-329.
Christen, E. and Francois, J. (2010), Modes of Delivery in Services C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers, CEPR Discussion
Papers no. 7912.
c., Francois, J.and
Fillat-Castejon,
Papers no.7074.
Wörz, J. (2008), Cross-border Trade and FDI in Services, CEPR Discussion
Francois, J. and Hoekman, B. (2010), Services Trade and Policy, Journalof Economic literature, 48(3), pp.
642-692.
Gaulier, G., Mil et, E. and Mirza, D.(2010), Les Firmes françaises dans Ie Commerce de
Working Papers no. 2010-28.
Service, CEPII
Javalgi, R.G. and White, D. (2002), Strategic challenges for the marketing of services internationally.
International Marketing Review, 19(6).
Jensen, J. and Kletzer, L.G. (2005), Tradable Services: Understanding the Scope and Impact of Services
Offshoring, Brookings Trade Forum, pp. 75-133.
Kimura, F. and Lee, H. (2006), The Gravity Equation in International Trade in Services, Review of World
Economics, 142( 1), pp. 92- 121.
Lejour, A. M., & Smith, P. M. (2008), International Trade in Services-Editorial Introduction, Journalof Industry,
Competition & Trade, 8(3/4), pp. 169-180.
c.,
li,
Whalley, J. and Chen, Y. (2010), Foreign Affiliate Sales and Trade in Both Goods and Services, NBER
Working Paper Series no. 16273.
Oldenski, L. (2009, June), Export versus FDI: A Task-Based Framework for Comparing Manufacturing and
Services, mimeo.
Park, I. and Park, S.(2011), Regional liberalisation of Trade in Services, The World Economy, 34 (5), pp.725740.
Piette, C. and Van der linden, J. (2009), De economische gevolgen van de Dienstenrichtlijn in België: een
verkenning, working paper, National Bank of Belgium.
Välikangas, L. and Lehtinen, U. (1994), Strategic Types of Services and International Marketing. International
Journalof Service Industry Management, 5(2).
Van Looy, B., Gemmei P. and Van Dierdonek, R. (2003), Services Management: An Integrated Approach,
Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.
Walsh, K. (2006), Trade in Services: Does Gravity Hold? A Gravity Model Approach to Estimating Barriers to
Services Trade, The Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin •
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I. Project details
Supervisors:
Leo Sleuwaegen (Full professor at K.U.Leuven and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School)
(research project co-ordinator)
Rene Beiderbos (Full professor at University of Leuven and professorial fellow at Maastricht
University)
Kristien Coucke (Assistant Professor at Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel and Affiliated Researcher at the
Research Group Managerial Economics, Strategy and Innovation (MSI) of the K.U.Leuven)
Research Assistant: N.N. - to be appointed (bursaal 100% - Ph.D. Student - 4 years)
The project responds to the research issues identified in the call:
11
Measurement of the number of exporting SMEs (and other firms) in Flanders and its evolution.
11
Development of a monitoring instrument taking account of the restrictions imposed by the National
Bank of Belgium
11
What determines the decision to start exporting? How to increase the number of exporting SM Es?
(in line with the Pact 2020 ambitions)
111
Policy recommendations and proposals for reform
11. Problem statement
There is a striking consistency in the empirica I findings about the internationalisation of firms across countries:
firms involved in international activities are few in number, bigger and more productive than other firms. Only
a small number of firms account for the bulk of aggregate exports and foreign direct investment in the
investigated countries. For Belgium, it was estimated that the top ten per cent of all exporters accounted for
84 per cent of all exports of produets in 2003 (Mayer and Ottaviano, 2007; Muûls and Pisu, 2007). The
reason for this strong concentration is because international competition triggers aselection process where
only the more innovative and productive firms are able to grow across borders (e.g., Beiderbos et al., 2009a;
2009b, Colantone and Sleuwaegen, 2010). An increasing number of firms also participate in international
networks and sou ree produets and services from abroad. This is of ten followed by re-export after some
processing of the produets took place (see Coucke and Sleuwaegen, 2008; Onkelinx and Sleuwaegen, 2010).
Despite the strong concentration of large exporters, Mayer and Ottaviano (2007) show that the number of
exporting firms, the so-called extensive margin, is more important than the increase in the exports sales per
firm, the so-called intensive margin for explaining increases in the aggregate value of exports for a set of
countries. Moreover, given the superior performance of firms participating in international markets (for
instance in terms of employment growth - see Beiderbos and Wynen, 2010), a large number of those firms
would also raise productivity, GOP and wages of these countries more than proportionally. Hence, they seek
policies geared towards increasing the number of exporting firms instead of promoting established exporters.
The same findings apparently do not hold for the U.S., where Bernard's research shows that over any fiveyear period in the last two decades, 80 per cent of the growth in U.S. exports came from existing exporters.
In a recent study for Belgium it was determined that continuing exporters, especially large firms, generated
more exports than the total net export growth over the period 1998-2005 (Onkelinx and Sleuwaegen,
201 0). The loss of exports by firms that stopped exporting over the same period was larger than the
contribution of new exports made by new exporters (see Table 1). While these figures go in the same
direction as the US findings, one should not overlook the fact that new exporting firms, especially small and
medium sized firms that have started exporting, contributed the most to the creation of new employment (see
Table 2). Large firms that continued or stopped exporting laid off a substantial number of employees. The
foregoing findings suggest that there is substantial heterogeneity among exporters and that firms starting to
export are dynamie young companies that seek extra growth opportunities for exploiting their competitive
advantages. The proposed research should verify these conjectures for Flemish exporters, examine in detail
their contribution to the Flemish economy, and explain the determinants of their decision to start exporting,
including the effects of export promoting poliey measures.
Export growth
total ~
~ large
~SME
continue export
37,915
25,411
12,504
stop export
-16,753
-5,331
-11,422
start export
13,378
3,952
9,427
Total
34,540
24,031
10,509
rab/e ,: Export growth Belgian SMEs and large firms, 1998-2005 (€ mil/ion)
SME
Employment growth
total ~
~ large
~SME
continue export
-3,217
-38,817
35,600
stop export
-116,185
-49,498
-66,688
start export
96,893
23,440
73,453
Total
-22,509
-64,875
42,365
rab/e 2: Employment growth Belgian SMEs and large firms, 1998-2005 (Full Time Equivalents)
111. Scientific state of the art
The determinants of export behaviour have been studied in the manufacturing sector of selected countries.
Evidence is available, for example, for Belgium and Flanders (Muûls and Pisu, 2007; Beiderbos et al., 2009a;
2009b; Abraham and Van Hove, 2010), Germany (e.g., Arndt et al. 2008, Engelmann and Fuchs 2008,
Roper and Love, 2002; Wagner, 2001 and 2008), the United Kingdom (Bleaney and Wakelin, 1999; Roper
and Love, 2002; Wakelin, 1998), the United States (Bernard and Jensen, 1999), Ireland (Roper et al., 2006),
Italy (Sterlacchini, 2001) and for some developing countries including Indonesia (van Dijk, 2002) and the
Philippines (Dueiias-Caparas, 2007).
Common to these studies is the finding that innovation, human capital, size and productivity show up as
important determinants of export performance. Large firms have indeed more opportunities to raise financing
and have more resources to overcome the entry barriers in foreign markets. Recent studies also show that
financially constrained firms are less likely to export being unable to cover the additional costs related to
exporting (e.g., Arndt et al., 2008; Bellone et al., 2008).
Because of astrong selection process, only productive firms are able to survive and grow in foreign markets
(formally shown by Melitz, 2003). A wide range of empirica I studies recognise the existence of productivity
differences between exporting and non-exporting firms for the manufacturing sector (see Wagner, 2007 for
a survey). Also for the business services sector, recent evidence shows higher productivity for exporting firms
than for non-exporting firms (e.g., Vogel, 2009). In addition to the above mentioned determinants ownership
also shows up as an important determinant of a firm's export potentia!. Belonging to a holding or
multinational group enable firms to take advantage of group resources and to exploit synergies in marketing
or distribution (Roper et al., 2006; Engelmann and Fuchs, 2008).
In spite of the above identjfied determinants Wagner (1995, 2003, 2008) demonstrates that th ere still
remains a lot of unobserved heterogeneity in the decision to export and the export performance of firms. This
unexplained variation across firms suggests the importance of idiosyncratic elements related to competitive
strategies and organisation of (exporting) firms. Unfortunately, few studies have investigated the nature of
these characteristics (see e.g., Onkelinx and Sleuwaegen, 2011).
The proposed project wil! build on recent insights and analyse how firm-specific determinants are related to
the internationalisation strategy of firms, in which timing and scope of internationalisation play a decisive role.
The research wil! start from the paradigm that the decision to start exporting is part of an (explicit or implicit)
internationalisation strategy, which itself is part of the competitive strategy adopted by the firm. The
competitive strategy indeed confronts the decision-maker with a set of questions related to the geography of
operations by the firm: What is the relevant geographic market of doing business? Local, regional or global?
Where are the competitors located? How will internationalisation contribute to the chosen competitive strategy
chosen by the firm (differentiation, cost leadership, focus)? What is best timing for expanding abroad? With
respect to the latter dimension, SMEs can also opt for early or late internationalisation in their life cycle. As a
result of the timing and scope of decisions, different internationalisation strategies can be identjfied: new firms
that start exporting soon after inception (international new ventures) and incumbent firms that start exporting
af ter a substantial number of years of purely domestic growth (late internationalisers), both opting for either
simultaneous entry in multiple markets (sprinkler strategy) or entering a single market and consecutively
spreading activities over different markets in time (waterfall strategy). An increasing group of small firms, the
so-called born globals, of ten operating in global high-tech markets, are forced to internationalise shortly af ter
inception.
As an original contribution to the literature, the proposed research seeks to identify the industry and firm
specifie features related to the adoption of a partieular internationalisation strategy. By relating these
features to the chosen competitive strategy of the firm, the analysis wants to contribute to a demystifieation of
the "unobserved" factors involved in the decision to become an exporter (cf. supra). These findings would
enable policy analysts to better understand the effeetiveness of policy measures by analysing them in relation
to the competitive strategies eh os en by firms.
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
From a theoretieal point of view, the research aims to explain the determinants of the decision to start
exporting by SMEs and establish the link between competitive strategies and internationalisation strategies of
SMEs (cf. supra). The goal is to uncover to what extent this link can account for the heterogeneity of firms with
respect to the decision to export and to assess the impact of policy measures on the decision. So far the focus
has been on structural features of the firm, without making an explicit link to the competitive strategy.
In terms of poliey related questions, the project aims at:
11
monitoring the number and evolution of exporting SMEs (and large firms) in Flanders
11
observe and explain differences of the prevalenee of exporting SMEs across and within industries
11
11
explain the determinants of becoming an exporter in relation to (available and unavailable)
policy instruments
analyse the effeetiveness of macro- and micro policy instruments
V. Research design and methodology
This research project consists of a macro- as weil as micro-economic part, both of which will contain clear
policy recommendations.
