Suchergebnisse

The transfer of humanitarian aid is one of the new and effective instruments of foreign policy. In fifteen years (1999:2013) the humanitarian budget – with a similar number of victims of armed conflicts – has increased almost fifty times. This growth did not change the situation of victims significantly, because the biggest donors – governments and the European Union – apply their own guidelines for the allocation of aid, target beneficiaries and hiring organizations conveying aid. ; Transfer pomocy humanitarnej jest jednym z nowych, efektywnych instrumentów polityki zagranicznej. W ciągu piętnastu lat (1999-2013) budżet humanitarnych - przy porównywalnej liczbie ofiar konfliktów zbrojnych - zwiększył się ponad pięćdziesiąt razy. Ten wzrost nie zmienił znacząco sytuacji ofiar konfliktów, ponieważ najwięksi donatorzy - rządy i Unia Europejska - zastosowały swoje własne zasady alokacji pomocy, wyróżniania beneficjentów oraz wspierania organizacji przekazujących pomoc. ; Joanna Dobrowolska-Polak

Th e practice of many European Union countries shows that family policy can be served not only as an instrument to support people raising their children or coping with the consequences of demographic crisis, but also as an effi cient tool to introduce gender equality and provide an answer to the economic challenges of the modern world. It is a systematic activity guided by the pragmatic goal of investing in the development of society as a whole and building social capital. Th is kind of activity should be an indispensable element of adjusting to globalization processes. Family policy should be consistent with the aims and aspirations of diverse family models within any given society and encompass transformations of a new model of family, which becomes oft en a form of diff erent partner relationships. ; Arkadiusz Durasiewicz

This timely study, the second book in the State and the European Union Series, addresses many of the unanswered questions surrounding the role of european integration in shaping national defence policy.

AbstractIndustrial policy is an important tool of economic policy‐making, and this has been the case especially since the onset of the current global financial crisis in 2008. However, only relatively few empirical studies consider the macroeconomic effects of industrial policy, especially for European Union countries. In this study we investigate the effect of state aid policy on economic growth and investment, using a panel data set which covers 27 European Union countries over the period 1992–2011. Our results suggest that state aid policy is not an effective tool to achieve higher economic growth and investment rates.

Unique in bringing together contributions from academics and practitioners on the theme of strategic, intelligent modern lobbying this book provides a thorough and accessible discussion on key ideas pertinent to the pursuance of public affairs in the European Union. Combining innovative academic research with first-hand professional experience it offers the reader a combination of practical recommendations, case studies and academic theory to add new insights to interest group research and lobbying strategies. While focusing on the European Union the contributors acknowledge the multi-level dimension of EU decision-making and incorporate research on multi-level governance as well as lobbying by sub-national authorities. Through this they present a fuller picture of a subject that should appeal to students, academics and practitioners alike.--

AbstractEnvironment crime is among the European Union's central concerns. The TampereEuropean Council of 15 and 16 October 1999 at which a first work program for theEuropean Union action in the field of Justice and Home Affairs was adopted asked thatefforts be made to adopt common definitions of offences and penalties focusing on a numberof especially important sectors, amongst them environment crime. But despite this agreementabout the importance of joint the European Union action, environmental criminal law hasbecome the centre of a serious institutional fight between the European Commission,supported by the European Parliament on the one hand and the Council, supported by thegreat majority of the European Union member states on the other hand. At stake is nothingless than the distribution of powers between the first and the third pillars, and therefore alsobetween the Commission and the European Union's member states. The effect of this fight iscurrently a legal vacuum on general environmental criminal law that was closed with theDirective 2008/99/CE, taking into consideration the cross-border dimension of environmentalcrime and the existing significant differences in the national legislation of the EuropeanUnion member states.

"The constitution of a European demos with a collective identity is one of the preconditions for adjusting the legitimacy problem of the European Union (EU). The analysis attempts to clarify empirically whether there is sufficient commonality regarding Europeans' political value orientations to substantiate a collective identity. Particularly in view of the European Union's eastward enlargement, the question arises whether widespread cultural heterogeneity in Europe allows the formation of a European demos at all. In Europe we can identify a West-East axis of political value orientations. Democratic attitudes decrease the further to the East while at the same time there is an increase in etatist orientations. Thresholds can be observed which distinguish western European countries on the one hand and central and eastern European countries on the other. Within the group of central and eastern Europe a further distinction can be made between the three Slavic republics of the former Soviet Union and the rest of the countries. These findings support Huntington's theory of civilizations." (author's abstract)

Introduction -- Party politics in European micro-states : one step towards mainstreaming / -- Patrick Dumont -- San Marino's increasing instability: politics in the oldest, smallest party -- democracy in the world / Fernando Casal Bértoa -- Party politics in the principality of Liechtenstein / Wouter Veedendaal -- Monaco's political system : national particularities and foreign influences / -- Félicitas Guillot -- The evolution of Andorra's Party System: from parties of 'Notables' to a -- predominant party system / Juli Minoves-Triquell -- A political party system in flux: Iceland's political culture and smallness / Baldur Thorhallsson and Ólafur Th. Harðarson -- Malta: party politics in a small island state / Marcelo Carammia and Roderick Pace -- Party politics in Luxembourg: stable, consensual and pragmatic / Patrick Dumont, Raphaël Kies and Dan Schmit -- Party politics in Montenegro: in the shadow of the statehood issue / Ivan Vuković and Nemanja Batrićević -- Nationalism, clientelism and anti-politics: party politics in the Republic of -- Cyprus / Direnç Kanol and George Pirishis -- Conclusion: Party politics in European micro-states: similar but different / Fernando Casal Bértoa.

This book's principal aim is to critically address the institutional and substantive legal issues resulting from European enlargement, chiefly those relating to the legal foundations on which the enlarged Union is being built. The accession of new Member States creates the potential for a stronger and more powerful Europe. Realising this potential, however, will depend on the ability of the EU to develop functional and effective governance structures, both at the European level and at the level of the individual Member States. While the acquis communautaire will ensure that formal laws in the new Member States will be aligned with those of existing members, the question remains as to how effective institutions will be in implementing changes, and what effects the imposed changes will have on the legitimacy of the new legal framework. This book, containing the work of leading scholars in law and social sciences, examines the current and future legal framework for EU governance, and the role that new members will – or will not – play in the creation of that framework, paying particular attention to the specific challenges membership in the EU poses to the acceding states of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a book which will contribute to and influence debates over constitutionalism and legal harmonisation in the EU. ; https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/1038/thumbnail.jpg

Public procurement in the European Union represents almost twelve per cent of the EU's GDP and is continuing to increase, having been identified as a key objective in the EU's aim to become the most competitive economy in the world by 2010. This book provides a one-stop shop, multi-disciplinary approach to public procurement and will be of use to academics and policy-makers. Providing its readers with practical description and analysis of the relevant policies, law and jurisprudence, the book also explores possible future trends in public procurement regulation.

Why the end of the cold war caused Norway to withdraw its application for EU membership, but led Finland to join; how changes in national identity modified public debate about joining in both countries.