SepaRope is the first empirically-grounded and comparative project rethinking the theory and practices of Separation of powers in present-day European Union. It addresses the very core of ‘democratic governance in a turbulent age’ and connects to all themes of the call. Separation of powers, the classic model of decision-making, entrusts different state functions to different branches (legislative, executive, judiciary) and serves the double purpose of ensuring collective will-formation and control of those in power. The polyarchic multilevel nature of the EU is not easily reconciled with the separation-of-powers-model, either at EU or national level. SepaRope demonstrates in combined horizontal and vertical inquiries how recent economic and political developments affect the EU’s institutional framework and the anchoring of EU decision-making in national legitimacy. It combines conceptual constitutional analysis with empirical research in three fields (Economic and Monetary Union, migration, trade), in which EU decision-making is controversial, rights-sensitive and illustrative of recent power shifts. Working package 1 develops a joint conceptual framework for identifying and examining will-formation and control structures. WP2-4 conduct autonomous but interlinked empirical and legal-analytical studies of the three branches in the three policy fields, respectively, exposing ever-increasing ‘grey areas’ of diffuse, ring-fenced, and informalised public power. WP2-4 demonstrate the three branches’ mutually constitutive nature and contingency of power shifts. WP5 makes concrete innovative and practically viable suggestions to EU and national institutional actors on how will-formation and control structures can be strengthened in the polyarchic multilevel EU. Stakeholders are involved as interviewees and participants.

SepaRope is the first empirically-grounded and comparative project rethinking the theory and practices of Separation of powers in present-day European Union. It addresses the very core of ‘democratic governance in a turbulent age’ and connects to all themes of the call. Separation of powers, the classic model of decision-making, entrusts different state functions to different branches (legislative, executive, judiciary) and serves the double purpose of ensuring collective will-formation and control of those in power. The polyarchic multilevel nature of the EU is not easily reconciled with the separation-of-powers-model, either at EU or national level. SepaRope demonstrates in combined horizontal and vertical inquiries how recent economic and political developments affect the EU’s institutional framework and the anchoring of EU decision-making in national legitimacy. It combines conceptual constitutional analysis with empirical research in three fields (Economic and Monetary Union, migration, trade), in which EU decision-making is controversial, rights-sensitive and illustrative of recent power shifts. Working package 1 develops a joint conceptual framework for identifying and examining will-formation and control structures. WP2-4 conduct autonomous but interlinked empirical and legal-analytical studies of the three branches in the three policy fields, respectively, exposing ever-increasing ‘grey areas’ of diffuse, ring-fenced, and informalised public power. WP2-4 demonstrate the three branches’ mutually constitutive nature and contingency of power shifts. WP5 makes concrete innovative and practically viable suggestions to EU and national institutional actors on how will-formation and control structures can be strengthened in the polyarchic multilevel EU. Stakeholders are involved as interviewees and participants.

Cutting across the five research themes of this Call, HEALTHDOX aims to explore future trajectories of European health politics and policies through an investigation of the impact of recent health reforms on health inequalities, health expenditures, and public attitudes towards both the health system and the welfare state. At its broadest level, the project poses the question of whether there is a paradox of health state futures. Europeanization and globalization processes may be putting National Health Service types of health systems under increasing pressure to converge to the Continental health insurance model. But, paradoxically, National Health Services may be the type of health system best suited both to cope with the rising health costs associated with population aging, and to regenerate public support for the welfare state amongst increasingly diverse populations. This project will investigate health policy developments from 1990 to the present in Estonia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. The impact of these policy changes will be analysed using quantitative data found in both national and international sources. Our team is comprised of qualitative and quantitative researchers from the fields of Political Science and Sociology, whose combined expertise includes health politics, health policy, demography, migration, comparative and European politics, and the politics and sociology of the welfare state. The comparative and transnational design of the project will allow us to provide insights into health inequalities, the meaning of the welfare state for individuals, and the future politics of the welfare state, as well as to provide health policy-makers with important feedback on their policies.

Migration from Central and Eastern-European (CEE) countries has evolved into one of the main migration flows within Europe. CEE migrants are EU citizens and their mobility can be seen as a form of socio-economic participation on the European labour market. This project raises the question what the consequences are of this type of mobility for urban cohesion and urban policies. Latest studies show that migration patterns of CEE migrants are diversifying beyond seasonal labour migration to more permanent forms of migration. This has raised questions concerning how to deal with primarily urban social consequences of temporary and more permanent forms of CEE migration. The aim of this project is to enhance our theoretical and practical understanding of how urban regions can cope with the implications of CEE migration. This involves (1) an identification of types of migration from CEE countries, (2) an analysis of social implications of these types of migration for the receiving urban regions (3) an analysis of governance approaches by local governments in the receiving urban regions to these social implications. The project focuses on urban regions in Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey and includes the perspective of the CEE countries themselves as well.

Cutting across the five research themes of this Call, HEALTHDOX aims to explore future trajectories of European health politics and policies through an investigation of the impact of recent health reforms on health inequalities, health expenditures, and public attitudes towards both the health system and the welfare state. At its broadest level, the project poses the question of whether there is a paradox of health state futures. Europeanization and globalization processes may be putting National Health Service types of health systems under increasing pres-sure to converge to the Continental health insurance model. But, para-doxically, National Health Services may be the type of health system best suited both to cope with the rising health costs associated with population aging, and to regenerate public support for the welfare state amongst increasingly diverse populations. This project will investigate health policy developments from 1990 to the present in Estonia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. The impact of these policy changes will be analysed using quantitative data found in both national and international sources. Our team is comprised of qualitative and quantitative researchers from the fields of Political Science and Sociology, whose combined expertise in-cludes health politics, health policy, demography, migration, compara-tive and European politics, and the politics and sociology of the welfare state. The comparative and transnational design of the project will al-low us to provide insights into health inequalities, the meaning of the welfare state for individuals, and the future politics of the welfare state, as well as to provide health policy-makers with important feedback on their policies.