In the macro-part we develop indicators that monitor the export behaviour and performance of SMEs in
Flanders. This allows policy-makers to assess the current and future performance of Flemish SMEs.
The micro-part of this research project will build on the methodology and results obtained in a recent research
project sponsored by the National Bank of Belgium (see Onkelinx and Sleuwaegen, 2010) and extend it to
the case of Flanders. Contrary to the two other research projects within this research pillar, this research
project will exclusively focus on the micro-economic, firm-Ievel analysis, since the macro-economic evidence is
well-known. In order to get access to Flemish firm-Ievel data, contacts with the National Bank of Belgium have
been established. The National Bank of Belgium expressed her willingness to co-operate and to look for
solutions to provide access to the data while safeguarding the confidentiality of the data. Such a procedure
was developed for a recent study dealing with international strategies of Belgian SMEs sponsored by the
National Bank of Belgium.
The last project measured the number of new exporting SMEs over the period 1998-2005 and classified them
according to the timing and scope of their initial export operations. With respect to the latter dimension, SMEs
with a narrow export scope (regional focus) were distinguished from the more internationally diversified firms
(global). In terms of timing, SMEs that opted for early internationalisation in their life cycle were distinguished
from firms that started exporting only after five years or more from the date they were first established. As a
result, four types of internationalisation strategies were identified: new firms that started exporting soon af ter
inception (international new ventures) and incumbent firms that started exporting af ter a substantial number of
years of purely domestic growth (late internationalisers), both opting for either simultaneous entry in multiple
markets (sprinkler strategy) or entering a single market and consecutively spreading activities over different
markets in time (waterfall sfrategy). The combination of scope and timing of internationalisation resulted in the
typology of internationalisation strategies presented in Figure 6.
IBorn glooal
Born-again
global
Sprinkler strategy
-------------------------------------------------f------------------------------------------------- Waterfall strategy
Traditional
internationaliser
Born
international
early
timing
late
Figure 6: Typology of Internationalisation strategies
The proposed research wants to extend and develop the results obtained in the NBB study by focusing on
Flemish firms and investigating the industry and firm specific factors that lead firms to adopt a particular
strategy of Figure 1. This will be done econometrically by specifying a qualitative response model (e.g.
multinomial probit) that relates the choice of one versus the other strategies to quantitative and qualitative
features related to the context and organisation of the firm or the industry to which it belongs, including the
presence of generic and specific policy measures. We propose to extend this analysis by some in-depth case
studies, focusing on the internationalisation process itself, i.e. how do firms make the decision to choose for one
particular internationalisation strategy, and how this process is influenced by the particular competitive
strategy and policy context characterising the firm.
The project will also provide a set of indicators measuring the number of Flemish firms participating in export
markets over time and the scope of their international involvement (intra-EU, extra-EU export, subdivided in
TRIAD, BRIC and other developing countries). If data allow, these indicators will be cross tabulated with
indicators about the size, age and ownership structure of the firms.
VI. Valorisation
The project's results will become available in a set of working papers that will be submitted to leading
international journals in the field of international business. They will also constitute the basis of a doctoral
dissertation project initiated by the research assistant working on the project.
The result will be presented in several workshops organised at the K.U.Leuven, Vlerick Leuven Gent
Management School, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel and other universities in Flanders and abroad, including
the universities and business schools with which the research groups is currently working together (IESE,
Barcelona, Bocconi, Milan, Queens University, Charlotte, USA, Sorbonne-Panthéon, Paris, Erasmus University,
Rotterdam). The intention is to present the results in specialised international conferences organised by the
Academy of International Business and the European International Business Academy.
Specific workshops related to use of the proposed indicators and related to specific policy issues will be
organised in collaboration with the administration of the Flemish community, FIT, SERV and Flemish Foreign
Affairs Council.
VII. Timing
Year 1
Long term PhD research: Assistanf N.N.
1. Research activity 1
Preparing the data + Literature review
Output: chapter in dissertation
2. Research activity 2
Development of indicators related to export
activities by Flemish SMEs - fol/ow-up in the future
Output: Indicators
3.
Research activity 3
Determinants of becoming
Econometrie analysis
Output: results presented
seminars, int. conferences
an
in
exporter
working
paper,
4. Research activity 4
Case studies and Policy instruments effectiveness
Output: Working paper & workshops
Dissertation (academic capacity building)
Ad hoc continuous policy support
Short term research
1. Research Activity 1
Monitoring the number of SME exporters Preparing
the data
Output: Database monitoring instrument
2. Research activity 2
Evolution of SME exporters and sectoral composition
Output: research report, workshop
3.
Research activity 3
Policy instruments promoting export participation.
Output:
research
report,
workshop
administration, FIT, SERVand FFAC
VIII. Bibliographical references
with
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Abraham, F. and Van Hove, J. (2010), Can Belgian Firms cope with the Chinese Dragon and Asian Tigers? The
Export Performance of Multi-product Firms on Foreign Markets, Working Paper Research 204, National Bank
Belgium.
Arndt, C, Buch, C, and Mattes, A. (2008), Barriers to Exporting: Firm-level Evidence from Germany, Centro
Studi luca D'Agliano Development Studies Working Papers, 268.
Beiderbos, R. and J. Wynen (2010), Export, Innovatie en Werkgelegenheid., in Clarysse B., ed., Grenzeloos
Ondernemen in Vlaanderen, Roularta Books, Roeselare, Belgium, pp. 41-60.
Beiderbos, R., Van Roy, V. and Duvivier, F. (2009a), De Impact van Innovatie op de Exportintensiteit van
Vlaamse Ondernemingen, in: d'Enghien, P. (EOS.), Een wetenschappelijke kijk op groei in Vlaanderen,
Steunpunt Ondernemerschap en Internationaal Ondernemen, Roularta Books, Belgium, pp. 59-90.
Beiderbos, R., Wynen, J. and Duvivier, F. (2009b), Innovation and Export Competitiveness: Empirical Evidence
from Flemish Firms, STOIO Working Paper 2009/1.
Bernard, A.B. and Jensen, J.B. (1999), Exceptional Exporter Performance: Cause, Effect, or Both? Journalof
International Economics, 47( 1), pp. 1-25.
Bellone, F, Musso, P., Nesta, L. and Schiavo, S. (2008), Financial Constraints as a Barrier t Export Participation,
Document de TravaiI, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Économiques, 2008-29.
Bleaney, M. and Wakelin, K. (1999), Sectoral and Firm-Specific Determinants of Export Performance:
Evidence from the United Kingdom, Centre for Research on Globalisation and labour Markets Research
Paper, 99/12.
Colantone, I. and Sleuwaegen, L. (2010), International Trade, Exit and Entry: a Cross-country and Industry
Analysis, Journalof International Business Studies, 41, pp. 1240- 1257.
Coucke, K. and Sleuwaegen, L. (2008), Offshoring as a survival strategy: Evidence from firms in Belgian
manufacturing, Journalof International Business Studies, 39 (8), pp. 1261- 1277.
Dueiias-Caparas, M.T. (2007), Firm-level Determinants of Export Performance: Evidence from the Philippines,
Philippine Journalof Development 34( 1).
Engelmann, S. and Fuchs, M. (2008), Bestimmungsfaktoren der Unterschied einzelbetrieblicher
Exportaktivitäten in Ost- und Westdeutschland. Ifo Dresden berichtet, 2008( 1), pp. 21 - 32.
Mayer, T. and Ottaviano, G. (2007), Happy Few: The Internationalisation of European Firms: New Facts
based on Firm-Ievel Evidence, Sciences Po.
Melitz, M.J. (2003), The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity.
Econometrica, 71 (6), pp. 1695-1725.
Muûls, M. and Pisu, M. (2007), Imports and Exports at the level of the Firm: Evidence from Belgium, Working
Paper Research 114, National Bank of Belgium.
Onkelinx, J. and Sleuwaegen, L. (2010), Internationalization Strategy and Performance of Small and Medium
Sized Enterprises, Working Paper Research 197, National Bank of Belgium.
Onkelinx J. and Sleuwaegen L. (2011), Internationalization Strategies and Performance of Small and
Medium Sized Enterprises, the case of Belgium, Review of Business and Economics, lVI (2), pp. 128- 146.
Roper, S. and Love, J.H. (2002), Innovation and Export Performance: Evidence from UK and German
Manufacturing Plants. Research Policy, 31, pp. 1087-1102.
Roper, S., Love, J. H., and Higon, D.A. (2006), The Determinants of Export Performance: Evidence for
Manufacturing Plants in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Scottish Journalof Political Economy, 53(5), pp. 586615.
Sterlacchini, A. (2001), The Determinants of Export Performance: A Firm-Level Study of Italian Manufacturing.
Review of World Economics, 137(3), pp. 450-472.
Van Dijk, M. (2002), The Determinants of Export Performance in Developing Countries: the Case of Indonesian
Manufacturing. Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies Working Paper, 02/01.
Vogel, A. (2009), Exporter Performance in the German Business Services Sector: First Evidence from the
Services Statistics Panel. Working Paper Series in Economics, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, 111.
Wagner, J. (1995), Exports, Firm Size, and Firm Dynamics. Smal! Business Economics, 7(1), pp. 29-39.
Wagner, J. (2001), A Note on Firm Size - Export Relationship. Smal! Business Economics, 17, pp. 229-237.
Wagner, J. (2003), Unobserved Firm Heterogeneity and the Size-Exports Nexus: Evidence from German
Panel Data. Review of World Economics, 139( 1), pp. 161-172.
Wagner, J. (2007), Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data. The World
Economy, 30(1), pp.60-82.
Wagner, J. (2008), Exports and Firm Characteristics - First Evidence from Fractional Probit Panel Estimates.
Working Paper Series in Economics, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, 97.
Wakelin, K. (1998), Innovation and export behaviour at the firm level. Research Policy, 26, 829 - 841.
Winsted, K.F., & Patterson, P.G. (1998). Internationalization of Services: The Service Exporting Decision.
Journalof Services Marketing, 12(4), pp. 294-311.
