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"Welchen Einfluss haben Unternehmen auf die europäische Handelspolitik? Durch einen Überblick des
Politikfelds analysiert der Artikel Instrumente, mit denen Unternehmen in der EU Lobbyismus betreiben
können. Vielen Firmen werden allerdings nicht von sich aus aktiv. Im Gegenteil, die Europäische
Kommission bemüht sich aktiv um die Zusammenarbeit der Unternehmen, da sie dadurch ihre
Verhandlungsposition vis-à-vis Mitgliedsstaaten und Drittstaaten stärken kann. Dieses umgekehrte
Lobbying hat Folgen für die Inhalte der Unternehmensforderungen im Bereich Handelspolitik.
Wirtschaftliche Akteure können ein gutes Arbeitsverhältnis mit der Europäischen Kommission aufbauen,
wenn sie gesamteuropäische Konzepte verfolgen, sei es Handelsliberalisierung oder EU-weite
Regulierung. Nationaler Protektionismus kann europäische Entscheidungsfindung blockieren, so dass
merkantilistische Anfragen an die nationalen Regierungen gerichtet werden müssen, die diese dann durch
den Rat der Minister voranbringen können. Der Artikel illustriert diese zweigleisige Lobbyingstrategien in
der Landwirtschaft, dem Textilhandel, dem Finanzdienstleistungssektor und der Telekommunikation." [Autorenreferat]

The purpose of this text is to present the results of a research in which the author analysed succeeding crisis situations that could constitute the basis for some of the changes in the political system of the EC/EU and subsequently made an attempt to delineate a certain scheme behind such behaviours. It is justified to seek the answer to the following question: What is the underlying reason for introducing changes in such situations and is it possible to pinpoint certain shared elements in different cases?To achieve that goal the author takes a closer look on the "empty chair" crisis, Schengen Area crisis and the recent financial crisis in Europe. In order to confirm the actual value of the conducted research, the author will make an attempt to relate his observations to the current geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe with reference to the EU competences in the existing political system.

The purpose of this text is to present the results of a research in which the author analysed succeeding crisis situations that could constitute the basis for some of the changes in the political system of the EC/EU and subsequently made an attempt to delineate a certain scheme behind such behaviours. It is justified to seek the answer to the following question: What is the underlying reason for introducing changes in such situations and is it possible to pinpoint certain shared elements in different cases?To achieve that goal the author takes a closer look on the "empty chair" crisis, Schengen Area crisis and the recent financial crisis in Europe. In order to confirm the actual value of the conducted research, the author will make an attempt to relate his observations to the current geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe with reference to the EU competences in the existing political system.

Chapter 1. Introduction: labour migration policy-making in the EU -- Chapter 2. The Theories of Policy-Making -- Chapter 3. The European Policy Approach to the Labour Migration Problem -- Chapter 4. Recent Trends in Labour Migration -- Chapter 5. Policy Process in the European Union -- Chapter 6. Institutional Decision-Making in the EU -- Chapter 7. Labour Migration Policy-making in the EU -- Chapter 8. The EU as efficient polity in migration: conflict and cooperation -- Chapter 9. Conclusion: present realities and future prospect.

This paper informs about latest statistical data of passenger traffic and freighthandling in ports of European Union, covering the transport of goods between EUports. It also presents maritime transport flows with individual results to mainEuropean ports. Information is based on data collected within the frame of the EUmaritime transport statistics Directive. The content refers to the 23 of total maritimeMember States.

