Seminar Regional Integration in the EU and mercosur The influence of business actors

We will try to analyse the relative influence of large industries and their associations on the European project. Also we can elaborate in detail, how cooperatives and cooperative associations as well as other actors of Social and Solidarity Economy are trying in the EU, to influence the regional integration systems. Finally we will look for an overview over the impacts, which cooperatives, their associations (consortia) and other actors of social and solidarity economy have in selected regions. One critical question is, how these on one hand have an influence on the regional integration project of the EU? Another critical question is, where there are possibilities, difficulties and limits of the cooperative work? (1) Introduction to the political economy of business actors in the EU (2) How large European business actors have participated in the EU agenda: from the origin of the regional integration project (beginning in 1952 with steel and coal) to the European Constitutional Treaty. (3) How large European business actors impact on the EU agenda: the single market, the Euro, the enlargement. (4) How large European business actors can define the EU agenda: the principles of “governance” and “co decision”. (5) How are cooperatives as entrepreneurial actors organised at the European level (6) How are other solidarity economy entrepreneurial actors organised at the European level (7) Representation of the solidarity economy within the EU institutions: cooperative unit at DG Enterprise, European Parliament intergroup for the social economy, European Economic and Social Committee's group 3 (8) How cooperatives try to impact on the EU institutions: communication on cooperatives, SCE (the European Cooperative Statute) (9) How cooperatives try to impact on the EU institutions: international accounting standards (10) How cooperatives and other solidarity economy actors try to impact on the EU institutions: services of general interest (11) Conclusions on the potential impact of the solidarity economy actors on the EU institutions (12) (13) Impact of the cooperative entrepreneurial actors on an EU region: the case of the Mondragon group and the Basque autonomous region of Spain (14) (15) Impact of the cooperative entrepreneurial actors on an EU region: the case of consortia in Northern Italy ( Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy). FB 05 Gesellschaftswissenschaften Uni Kassel WS 2007/2008 Soziologie Prof. Dr. Sanchez Bajo Claudia