Suchergebnisse

The Lisbon Treaty, as it was first negotiated, is dead and the institutional stalemate has the potential to kill the entire integration process. European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) needs effective institutions, shared rules and clear priorities: to this end both Professor Romano Prodi and Professor Jolyon Howorth think that some reforms are necessary, among others: the introduction of an 'exit clause' and the rationalization of the decision making process, with the abolition of the unanimity rule. As regards ESDP and the future of Europe as a reliable and effective player in world politics, Prodi and Howorth believe that the EU is heading in the right direction: more capabilities, more resources, clearer objectives and stronger alliances; this is the recipe that they suggest to increase the quality of the action of the European Union at the international level. Notwithstanding, Prodi and Howorth are well aware that institutions matter but political will matters more. In the field of security and defence the EU lacks political consensus, and this is going to limit the ambitions and aspirations of some important European states.

This article looks at the concept of `capacity building' and explores its role in the 2000—2006 European Union (EU) Objective 1 programme in west Wales and the Valleys. An increasingly significant area of policy in regard to addressing rising levels of social inequality and high unemployment, the structural funds have become illustrative of the European Commission's aims to promote social as opposed to economic Europe . Exploring interviews with policy-makers and beneficiaries involved with the community development measures of the programme, the paper looks at whether there is a fit between policy-makers' conceptions of capacity building and `agency responses to social exclusion', as viewed by those who have been directly engaged with projects in regeneration targeted areas. The argument developed explores the idea that the capacity building measures in programmes such as Objective 1 often adopt a `fixed' viewpoint of agency whereby the `capacity to act' will be facilitated by the output oriented framework of the programme. In contrast to this perspective, the paper explores the idea that capacity building programmes must acknowledge the importance of structures in addressing regeneration areas.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is increasingly considered to be a tool that can significantly reduce the emission of CO2. It is viewed as a technology that can contribute to a substantial, global reduction of emitted CO2 within the timeframe that seems available for mitigating the effects of present and continued emission. In order to develop the CCS method the European Union (EU) has supported research programmes for more than a decade, which focus on capture techniques, transport and geological storage. The results of the numerous research projects on geological storage are summarised in a comprehensive best practice manual outlining guidelines for storage in saline aquifers (Chadwick et al. 2008). A detailed directive for geological storage is under implementation (European Commission 2009), and the EU has furthermore established a programme for supporting the development of more than ten large-scale demonstration plants throughout Europe. Geological investigations show that suitable storage sites are present in most European countries. In Denmark initial investigations conducted by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland and private companies indicate that there is significant storage potential at several locations in the subsurface.

We live in times when the search for a citizenship education that can transcend national, ethnical and cultural borders is an important part of educational policy. In times of increased pressure by the European Union on its nation states to provide for nation-transcending democracy, this question becomes crucial for national policymaking in Europe. In this text, Swedish education policy will be taken as a case in point in order to shed light on how this question is being handled in this particular national policy setting. It is argued that the policy's citizen fostering agenda tends to be counterproductive in the sense that it is still situated in national notions of the relationship between democracy and education, which tend to exclude certain individuals and groups of people on an age-related and (ethno) cultural basis. It is further argued that these excluding features can be related to educational ideas about socialisation. The aim of this text is underlined by suggesting a different way of framing democracy and democratic citizenship education: to increase the potential of education as regards the renewal of democracy and democratic citizenship.