This paper covers citizenship by investment (CBI) schemes in the European Union (EU) context which allow to acquire nationality of the EU member state through targeted investments. We were verifying whether the negative attitude of the EU towards the CBI schemes of member states and the ongoing war in Ukraine threaten their very existence. In order to achieve the objective, we analysed the rules on the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization as well as the relationship between nationality of the EU member states, which is still their exclusive competence and the EU citizenship status. Subsequently, we compared CBI schemes of three EU member states (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta). The results show that the EU has put pressure on member states to cancel their CBI programs because of the complex relationship between the national citizenship on the one hand and the EU citizenship and related rights enforceable across the whole EU on the other hand. This EU pressure has been further intensified following the war in Ukraine. The reason is that Russian nationals made up a significant number of CBI applicants and also because some Russian or Belarusian nationals who are supporting the war in Ukraine might have acquired EU citizenship under CBI schemes. Of the three countries we analysed, only Malta currently has a valid CBI program. Bulgaria and Cyprus abolished their CBI programs. This development indicates that the EU has gradually succeeded in eliminating the existence of CBI in the EU member states. However, it is not yet clear whether this practice of member states is contrary to the EU law. We assume that the Court of Justice of the EU will resolve this question in the ongoing infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission against Malta.

Network activities are an essential part of the economy. They represent services of general economic interest and include electronic communication, electricity, postal and railway services. At the end of the 1980s, the European Commission brought forward legislative proposals to open the monopolistic service markets of general economic interest. In that way, states would prepare the legislation to liberalise services, and state-owned monopolistic enterprises would adapt to the new conditions in the market. State-owned railway companies were megalomanic, exerting a triple role of managing the railway infrastructure and service facilities and providing railway transport services. In the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) adopted new legislation that would open the railway freight transport market. This initiated a new era of the railway. Separation of the functions within state own monopolistic companies into infrastructure management and railway undertakings quickly became a reality, paving the way for new railway freight operators. EU directives are implemented differently throughout the EU, which leads to various solutions. We have analysed various scientific and professional sources to understand better different correlations between the traffic parameters of the railway freight transport market. The key parameters were: (1) number of new undertakings, (2) ton-kilometres, (3) infrastructure charges and (4) quantity of transported goods. This paper researches the current state of the railway freight transport market and aims to define the shortcomings in the analyses of the impact of railway liberalisation on freight transport. Our research pointed out the need for seeing a broader picture of state interventions and infrastructure manager independence in the context of preventing market marginalisation. In addition, we have concluded that a number of the new undertakings is not a crucial parameter for understanding the railway freight transport market.

Report prepared by Regioplan in co-operation with Gijsbert Vonk (RUG) for the European Commission

The policy of official multilingualism is one of the most important and fundamental principles of the Union. However, a large number of official languages imposes substantial financial, communication and legal costs. We address the merits of extensive multilingualism and formulate an analytical framework to determine the optimal number of official languages in the EU. First, we derive the sequence of optimal sets of languages which identifies the sets of languages that minimize aggregate linguistic disenfranchisement of the Union's citizens for any given number of languages. We then proceed by discussing the political-economy framework and feasibility of a potential linguistic reform in the EU under various voting rules, including the Nice Treaty, the proposed European Constitution and the Penrose law. We argue that a six-language regime would be a reasonable intermediate choice: a lower number of official languages results in excessive linguistic disenfranchisement whereas adding further languages increases the costs but brings only modest benefits. We also show that even though a linguistic reform reducing the number of official languages to six is unlikely to gain sufficient support at the present, this may change in the future since young people tend to be more proficient at speaking foreign languages.

The policy of official multilingualism is one of the most important and fundamental principles of the Union. However, a large number of official languages imposes substantial financial, communication and legal costs. We address the merits of extensive multilingualism and formulate an analytical framework to determine the optimal number of official languages in the EU. First, we derive the sequence of optimal sets of languages which identifies the sets of languages that minimize aggregate linguistic disenfranchisement of the Union's citizens for any given number of languages. We then proceed by discussing the political-economy framework and feasibility of a potential linguistic reform in the EU under various voting rules, including the Nice Treaty, the proposed European Constitution and the Penrose law. We argue that a six-language regime would be a reasonable intermediate choice: a lower number of official languages results in excessive linguistic disenfranchisement whereas adding further languages increases the costs but brings only modest benefits. We also show that even though a linguistic reform reducing the number of official languages to six is unlikely to gain sufficient support at the present, this may change in the future since young people tend to be more proficient at speaking foreign languages.