Suchergebnisse

Defense date: 04/06/2008 ; Examining Board: Professor Michael Keating, European University Institute, Supervisor Professor Christine Chwaszcza, European University Institute, Co-supervisor Professor Dario Castiglione, University of Exeter Professor Ulrika Mörth, Stockholm University ; This thesis examines the uses of legitimacy in debates on European integration. It treats the issue at a normative and empirical level. The normative part is an analysis of four theoretical contributions to the discourse on EU democracy: the standard version of the democratic deficit, the regulatory state, multi-level governance and integration through deliberation. The empirical part explores the political use of the theories' legitimacy claims in two cases: the European Parliament's inquiry into BSE and its debates relating to the Convention on the Future of Europe. The analysis reveals certain problems in theoretical and political discourse. Whereas the critique of the standard version has some merit, the positions formulating non-majoritarian notions of EU democracy are equally, if not more, problematic. The regulatory state, multilevel governance and integration through deliberation dress up old ideas – technocracy, interest group pluralism and constitutionalism respectively – and attempt to reinvest them with democratic legitimacy. The cases further illustrate the problem. For one thing, they indicate that the assumptions of the positions do not hold. What is more, non-majoritarian approaches to EU democracy, while allowing political actors to use the language of democracy, do not provide them with concrete proposals as to how existing structures might be democratised. The result is a discrepancy between the language of democracy, promising popular control and political equality, and the proposals for institutional and constitutional reforms, which tend to either discourage mass engagement or obscure how and in what capacity citizens are to participate. There is a tendency, I conclude, to confuse democracy with legitimacy, and legitimacy with consensus. As a result, the attempts at rearticulating EU democracy succeed neither in establishing a new basis for EU democracy, nor in identifying different or new forms of legitimacy. From this, three consequences derive: First, the democratic deficit should be regarded as structurally determined. Second, the persistence of the democratic deficit requires a thorough debate on the scope of EU competences. Finally, more attention should be devoted to the role of national and regional actors in European integration.

Die praktische Bedeutung von Güte- und Zertifizierungszeichen im Alltag ist enorm. Das rasant wachsende Angebot von Produkten und Dienstleistungen und deren ständige Verfügbarkeit, veranlasst Kunden und Betroffene immer häufiger nach verlässlichen und informierenden Prüfungskennzeichen Dritter zu suchen. Dies betrifft insbesondere die Qualität der Ware oder Dienstleistung, aber auch den unabhängigen Hinweis auf bestimmte Eigenschaften zur Herstellung, Nachhaltigkeit oder den Umgang mit Arbeitnehmern. Abhilfe konnten bisher nur Anbieter von entsprechenden Kennzeichen über Individual- oder Kollektivmarken schaffen. Seit dem 1. Oktober 2017 ist mit der Unionsgewährleistungsmarke und ihren speziellen Ausgestaltungen ein dritter Markentyp der Unionsmarkenverordnung in Kraft getreten. Der europäische Gesetzgeber hat sich somit durchgerungen, den Güte- und Garantiezeichen einen eigenen gesetzlichen Regelungsrahmen zu geben. Das späte Handeln des Gesetzgebers und die beträchtlichen Unterschiede der Unionsgewährleistungsmarke mit den bestehenden Instrumenten der Unionsindividual- und Unionskollektivmarke geben Anlass für eine intensivere Untersuchung. Gegenstand der Arbeit ist die Unionsgewährleistungsmarke mit ihrem rechtsdogmatischen Umfeld, ihrem Ursprung und Werdegang bis hin zur Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt der Europäischen Kommission im Rahmen der Markenrechtsreform und einem Ausblick auf ihre spätere Rechtsanwendung. ; The practical importance of quality and certification marks in everyday life is enormous. The rapidly growing range of products or services and their constant availability is causing customers and those affected to look more and more frequently for reliable and informative third-party certification marks. This concerns in particular the quality of the goods or services, but also the independent indication of certain characteristics regarding production, sustainability or the treatment of workers. Until now, providers of corresponding trademarks could meet this demand via individual or collective marks only. Since 1 October 2017, a third type of trade mark of the European Union Trade Mark Regulation has come into force with the European Union certification mark and its special specification. The European legislator has thus decided to give the quality and guarantee marks their own legal regulatory framework. The late action of the legislator and the considerable differences between the European Union certification mark and the existing instruments of the European Union individual and collective mark give rise to a more intensive investigation. The subject of the work is the European Union certification mark with its legal dogmatic environment, its origin and development up to its publication in the Official Journal of the European Commission and an outlook on its later legal application.

