Suchergebnisse

This volume attempts to draw debates on governance, at both of these levels, into spaces of cross-border regionalism in Europe today. Embodying both supra-national and sub-national dynamics of contemporary forms of governance, cross-border regions (or euregions) enable observation of the fitful progress and contradictions of the multilevel polity that is contemporary Europe. Including case studies from throughout the EU as exemplars of specific "border regimes", the volume identifies the practical and theoretical importance of governing in Europe's new cross-border territories as part of a newly reinvigorated 'regional question'. In Europe's euregions, it is argued, issues of democracy, identity, sovereignty, citizenship and scale must be rethought, when a border runs through it. This book utilises a diversity of perspectives and a range of selected case studies to examine modes of governance emerging across the nation-state borders of Europe. It will interest students and researchers of European Union borders.

The following dissertation investigates the quality of political representation in the programmes of select political parties in four East-Central European countries in the context of European elections. Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary form the Visegrád Group. Since they joined the European Union in 2004, open manifestations of resistance to (further) European integration, sometimes labelled as Euroscepticism, could be observed within the group. These include the deteriorating rule of law in Poland and Hungary as well as some of the lowest turnout rates at the European Elections in Czechia and Slovakia. At the same time, according to the Eurobarometer surveys, public support for the European Union remains relatively high in these Member States. Against this background, this dissertation sets out to investigate the European policy of sixteen established political parties active across the Visegrád Group and whether the public's preferences for European integration are reflected in the programmes of these parties. In other words, whether political parties consider the public opinion when preparing their European election manifestos and what kind of European Union the citizens and parties of the Visegrád Group advocate. In addition, an analysis of the salience of topics that parties address in their programmes is conducted with the goal of finding out which policies play a prominent role in the programmes at the European level. The investigation was conducted by a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results revealed severe discrepancies between the public opinion and the European policies that most of the political parties advocate, hinting at deficiencies in the representative democracy in terms of the European level in the Visegrád states.

Rationale for Finland's application for membership in the EEC and influence of Russia's reform efforts on Finnish security.

The following dissertation investigates the quality of political representation in the programmes of select political parties in four East-Central European countries in the context of European elections. Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary form the Visegrád Group. Since they joined the European Union in 2004, open manifestations of resistance to (further) European integration, sometimes labelled as Euroscepticism, could be observed within the group. These include the deteriorating rule of law in Poland and Hungary as well as some of the lowest turnout rates at the European Elections in Czechia and Slovakia. At the same time, according to the Eurobarometer surveys, public support for the European Union remains relatively high in these Member States. Against this background, this dissertation sets out to investigate the European policy of sixteen established political parties active across the Visegrád Group and whether the public's preferences for European integration are reflected in the programmes of these parties. In other words, whether political parties consider the public opinion when preparing their European election manifestos and what kind of European Union the citizens and parties of the Visegrád Group advocate. In addition, an analysis of the salience of topics that parties address in their programmes is conducted with the goal of finding out which policies play a prominent role in the programmes at the European level. The investigation was conducted by a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results revealed severe discrepancies between the public opinion and the European policies that most of the political parties advocate, hinting at deficiencies in the representative democracy in terms of the European level in the Visegrád states.

This brief and accessible introduction to the European Union is ideal for anyone who needs a concise overview of the structure, history, and policies of the EU. This updated edition includes a new chapter on the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Andreas Staab offers basic terms and interpretive frameworks for understanding the evolution of the EU; the overall structure, purpose, and mandate of its main constituent divisions; and key policy areas, such as market unification and environmental policy