I. Project details
Supervisors:
Jan Van Hove (Associate professor at Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB) and at K.U.Leuven)
(research project co-ordinator)
Filip Abraham (Ful! professor at K.U.Leuven)
Joep Konings (Full professor at K.U.leuven)
Bart Kerremans (Full professor at K.U.leuven)
Research Assistant: N.N. - to be appointed (bursaal 100% - Ph.D.student - 4 years)
The project responds to the research issues identified in the call:
11
developing a methodology that allows for an impact assessment of preferential trade agreements on
the Flemish economy, including at very detailed levels;
..
measuring the impact of European preferential trade agreements on Flanders at the macro- as weil as
the micro-level;
11
identifying challenges and opportunities for Flemish companies in foreign markets, both intra-EU and
11
identifying strategic interests of Flemish industries and firms in preferential trade agreements;
extra-EU;
..
putting the Flemish position in an international perspective by a comparative cross-country analysis
based on a literature review and a macro-economic analysis, which allows for learning from
..
formulating practical policy recommendations in order to offer support to Flemish firms to deal with
challenges and opportunities created by preferential trade agreements.
international best practises;
11. Problem statement
Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are very popular nowadays, especially after the failure of the
multilateral trade negotiations in the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization. Compared
to other countries, the European Union is particularly active in establishing new preferential trade agreements,
as part of the "Global Europe" initiative (European Commission, 2006). In recent years agreements were
concluded in particular with important emerging economies including Chile, Mexico, South Africa and most
recently with South Korea. Moreover, negotiations are ongoing with many other countries including India,
Singapore, Malaysia and Canada; and trade talks with Japan are likely to start soon. Although the external
trade policy belongs to the legal competences of the European Union institutions9, these preferential trade
agreements affect European Union member states and regions within these member states. The impact is likely
to differ across countries and regions as weil as across agreements.
For that reason the impact of PTAs has been studied intensively, in particular by economists wondering what
the welfare and economic effects are of such preferential trade liberalisation efforts as weil as what impact
particular PTAs have had on countries, regions, companies and individuals. These questions are particularly
relevant to the Flemish economy because of its international openness to trade and investments. New PTAs
may create both new opportunities (e.g., better market access to non-EU markets) and new challenges (e.g.,
increased import competition in the domestic and EU market) for Flanders.
From a policy point of view as weil as from a research perspective there are several reasons why additional
and new research regarding preferential trade agreements is welcome. First, since preferential trade
agreements are not uniform but differ in terms of the path of liberalisation (speed as weil as intensity), studies
are welcome to obtain evidence about the specific impact of new PTAs. Secondly, the effects generated by
recent preferential trade agreements may differ from the well-establishing findings because new PTAs tend
to be much more sophisticated than their predecessors. In particular they include more modern trade policy
issues like (anti-}dumping, safeguards, rules of origin etc. as weil as new trade-related concerns like
intellectual property and environmental protection, which are not included in the standard welfare and impact
analysis of PTAs. Thirdly, the impact of PTAs is mostly studied at the macro-level. PTAs may, however, trigger
dynamics at the more detailed micro-level, including at the level of individual firms, sectors and products.
9
See Reichert and Jungblut (2007) for a discussion on the institutional aspects of EU external trade policy.
All these elements motivate new research regarding the impact of preferential trade agreements. Such
research should take into account the considerations mentioned. This requires new theoretica I and
methodological developments as weil as new empirica I research.
m. Scientific state of the art
Because of their worldwide and increasing popularity preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have been
intensively studied. Most attention is paid to the impact of PTAs on welfare and economic performance.
Theoretica I arguments point to ambiguous, but potentially significant welfare effects, caused by the
combination of trade creation and trade diversion effects (Viner, 1950). Positive welfare effects only occur if
the preferential tra ding partner is more efficient than the rest of the world. Trade diversion may, however,
offset any positive welfare effects. Since there is indeed empirica I evidence of trade diversion (e.g., Romalis,
2007), as weil as some evidence that PTAs lower export prices for non-members (Chang and Winters, 2002),
the overall welfare effects remain ambiguous. The literature on the welfare effe cts of PTAs also takes into
account that PTAs influence the multilateral tra de liberalisation process. There exists a long debate on whether
PTAs are "stumbling blocks" or "building blocks" to multilateral trade liberalisation (e.g., Bhagwati, 1991;
Bhagwati and Krueger, 1995; Bhagwati and Panagariya, 1996; Srinivasan, 1998; Foroutan, 1998; Limao,
2006). On the one hand, countries involved in PTAs may not be willing to reach agreements at the multilateral
level. As such they hamper an efficient working of the World Trade Organisation reducing global welfare.
Recent research even talks about a "clash of liberalisations" (Karacaovali and Limao, 2008). On the other
hand, others argue that PTAs can be a step towards further multilateral liberalisation (e.g., Baldwin, 2006).
Since the popularity of PTAs cannot be explained by unambiguous welfare gains, other explanations have
been looked for. The so-called "domino theory" states that countries are likely to join existing PTAs in order to
avoid trade diversion (Baldwin, 1993; Baldwin and Venables,1995). From the literature review it is dear that
PTAs remain both economically and politically sensitive (Bond and Syropoulos, 1996; Levy, 1997; Krishna,
1998).
In particular, there is extensive evidence of the welfare effects of the PTAs the European Union is involved in,
apart from evidence of the European integration process itself (for an overview see Horn et al., 2010 1°).
Recent studies, for example, assess the impact of the EU-South Korea PTA (e.g., Andreosso-O'Caliaghan,
2008). Even the potential impact of new PTAs has been studied (e.g., Khorana and Perdikis, 2010 for PTA
EU-India, Carrère et al., 2010 for PTA EU-ASEAN).
Policy makers are, however, not merely interested in the overall welfare effects, but also - and probably
even more - in the actual, real economic impact on domestic firms, induding the challenges and opportunities
they face in the domestic and international markets. Many studies look into these real economic effects, taking
into account PTAs' impact on trade, labour, wa ges and industrial reorganisation among other things. Two
methodological approaches can be distinguished. On the one hand, authors rely on computable genera I
equilibrium models to assess the impact of PTAs. The advantage of this approach is that it takes into accounts
the interaction effects between sectors and actors. The disadvantage is that it has huge data requirements
and that very strict assumptions have to be implemented in order to make these models "computable". On the
other hand, different partial equilibrium methodologies are applied, depending on the effects one wants to
assess. For example, in order to measure the impact on international trade (export opportunities as weil as
import competition), a popular approach are (augmented) gravity models that are able to predict the
potential trade creation and trade diversion effects of PTAs.
10
See McGuire and Lindeque (2010) for a recent discussion on the impact of European external trade policy.
The most recent tendency in the literature goes beyond such analysis at the macro-level. It turns to the microlevel where in particular the impact of PTAs on individual firms can be studied. Studying the impact of
preferential tra de liberalisation on individual firms fits into the recent literature on heterogeneous firms which
points to a large and diverse impact of trade liberalisation on firms' performance (see e.g., Abraham et al.,
2010; Abraham and Van Hove, 2010). Also for policy-makers such micro-level analysis has advantages. It
allows for more specific recommendations to the European trade negotiators in order to serve the interests of
European firms.
Several authors looked into the impact of trade liberalisation on firm-Ievel performance from a theoretica I
perspective. The seminal Melitz (2003) paper includes an assessment of the impact of tra de liberalisation on
intra-sectoral reallocations. Intra-firm dynamics resulting from trade liberalisation are modelled by Ederington
and McCalman (2007). The traditional welfare analysis is taken to the firm-Ievel literature by Baldwin and
Forslid (2010), while a regional approach has been developed by Okubo (2009). long et al. (2011)
develop a theoretica I model that shows how trade liberalisation affects innovation incentives and
consequently firm-Ievel productivity. labour market effects are studied by Egger and Kreickemeier (2009).
Despite the relatively large number of theoretica I studies looking into the impact of trade liberalisation on
firm-Ievel performance, the number of studies focusing on preferential trade liberalisation is limited. This can
be explained by the relative sophistications of current preferential trade liberalisation, going far beyond
traditional ta riff reductions. Hence there is room for new theoretica I research.
Recent trade literature of multi-product firms put forward interesting propositions regarding the impact of
tra de liberalisation (e.g., Eckel et al., 2009 and 2011; Eckel and Neary, 2010), i.e. firms producing and
exporting a variety of products instead of a single good. Agur (2010) shows that trade liberalisation triggers
firm selection and increases product variety. Hence liberalisation results in fewer firms producing and
exporting a large variety of products. As argued by Eckel and Neary (2010), many of these recent
theoretica I arguments should be further developed. In particular the firm-product-geography scope of
exports is worth intensive study (see e.g., Van Hove, 2010 and Abraham and Van Hove, 2011 for discussion
on product-level trade issues).
Empirical evidence supports the theoretica I propositions about the impact of trade liberalisation, in particular
of preferential trade liberalisation, on diverse aspects of firm-Ievel performance. Baggs (2005) studies the
impact of NAFTA on Canadian firms. Marinov et al. (2008) test the empirica I implications of the
heterogeneous firms models for French firms during the European integration process between 1993 and
2002. Bustos (2011) looks into the impact of Mercosur on Argentinian firms. However, the evidence is still
scarce and does not evaluate all the theoretica I projections that have been put forward. Moreover, as argued
before, PTAs can be very diverse in scope and details. Therefore many different PTAs, countries and issues
can be the subject of new empirical research. Analogous to the theoretica I perspective, the most interesting
research questions are related to the behaviour and performance of multi-product firms, including their
strategic reactions and the way they are affected by new preferential liberalisation initiatives.
Summarising, both new theoretica I and empirical research may lead to new insights into and a better
understanding of the impact of preferential trade liberalisation on firm-Ievel performance. This analysis
should take into account the varying characteristics as weil as the new features of PTAs. In particular the
impact of preferential trade liberalisation on the export performance of firms, including the product level and
geographical scope of this export performance, is worth studying. Since the impact of PTAs involving the
European Union may have different effects on the European Union member states and regions, it is in
particular worthwhile to study this impact for Flanders, one of the most open regions of the European Union.
Such knowledge will also enable policy-makers to advise the European negotiators on the potential impact of
new PTAs and to defend the Flemish international interests.
IV. Fundamental and appJied research questions
From a theoretica I point of view, the research aims to measure the impact of preferential trade liberalisation
on firm-, product- and sector-level dynamics. The focus is on analysing the heterogeneity among firms and
industries, similar to the approach followed in the other two research projects within this research pillar, due to
international preferential liberalisation. A better understanding of these dynamics and this heterogeneity will
contribute to a better assessment of the challenges and opportunities for firms in an international context.
The theoretica I impact assessment will be applied to Flanders in order to answer the policy-relevant questions.
As such the project aims to measure the impact of European preferential trade agreements on Flanders at the
macro- as weil as the micro-level. It also aims to identify the challenges and opportunities for Flemish
companies in foreign (intra-EU as weil as extra-EU) markets, including the most strategic interests of Flemish
firms and industries.
Finally, in order to assess the performance of the Flemish economy, a comparative analysis will be done to
compare the impact of PTAs on different countries based on a comparative literature research and macroeconomic analysis. Recommendations will be formulated based on international best practises.
