A new format for regional cooperation within the EU was created from 2007 onwards with the European macro-regions and associated EU strategies. The concept offers useful approaches to closer regional cooperation and integration. However, to date macro-regional cooperation has offered only limited added value in the regional and European context, and there is an absence of substantive results. It is nevertheless worth-while reflecting on the extent to which effective macro-regional cooperation can contribute to strengthening European integration at the regional level. One of the advantages of the format is its participatory approach, which might help successfully integrate regional, local and civil-society structures more closely in shaping regional and European integration.
Duties and taxes on cars are an important source of revenue for European governments and the tax systems are also designed with the goal of achieving environmental policy objectives. A systematic and quantitative comparison of passenger car taxation in 30 European countries shows significant differences among them. However, in almost every country, the use of vehicles with diesel engines is taxed less than that of cars with gasoline engines, and the share of fixed charges (on acquisition, registration, and ownership) is higher than the share of use-related levies. Germany has shifted its position with regard to both types of tax and now ranks low in terms of the overall tax burden. However, the German motor vehicle tax is neither fiscally profitable nor does it have the desired effect. Energy tax rates have remained the same since 2003 and its real value has declined by a fifth in real terms. With this in mind, both types of taxes are in need of reform and increasing the diesel tax should be a priority.
Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; Artykuł analizuje wpływ kwestii bezpieczeństwa na rolę współpracy na rzecz rozwoju. Od końca zimnej wojny, rosnącej wielkości oficjalnej pomocy rozwojowej (ODA) towarzyszył wzrost znaczenia interesów bezpieczeństwa państw-dawców pomocy. Współpraca rozwojowa w co raz większym stopniu staje się instrumentem pozwalającym na wyeliminowanie ponadgranicznych źródeł zagrożeń dla bezpieczeństwa międzynarodowego. Na tle teoretycznych rozważań i interpretacji teorii sekurytyzacji, wypracowanej przez badaczy tzw. szkoły kopenhaskiej, analizie poddano wybrane aspekty dyskursu wokół współczesnego spojrzenia na rolę pomocy rozwojowej w konstruowaniu bezpieczeństwa. ; The article analyses the impact of security issues on the role of cooperation for development. Since the end of the Cold War, the growing size of official development assistance (ODA) has been accompanied by an increase in the security interests of donor countries. Development cooperation is increasingly becoming an instrument to eliminate cross-border sources of threats to international security. Against the background of theoretical considerations and interpretations of the theory of securitization, developed by researchers of the so-called The Copenhagen School, the selected aspects of discourse were analysed around a modern look at the role of development assistance in constructing security.
Duties and taxes on cars are an important source of revenue for European governments and the tax systems are also designed with the goal of achieving environmental policy objectives. A systematic and quantitative comparison of passenger car taxation in 30 European countries shows significant differences among them. However, in almost every country, the use of vehicles with diesel engines is taxed less than that of cars with gasoline engines, and the share of fixed charges (on acquisition, registration, and ownership) is higher than the share of use-related levies. Germany has shifted its position with regard to both types of tax and now ranks low in terms of the overall tax burden. However, the German motor vehicle tax is neither fiscally profitable nor does it have the desired effect. Energy tax rates have remained the same since 2003 and its real value has declined by a fifth in real terms. With this in mind, both types of taxes are in need of reform and increasing the diesel tax should be a priority.
The paper compares several selected aspects of political culture in the US and in the EU, and presents the fundamental ideas that have led to the emergence of these two federal political bodies, as according to Montesquieu's typology, both the EU and the US are federal republics. The similarities and differences become even more apparent when comparing the Constitution of the United States and the Lisbon Treaty, which is to constitute the constitutional foundation of the European Union. Such a comparison reveals that the EU and the US are divided by a dialectical difference. This means that these two political constructs apply diametrically opposite solutions to essentially similar political problems. Theoreticians continue to discuss which model of federal republic is better, and whether the EU will have to adopt American solutions, or whether the US will europeanize itself. The author attempts to present the arguments of both sides in this discussion. In his opinion, though, either the EU will experience a breakthrough comparable to the Philadelphia Convention, or will face ultimate disintegration. ; The paper compares several selected aspects of political culture in the US and in the EU, and presents the fundamental ideas that have led to the emergence of these two federal political bodies, as according to Montesquieu's typology, both the EU and the US are federal republics. The similarities and differences become even more apparent when comparing the Constitution of the United States and the Lisbon Treaty, which is to constitute the constitutional foundation of the European Union. Such a comparison reveals that the EU and the US are divided by a dialectical difference. This means that these two political constructs apply diametrically opposite solutions to essentially similar political problems. Theoreticians continue to discuss which model of federal republic is better, and whether the EU will have to adopt American solutions, or whether the US will europeanize itself. The author attempts to present the arguments of both sides in this discussion. In his opinion, though, either the EU will experience a breakthrough comparable to the Philadelphia Convention, or will face ultimate disintegration.
In a context of severe plant genetic diversity erosion, the regulatory framework of the European Union is perceived as a limiting factor for practices aiming to conserve cultivated biodiversity. To create more supportive frameworks, some EU member states liberalized seed trade and landraces cultivation at national or regional level. For this paper, a case study of the 2015 cereal and vegetable seed legislation reform in Denmark has been carried out. Interviews with stakeholders of the seed system, with farmers and project leaders impacted by this change and with key informant on the regulation, from NGOs and public authorities, have been done to collect. Inductive and deductive analysis methods enabled the themes and opinions of the interviewee to be extracted. Dialogue and lobby at decentralized scale appeared to have helped the implementation of the reform, thanks to the inclusion of the narrative for cultivated biodiversity conservation in the decision system. The reform created supportive framework for seed exchange between farmers and between gardeners, for the commercial and the non-commercial use of landraces and framed innovative seed system model, based on other trust building strategies. The new regulatory framework mainly decriminalized already implementing practices, but the lack of public support to the framed practices are hindering the creation of more positive effects. Nevertheless, Denmark has now one of the most tolerant legislation for seed trade and landrace cultivation, creating many 'sidetrack' next to the 'highway' of the formal seed system and proves that decentralization and liberalization of seeds regulations is possible ; M-AE
This dissertation is guided by an overall interest in the manifold links between politics and EU economic policy in action. The EU is sometimes described as a 'policy-making state' or 'system' based on the insight that in terms of policy generation, the EU's capacities have come to resemble those of traditional states. Policy-making in the EU, as in other political systems, can be characterized as a multi-stage process, although the process is arguably more complex than in nation-states because it takes place in a more dynamic institutional setting and involves a variety of actors and multiple levels. The contributions assembled here move through the policy process and the various levels to provide a broad picture about the making, application and reception of EU economic policies. While each of the chapters engages with a different stage of this process, this is not based on the assumption that these stages are always clearly separated in political practice or that they follow a universal sequence. Rather, the underlying assumption is that each of these stages of the policy cycle follows a different logic and thus requires a different theoretical toolbox to be analyzed and understood.
L'agenda de l'Union européenne (UE) sur les biens et services audiovisuels est actuellement dominé par la révision de la directive « Services Médias Audiovisuels » (SMA). La nouvelle directive – proposée par la Commission européenne en mai 2016 – vise à établir des nouvelles normes de gouvernance pour le secteur audiovisuel dans un contexte numérique changeant. La portée de l'article est de mettre en lumière pourquoi et comment des acteurs non-étatiques, tels que des sociétés du numérique, des associations et des organisations de professionnels de la culture, abordent la gouvernance de l'audiovisuel et les mécanismes appropriés pour réguler le secteur dans le contexte de la transformation numérique.
