Suchergebnisse

Events in 2001 served as a mid-course test for the pursuit of the European Security & Defence Policy (ESDP). The post-11 September developments brought home to the EU the reality of its role & potential in the transatlantic relationship. In 2001 the ESDP was declared operational, but the issue of EU access to NATO's assets remained unresolved. The question of duplication of efforts by the EU & NATO has also not been sufficiently addressed. Defining the ESDP & building public support for increased spending will pose a challenge in the coming years. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to analyse the specificities of modern consumer society in the European Union and, therefore, it presents the genesis and the essence of consumer society development in Europe.
It points to the idea of consumer society in terms of economy, politics, sociology, and philosophy. The specificities of the modern consumer society in the European Union are influenced by legislative processes in regard to the economical safety of consumers including safety of goods in terms of information, education, and redress, with special regard to cross-border transactions. The article presents the definition of consumer ethics and the specifics of certain ethical norms connected with the purchase process, what have evolved together with the development of consumer society in the EU.

European legislators must increasingly deal with issues related to fundamental rights. Religion is a frequent topic obliging them to do so. It is not directly part of the EU's competences but is a source of values underlying policy choices and a tricky political object. Relying on the findings of a survey about what Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) believe and what they do with these beliefs, the article analyzes potential tensions created by religion in the implementation of human rights by the EU. A first part shows how and to what extent European law meets religion, and how it leaves ample room for flexibility but also for divergent interpretations. A second part states that MEPs agree largely on the principle of separation between politics and religion, but may be divided when it comes to drawing boundaries between the two domains. The conclusion points out the limits of the rule of law to prevent conflicts and suggests that human rights may inspire support as well as cause resistance to Europeanization. Adapted from the source document.

Includes bibliographical references and index

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, AB'nin ve Türkiye'nin yaşam boyu öğrenme politikalarını ve programlarını şekillendiren temel etkenlerin ne olduğunu ortaya çıkarmaktır. Çalışma sonucunda, AB ölçeğinde neoliberal ekonomik politikaların, Türkiye ölçeğinde ise Avrupalılaşma kavramının yaşam boyu öğrenme mekanizmalarını ve politikalarını ortaya çıkaran ve değiştiren en önemli etkenlerden olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Günümüzde küresel istihdam piyasası iki faktörden büyük ölçüde etkilenmektedir: Neoliberal ekonomik politikalar ve hızla değişen teknoloji ve bilgi sistemleri. Bu iki faktör, devletlere, işletmelere ve bireylere, daha önce görülmemiş bir şekilde, farklı düzeylerde meydan okumaktadır. Şirketler, bilgi teknolojileri ve yeni ekonominin rekabet dinamikleri karşısında hayatta kalmaya uğraşmaktadır. Bu çerçevede, çağdaş rekabetin doğası, şirketlerin başarısını, istihdam edebilecekleri ve elde tutabilecekleri işgücünün kalitesine daha fazla bağımlı kılmaktadır. Öte yandan, insanlar hızla değişen çalışma ortamının getirdiği belirsizlikler karşısında giderek daha endişeli hissetmektedirler. Kariyer planlaması doğrusal ve istikrarlı bir süreç olmaktan çıkarken, sadece mevcut işlevler ve pozisyonlar değil, aynı zamanda bütünüyle mesleklerin risk altında olduğu söylenebilir. Devletler, hakim neoliberal yaklaşımların etkilerinin iyice ağırlaştırdığı ve karmaşık hale getirdiği yeni küresel bilgi ekonomisi karşısında, ekonomilerinin rekabet gücünü ve ülkenin refahını koruyabilmenin baskısı altında bulunmaktalar. Bu ortamda Avrupa Birliği'nin yaşamboyu öğrenme politika ve uygulamalarının, neoliberal politikaların sonuçlarını, ve bireylerin hissettikleri teknolojik değişimin olumsuz etkisini azaltmak için ortaya çıktığı söylenebilir. Benzer şekilde, Türkiye de neoliberal ekonomik politikaların ve bilgi teknolojilerinin getirdiği zorluklar karşısında, Avrupa örneğini temel almış ve Avrupalılaşmanın etkisiyle yaşam boyu öğrenme politikaları oluşturmuştur. --- This study explores the main drivers of the EU's and Turkey's lifelong learning policies and programmes. On the EU's front, it analyzes how neoliberal economic policies induce lifelong learning policy and mechanisms; on Turkey's front, it examines how Europeanization influences Turkey's lifelong learning agenda. The market of employment is heavily influenced by two converging factors: Neoliberalism and the neoliberal economic policies and the rapidly changing technology and information systems. These two factors are challenging the states, businesses and individuals, unprecedentedly, at different levels. Companies are facing the challenge and trying to strive in a knowledge economy. The very nature of the contemporary competition makes the success of companies more reliant on the quality of the work force they are able to employ and retain. The people, on the other hand are feeling increasingly anxious under the uncertainties introduced by a rapidly changing work environment. Careers are no more linear and steady. Not only existing functions and positions but entire professions may be said to be at risk. States, on the other hand, are pressurized in the sense that they are left between the necessity of cutting a fine balance between preserving the competitive edge of their economies in the knowledge economy, a job complicated by neoliberal forces and the need to preserve prosperity and trust of their people. It might be argued that lifelong learning policies and practices of the European Union emerge in order to alleviate the consequences of the neoliberal policies and the impact of the negative externalities of the technological change felt by their citizens; similarly, within the neoliberal context, Turkey bases its lifelong learning policies and infrastructure on the EU and introduces lifelong learning policies aligned with those of the European example.