V. Research design and methodology
This research project consists of a literature review, a macro-economic and micro-economic study as weil as
policy recommendations. The literature review will map the existing evidence of the impact of preferential
trade agreements. Particular attention will be paid to the European context in order to compare our later
findings for Flanders to the international evidence as weil as to learn from best practises.
The macro-part of the analysis will assess the performance and trade potentialof the Flemish economy by
applying an augmented gravity model to Flemish bilateral trade flows. In this setting the trade enhancing or
reducing effects of PTAs can be studied in a relatively straightforward way. The findings for Flanders will be
compared to earlier findings in the literature for other countries and regions.
However, since such macro-analysis is unable to capture the potentially heterogeneous effects of PTAs on
Flemish firms, a micro-part is added to the analysis. This micro-part consists of both theoretica I and empirical
research. The theoretical part of the micro-economic research will extend the recent multi-product trade
literature by incorporating the effect of preferential trade liberalisation, distinguishing between various
features of new PTAs. This theoretica I work wiJl lead to a new methodological framework to assess the impact
of preferential trade liberalisation on sector-, firm- and product-level dynamics. The main focus wiJl be on the
trade-related effects of liberalisation, including import competition effects as weil as export expansion
effects, hence both challenges and opportunities for firms.
The empirical part of the micro-economic research will assess the actual impact of European Union PTAs on the
Flemish economy. Based on projections from the theoretical part of the project, the impact of preferential
trade liberalisation on sector-, firm- and product-level dynamics wiJl be studied for Flanders. This allows us to
identify the way in which Flemish firms deal with challenges and opportunities created by PTAs, to evaluate
this firm-Ievel behaviour, to identify the ongoing dynamics at different levels and to identify the destinations
that offer the greatest market potential for Flemish exporters.
Finally, throughout this research project policy recommendations wiJl be formulated. Apart from ad hoc policy
advice initiated by the Flemish administration, the promoters plan to develop a set of advises in order to
support Flemish companies to cope with challenges caused by PTAs as weil as to benefit from new
opportunities thanks to PTAs.
VI. Valorisation
The project's results will become available in a set of working papers that wil! be submitted to leading
international journals in the field of international economics. The research wil! take place as a new doctoral
dissertation project.
The findings wil! also be presented at national and international conferences as weil as during seminar
presentations worldwide. Workshops wil! be organised during whieh related international academic research
wil! be presented. This allows us to compare our findings and approach to state-of-the-art international
research in the field. Partieular attention wil! be paid to policy insights from our research. Finally, the findings
wil! also be disseminated to poliey makers from the Flemish administration and other interested publie
institutions in order to allow them to prepare new policies and to formulate recommendations to the European
level. These specifie workshops related to policy issues may be jointly organised with other interested parties
and organisations.
VII.
Timing
Year 1
Long term PhD research:
1• Research activity 1
Preparing the data
Theoretical Literature review
Empirical Literature review
Output: literature review paper
2. Research activity 2
Macro-economic ana/ysis: Estimation of an
augmented gravity model to assess the tradere/ated macro-economic impact of PTAs on Flanders
Output: research paper, seminars, int. conferences
3.
Research activity 3
Development of a theoretical micro-level model that
al/ows for a dynamic impact assessment of
preferential trade liberalisation at the sector-, firmand product-level
Output: research paper, seminars, int. conferences
4.
Research activity 4
Econometrie ana/ysis: micro-economic study of the
impact of European PTAs on Flemish trade +Policy
implieations
Output: research
conferences
paper, policy workshop, int.
Year 2
Year 3
Year4
Dissertation (academic capacity building)
Ad hoc continuous policy support
Short term research
1. Research activity 1
Mapping of all Europeon PTA activity: inventory of
new features, po ten tial piffalls, ehallenges and
opportunifies
Output: research report, research discussion forum
with poliey-makers
2.
Research activity 2
Deve/oping a set of poliey advises in order to help
Flemish companies to deal with PTAs
Output: report with practical reeommendations
towards poliey-makers and firms
3.
Research activity 3
Answering ad hoc questions from the administrafion
Output: answers
VIII. Bibliographical references
Abraham, F., Konings, J. and Slootmaekers, V. (2010), FDI Spillovers in the Chinese Manufacturing Sector:
Evidence of Firm Heterogeneity, Economies of Transition, 1 8 (1), pp.143- 1 82.
Abraham, F. and Van Hove, J. (2010), Can Belgian Firms cope with the Chinese Dragon and Asian Tigers? The
Export Performance of Multi-product Firms on Foreign Markets, Working Paper Research 204, National Bank
Belgium.
Abraham, F. and Van Hove, J. (2011), Chinese Competition in OECD Markets: Impact on the Export Position
and Export Strategy of OECD Countries, Journalof Economie Policy Reform, 14 (2), pp. 151- 170.
Agur, I. (2010), Trade Liberalization, Firm Selection, and Variety Growth, Review of International Economies,
18 (3), pp. 582-594.
Andreosso-O'Caliaghan, B. (2008), Economie Structural Complementarity: How Via bie is the Korea-EU FTA?,
Journalof Economie Studies, 36 (2), pp. 147-167.
Baggs, J. (2005), Firm Survival and Exit in Response to Trade Liberalization, Canadian Journalof Economies,
38 (4), pp. 1364- 1383.
Baldwin, R.E. (1993), A Domino Theory of Regionalism, NBER working paper no. 4465.
Baldwin, R.E. (2006), Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocs on the Path to Global
Free Trade, The World Economy, 29, pp. 1451-1518.
Baldwin, R.E. and Forslid, R. (2010), Trade Liberalization with Heterogeneous Firms, Review of Development
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mimeo.
CHAPTER
51 DEVElOPMENT CO-OPERATION
In the last sixty years, development aid has become an industry with annual financial flows from North to
South of over $150 billion. Until the 1990s, the most visible part of the aid industry was a select group of
(Northern) governments and governmental development agencies, multilateral institutions and development
NGOs. Other types of co-operation, such as South-South co-operation, were going largely under the radar
(Brautigham, 2009, King, 2011). This Northern group has been 'select' in nature but not in numbers: the aid
industry has grown continuously up to more than 200 multilateral and bilateral institutions alone (De Haan,
2009). Although their strategies and principles may differ significantly (Tan-Mullins, 2010, King, 2011), many
authors have argued that these groups of actors constitute an epistemic community, with their own discourse,
vocabulary, domain-specific set of values and norms and codes of conduct (e.g. lewis & Mosse, 2006,
Develtere, 2009). However, this "status quo" of development actors, has been challenged from roughly the
1990s onwards, by a proliferation and diversification of new actors. Notably, emerging economies of the
South and private sector actors have carved out an important position within the development sector. New
actors imply new ways and possibilities for co-operation and partnership, but also for competition and
conflict. More specifically, this raises questions on the effects of emerging economies on the international cooperation discourses, policies and practicesi the need for co-operation between Western donors, emerging
economies and Southern (aid receiving) countriesi the inclusion of the private sector in aid and co-operationi
and the implications for the integration of human rights issues within development policies.
Within the call for proposals (section 6.3.3), four main actors were identified: emerging economies, private
sector, aid receiving countries and Western (small and large) donors. In addition, human rights issues were
recognised as a transversal theme. To incorporate the different dimensions of the research questions, and to
enable the exploration of the different links between the identified actors, as weil as to guarantee the links
with other piJlars, the pillar "development co-operation" is structured around one long term research, leading
to a doctoral degreei and two medium term research activities. A specific budget is foreseen to respond to
additional short term research and policy questions.
The long term research theme wiJl focus on the role and impact of the emerging economies on development
co-operation/aid in genera I, and specifically on the partnerships or co-operation with Western donors in
receiving countries on the one hand, and with private actors on the other. Implications of the emerging
economies on the human rights agenda of international donors wiJl also be looked at. This research wiJl be
conducted by a researcher at the Research Institute for labour and Society (HIVA). 90% of the researcher's
time will go to the long term research and 1 0% to support short term activities.
The firsf medium term research (6.5 months allocated over 2 years) will focus on the role of the private
sector in development co-operation. This research examines other important dimensions of the role of the
private sector, outside those which are part of the long term PhD research (section 5.2), which looks
specifically at how the emerging economies partner with the private sector.
The second medium research (10 months) will focus on the human rights aspects. The legal aspects of part
6.3.3 of the call (i.e. the leg al consequences on human rights law and good governance of the changing face
of development co-operation) will be covered by the leuven Cent re for Global Governance Studies (pillar 1).
Additional insights that derive from the long term PhD research in this pillar, (described under 5.2), will be
integrated as weil.
Finally, the researchers will provide capacity and expertise to address short-term policy questions from the
Flemish government and administration.
This pillar will be co-ordinated by the Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA) of the Catholic
University of leuven. The academic supervisor is Prof. Hans Bruyninckx, director of HIVA. The following HIVA
researchers will be involved in the research: a doctoral researcher for the PhD track; Huib Huyse, research
manager, and Ignace Poll et, expert researcher for other research activities. For the second medium term
research, a researcher from the leuven Global Governance Studies Centre will be hired.
I. Project details
The proposed research is entitled: "Challenging the status-quo? The impact of the emerging economies on the
global development co-operation/aid system aid". [Een uitdaging voor het status-quo? De impact van de
opkomende economieën op de ontwikkelingssector]. The long-term research theme will be conducted at the
Research Institute for Work and Society, K.U.leuven, by a researcher and will result in a doctoral dissertation
(supervision: Hans Bruyninckx and Huib Huyse). It responds to the questions in the call 6.3.3 related to the role
emerging economies in first instance, and to the questions related to private sector strategies and human rights
in second instance.
11. Problem statement
Developing countries are becoming less exclusive the playground of Western donors. Although, several of the
emerging economies (China, India, BraziI, South Africa, 00) have been involved in aid and trade activities with
other developing countries for several decades (Cabril et al., 2010; Denney et al., 2011; King, 2011;
Woods, 2008), the volume of their activities and the political weight of their presence increased significantly
over the last few years (Brautigam, 2009). This has several consequences:
Firstly, many questions arise as to how traditional (small and large) and emerging donors should relate at the
international policy level (global governance) and at the field level. The differences manifest themselves at
the level of interests in aid (the agenda), the underlying va lues and norms, the concepts, tools and approaches
used (Brautigam, 2009; Grimm, 2010), and the actual implementation on the ground (Dreher et alo, 2010).
Many scholars believe that there is an inherent contradiction, even conflict, in the Western and emerging
economies' presence in these same countries, in the same field, but with other approaches and interests. For
instance, for Western donors, the human rights agenda and the corresponding politica I conditions they impose
are a sensitive, but core element of their aid relationships, while emerging economies are criticised by western
donors for the absence or limited presence of politica I conditions annexed to their co-operation efforts. The
implications for the international co-operation system, and specifically for small donors as Flanders, are not
yet covered by a significant body of knowiedge, and therefore deserve to be further investigated.