This paper is based on the hypothesis that the new geopolitical environment for the Atlantic Alliance is mainly influenced by the following five elements: The renaissance of Germany as the central player on the European theater after the collapse of the Soviet Union; the shift of American geopolitical focus from Europe to the Middle East and central Asia; the increasing geopolitical influence of petroleum energy resources; the increasing power of china; and the differing perceptions of political reality within the Atlantic Alliance. The new situation was clearly demonstrated after 9/11 when the "neocons" were able to implement their ideas about how to handle Iraq and the Germans rejected their arguments and refused to participate. With Obama as president it seems to be a certain rapprochement with the "old Europeans" in substance as well as methods in foreign policy. But the world is moving away from the bipolar world that the military alliance could feel comfortable with and towards a more dynamic theatre where the German Russian "strategic partnership" is a central feature of what can be labeled "The New Atlantic Reality"

We live in times when the search for a citizenship education that can transcend national, ethnical and cultural borders is an important part of educational policy. In times of increased pressure by the European Union on its nation states to provide for nation-transcending democracy, this question becomes crucial for national policymaking in Europe. In this text, Swedish education policy will be taken as a case in point in order to shed light on how this question is being handled in this particular national policy setting. It is argued that the policy's citizen fostering agenda tends to be counterproductive in the sense that it is still situated in national notions of the relationship between democracy and education, which tend to exclude certain individuals and groups of people on an age-related and (ethno) cultural basis. It is further argued that these excluding features can be related to educational ideas about socialisation. The aim of this text is underlined by suggesting a different way of framing democracy and democratic citizenship education: to increase the potential of education as regards the renewal of democracy and democratic citizenship.

Previous empirical analysis has noted a correlation between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic reform in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, but has attributed the relationship to investors rewarding countries after reform decisions. Little attention has been paid to the fact that investors lobbying efforts may actually influence reform choices. This paper finds a positive effect of FDI on reform progress through a panel analysis of investor influence in 27 transition states (1991-2004). To address endogeneity bias, the exogenous portion of a country's exchange rate movement is used as an instrument in a two-stage procedure. The underlying counterfactual comparison that results from this approach is between two similarly situated countries, but where one country experienced a large shift in the share of FDI in its economy as a result of changes in the international economy and the other did not. Further analysis reveals that the relationship is particularly strong in the manufacturing and service sectors, but does not hold for construction, utilities, or natural resource based projects. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractKazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship in 2010 represents a considerable opportunity for the Organisation. While Kazakhstan's Chairmanship cannot 'save' the OSCE from its current problems, it could help set a new direction for the Organisation and inject a degree of movement at time of growing paralysis. This will be a tall order which Kazakhstan alone will be unable to achieve. To make the most of opportunity presented in 2010, the countries of the European Union need to work closely with Astana to prepare the country for the Chairmanship and also to help to develop ways forward for the organisation. Relations between Astana and Brussels are built on a shared interest in diversifying energy export routes from Kazakhstan, growing business ties, a common caution about the role of Russia in Eurasia and on Kazakhstan's commitment to promoting European forms of development in the country. The EU should place the 2010 Chairmanship within the context of this growing relationship, linking Kazakhstan's domestic and international initiatives of the year to the longer term ambition of the country to build a deeper relationship to Europe as a means to achieve a European form of modernisation.

The aim of this paper is the assessment of information literacy skills related to European topics, among a group of 234 users of 55 European Documentation Centres (EDCs), from 21 European Union Member- States. We will present the results of a survey European information. So we will analyse the answers given by the users of the EDCs relating to aspects like the best sources to access trustworthy and impartial Europe information. The factors determining access to information on the EU and the frequency of this access will equally be analysed. The reasons the users gave for the ease or difficulty in accessing European information are also included and pondered on. Parallel to this, we will evaluate the aspects most valued by the users of this kind of information. Our findings on the use of European information available on the Internet, especially the knowledge and making use of databases will be presented. Based on this analysis the paper will demonstrate the need to develop information literacy competencies to identify, use and access European information. Doing so, some potential components of information literacy skills adapted to European information will be introduced.

