ABSTRACT

The Political Economy of Noncompliance explains why states fail to comply with international law.

Over the last sixty years, states have signed treaties, established international courts and other supranational institutions to achieve the benefits of international cooperation. Nowhere has this been more successful than in the European Union. European integration has produced one of the most intensely legalized regimes in the world. Yet, even in the European Union, noncompliance of states often occurs. This book explores the sources of and reasons for noncompliance, and assesses why noncompliance varies across the Member States and over time by looking at the domestic politics of complying with international law. The author uses examples from the history of economic integration in the EU in three countries and two different policy areas to demonstrate these mechanisms at work.

The Political Economy of Noncompliance will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, international relations and political economy.

chapter |15 pages

Introduction

chapter |32 pages

A theory of noncompliance

chapter |29 pages

Noncompliance and national tradition

Enforcing the free movement of goods in Germany and France

chapter |27 pages

Stopping state rescues

Complying with EU state aid policy in Germany and the United Kingdom

chapter |17 pages

Conclusion