Secondly, over the last few years several international reviews of the aid system have pointed at weaknesses
in the private sector strategies of international donors (Davies, 201 1). There is a growing call for international
aid to act as a catalyst for private sector development in developing countries. A number of emerging
economies indeed accommodate private sector co-operation and aid strategies (incl. the private sectors in
their own countries, see Brautigam, 2009). Lessons can be learned from these approaches for Western donors.
Thirdly, despite (perceived) conflicting interests and approaches, the presence of emerging economies on the
ground opens up opportunities for trilateral co-operation between Western donors and emerging economies.
Little is known, however, about the experiences and achievements of this kind of co-operation.
m. Scientific state of the art
The proliferation and diversification of actors is apparent on different levels in the North, as in the South. In
the North, it is characterised by the increase of subnational and regional donors (regional governments, as
weil as provinces and municipalities). At the same time, there is the emergence of donors outside of wh at
Develtere has termed the existing th ree pillars of development aid 11 (Develtere, 2005). These 'new entries'
into development aid are not yet weil identified, delineated or analysed. A number of new actors have been
singled out as major new entries: private philanthropic organisations (incl. large US-foundations, such as the
Gates Foundation, as weil as and individuals) (De Haan, 2009) and similarly philanthropic initiatives (Edwards
2009), enterprises (Lancaster, 2008), faith-based organisations, for instance Muslim-based organisations
(Benthall & Bellion-Jourdan, 2003), diaspora or migrant organisations (Merz et al., 2007; De Bruyn et al.,
2008), private initiatives as translation of the Dutch 'particuliere initiatieven' (Kinsbergen & Schulpen, 2010),
trade unions, cooperatives and farmers movements (Develtere, 2005), and so on.
But the single most unique element, whether merely perceived or real, is the increased presence of emerging
economies, such as China's, India's and Brazil's economic activities - investment, trade and aid alike - in both
Africa, Asia and Latin-America. The BRIC countries are only the most visible part of a much larger group of
emerging actors, ranging from the new EU member states, countries such as Turkey, to the Arab countries.
While many of them have a long tradition of cooperating with other developing countries, their re-emergence
has been marked by the fact that they turned themselves from recipients of aid into deliverers of aid/trade to
other developing countries. Finally, the proliferation increases further because, as in the North, regional and
sub-national authorities do also play in important part in this process (for instance Chinese provinces). Besides
governmental agencies and local NGO's, private actors in the emerging economies are increasingly singled
out as partners or targets for donor activities.
11 Bilateral direct aid or governmental development agencies constitute the first pillar, multilateral institutions the second, and
development agencies the third pillar.
The growth of development agencies and NGOs and their projects and programs in the South, has pushed the
aid industry itself into introduce approaches to co-ordinate, harmonise and align their efforts via common
goals, frameworks, and methodologies (cf. Comprehensive Development Framework, Millennium Development
Goals, Poverty reduction Strategy Papers, Paris Consensus, Accra AgÊmda for Action, EU division of labour
consensus). This has clearly been a defining trend for the whole sector of development aid (De Haan, 2009).
Despite this, many differing viewpoints exist about the impact and the effectiveness of aid (Gibson et al.,
2005; Hancock, 1989; Sachs, 2005; Collier, 2007; Easterly, 2006; Bebbington et al, 2009).
However, in the history of development aid, the period 2000-2010 may feature as the decade in whieh most
- if not all - of the acquired certainties and achievements were challenged. The emergence of the new
development actors in the North and South has only augmented the above discussion.
The presence of emerging economies has triggered debates around the following issues (Brautigam, 2009;
Hakenesh, 2011; Humphrey, 2011; King, 2010; One, 2010; Sato et al., 2011; Tan-Mullins, 2010; Yuhua,
2010): fragmentation (e.g. the need for donor co-ordinationjtrilateral co-operation), the motives for offering
aid (e.g. altruistic versus win-win), the norms and values of aid (e.g. conditionalities, good governance, tied aid,
and transparency of aid flows), boundary setting (aid versus development, including trade and investment), the
nature of aid (capacity development in the social sector versus investments in infrastructure), the effecfiveness of
alternative approaches (eg. working with private sector), the ro/e of civil society (e.g. democratie ownership vs
politica I ownership), and global governance (e.g. the legitimacy of the OECD-DAC as norm-setting body).
However, it remains challenging to grasp this new reality through the concepts, norms and va lues of the
traditionaljNorthern development community. For example, for a long time, aid was not a word easily
pronounced in the spheres surrounding the China-Africa co-operation, indicating the Chinese do not
automatieally value the concept of aid (Brautigam, 2009). In addition, the integration of aid with programmes
of trade and investment makes it is diffieult to engage in comparative analysis. This last element will be
examined more closely in the medium term research on private sector involvement (see section 5.3), and,
where relevant, expertise will be mobilised from the other pillars in this Poliey Research Centre proposal.
IV. Fundamental and applied research questions
The overall objective of the research is to identify the effects of the growing presence of the emerging
economies on development co-operation in genera I and on Western donors (including small donors) in specifie.
Specifie research questions to be answered include:
a)
What is the effect of the emerging economies on the global governance of aid and development, for
example regarding the legitimacy of OECD-DAC as norm-setting and good-practiee body?
b) To what extent are the aid and co-operation discourses and practiees of traditional donors (including
conditionalities, such as adherence to human rights) and emerging economies (e.g. win-win approach)
mutually reinforcing?
c)
What effects can be observed in the policy dialogue, programme implementation, and evaluation of
development programmes?
d)
How do emerging economies include the private sector in their development strategies and what are
the characteristies of these approaches?
What are the experiences of different types of trilateral donor co-ordinationjharmonisation efforts
(from information sharing, division of labour, to trilateral co-operation)?
e)
The theoretica I insights from the answers to these questions will allow us to draw conclusions and propositions
for the future relations of Flemish development co-operation with the partner countries and with emerging
economies, as weil as towards the relevance of different approaches to private sector involvement.
V. Research design and methodology
Where necessary and possible, the data collection activities are set-up in an integrated way, so that they
inform the medium and short term research activities. For example, the examination of the practices of
emerging economies regarding private sector involvement is relevant for the first medium term research (See
infra, §5.3), while the policies and discourses of emerging donors on human rights conditionalities are relevant
for the second medium term research.
A mixed method design is put forward, with both qualitative and quantitative elements, depending on the
issues that are examined. The design includes 6 case studies, involving fieldwork in 2 or 3 countries, selected in
conjunction with the commissioner of the research. HIVA's network of Southern university partners and
consultants can assist with the field work. Important phases in the research are listed bel ow:
In response to research guestions a and b:
7. Mapping what is known in the literature and idenfifying gaps
•
Designing the theoretica I framework to guide the literature review
•
Mapping international studies / reports / evaluations
•
Performing the literature review, and identifying gaps
2. Examining the explicit and implieit aid/development co-operation poliey positions/ strategies/approaches
of traditional donors (and OECD-DAC) and emerging economies over the last 5 years
,.
Analysis of discourse on aid and co-operation policies and reports in the media and in policy
documents in North (6 donors) and South (6 donors)
,.
Semi-structured interviews / web survey with reps of 6 bilateral agencies (2 smalI, 2 medium, 2
large), and OECD-DAC representatives (reps)
..
Semi-structured interviews with reps / web survey of 6 emerging economies (South-Africa,
China, India, BraziI, Turkey, Arab states or new EU member states), and G20 / BRIC
,.
Analysis of trends in policy frameworks and identification of approaches of emerging economics
to private sector involvement.
In response to research guestions c, d and e:
3. Longitudinal study of 6 information-rich cases (with different degree of co-operation between traditional
donors and emerging economies, and a review of their strategies for private sector involvement)
•
Design of the theoretica I framework on basis of partnership literature, social network concepts,
and private sector co-operation models
,.
Selection of case studies in, for example, Malawi / Mozambique / South-Africa
Possible selection criteria:
- no co-operation / information sharing / division of labour / trilateral co-operation; and/or
- different forms of trilateral co-operation by different emerging economies (China, BraziI, .. )
- involvement of subnational/regional authorities on side of Western and/or emerging
economies
•
Two field visits (2013 & 2015) for each case study, incl. social network analysis measurements
and qualitative interviews/focus groups with stakeholders (programme staff, policy makers, .. ),
observation, document study.
•
Cross-case analysis and analysis of various scenarios of donor co-operation
•
International workshop with practitioners and policy makers to share lessons learned and review
cross-case analysis
VI. Valorisation / deliverables
A range of types of outputs and communieation channels will be used, as to address the information needs of
different target groups: i.e. policy makers of the Flemish government, administration and advisory bodies
(VAlS, VIA, SAR IV,.. ) and other regions/countries, practitioners, the academic community and the general
public. Valorisation includes:
Working papers & policy papers:
1. End of year 1: Mapping of the literature and identifieation of knowledge gaps
2.
End of year 2: Mutual influences of the aid discourses and practiees of emerging economies
and Western donors
3.
4.
End of year 3: Influence of the emerging economies on the global governance of aid
End of year 4: Wh at are the effects of the presence of emerging economies on the Flemish
aid programmes in 3 countries and good practiees and lessons learned with
trilateral/multilateral co-operation
Internationally peer reviewed journal articles: end of year 2, 3 and 4.
Guest Lectures in the CADES program of K.U.Leuven and in the course Development Co-operation
(K.U.Leuven)
PhD thesis: end of year 4
Seminars and workshops
Conferences
In addition, the Policy Research Centre can contribute to organisational development , in the form of specifie
advice, review of organisational practiees, proposals for change strategies, and to institutional development,
if requested, to review, for example, poliey and legal frameworks.
VII. Timing
Year 1
Long term PhD research:
1.
Research activity 1: Mapping and identifying knowledge
Year 2
Year 3
Year4
Output: articlejreport on state of the art
2.
Research activity 2: Discourse analysis, Semi-structured
interviews and web survey
Output: articlejreport trend analysis in policy frameworks
3.
Research activity 3: Fieldworks : identifieation of cases,
preparation and analysis, and cross-case analysis
Output: individual case reports and seminars; workshops
Dissertation (academie eapaeity building)
Ad hoc continuous policy support
VIII. Bibliographical references
Benthall, J. & Bellion-Jourdan, J. (2003), The Charitable Crescent: Polities of Aid in the Muslim World, l.B.
Tauris & Co. Ltd., London
Brautigam D. (2009), The Dragon's Gift. The Real Story of China in Afriea, Oxford
Broadman H. (2007), Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economie Frontier, World Bank, Washington
Cabril L., Weinstock J. (2010), BraziI: an emerging aid player: Lessons on emerging donors, and South-South
and trilateral cooperation, ODI Briefing Paper 64, Overseas Development Institute
Collier, P. (2007), The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and Wh at Can Be Done
It, Oxford University Press, Oxford
About
Davies P. (2011), The Role of the Private Sector in the Context of Aid Effectiveness: Consultative Findings
Document, Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, OECD Development Assistance Committee
De Bruyn, T. & Develtere, Pi Danckaers, T. (ed.) (2008), Het potentieel van de diasporafilantropie.
