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Introduction: idealism at bay / Richard Youngs -- Unfinished business: European political conditionality after Eastern enlargement / Geoffrey Pridham -- The Balkans: European inducements / Sofia Sebastian -- Ukraine: a new partnership / Natalia Shapovalova -- Organization for security and cooperation in Europe: a paper tiger? / Jos Boonstra -- Central Asia: limited modernization / Alexander Warkotsch -- Morocco: a flawed response / Kristina Kausch -- The Gulf Cooperation Council: the challenges of security / Ana Echagüe -- Iraq: a new European engagement / Edward Burke -- Nigeria: conflict, energy, and bad governance / Anna Khakee

Ph.D.(Melit.) ; The prevailing view in academic literature highlights the independence of European agencies as the rationale for their creation. Contrary to this perception, this work demonstrates that the Commission exercises considerable control through its opinions on an agency´s Single Programming Document. Being part of the budgetary procedure, European agencies are obliged to draw up a `Single Programming Document` comprising an annual and multiannual work programme together with corresponding planning of human and financial resources. Based upon performance-budgeting principles, the Framework Financial Regulation (FFR) hereby sets out detailed rules on the programming procedure and defines the Commission´s role in this respect. Apart from proposing the number of contributions from the EU budget, the Commission has the competence to give its opinion on an agency´s draft single programming document. To examine the Commission´s exercise of control, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) were part of the case study. For both agencies, the draft single programming documents for the years 2019-2021 were analysed and compared with their final programming version. It was noticed that the Commission´s comments frequently appear as instructions rather than recommendations and that the majority of their requests were observed by the agency. To establish the Commission´s role in a broader context, its opinions are analysed in terms of their content and quality of comments. Hereby, it is noticed that the Commission´s role depends on external factors and is thus a flexible one. Acting mainly as a legal supervisor, the Commission also addresses efficiency-related aspects and ensuresthat policy directions are properly considered in the programme. Several instances are noted where the Commission pursues its own interests that are outside the scope of the programme procedure. Even though, it exercises considerable powers over an agency´s programming content, the relationship between the Commission and European agencies is not yet comparable with ministry-agency constellations found at the nation-state level. Nevertheless, it is regarded that the Commission transgresses its competences as its opinions go beyond the limited scope of the Framework Financial Regulation. Possible legislative improvements are discussed in the last chapter of this work. It concludes that the Treaties lack an appropriate basis for the adoption of secondary legislation that regulates the programming procedure comprehensively. Therefore, Treaty amendments are required in addition to secondary EU legislation that sanctions today´s programming practice. Suggestions for legislative proposals are made to this end. ; N/A

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- 1 Nordic Legal Mind -- Abstract -- 1 Nordic Law -- 2 The Impact of "Old" Unions -- 3 Common Ways of Legal Thinking -- 4 Pragmatism and Realism -- 4.1 Against a Civil Code -- 4.2 Realism -- 5 Towards Common Legislation -- 6 Perspectives for the Future -- References -- 2 Nordic Model of Welfare States -- Abstract -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Welfare States and Expenditures -- 3 The Timing of Social Legislation -- 4 Financing the Welfare State and the Role of In-Kind Benefits -- 5 Equality -- 6 Challenges Facing the Nordic Family -- 7 From Welfare State Towards Competitive State? -- References -- 3 Constitutional Mentality -- Abstract -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Nordic Constitutional Landscape -- 2.1 Constitutional Mentality -- 2.2 The Key Position of the Parliament -- 3 Constitutional Variations on a Nordic Theme -- 3.1 Finland's Constitution -- 3.2 Sweden's Constitution -- 3.3 Norway's Constitution -- 3.4 Denmark's Constitution -- 3.5 Iceland's Constitution -- 4 Conclusion -- References -- 4 Respecting Autonomies and Minorities -- Abstract -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Nordic Territories with Special Status -- 2.1 Denmark and Finland: Differently Constructed States with Territorial Autonomies -- 2.2 Home Rule in the Faroe Islands -- 2.3 Greenland's Self-government -- 2.4 Åland -- 3 Indigenous Peoples and Minorities -- 3.1 The Sami in Finland, Norway and Sweden -- 3.2 German Minority in Denmark -- 3.3 National Languages and Minority Groups in Finland -- 3.4 Minorities in Norway and Sweden -- 4 Conclusion -- References -- 5 Promoting Gender Equality -- Abstract -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Liberal Feminism and Gender Neutrality of Laws -- 3 State Feminism and Women's Law -- 4 Equality Law -- 5 Gender Difference and Violence Against Women -- 6 Gender as a Social Construction -- 7 Conclusion -- References -- 6 Marriage and Family Relations.

