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AbstractThe extent of the Council presidency's political influence is the subject of disagreement among both practitioners and researchers. While some describe the presidency as responsibility without power, others suggest that it provides incumbent states with an opportunity to achieve decision outcomes close to their preferences. This article formulates and tests hypotheses on the conditions under which presidents influence the timing and content of decision outcomes in the legislative arena. Decision outcomes are shown to be significantly more favourable to presidents in the chair at the time of adoption than to other Member States, even after controlling for other factors that influence bargaining success.

This paper analyses developments of comparative output and productivity levels in 17 manufacturing industries in Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia compared to the United States for the period 1980-2000. In order to express value added in a common currency, unit value ratios are developed for the benchmark year 1997. The study provides an update and extension of the benchmark studies for 1987 of Taiwan (Timmer, 1998), South Korea (Pilat, 1994) and Indonesia (Szirmai, 1994). In addition, comparisons of unit labour cost are made. It is shown that the Asian financial crisis has led to a quick restructuring process in South Korea which maintained its catch-up trend with the US during the 1990s. The level of value added per hour worked in 2000 is 35% of the US. On the other hand, performance in Taiwanese manufacturing dwindled in the 1990s and it has almost lost it productivity lead over South Korea. In 2000, labour productivity was 40% of the US level. Catching up in Indonesia started to take off at the end of the 1980s but this process has been dramatically reversed in the aftermath of the 1997 financial crisis. It has barely recovered to pre-1997 levels and growth relies heavily on export industries with little productivity growth. In 2000, value added per hour worked in the medium and large scale industry is still below 10% of the US level.

Implications for the effectiveness of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the proposed admission of Malta, which adheres to principles of neutrality and non-alignment. Also discusses the possibility of bringing the EU into disputes concerning maritime delimitation in the Central Mediterranean.

Health care systems across the European Union face a common challenge: the high cost of health care. Governments strive to ensure that cost pressures do not undermine values such as universal coverage and equitable financing and access. Focusing on the three health care financing functions - collection pooling and purchasing - as well as on coverage this book analyses the organization of health care financing in the Member States of the European Union discusses the principal financing reform trends of recent years and assesses their capacity to help ensure fiscal sustainability. The book inclu

The European Union (EU) policy on languages is based on multilingualism, that is with respect to the equality and parity of all 24 official and working languages (of the 28 member states). The EU functions in all these languages thanks to translation and interpretation, with a few exceptions. Three so called "procedural languages" (English, French and German) are used in the Commission for its internal work. French is also given working preference in the Court of Justice of the EU. Multilingualism helps to maintain transparency in the work of the institutions, facilitates communication with European citizens and heightens efficiency. The 47‐ state Council of Europe, by comparison, while recognizing the equality of all its languages, has opted for two working languages in its institutions and five in its Parliamentary Assembly. There is no common language in Europe and monolingualism is not under consideration for the time being. Among Europeans, English is the first language of mutual communication, French being the second. Europe, however, has a long history of functioning monolingualism and single language use in diplomacy, international relations, and intellectual life. In real life, the equality and parity of languages cannot be maintained for an extended time as the international community tends to function in one or a few languages, mainly for practical purposes but also to diminish the advantages enjoyed by native speakers of working or official languages. Languages in general convey the cultures of their native speakers, as well as their concepts, qualities, relations and terms (called "universals" in philosophy). The United States, for instance, does not have an official language by law, yet de facto, English has grown into that role. This paper is dedicated to the search for an ideal solution for EU institutions, which would make not only states but also their citizens more equal. The EU and other European organizations and their institutions will eventually need a common language in addition to all ...

The literature of Europeanization claims that the EU transforms the politics of member and candidate countries through processes such as social learning and socialization. This article questions the emphasis of Europeanization studies on ideational factors by looking at the example of Turkey-EU relations. The reform projects undertaken jointly by the EU and the Turkish police show that the EU seeks to transform the practices of candidate country actors, rather than simply their ideas. Moreover, the candidate country actors are not only passive learners, but they also seek to modify the content of EU reforms according to their interests.

AbstractThe literature of Europeanization claims that the EU transforms the politics of member and candidate countries through processes such as social learning and socialization. This article questions the emphasis of Europeanization studies on ideational factors by looking at the example of Turkey-EU relations. The reform projects undertaken jointly by the EU and the Turkish police show that the EU seeks to transform the practices of candidate country actors, rather than simply their ideas. Moreover, the candidate country actors are not only passive learners, but they also seek to modify the content of EU reforms according to their interests.