Onderzoek naar het geefgedrag van Belgische migrantengemeenschappen, Koning Boudewijnstiehting,
Brussel
De Haan A. (2010), Will China Change International Development as We Know it?, Journalof International
Development Vol.22
Denney L., Wild L. (2011), Arab Donors: Implications for Future Development Cooperation, Poliey Brief EDC
2020, Overseas Development Institute
Develtere P. (2005), De Belgische Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, Davidsfonds, Leuven
Dreher A., Nunnenkamp P., Thiele R. (2010), Are 'New' Donors Different? Comparing the Allocation of
Bilateral Aid between Non-DAC and DAC Donor Countries, Kiel Working Papers 1601, Kiel Institute for the
World Economy
Easterly, W. (2006), The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So
111 and So Little Good, Penguin Press, New York
Mcuh
Edwards, M. (2009), 'Why 'Philanthrocapitalism' is not the answer: private initiatives and international
development' in M. Kremer, P. Van lieshout & R. Went (eds.) Doing Good or Doing Better: Development
Policies in a Globalising World, WRR-verkenning, AUP, Amsterdam
Gibson, c.c., Andersson, K., Ostrom E. & Shivakumar, S. (2005), The Samaritan's
Politica I Economy of Development Aid, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Dilemma. The
Grimm S. (2010a), Engaging with China in Africa - Trilateral Cooperation as an Option?, EDC2020, EADI
0
paper n 9, Bonn
Hakenesh C. (2011), European Good Governance Policies Meet China in Africa: Insights from Angola and
Ethiopia, EDC2020, EADI paper n° 10, Bonn.
Hancock, G. (1989), Lords of Poverty, MacMillan, London
Humphrey J. (2011), Indian Development Cooperation: Key Traits and Prospects, EDC 2020, Policy Brief,
Institute of Development Studies
King K. (2010), China's Cooperation in Education and Training with Kenya: A Different Model?, International
Journalof Educational Development 30, p.488-496
King K. (2011), A Brave New World of 'Emerging', 'Non-DAe' Donors and their Differences from Traditional
Donors, Editorial - New Actors - Old Paradigms?, NORRAG, NN44
Kinsbergen, S. Schulpen, L. (2010), De anatomie van het PI. Resultaten van vijf jaar onderzoek naar
Particuliere Initiatieven op het terrein van ontwikkelingssamenwerking, CIDIN/NCDO, Nijmegen/Amsterdam
Lancaster, C. (2007), Foreign Aid, Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics, The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago
Merz, B.J., Chen, L.c. & Geithner, P.F. (2007), Diasporas and Development, Global Equity Initiative, Asia
Center, Harvard University, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
One (2010), The Data Report 2010: Monitoring the G8 Promise to Africa, www.one.org
Sato, J. et al. (2011), Emerging Donors: from a Recipient Perspective: An Institutional Analysis of Foreign Aid
in Cambodia, World Development, doi: 1 0.1 01 6 /j.worlddev.20 11 .04.014
Sachs, J. (2005), The end of poverty - how we can make it happen in our lifetime, Penguin Books, London
Tan-Mullins M., Mohan G. & M. Power (2010), Redefining 'Aid' in the China-Africa Context, in: Development
and Change 41 (5): 857-881
Woods N. (2008), Whose Aid? Whose Influence? China, Emerging Donors and the Silent Revolution in
Development Assistance, International Affairs 84:6
Yuhua X. (2010), Chinese Perceptions of African CSOs, in: Harneit-Sievers A., S. Marks and S. Naidu (eds.),
Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa, Kampala
I. Project details
The proposed research is entitled: The role of the private sector in development co-operation. [De rol van de
private sector in ontwikkelingssamenwerking]. This research theme will occupy approximate 6,5 months, and will
be conducted at the Research Institute for labour and Society (HIVA) by a HIVA researcher, in collaboration
with the leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, and supported by a HIVA research manager. It
responds to the questions in the call 6.3.3 related to private sector strategies. Findings of the long-term
research on emerging economies will be integrated in this medium term research.
11. Problem statement
The role of the private sector has received an increasing amount of attention from academies and policy
makers. large multinational companies (e.g. Unilever Sustainable living plan - 2020) are starting-up selfregulation activities, in an attempt to improve the ecology and social sustainability of their business activities.
Along the same lines, a growing range of ecologieal and social certifieation schemes are emerging. Corporate
social responsibility (CSR) activities are also growing and powerful private foundations are creating new
dynamics in the aid sector. The Flemish policy note 2009-2014 on Foreign Policy, International
Entrepreneurship, and Development Co-operation is emphasising the importance of local entrepreneurship,
fair tra de, and international certifieation. However, international donors are stuck with many questions on how
to relate to all these developments, bearing in mind the Western sensitivity around tied aid. This pillar will
explore the international developments, modalities, and good practiees regarding the role and involvement of
the private sector in the development co-operation system. It will primarily focus on private sector strategies,
in whieh Western governments and donors can play different kinds of roles (support, facilitation, regulation,
advocacy, beneficiary,..), and will be complemented by findings of the long-term PhD research on emerging
economies.
111. Scientific state of the art
While there has been steady growth in interest in the role of the private sector 12 in development over the last
few decades, such interest has dramatieally expanded in recent years (Abbott, 2009; Brown et al., 2007;
Marx A. et aL, 2011; Reardon et al., 2009; Vorley et al., 2009). A number of leading bilateral donors have
adjusted their aid policies to carve out a distinctive role for for-profit actors (DGIS Netherlands, DFID in UK,
USAID in USA). In addition, this interest can be witnessed in the preparatory documents of OECD-DAC
towards the Fourth High level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan (Davies, 2011). However, it can be argued
that agreement on the importance of the private sector exists mainly at the paradigm level, and it sometimes
hides more than it reveals. Depending on the pending views about the role of the state vis-à-vis the private
sector in development, motivations and expectations about working with the private sector vary widely
(Abbott, 2009; Brown et alo, 2007; Marx A. et al., 2011; Marx, 2010; Reardon et al., 2009; Vorley et aL,
2009). Therefore, strategies by international donors also reflect these different views, resulting in a range of
practiees, oriented towards different types of actors. The strategies range from: lobbying for international
social regulafion of the private sector (to avoid a 'race to the bottom'); encouraging self-regulation of the
private sector through certification (e.g. Fair trade certifieation); setting-up public-private partnerships; using the
private sector as an implementer of aid programmes; using funds from the private sector for deve/opment
purposes through corpora te social responsibility or philanthropic activities; promotion of social entrepreneurship,
capacity deve/opment of the business sector in deve/oping countries; facilitating partnerships between business,
12
Private sector understood here as for-profit private sector and private foundations (not civil society actors)
NGOs and government (e.g. USAID Global Development Alliances); supporting watchdog NGOs that monitor
the practices of multilatera/ co-operation; etc.
An important dividing line between those strategies is the extent to whieh the developmental activities are
part of the core of the work of the business/social enterprise (e.g. see Vorley et al., 2009, on concepts of
inclusive business) or rather an add-on (e.g. see Ghalib et al., 2011, on corporate social responsibility
activities). Secondly, donors are faced with the important question on whieh type of actors to focus their
strategies on: governments, private sector, NGOs, or combinations of these actors. In addition, Davies (2011)
highlights the enormous diversity of the private sector (depending on the sector, type of actor and size,
domestie/non-domestie), and the need to differentiate between them when discussing the role of the private
sector in development. Further on, the many hybrid forms that exist, ranging from social enterprises to social
economy actors (Deraedt E., 2009), increase the complexity of this field.
While insights into the success factors of certain strategies, such as public-private partnerships, are manifesting
(Samii et al., 2002), many questions remain for policy makers regarding how they should develop a
comprehensive strategy that avoids the pitfalls commonly attributed to these areas. Little is known about whieh
specifie strategy, or combination of strategies is most effective in a given context, making it very diffieult for
donors to decide on a specifie scenario.
IV. Theoretical and policy research questions and goals
The main research question from the call (section 6.3.3) is the following: What are the most important
developments, modalities and best practiees regarding the role and involvement of the private sector in
international poverty reduction and the overall development practice?
Specifie research questions include:
a) What is known about the roles that the private sector can play in development? How has this evolved
over time?
b) What are the main strategies that donors have supported in their interaction with the private sector?
What works for wh om, in whieh context?
c) How can donor strategies regarding private sector involvement be made more context-specifie and
strategie?
The long-term PhD research (see 5.2) will provide material to answer the additional research question:
d)
What can be learned from how emerging economies are dealing with the private sector in
development?
From this research, policy oriented lessons will be drawn relevant to small donors.
V. Research design and methodology
The following steps can be distinguished in the organisation of the research:
1) /n-depth ana/ysis of different ro/es and incentives for private sector invo/vement
11
Broad review of state-of-art thinking on the roles and incentives
•
Analysing the material from a small donor perspective
2) Mapping the existing donor practices and reviewing the avoiIabie data on the effectiveness of different
private sector strategies from on actor-centred perspective
•
Comparative analysis of different donor strategies that focus on different actors, or groups of actors
•
Analysing which strategies might be most effective in which context, and for which type of actor
3) Identification of good practices of the introduction of innovative private sector strategies
•
On the basis of insights obtained in the previous steps and the long-term PhD research, a review is
done of the change management strategies, used by various donors, to introduce a new private sector
approach
4) Ana/ysis of good practices
•
Seminar with experts for selected donor agencies to distil good practices
•
Analytic report
VI. Valorisationfdeliverables
Working and policy papers
o End of year 3: Mapping donor practices regarding private sector involvement
o End of year 4: Good practices in private sector involvement in the aid sector.
Seminar: end of year 4
Report: end of year 4
VII. Timing
In order to allow integration and complementarity with the long-term research, the mid-tem research will be
conducted in year 3 (3,5 months) and year 4 (3 months).
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year4
Medium term research
1.
Research activity 1: The role of the private sector in
development co-operation
Output: research report, article - input in mid-term research ,
workshop
VIII. Bibliographical references
Abbott, K. and Snidal D. (2009), Strengthening International Regulation Through Transnational New
Governance: Overcoming the Orchestration Deficit", in, Vanderbilt Journalof Transnational Law, 42: 2 , p.
