Suchergebnisse

In the period January–June 2013 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU or the Court) delivered various interesting rulings which are worth reporting. Two rulings stand out: Jeltes, in which the Court was asked whether the so-called ' Miethe case law' concerning the right of unemployment benefits of wholly unemployed frontier workers, developed under the coordination regime of Regulation 1408/71, is still relevant under the new regime governed by Regulation 883/2004; and Giersch, in which the Court was asked whether Member States may make entitlement to (portable) student financial aid conditional upon (prior) residence on national territory In addition, this overview includes a number of possibly less eye-catching but nonetheless interesting cases concerning overlap of benefits (van den Booren, Wencel), aggregation rules for family and orphan benefits (Dumont de Chassart) and third country nationals (Hadj Ahmed).

In the period July–December 2012 both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a number of important rulings that are worth reporting. The present overview discusses four CJEU judgments, two dealing with the rules determining the applicable legislation (Partena ASBL v Les Tartes de Chaumont-Gistoux SA and Format) and two involving benefits aimed at promoting access to employment (Caves Krier and Prete). In addition, the overview covers the notable ECtHR decision judgment in Ramaer and van Willigen v. the Netherlands, which seems to mark the end of a long legal battle that Dutch pensionado's have fought against the introduction of compulsory health insurance in 2006.

AbstractThe Chinese government says that it supports the notion of international diversity of political‐economic systems. This should not be regarded as mere propaganda. Apart from a brief period during the Cultural Revolution, China never was interested in exporting its ideology or in trying to turn other countries into a replication of itself. It is unlikely that China will change its attitude in this regard, even as it emerges as a new superpower. On the contrary: as it becomes more influential at the multilateral level, it is likely that China will promote political‐economic diversity as a major norm in international relations. This would limit the ability of the west to promote liberal democracy and economic liberalism through multilateral institutions, and perhaps even bilaterally. One of the effects of this process would be that the competitive advantage of Chinese companies in developing countries increases vis‐à‐vis western firms. This would accelerate the power shift in the developing world towards China from the west.Policy Implications


In the years ahead China is likely to push international diversity as a major norm in international relations.

China's drive towards international diversity challenges the western support for economic and political liberal values in international relations.

The more China succeeds in making the institutions of global governance ideologically 'neutral' (i.e., not representing liberal values and thereby favouring the Chinese position vis‐à‐vis the west), the more difficult it becomes for the US and its western partners to use these institutions to export liberal democracy and economic liberalism to the developing world.

It will be increasingly difficult for western firms to compete with their Chinese counterparts in developing countries. This strengthens Chinese economic ‐ and therefore political ‐ influence in the developing world vis‐à‐vis western influence.