In 2005, Turkey entered into negotiations for membership with the European Union. Turkey has been an important strategic ally to the European Union in the Middle East, explaining the mutual desire for closer ties between the two. While these negotiations showed promise early on, it has become increasingly apparent that Turkish accession to the European Union will not come easily, if at all. Officially, the European Union cites Turkey's shortcomings on issues such as human rights as the reason for the stall in negotiations. However, upon closer inspection, it is evident that there is more at play, particularly as the European Union has been inconsistent in their approach to addressing human rights violations. Member states such as Poland and Hungary, which have recent human rights violations, have not faced the same kind of condemnation that Turkey has from the leaders of the European Union. The reality is that the European Union is largely united by its shared Europeanness and Christianity. As a result, due to questions over Turkey's Europeanness and its large Muslim majority, the European Union is apprehensive to afford it full membership. It can be said that the European Union has maintained that Turkish accession is still possible in order to continue reaping the strategic benefits from close relations with Turkey.

The ink of the Lisbon Treaty"s signatories was not yet dry before the financial crisis, which took a serious turn for the worse in 2010, called that Treaty into question. The financial bankruptcy of Greece and Ireland and the serious financial difficulties of Portugal and Spain have, in fact, determined the need for us to reconsider the "EU institutional arrangement", which was so painstakingly constructed in the course of the first decade of the century. Under the pressure, on one hand, of domestic electoral and constitutional constraints and, on the other, of the financial threat of the collapse of the euro, the EU heads of state and government have finally ended up radically reforming the EU system of economic governance. At the crucial European Council held on 24-25 March 2011, fundamental decisions were adopted, such as: the reinforcement of macroeconomic surveillance, the strengthening of the stability and growth pact, a corrective mechanism for macroeconomic imbalances, the European semester, the Euro Plus pact and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). This new economic governance system mainly concerns the EU member states who have adopted the euro. The most striking of these innovations, the ESM, implies the establishment of a new treaty by the euro-area member states "as an intergovernmental organisation under public international law", a treaty located outside the EU"s institutional framework, though justified by a proposal of an amendment to Article 136 of the TFEU. Are these decisions a challenge to the integrity of the treaty-based system of the EU or do they represent a radical step forward in the integration process? This paper tries to answer this question, with a critical discussion of the two main paradigms interpreting the EU (the sui generis and the parliamentary options). It reaches the conclusion that those paradigms are unsatisfactory for explaining those decisions, thus proposing a new paradigm, defined as unionist, for interpreting the latter and fine-tuning their implications.