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Space policy is at the cutting edge of current EU policy developments and is a fascinating object of study, involving multiple and diverse actors. It is also an original and contemporary lens for studying European policy-making. This book explores advances in European space policy and their significance for European integration. Using a framing methodology, it addresses central questions in European studies in order to form an interdisciplinary bridge between current research in space policy and contemporary European political studies. It assesses the interests of EU institutions in space and how these institutions perceive space policy. Furthermore, it demonstrates that space is a cross-cutting policy domain affecting a diverse range of EU policy fields, such as security, transport and migration, and underpinning the 21st century European and global economy. In doing so, this volume firmly locates space policy in the field of European Studies. This innovative volume will be of key interest to students and scholars of a range of policy areas including common foreign and security policy, technology policy, transport policy, internal market policies, environmental policy, development aid and disaster-risk management, as well as the EU institutions. --

The Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its fourth session in Paris from December 17 to 20, 1958, under the presidency of Sir James Hutchison (British Conservative). In the course of the session, the Assembly was addressed by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, the German Federal Republic, and the Netherlands, by the United Kingdom Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, by the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (M. Spaak), and by the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (General Norstad). The Supreme Commander considered that if a demilitarized zone was established in Europe, as suggested in the Rapacki Plan, his task would become impossible; M. Spaak also had little faith in a denuclearized zone, in an era of intercontinental missiles.

This report discusses the evolution of the European Union and its process for enlargement. The EU has long viewed the enlargement process as an historic opportunity to further the integration of the continent by peaceful means.

The Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its fifth ordinary session in Paris from November 30 to December 3, 1959. The President of the Assembly Mr. Victoria Badini- Confalonieri (Italian Liberal), opened the first sitting with a tribute to the late John Edwards, following with an examination of the history and functions of WEU in the light of proposed changes of the organization's functions. He stated that the European Economic Community (EEC) of the Six and the Union of the Seven were complementary, rather than incompatible, as WEU's Council of Ministers could become a "clearing house" for relations between the Six and the United Kingdom, the only member of WEU that was not a member of EEC. He expressed the hope that at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers the question of the new political role of WEU would be the chief matter considered. Mr. Giuseppe Pella, Italian Foreign Minister, speaking as Chairman-in-Office of the WEU Council, stated that the Council of Ministers attached great importance to coll-laboration with the Assembly; noting that relations between the Council and the Assembly had improved since the creation of the organization, he went onto list areas that the Council had considered or was considering which concerned both organs, namely: 1) measures which would allow the Assembly a more direct share in the adoption of its budget; 2) the area of armament production; 3) the search for permanent offices for WEU; and 4) the question of transferring WEU's exercise of social and cultural activities to the Council of Europe. Regarding the latter, he stated that, in agreeing to the transfer, the Council wished merely to reduce duplication and not to detract from the Union's independence. Finally, he stressed that consultation among the Six should lead to political consultation with the United Kingdom in the WEU context, rather than ruling it out.

A new model of economic development focused on the encouragement of smart, inclusive and sustainable economic growth is the core of the Europe 2020 strategy. Education is widely acknowledged as being a key factor leading to economic growth and economic development, in the long term. But the impact of different kind of achievements in education on growth has little empirical evidence, especially when examining the South-Eastern European countries. This paper analyses the role played by different types of educational achievements, aggregated at the macroeconomic level, beside a set of other potential socio-economic drivers, on the economic growth and quality of life, in the South Eastern Europe, based on the Eurostat panel dataset. A number of panel data regression models using the GMM and FGLS estimators allow answering our research questions. Our empirical results indicate what policy measures are the most effective to target both the economic growth and quality of life. ; peer-reviewed

Cover -- Summary of Contents -- Contents -- List of Boxes, Figures and Tables -- List of Contributors -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Preface -- 1 A Multi-dimensional Crisis -- Introduction -- The Multi-dimensional Nature of the Crisis -- Origins of the Crisis -- Implications of the Crisis for the EU System -- Supplying Solutions -- Conclusions -- References -- 2 Crises in EU History -- Introduction -- Myth and Reality of the Founding Story -- From the European Defence Community to the European Economic Community -- The Crises of the 1960s -- Economic and Financial Crises Before the Single European Act -- From Maastricht to Lisbon -- Many Crises, Few Opportunities -- Conclusions -- References -- 3 The Political Economy Context of EU Crises -- Introduction -- The European Capitalist-Democratic Compact -- The Compact Unravelled: Three Dilemmas and Three Processes -- Conclusions -- References -- 4 Playing for High Stakes: The Eurozone Crisis -- Introduction -- A Multi-dimensional and Mutating Crisis -- Why the Eurozone Crisis is an Existential Threat -- Burden-Sharing in Monetary Union: A Historical Perspective on the Eurozone Crisis -- Conclusions -- References -- 5 The UK: Membership in Crisis -- Introduction -- Crisis Point -- Avoiding Crisis through Exceptionalism -- Heading Towards Crisis: Mounting Pressure for a ­Referendum on EU Membership -- Resolving the Crisis: Renegotiation and Referendum -- Crisis Begetting Crisis and Chaos -- And for the EU? -- Conclusions -- References -- 6 The European Migration Crisis -- Introduction -- Anatomy of the Migration Crisis -- Asylum Law and Immigration Policy in the EU -- Member States and the Migration Crisis -- Implementing the European Commission's Agenda on Migration -- Conclusions: The Wider Implications of, and the Prospects for, Inward EU Migration -- References.