Studies looking at the links between corruption and quality of life have begun to take place recently, as until now the quality of life has not traditionally been associated with political decisions. Corruption may be defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which in one way or another affects the quality of life and satisfaction of others. The aim is to bridge the gap between the nexus of corruption and the quality of life in the EU. EU countries were divided into groups of countries according to the year of accession and cover the years 2004-2017 period. The EU has been selected as a geographical region with the aim of uneven economic development of the countries and the lack of research in the region. The aim of the article is to determine the interdependencies between corruption and quality of life indicators in EU countries. Multivariate regression models revealed that the prevalence of corruption among individual groups of six countries had the highest impact on mortality rates, unambiguously showing how well countries are managing their health care systems, population density, birth rate and population aging, GDP per capita, economic situation, life expectancy, serving as an indicator of quality of life and the number of people with primary education. The results of empirical research allow to form insights that in order to reduce corruption it is necessary to focus on the following spheres reflecting the quality of life: education, health care system and general economic situation of the country. The article used the following methods: comparative and systematic literature analysis, multiple regression analysis.

Studies looking at the links between corruption and quality of life have begun to take place recently, as until now the quality of life has not traditionally been associated with political decisions. Corruption may be defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which in one way or another affects the quality of life and satisfaction of others. The aim is to bridge the gap between the nexus of corruption and the quality of life in the EU. EU countries were divided into groups of countries according to the year of accession and cover the years 2004-2017 period. The EU has been selected as a geographical region with the aim of uneven economic development of the countries and the lack of research in the region. The aim of the article is to determine the interdependencies between corruption and quality of life indicators in EU countries. Multivariate regression models revealed that the prevalence of corruption among individual groups of six countries had the highest impact on mortality rates, unambiguously showing how well countries are managing their health care systems, population density, birth rate and population aging, GDP per capita, economic situation, life expectancy, serving as an indicator of quality of life and the number of people with primary education. The results of empirical research allow to form insights that in order to reduce corruption it is necessary to focus on the following spheres reflecting the quality of life: education, health care system and general economic situation of the country. The article used the following methods: comparative and systematic literature analysis, multiple regression analysis.

The frame -- EU competition policy and EU institutions -- Competition theory -- Competition practice

Few countries are part of the European Union but on the verge of the Euro-zone. This study aims at identifying the amplitude of the direct ECB monetary policy impact, i.e. the so-called international monetary spillovers, in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The use of a panel-VAR method allows to deal with the small time span and endogeneity. We found that CEECs tend to significantly converge in monetary terms to the ECB standards. The direct impact on real variables remains relatively weak but contrary to the literature, is significant and in line with expectations. A persistent negative adjustment of GDP gives a quick glimpse of a robust reaction against monetary shock when the focus is made on the post-economic crisis period. The exchange rate regime plays a small but significant role in terms of magnitude. This increased interdependence is the result of macroeconomic reforms implemented during the last 25 years.

Few countries are part of the European Union but on the verge of the Euro-zone. This study aims at identifying the amplitude of the direct ECB monetary policy impact, i.e. the so-called international monetary spillovers, in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The use of a panel-VAR method allows to deal with the small time span and endogeneity. We found that CEECs tend to significantly converge in monetary terms to the ECB standards. The direct impact on real variables remains relatively weak but contrary to the literature, is significant and in line with expectations. A persistent negative adjustment of GDP gives a quick glimpse of a robust reaction against monetary shock when the focus is made on the post-economic crisis period. The exchange rate regime plays a small but significant role in terms of magnitude. This increased interdependence is the result of macroeconomic reforms implemented during the last 25 years.

This paper employs the methodology of "constitutional political economy" to examine the definition of citizenship, and the delineation of the rights that accompany citizenship. The concepts developed are then applied to the question of how rights and citizenship should be defined in the European Union. The answer to this question is shown to depend on whether the Union is organized as a federation or a confederation. The concepts developed are then used to critique the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and to question whether this Charter should be made a part of a new European Union constitution.