The key challenge for medium- and long-term policy in European Union countries is to use the potential of knowledge-based economy (KBE), which is a condition for maintaining high total factor productivity in Europe. For this reason, the relationship between quality of institutional system and total factor productivity in the EU countries has been examined. The quality of institutional system is defined here from the perspective of incentives that influence the use of the potential of KBE. In order to determine the level of effectiveness of the institutional system in the analyzed countries the method for linear ordering of objects was applied based on data from Fraser Institute. The main hypothesis of the article was formed as follow: the quality of institutional system in the context of KBE has significant influence on the level of total factor productivity in the EU. In order to verify the hypothesis, the parameters of the Cobb-Douglas production function were estimated, which allowed to evaluate TFP for EU countries. The calculation made in the article was based on Eurostat data. Then, the identification of the relationship between the quality of institutional system and the level of TFP was made with the application of panel model. The research made for the years 2000-2010 allowed to verify the hypothesis.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- Notes on contributors -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction - justicing Europe's frontiers: effective access to remedies and justice in bordering and expulsion policies -- Part I Complaint mechanisms in the context of border controls and expulsions at land and air borders -- 1 Keeping up appearances: dubious legality and migration control at the peripheral borders of Europe. The cases of Ceuta and Melilla -- 2 Deportations without the right to complaint: cases from Spain -- 3 Hungary at the border of populism and asylum -- 4 Access to effective remedies for foreigners affected by decisions, actions, and inactions of the Polish Border Guard -- 5 Human rights violations in expulsion cases and during enforced returns: the Austrian law and reality -- Part II Complaint mechanisms in the context of sea borders and maritime surveillance -- 6 Police accountability and human rights at the Italian borders -- 7 Search and rescue, disembarkation, and relocation arrangements in the Mediterranean: justicing maritime border surveillance operations -- 8 Border management at the external Schengen Borders: border controls, return operations, and obstacles to effective remedies in Greece -- 9 A practical evaluation of border activities in Romania: control, surveillance, and expulsions -- Part III Justicing international, regional, and EU standards -- 10 Complaint mechanism during return flights: the European border and Coast Guard Agency -- 11 Mechanisms to prevent pushbacks -- 12 Human rights complaints at international borders or during expulsion procedures: international, European, and EU standards -- Index.

This second edition expands upon what has become a widely cited work on the recast EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings. It incorporates important developments in the case law since the Regulation was recast in 2015, as well as other significant updates. As with the first edition, it provides a detailed article-by-article commentary on the Regulation, written by a group of expert scholars and practitioners from a range of European jurisdictions. Drawing on a rich body of CJEU and national case law, as well as scholarly developments, analysis of the Regulation is accompanied by a chapter explaining the background to the Regulation's enactment and recasting, identifying its key features, and examining the relationship between the Regulation and new European Restructuring Directive.

The legitimacy of the European Union is a much studied and highly contested subject. Unlike other works, this book does not engage in another review of the shifts of public opinion and perception regarding the EU. Instead, it offers a different and innovative perspective by focusing on constructions of legitimacy in the European Commission. Starting from the premise that legitimacy is discursively constructed, the book engages in a fine-grained analysis of legitimacy discourses in the European Commission since the early 1970s. Embedded in a poststructuralist theoretical framework, Hegemonies of Legitimation also sheds light on the conditions that made radical shifts of legitimacy discourses possible, and illustrates how these discursive shifts paved the way for different types of legitimation policies. As such, the book maps and reconstructs the historically variable discursive landscape of competing articulations of what legitimacy signifies in the case of the EC/EU, and provides us with a detailed picture of the history of the Commission's struggle for legitimacy.