This section provides an overview of cases in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning contract law. The present issue covers the period between the beginning of July 2014 and the end of December 2014.

: This section provides an overview of cases in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning contract law. The present issue covers the period between the beginning of January 2015 and the end of June 2015.

This section provides an overview of cases in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning contract law. The present issue covers the period between the beginning of September 2013 and the end of December 2013.

We still do not fully understand why attitudes toward the European Union differ among citizens. In this study, we turn to the Big Five personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism as antecedents of European Union attitudes. In a national survey, we focus on attitudes toward widening and deepening of the European Union, trust in European Union institutions, identification with the European Union and negative affect experienced toward the European Union. We theorize that the Big Five traits are heterogeneously associated with the different European Union attitudes. We confirm that the Big Five traits are indeed associated with some but not all European Union attitudes. Accordingly, personality is expected to shape how citizens' respond to changes in the institutional set-up of the European Union.

This paper investigates the impact of fiscal consolidation on economic growth in European Union countries, between 2004 and 2013. We construct a new dataset of exogenous fiscal adjustments, relying on legally binding recommendations issued to countries under Excessive Deficit Procedure, and we identify exogenous policy changes by using this dataset as instrumental variable in a GMM framework. We estimate the size of the fiscal multiplier both in a linear setting as well as in a state-dependent setting, considering four different circumstances: the state of the business cycle, the degree of openness to trade, the composition of the fiscal adjustment and the presence of a stressed credit market, as manifested by an impaired monetary policy transmission. We find that the size of the multiplier varies significantly under the various states: the distribution of multipliers is quite asymmetric, and a few consolidation episodes yield multipliers above one. We find that the composition of the fiscal adjustments is crucial in containing the output cost of consolidation, and in determining its persistence. Fiscal adjustments made via cuts to transfers and subsidies, or via tax increases, are usually associated with multipliers at or below unity, even when the economy is in recession. We also find evidence of confidence effects when consolidation is made under stressed credit markets and high interest rates. In a small number of episodes, involving open economies benefitting from confidence effects, we find that fiscal adjustments seem to be expansionary.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Research Questions, Object of Study, and Relevance -- 1.2 Theoretical Framework and Argument in Brief -- 1.2.1 Capitalist Diversity in the EMU -- 1.2.2 EMU's Economic Regime -- 1.2.3 Institutional Roots of the Euro Crisis -- 1.2.4 Constrained Policy Options -- 1.2.5 Enforcement -- 1.2.6 EMU Versus Democracy -- 1.3 Structure -- 2 Fiscal Adjustment in Europe -- 2.1 The Concept of Austerity in the Context of the Euro Crisis -- 2.2 Operationalization of Austerity -- 2.3 Data and Measurement -- 2.4 Sample and Observation Period -- 2.5 Occurrence, Implementation, and Realization of Fiscal Consolidation -- 2.5.1 Planned (2-Year) Fiscal Policy Stances -- 2.5.2 Occurrence and Size of Austerity Plans -- 2.5.3 Plan Realization in the Euro Crisis -- 2.6 Chapter Conclusion -- 3 Theoretical Framework: Austerity's Institutional Origins -- 3.1 Economic and Politico-economic Roots of the Argument -- 3.2 The Politico-economic Trilemma of EMU -- 3.3 Intra-EMU Diversity as an Imbalance of Capitalisms -- 3.4 An EMU Economic Regime Common to All -- 3.5 The Euro Crisis: Institutional Misfit and Its Consequences -- 3.6 Trilemma at the Country-Level: Who Has to Consolidate? -- 3.6.1 Export-Led Growth Models with NIIP Surpluses -- 3.6.2 Demand-Led Growth Models with NIIP Deficits -- 3.7 Hypotheses -- 4 Empirical Analyses: Intra-EMU Heterogeneity and Austerity -- 4.1 Determinants of Macroeconomic Imbalances -- 4.2 Determinants of Austerity in the Euro Crisis-Descriptive Analysis -- 4.2.1 Determinants of Planned Fiscal Stances -- 4.2.2 Determinants of the Initiation and Size of Austerity Plans -- 4.3 Determinants of Austerity in the Euro Crisis-Regression Analysis -- 4.3.1 Main Explanatory Variable(s) and Multicollinearity.