501-578
Brown, D. and Woods N. (2007), Making Global Self-Regulation Effective in Developing Countries. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Davies, P. (2011), The Role of the Private Sector in the Context of Aid Effectiveness: Consultative Findings
Document, Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, OECD Development Assistance Committee
Ghalib A. and Agupusi P. (2011), How socially responsible are multinational corporations? Perspectives from
the developing world, Working Paper Series, 32, University of East Anglia
Deraedt E., (2009), Social Enterprise: A Conceptual Framework, Conceptual Discussion Paper for the ILO
Social Enterprise Development Targeting Unemployed Youth in South Africa (SETYSA) project,
HIVAjK.U.Leuven
Heap S. (2000), NGOs Engaging with Business - A World of Difference and a Difference to the World,
INTRAC publications, Oxford
Marx, A. (2011) Global Governance and the Certification Revolution, in D. Levi-Faur (ed.) Handbook of the
Polities of Regu/ation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Marx, A. & D. Cuypers (2010) 'Forest Certification as aGIobal Environmental Governance TooI. What is the
Macro-impact of the Forest Stewardship Council', in, Regu/ation and Governance, 4, 4, pp. 408-434
Marx, A. (2010) 'De opkomst en Proliferatie van Sociale en Ecologische Labels. Types, trends en uitdagingen
in Private Sociale Regulering', in, Ethische Perspectieven. September, pp. 264-278
Marx, A. (2008) 'Limits to non-state market regulation: A qualitative comparative analysis of the international
sport footwear industry and the Fair Labor Association', in, Regu/ation and Governance, 2, 2, pp. 253-273
Marx, A., D'Hollander
D., Hansen
R.,
Sterkx S., van
Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, PULSE working paper, HIVAjK.U.Leuven
Wersch,
P.,
Ondernemingen
en
Reardon T., Barrett C. B.,Berdegue J. A., Swinnen J. F. M. (2009) Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small
Farmers in Developing Countries, World Development, Vol 37, Issue 11
Samii, R., Van Wassenhovem L., Bhattacharya S. (2002), An Innovative Public Private Partnership: New
Approach to Development, World Development, 30, Vol 6, p. 991-2008
Vorley B., Ferris S., SevilIe D., Lundy M. (2009), Linking worlds: New Business Models for Sustainable Trading
Relations between Smallholders and Formalized Markets, New Business Models for Sustainable Trading
Relations-project, Rainforest Alliance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
I. Project details
Supervisors:
Dr. Axel Marx (GGS)
Dr. Huib Huyse (HIVA)
Prof. dr. Jan Wouters (GGS)
Prof. dr. Cedrie Ryngaert (GGS)
This medium term research (1 0 months) will be conducted at the Centre for Global Governance Studies by a
junior researcher supported by a GGS research manager, in collaboration with the Research Institute for
Work and Society (HIVA). It responds to the questions in the call 6.3.3 related human rights.
11. Problem Statement
Human rights are often seen as objectives in their own right as weil as an instrument in achieving development
goals. The former is a result of the fact that human rights are embedded in an international legal framework
whieh obliges signatory states to promote and protect human rights, or in a broader development agenda
whieh supports the development of human rights (see: UN Millennium Development Goals). With regard to the
latter, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2005 recognised the importance human rights can make to
aid effectiveness via political change such as strengthen the rule of law through improving access to justiee. As
aresuit several donor countries integrate the promotion of human rights in their development poliey. The focus
can be either on specifie rights such as children's rights, women's rights or rights of minorities or governance
interventions to promote the protection of rights (access to justiee).
The Flemish regulator also recognises this importance. In the 2007 Flemish Framework Decree on development
co-operation, respect for human rights is named as a building block of good governance. 13 Furthermore, this
Parliamentarian Act establishes alegal framework to include a human rights agenda in the poliey dialogues
with partner countries (Art. 4, 3°). It was equally put forward in the 2009-2014 policy document on Foreign
Policy, International Entrepreneurship and Development Co-operation that a greater respect for human rights
contributes to a democratie, peaceful and secure international community.14 For this reason, the Flemish
government will continue to strive for the integration of a human rights agenda in the activities it undertakes in
the course of his international policy. Yet, notwithstanding these references, the integration of a comprehensive
human rights policy as a transversal theme in the Flemish International Relations can be enhanced.
In 2006 the OECD published a first comprehensive assessment of Integrating Human Rights into Development.
In this report the OECD maps the initiatives and challenges for integrating human rights into development from
local projects to global initiatives. The report shows that the integration of human rights in development takes
place in various forms. The most common form of integration can be observed in specifie projects, directly
targeted at the realisation of specifie rights, specific groups or in support of specifie human rights
organisations. A more strategie approach can be found in the design of country programs. Other approaches
include mainstreaming human rights into all sectors of aid intervention (health, education) or including human
rights in a politieal dialogue between donors and developing countries. The report also shows that some
agencies are moving to human rights based approaches. This imp lies intern a I institutional changes are afoot.
Notwithstanding these efforts and as indicated supra in the description of the proposed PhD research of Pillar
4, the inclusion of a human rights agenda in development co-operation is perceived to be both sensitive and
crucial to western donors. International research shows that the inclusion of human rights in development poliey
is not straightforward. Erie Neumayer (2003) for example analysed the role of human rights in aid allocation
of 21 donor countries with panel data ranging from 1985 to 1997 and found that most donors fail to
promote human rights in a consistent manner and of ten give more aid to countries with a poor record on either
13 Art. 2, 20°, VLAAMS PARLEMENT, Kaderdecreet inzake ontwikkelingssamenwerking [Framework Decree on deve/opment cooperation], 22 June 2007, B.S. 14 August 2007. The degree of good governance in the partner country is a criterion in
selecting the partner and failure to respect this can lead to the severance of co-operation. (Art. 7, 2 ° and 8, 3 0).
14 K. PEETERS, Beleidsnota 2009-2014. Buitenlands Beleid, Internationaal Ondernemen en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking [Policy
document 2009-2014. Foreign Policy, International Entrepreneurship and Deve/opment Co-operation], 2009, p. 24.
civiljpolitical or personal integrity rights. He found no differences between countries considered front-runners
on this issue (Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) and the other donors. He concluded
that contrary to their verbal commitment, donor countries do not consistently reward respect for human rights
in their foreign aid allocation.
As aresuit, many challenges remain, as is also emphasised in the OECD study.
m. Objectives
This short project aims:
1.
To identify and map current strategies and practices of integrating human rights in development
policy of a selected number of donor countries which are generally considered to be "model" donor
countries, both on the level of the country jregion as weil as on the level of specific projects.
2.
To assess the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of these strategies and practices
(SWOT analysis)
3.
To compare the different strategies and approaches of donor countries.
4.
Draw lessons from
recommendations.
these
experiences
for
the
Flemish
Government
and
formulate
policy
IV. Case Selection: Donor Counfries and Projects
Since the aim is to map different strategies, several case studies of donor countries and projects within these
countries will be conducted. The selection of more cases increases the potential diversity of strategies and
practices which will allow a more comprehensive comparative assessment, as weil as to base policy
recommendations on a broader set of experiences. The assessment of the OECD, which focuses on major
donors, shows indeed that there is already quite some variation in how countries and projects deal with the
human rights-development nexus. The project will focus on 5 donor countries. Their activities in Partner
countries of the Flemish Government (Malawi, Mozambique and South-Africa) will be a primary research
interest. Within each country 2 specific projects which aim to further integrate human rights in development
activities will be further analysed. As aresuit 1 0 project cases will be included in the analysis. The selection
of cases, both countries and projects, will be based on the literature review and discussed with the steering
committee.
V. Research
The project will first start with a literature review. This review can build on the report of the OECD and
concentrate on the publications of. the last 5 years. The purpose of the literature review is to give an overview
of strategies and practices for integrating human rights in development and identify interesting case studies
for further research.
Subsequently, the case studies will be prepared. Each country case study will be based on study visits,
interviews and an analysis of primary and secondary sources. Each project case study will be based on
telephone interviews and an analysis of primary and secondary sources. For each country a separate case
study report will be prepared focusing on the following topics:
•
policy development with regard to human rights
•
institutional capacity on human rights
•
tools used for integrating human rights in development co-operation
•
mainstreaming human rights with other development issues
•
dialogues on human rights
•
projects which aim to integrate human rights in development co-operation (overview of projects with
objectives and work plan)
•
evaluation of policy and projects (SWOT)
•
challenges
Each country case study report will also consist of two separate project case study reports with a more
comprehensive description of the projects and an assessment.
In a third phase, the cases will be compared to identify similarities and differences.
Finallyon the basis of the analysis poliey recommendations will be formulated. Before finalising the policy
recommendations a roundtable with relevant actors from the steering group and invited experts will be
organised to discuss the report and recommendations.
Throughout the researcher, the scholar involved will work in close co-operation with the Pillar 4 PhD
researcher. The research also has close ties with the Pillar 1, since legal approaches towards human rights law
will be indispensable. For this reason, a collaboration framework will be set up with researchers involved in
themes of multi-Ievel governance.
VI. Timing
The project will run for 1 5 months, with a FTE of 1 0 months since the planning of the case studies will imply
time lags between setting up and execution. A 2 week time lag per case study is estimated.
2
Literature Review +
Preparing Case Studies
Case Study 1: Country 1
Case Study 2: Country 1
Case Study 3: Country 1
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Case Study 4: Country 1
Case study 5: Country 1
Comparative Analysis
Policy Recommendations
+
Roundtable
VII. Valorisation / Deliverables
The expected results/ deliverables:
•
1 report including a literature review, 5 country case studies and 10 project case studies.
•
Policy recommendations in the form of a policy brief
•
Roundtable
+ roundtable
report
VIII. Bibliographical references
Darrow, M. & Arbour, L., "The pillar of glass: human rights in the development operations of the United
Nations", American Journalof International Law, Vol. 103 (2009), pp. 446-501
Erbeznik, K., "Money can't buy you law: The effects of foreign aid on the rule of law in developing countries",
Indiana Journalof Global Legal Studies, Vol. 18 (2011), pp. 873-900.
lotz, Ch., "International Norms in Statebuilding: Finding a Pragmatic Approach", Global Governance, Vol. 16,
Issue 2 (2010), pp. 219-236
Martin, J. P., "Development and Rights Revisited: lessons from Africa", Sur - International Journaion Human
Rights, Vol. 4 (2006), pp. 91-102.
Mclnerney-lankford, S., "Human Rights and Development: Some Institutional Perspectives", Netherlands
Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 25, Issue 3 (2007), pp. 459-504.
Neumayer, E. (2003) Do Human Rights Matter in Bilateral Aid Allocation? A Quantitative Analysis of 21 Donor
Countries, in, Social Science Quarterly, 84, 3, pp. 650-666.
Nwobike, Ch., "Beyond Conditionally: Human Rights in EU Development Partnership with Developing
Countries", Sri Lanka Journalof International Law, Vol. 19, Issue 2 (2007), pp. 387-406.
