TransCrisis lessons: Summary of key research findings and policy recommendations
Creators: name: Lodge, Martin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: transboundary crisis
European Union
financial crisis
crisis management
political leadership
migration crisis
backsliding
governance

description: The financial crisis is widely said to have exposed shortcomings in the EU’s capacities to address<br>
transboundary threats. National and EU regulatory regimes were left exposed, member states<br>
engaged in ill-coordinated actions, and the eventual responses raised questions about the<br>
redistributional consequences of European integration. Subsequently, the refugee crisis also<br>
highlighted shortcomings in transboundary crisis management, especially as member state<br>
positions diverged radically and solidarity was in short supply.<br>
One traditional part of the EU’s raison d’être has been the coordination of member states in the face<br>
of cross-boundary challenges (see Boin and Lodge 2015: 19). It might even be said that crises and<br>
the perception of member state ‘boundary loss’ have been central drivers in encouraging the<br>
growing importance of European governance. However, since the financial crisis, there are<br>
growing questions whether the EU is well-equipped to deal with the kind of major societal<br>
challenges that transboundary crises represent. Indeed, the EU has been criticised for being the<br>
source of rather than the solution to transboundary crises.<br>
TransCrisis research was motivated by the interest in exploring the presence and limits of<br>
transboundary crisis capacities across EU institutions and across EU-member state relations.<br>
TransCrisis research occurred at a time of growing perception of vulnerability and uncertainty,<br>
whether it was due to global crises (the financial and refugee crises), geopolitical changes or an<br>
increasing perception that the traditional tools of managing crises had become themselves<br>
potential sources of crisis. This ‘new normal’ has also been characterised by a distinct political<br>
context, namely one of renationalised electoral politics, highly dispersed administrative systems<br>
and tensions between addressing short- and long-term policy goals. In particular, TransCrisis<br>
research was guided by one overarching question:<br>
How can political leaders in the EU multi-level governance system exercise legitimate and effective crisis<br>
leadership in the face of transboundary threats?<br>
TransCrisis research understood leadership on the one hand in terms of leadership exercised by<br>
individual actors (e.g., senior politicians or senior officials in key institutions). On the other hand,<br>
TransCrisis studied leadership in the context of organisations (e.g., the role of coordination to<br>
enable organisations to lead).<br>
The document summarises the research findings under a set of questions in order to focus<br>
attention on central underlying questions that informed TransCrisis research. Its intention is to<br>
provide succinct research briefings that concentrate on key findings. The answers highlight the<br>
range of research that was conducted across the different TransCrisis themes and work packages.<br>
They also inform the development of wider discussions about the future of EU governance in<br>
general, and the governance of transboundary crises in particular.