We live in times when the search for a citizenship education that can transcend national, ethnical and cultural borders is an important part of educational policy. In times of increased pressure by the European Union on its nation states to provide for nation-transcending democracy, this question becomes crucial for national policymaking in Europe. In this text, Swedish education policy will be taken as a case in point in order to shed light on how this question is being handled in this particular national policy setting. It is argued that the policy's citizen fostering agenda tends to be counterproductive in the sense that it is still situated in national notions of the relationship between democracy and education, which tend to exclude certain individuals and groups of people on an age-related and (ethno) cultural basis. It is further argued that these excluding features can be related to educational ideas about socialisation. The aim of this text is underlined by suggesting a different way of framing democracy and democratic citizenship education: to increase the potential of education as regards the renewal of democracy and democratic citizenship.

We live in times when the search for a citizenship education that can transcend national, ethnical and cultural borders is an important part of educational policy. In times of increased pressure by the European Union on its nation states to provide for nation-transcending democracy, this question becomes crucial for national policymaking in Europe. In this text, Swedish education policy will be taken as a case in point in order to shed light on how this question is being handled in this particular national policy setting. It is argued that the policy's citizen fostering agenda tends to be counterproductive in the sense that it is still situated in national notions of the relationship between democracy and education, which tend to exclude certain individuals and groups of people on an age-related and (ethno) cultural basis. It is further argued that these excluding features can be related to educational ideas about socialisation. The aim of this text is underlined by suggesting a different way of framing democracy and democratic citizenship education: to increase the potential of education as regards the renewal of democracy and democratic citizenship.

The Russian-Georgian conflict of August 2008 should be regarded as part of the general geopolitical and geoenergy situation in the Caspian-Black Sea region, its causes and consequences being extremely important for many actors. Rooted in the past, it is closely connected with what was going elsewhere, Kosovo's independence proclaimed in February 2008 in particular. I have written this article to offer my analysis of the 2008 events, reveal their impact on the energy situation and security in the Black Sea-Caspian region, and provide recommendations on how to diminish their negative impact on Ukraine. I intend to discuss the causes that led to the crisis and its consequences. I shall pay special attention to the positions of third sides and forecast possible developments. The subject remains topical because the events of August 2008 directly affected the security of the Black Sea countries, their energy cooperation, and their relations with the European Union. What happened in the summer of 2008 has become the subject of an academic discussion about the frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region which involves academics from post-Soviet states, Europe, and America.

With a surface-area of 238,391 km2 and a population of 21,584,365 (July 1, 2007), Romania is one of the relatively large states in Central Europe, coming third after Germany; as regards its neighbours, it ranks second after Ukraine. The country lies in-between two conflict foci, the former Yugoslav space and the former Soviet Union, were the Transnistrian conflict has a direct bearing on the Romanian population of the Republic of Moldova. Both conflicts have been triggered by ethnic tensions augmented by the fall of the communist regime and the assertion of national identity. Within this geostrategic context, Romania is an island of stability, with a broad political openness to the European and Euro-Atlantic structures of cooperation, its participating in potential crisis situations in terms of EU and NATO demands. Taking advantage of the country's geographical and geostrategic position after 1918, basically at the cross-roads and interaction of the Central-European, Balkan and East-European countries (Austro-Hungary,Turkey and the Slav states, and Russia and Ukraine, respectively), Romanian geopolitics would focus on the national factor, on the nation and the national state.

The authors describe the development of minority civil rights in Turkey in light of the European Union (EU) accession process. Though Turkey has fostered cooperation with such international human rights organizations as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), its interests are generally parochial (e.g., prevention of intolerance and discrimination towards Muslims) and not encompassing of the protection all minority rights. The article notes that Turkey initiated several reforms that were necessary for EU membership but failed to alter its established "minority regime," which privileges non-Muslim Armenians, Jews and Greeks to the exclusion of other minority groups. Though it wishes to abide by the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, its treatment of minorities other than the three specified groups falls short of the Treaty's requirements. This includes Assyrians, Chaldeans, Nestorians, as well as various Christian groups, including members of the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Uniate churches and the Roman Catholic Church proper. The article also details violations of the civil rights of even the three specified groups. Adapted from the source document.