Von Engelhardt, M., "Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights at 2010 - An Account of the
Millennium Summit Outcome", Goettingen Journalof International Law, Vol. 2, Issue 3 (2010), pp. 1129-1146
United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and the Millennium
Development Goals in Practice : A review of country strategies and reporting, 2010, pp. 40, available at
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR MDGs in practice EN.pdf
OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, DAC Action-Oriented Policy Paper on Human Rights and
Development (2007), available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/500/39350V4.pdf
OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, The Development Dimension: Integrating Human Rights into
Development:
Donor
Approaches,
Experiences
and
Challenges
(2006),
available
at
http://www.oecd.org/document/24/0.3746.en264934565370456561111.00.html
DEEL 3: BEGROTING
HOOFDSTUK 1 IALGEMENE TOELICHTING
Deze bijlage geeft een gedetailleerd overzicht van de geraamde inkomsten en uitgaven, de belangrijkste
taken en opdrachten en een overzicht van de opdeling tussen de deelnemers aan het consortium.
Het indicatief jaarbudget van het Steunpunt bedraagt 500.000 euro en wordt gefinancierd door de Vlaamse
overheid. De begroting van het Steunpunt gaat uit van een nominale nulgroei.
1.2.1. Centrale beheerskosten en overdrachten naar het volgende iaar
De overhead voor centrale beheerskosten en algemene exploitatiekosten bedraagt 1 0%. Het Steunpunt
voorziet dat een reserve wordt opgebouwd waarin overschotten worden overgedragen naar het volgende
jaar. De voorziene kosten zijn immers niet voor elk jaar gelijk. Dit wordt veroorzaakt door verschillen in
reiskosten voor elk van de jaren, en door het feit dat onderzoekers in het laatste jaar van een bursaalstatuut,
dat immers slechts vier jaar kan worden aangehouden, naar het budgettair zwaardere statuut van een
wetenschappelijk medewerker moeten omschakelen. De voorziene overdracht bedraagt telkens maximum vijf
procent van het subsidiebedrag en blijft aldus ruimschoots binnen de in het besluit uitgestippelde krijtlijnen.
1.2.2. Personeels-, werkings- en uitbestedingskosten
Het Steunpunt begroot drie kostenposten. De personeelskost (nader toegelicht in hoofdstuk 2) springt daarbij
in het oog. Het consortium heeft er voor gekozen te investeren in personeel, in de eerste plaats de
doctoraatsbursalen die zowel in lange als korte-termijnopdrachten zullen worden ingezet (zie supra, de
algemene 70/30 verdeling). Dit heeft tot gevolg dat de geplande uitgaven voor ad hoc opdrachten beperkt
blijven. Additionele personeelskosten verbonden aan korte termijnopdrachten zullen voornamelijk door de
door het resterende Steunpunt budget van verschillende partnerinstellingen gedragen worden. Dit betreft
personeelskosten van het verbonden ZAP-personeel, doch is er in pijler 1 en 2 een klein bedrag voorzien om
personeelskosten verbonden aan ad hoc opdrachten te dekken. Werkingskosten worden gezien als de
verantwoordelijkheid van de verschillende pijlers en worden begroot volgens behoeften van de onderzoeken.
Hierdoor worden de centrale (indirecte) kosten beperkt tot kosten voor een gezamenlijke internationale
conferentie in jaar vier. Zoals nader zal worden toegelicht, voorziet het Steunpunt niet in de vergoeding van
externen in het algemeen en van partnerinstellingen in het bijzonder. De uitbestedingskosten zijn daardoor
zeer beperkt en worden gedragen door de onderzoeksgroepen.
!:r~I~tMJMWHi.JHHfiJJJJMMl1HHJ::::::::::t:tttt:::Httf@i.:IH~:.I~M:~:~:~:@f:jf'M••O;IHfNIt:H"liîilmilInIIti1t.lnlml;gilBtlillöd
!.i1t.fitHJ1:tttttttfiHJM::H:::::~::::ttttttHJJ::@:::~:::~:::H:::~:::~::::::ttt:~~::::::~~::~::::::I::I~:~:J~~:m~~:::~::~@@Jjiîl~,i~1:.Mt:~t::~::@:::::@1ïl.j"It.l11;.:tttl:ttltttiiiIIH:1i1tMt;ilIII111li_:Olil
Het Steunpunt zal vanuit boekhoudkundig oogpunt een aparte entiteit vormen. Zowel het Steunpunt als de
verschillende deelnemende entiteiten zullen daartoe een afzonderlijke boekhouding voeren. De nodige
financiële documenten worden door de centrale universitaire diensten gegenereerd (cf. 10% overhead).
Vermits de K.U.Leuven de coördinerende instelling zal optreden staat de financiële dienst van de Universiteit
in voor de projectboekhouding en voor verdeling van de ter beschikking gesteld middelen tussen de
universiteiten en binnen de K.U.Leuven tussen de deelnemende entiteiten (Cf. samenwerkingsovereenkomst).
De K.U.Leuven alloceert de personeelsbudgetten respectievelijk naar GGS-KUL (Pijler 1), Universiteit
Antwerpen (Pijler 2), MSI-KUL en CES-KUL (Pijler 3) en GGS-KUL en HIVA-KUL (Pijler 4). Voor het
werkingsbudget geldt een verschillende regeling waarbij de K.U.Leuven budgetten overmaakt aan GGS-KUL
(Pijler 1), Universiteit Antwerpen (Pijler 2), VLGMS en CIS-HUB (Pijler 3) en GGS-KUL en HIVA-KUL (Pijler 4).
De bursaaltrajecten voor de MSI-VLGMS projecten van pijler 3 (PhD Tracks 5 en 6, Cf. Chapter 4, §4.2. en
4.3.) zullen immers uitgevoerd worden door een samenwerkingsverband van MSI en VLGMS. De bursalen
worden aangesteld via MSI maar hebben daarnaast een aanstelling bij VLGMS. VLGMS is verantwoordelijk
voor de office space en de selectie, de opvolging gebeurt gezamenlijk. Concreet betekent dit dat de
personeelsbudgetten worden gealloceerd naar MSI-KUL.Voor het werkingsbudget geldt dit niet, dit gaat
rechtstreeks naar VLGMS.
HOOFDSTUK
21 PERSONEELSKOSTEN
Voor de personeelskosten wordt uitgegaan van:
1. Acht doctoraatsbursalen voor de lange termijn (PhD) onderzoeken in de vier pijlers in het statuut van
wetenschappelijk medewerker (BAP) met een beperkte aanstellingsduur;
In Pijler 3 zal er één bursaal slechts gedeeltelijk (24 maanden, gespreid over drie jaar) gefinancierd worden
door het Steunpunt.
In Pijler 4 zal een bursaal zal worden aangesteld met ruime onderzoekservaring binnen het onderzoeksteam
van het HIVA, wat de meerkost tegenover de andere zeven doctoraatsbursalen (pijlers 1, 2, 3) verklaart.
2. Twee wetenschappelijk medewerkers voor de middellange termijnonderzoeken in pijler 4;
Deze onderzoekers worden respectievelijk voor 6,5 (Role of the Private Sector) en 10 maanden (Integrating
Human Rights into Development) aangesteld.
3.
Vier wetenschappelijk medewerkers voor ad hoc vragen in pijler 1, 2 en 4;
4.
Een manager - coördinator op post-doctoraal niveau, aangeworven voor 25%;
5.
Een administratieve kracht die voor 40% wordt aangeworven.
2.3.1. Tabel
2.3.2. Toelichting
Bovenstaande tabel geeft de benodigde personeelsbezetting weer voor het Steunpunt, uitgedrukt in
persoonsmaanden. Alle doctoraatsbursalen werken voltijds aan hun opdracht bij het Steunpunt. Enkel de
personeelsinzet gefinancierd door het Steunpunt is opgenomen in de tabel, wat het verschil in
persoonsmaanden (24 maanden) voor Track 1 in Pijler 3 verklaart. De bursaal die onderzoek zal verrichten
naar "Internationalisation of service industries" wordt slechts gedeeltelijk (50 %, gespreid over drie jaar)
gefinancierd door het Steunpunt.
Ook werd rekening gehouden met het managen van de coördinatie en administratieve ondersteuning (8
maanden). De secretariële ondersteuning onder de vorm van een deeltijdse medewerker is onontbeerlijk voor
zowel valorisatieactiviteiten, de uitgave van eigen publicaties en het aanbieden van een kwalitatieve en
frequent geactualiseerde website, als voor de integrale administratieve ondersteuning van het Steunpunt. De
administratieve medewerker onderhoudt ook de nodige contacten met de centrale universitaire diensten met
het oog op de financiële rapportering aan de Vlaamse overheid.
HOOFDSTUK
31 WERKINGSKOSTEN
Bij de werkingskosten wordt uitgegaan van een gedecentraliseerde verdeling, die sterk de behoeftes van de
verschillende onderzoeken volgt. De kosten voor uitrusting blijven, op de initiële aankoop van
computerhardware door elke pijler na, beperkt. Wel werden de lopende werkingskosten uitdrukkelijk
begroot. Binnen elke pijler zal een documentatie budget voorhanden zijn en voor de specifieke onderzoeken
van pijler 4 werden ook vertaalkosten begroot. Boeken en tijdschriften zullen enkel worden aangekocht indien
zij specifiek voor het Steunpunt kunnen worden verantwoord. Binnen pijler 3 gaat een aanzienlijk deel van het
budget naar het dragen van kosten eigen aan het gebruik en opzetten databanken, wat noodzakelijk is voor
de verschillende onderzoeken binnen deze pijler. Voor het overige wordt een beroep gedaan op het reeds
bij de verschillende participerende instellingen voorhanden zijnde bronnenmateriaal. Daarnaast zijn ook
kosten voorzien voor de organisatie van colloquia, studiedagen en seminaries. Deze nemen toe tegen het
einde van het onderzoek, omdat net in deze periode ook de valorisatie-activiteiten meer intens zullen worden
georganiseerd. De grote, indirecte werkingskost van het Steunpunt in jaar vier werd begroot om de
organisatie van een grote interdisciplinaire en internationale conferentie mogelijk te maken.
HOOFDSTUK
41 KOSTEN
VOOR ONDERAANNEMING
Zoals reeds werd gesteld, voorziet het Steunpunt niet in de vergoeding van externen in het algemeen en van
partnerinstellingen in het bijzonder. Het consortium gaat ervan uit dat bij samenwerkingsactiviteiten de
partnerinstelling en het Steunpunt elk hun eigen kosten dragen. Tijdelijke en externe onderzoekers zullen
slechts in beperkte mate worden aangesteld, indien noodzakelijk omwille van hun specifieke expertise. Zo dit
niet mogelijk is (bijvoorbeeld vanwege de grote schaal van een internationale conferentie) dan zal worden
gezocht naar externe financiering.