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Europe today is characterized by aging populations, changing family patterns, dropping fertility rates and mass migration. With the potentially massive ramifications this has for pensions, health, housing, transport, family relations, employment and other sectors of society, The New Generations of Europeans sets out to assess what it is to be a citizen of a growing EU and what important demographic, social, and economic issues will have to be faced by European decision makers. Edited by leading demographers and sociologists, and made up of contributions from respected researchers in the fields

The objective of this paper is to analyze convergence in institutional, social, and macroeconomic conditions between EU member states. Our analysis covers the period 1995-2013 and considers the potential impact of the Great Recession. With this aim, we use a composite indicator that combines information from 51 hard and soft indicators, and we estimate convergence equations for the composite indicator and its seven dimensions considering different country groups. The obtained results show evidence of conditional convergence among EU member states but limited evidence of unconditional convergence over the considered period.

The Principal-Agent approach guides a comparison of the scrutiny and implementation records of the EU member states. The main argument is that there is systematic co-variation. Cross-nationally, an influential scrutiny process is associated with a strong implementation record. But because both of these variables also co-vary with the North-South dimension of EU politics, a fundamental challenge for future research is to evaluate the importance of existing between-country variation relative to the new Principal-Agent relationships that are emerging within the integration process. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

AbstractWe build a two‐country dynamic general equilibrium model to study whether European citizens would benefit from the eventual accession of Turkey to the European Union (EU). The results of the simulations show that Turkey's accession is welfare enhancing for Europeans, provided that Turkish total factor productivity (TFP) increases sufficiently after enlargement. In the benchmark model with no capital mobility, the Europeans are better off if the Turkish TFP increase bridges more than 21% of the initial TFP gap between Turkey and the EU. This figure increases to 33% when capital mobility is introduced.

Constructive and cooperative European Union and NATO relations are very important for global stability. But today transatlantic relation are in crisis and there is some evidence that the growing number of the disputes, including over Iraq, the Israel-Palestine conflict, dealing with "rogue states" and terrorism, are having a major impact on European foreign and security policy, and even the process of European integration. NATO adapted well after the end of the Cold War but since September 11th, however, NATO has faced something of an existential crisis. The US chose to fight the Afghan and Iraq war largely on its own, alongside European allies. Many American are stressing that NATO can only remain relevant if it is prepared and able to tackle pressing international terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. To safeguard NATO's future role the US has proposed that the European allies should help to develop a Rapid Response Force inside NATO. It wants the EU to provide troops that would be able to operate alongside America's forces. European, meanwhile, have their own set of concerns. The EU has no concept of how to deal with the world's only superpower. Too often there is a preference for bilateral as opposed to EU channels, and because of that the EU urgently needs a security strategy. The lack of a coherent EU foreign policy also inhibits the ability of the EU and if the Europeans can build a more coherent foreign policy, the US will have a greater interest in listening to what they say. EU leaders also need to assess the suitability of the EU's military doctrine and institutions for the challenges it faces. The transformation of transatlantic co-operation requires changes on both sides. Differences between the US and Europe exist but they should not be exaggerated. What is needed is to broaden the transatlantic dialogue to include the critical security challenges for both sides.

This chapter summarizes the findings of the project of monitoring Croatian accession to the European Union. It draws particular attention to the challenges entailed in participation in the accession process and in relations with European countries, irrespective of Croatia's membership status. It tries to answer questions about: the place of Croatia in Europe; the problems of its economy; the nature of its political elite and the views of its citizens, and institutions' capacities to adapt to requirements of modern and open societies. Among the findings one could highlight: First, irrespective of the membership status, there are possibilities for Croatia to participate and even to try to act as leader in some fields (e.g. Adriatic Sea protection) and Croatian experts could participate in and contribute to the discussions of EU-relevant topics (e.g. European citizenship or communicating Europe). Second, high and stable distrust in the EU, rising unwillingness to join the EU and views concerning the EU that are more based on impressions than on utilitarian considerations might lead to a Croatian "no" to the EU in
the final moment of decision. However, if the benefits of reforms are reaped even without joining the EU, this does not have to be a disaster for the country, although it could be a serious setback for the political elite. Third, adaptation of the capabilities of Croatian institutions is
despite many improvements still the weakest spot. The progress of reforms has been limited and characterized by partiality, lack of strategies and still under strong political influences. The key words missing in almost all investigated fields are implementation, enforcement and action
plans. As the end of negotiations will more depend on the implementation than on the mere adoption of EU requirements, Croatia should turn to an "as soon as ready" instead of an "as soon as possible" policy.

In recent years, increased European Union interest in its eastern "neighborhood" has been hailed as a possible solution of the Transnistrian frozen conflict. The fall of the communist authoritarian regime of Chisinau and the internal crisis of the Smirnov regime in Tiraspol also modified the conditions of the nineteen-year conflict. However, the European involvement in Moldova is perceived by the Kremlin as an intrusion in its own domaine reserve. Moreover, the 2008 war in South Ossetia illustrates Russia's return to the early 1990s policy of overt instrumentalization of the post-Soviet frozen conflicts. This volatile situation is analyzed in order to predict the future evolution of the Transnistrian conflict in the larger context of the developing regional rivalry between Brussels and Moscow. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright the American Council of Learned Societies.]

The article uses insights from comparative federalism to reflect upon the structure & functioning of the European Union. The analysis shows that the EU corresponds rather closely to the model of cooperative federalism. The EU's structural deficiencies are revealed by comparison with German federal experience, which helps explain why the EU has maneuvered itself into a double legitimacy trap in which declining problem-solving capacity (output legitimacy) can no longer compensate for the lack of democratic participation & accountability (input legitimacy). The article then assesses whether the Constitutional Treaty will be able to provide an escape route from the double legitimacy trap. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) is at the center of academic and public debate. However, its implications on politics remain little understood. To understand the impact of the AI phenomenon on politics of the European Union (EU), we have carried out qualitative multimethod research by performing a systematic literature review and a case study. The first method was performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA), in order to report the state-of-the-art in the existing literature and explore the most relevant research areas. The second method contained contributions from experts in data science and AI of the Portuguese scientific community. The results showed that solutions such as intelligent decision support systems are improving the political decision-making process and impacting the Portuguese society at local, regional, and national levels. We also found that practitioners and scientists are currently shifting their interests from environmental and biological sciences to healthcare services, which is bringing new challenges in terms of protecting patient/citizen data and growing concerns about handling of critical information. Future research may focus on comparative studies with other EU States to obtain a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the AI phenomenon. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

© 2016, The Journal of Global Affairs is the official student research publication of the Department of International and Area Studies in the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Correspondence may be sent to: Journal of Global Affairs, C/O CIS/DIAS, 729 Elm Avenue, Hester Hall 150, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, United States of America. Email: jga@ou.edu. ; The United Kingdom is facing a referendum, to occur by the end of 2017, when British citizens will get the opportunity to vote on whether or not the UK should remain a member of the European Union. For Britain, the referendum is a flashback to 1975, when the nation held a similar referendum where voters decided to remain in the European Economic Community. In the four decades since then, however, Britain has continued to be haunted by its ambivalent and awkward relationship with the rest of the European continent. This study explains why Britain has historically occupied the role as being an outsider within Europe and analyzes the events surrounding the 1975 referendum, as well as the future one. In addition, this study predicts the fate of Britain if it does decide to exit the EU, outlining the numerous effects that Britain would experience if it chooses to abandon its EU membership. ; The Journal of Global Affairs is published in conjunction with the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma. ; undergraduate