The paper "Israel in the European neighborhood policy" attempts to explain the importance of the relation EU-Israel for the security of the European Union, but also for the global security. This task will be accomplished by analyzing basic documents vital for European political architecture, such as the European Security Strategy, Strategy Paper for Israel for the period 2007-2013, or EU/Israel Action Plan. The speeches of members of European Commission about the relation of EU with Israel are also important sources of the present paper, bringing valuable ideas who successfully complete the content of EU-Israel treaties. This paper attempts, also, to explain the functionning and the role of European neighborhood policy, its principles of action and objectives and, later on, to analyse the importance of Israel as a country found in the proximity of European Union. The reason for choosing Israel from all the other neighbors of the European Union, as subjects of European neighborhood policy, was the common values reflected in tradition and culture of the Jews from Israel and of the Europeans, enhanced by the European Jewry Heritage from Europe. We consider that the relationship between European Union and Israel is very normal and useful.
Among the priorities of action established by the two parts as a consequence of European Union-Israel treaties, we would like to point out the assignment to fight against anti-Semitism and against terrorist actions. The Jewish people are a people who passed through a lot of difficulties and inconveniences during history and through a great tragedy during the Holocaust. Israel represents the refuge they longed for centuries and democratic states do support Israeli aspiration towards having their own fatherland. Anti-Semitism increased now in the Arab world being the consequence of the conflicts between Palestinians and Israelites in the last decades. Some times it can take the form of terrorist action and hence the connection with terrorist networks. The fight against terrorism is not strictly connected with anti-Semitism; terrorist networks are acting more and more widely, including actions versus western civilization. So it is both in the interest of Europeans and Israel to act against the ones who put in danger the basic human values. Both Israel and European Union and United States also, have to reconsider their relation with Arab world whose aggression increased as being home for numerous extremist and terrorist Islamic movements. Terrorism is the present day threat and not a global war. But terrorism can cause much more damage than a war as affecting the entire world and mainly civilians. No place can be safe enough when confronting with such a threat. But the treaties between Israel and European Union have also economic, social, political, security related objectives. They have at their base the common values that Israel and European Union countries share: democracy, human rights and respect for fundamental freedoms. They wish to create more prosperous and secure countries. And they open European economy to Israeli participation. Strenghtening the economic ties between Israel and European Union, all sectors of cooperation will be strenghtened because economic interest is at the basis of long term relations. The method of work will be critical interpretation of the documents concerning European neighbourhood policy and its connection to Israel. The purpose is to understand the written base of EU and Israel relations as a precondition for further possible analysis of the diplomatic relations and politics of the two entities. Our position is to encourage the relationship between Israel and European Union. Israel and the European Union countries are united through historical ties as Jews from whole Europe contributed after 1948 to the creation and development of the Israelian state. Their relationship appears us very normal and an expected result.

In a divided world and one in which there is no peace, a nation's military power fixes the extent to which it can hope to influence its own destiny. Only a few years ago, Europe west of the Stettin-Trieste line encompassed four out of seven Great Powers. Today it is militarily and economically prostrate and sapped by political dissent and moral incertitude. The unexampled accumulation of power across the Atlantic and beyond the Iron Curtain turns this weakness into relative impotence. No wonder that many western Europeans have reacted against this striking change in their fortunes by demanding that their several countries recapture jointly what as individual nations they have irretrievably lost.The problem before us is a formidable one but its elements are simple. Many years ago Alexis de Tocqueville foresaw the day when each of the European nations, caught between the mass of Americans and the mass of Russians, would feel itself tragically weak, indeed powerless.

AbstractThis paper applies categories developed in the classic literature on political opposition to the developing European Union. It is clear that the EU has never developed the third great milestone identified by Dahl in his analysis of the path to democratic institutions. That is, we still lack the capacity to organize opposition within the European polity. This failure to allow for opposition within the polity is likely to lead either (a) to the elimination of opposition altogether, or (b) to the mobilization of an opposition of principle against the EU polity. This problem is also beginning to reach down into the domestic sphere, in that the growing weight of the EU, through its indirect impact on national politics, helps to encourage domestic democratic deficits, hence limiting the scope for classical opposition at the national level. Here too, then, we might expect to see either the elimination of opposition or the mobilization of a new – perhaps populist – opposition of principle.