Suchergebnisse

The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to produce and implement river basin management plans, which are to be designed and updated via participatory processes that inform, consult with, and actively involve all interested stakeholders. The assumption of the European Commission is that stakeholder participation, and institutional adaptation and procedural innovation to facilitate it, are essential to the effectiveness of river basin planning and, ultimately, the environmental impact of the Directive. We analyzed oficial documents and the WFD literature to compare implementation of the Directive in EU membre states in the initial WFD planning phase (2000-2009). Examining the development of participatory approaches to river basin management planning, we consider the extent of transformation in EU water governance over the period. Employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, we map the implementation "trajectories" of 13 member states, and then provide a detailed examination of shifts in river basin planning and participation in four member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland and France) to illustrate the diversity of institutional approaches observed. We identify a general tendency towards increased, yet circumscribed, stakeholder participation in river basin management in the member states examined, alongside clear continuities in terms of their respective pre-WFD institutional and procedural arrangements. Overall, the WFD has driven a highly uneven shift to river basin-level planning among the member states, and instigated a range of efforts to institutionalize stakeholder involvement-often through the establishment of advisory groups to bring organized stakeholders into the planning process.

European Union (EU) has many different policy areas which differ from agriculture to transport. Environment is one of the policy areas of the EU. The environmental policy has developed since the 1970s. This policy area got treaty base with the Single European Act. There were amendments with the treaties. The decision making process was also amended with the treaties. In this paper amendments related to environmental policy decision making has been analysed in order to see how the process changed in time and in what way. To see this changes firstly the environment policy is explained and then the decision making process is evaluated and lastly a brief theoretical evaluation was given. ; Avrupa Birliği'nin (AB) tarımdan ulaşıma pekçok farklı politika alanı bulunmaktadır. Çevre AB'nin politika alanlarında biridir. Çevre politikası 1970li yıllardan beri gelişmektedir. Bu politika lanı Avrupa Tek Senedi ile antlaşmalara girmiştir. Daha sonraki antlaşmalarla yasal düzenlemeler yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, sürecin zaman içerisinde nasıl ve ne yönde değiştiğini görmek için çevre politikasına ilişkin karar alma ile ilgili düzenlemeler incelenmiştir. Bu değişikikleri görmek için önce çevre politikası açıklanmış, daha sonra karar alma süreci değerlendirilmiş ve son olarak kısa bir bir teorik bir değerlendirme yapılmıştır.

International law in general — Relation to municipal law — Treaties — Interpretation in municipal courts — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950 — Article 9 — Freedom of religion Education Act 1944 — Section 30 — Presumption that statute be interpreted in manner consistent with international treaty obligations — Statute enacted before conclusion of treaty — European Commission of Human Rights — Consideration of municipal court's application of municipal law — Whether reviewable The law of England and of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1950Treaties — Conclusion and operation of — Operation and enforcement — Necessity for municipal legislation — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950 — Absence of municipal enabling legislation — Relevance of Convention — Presumption that municipal law be interpreted in manner consistent with treaty obligations — Article 9 of the Convention — Education Act 1944 — Section 30 — Freedom of religious opinions and practice — The law of England and of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1950The individual in international law — In general — Human rights and freedoms — Freedom of religion — Attendance at mosque — Whether employee entitled to be absent from work without deduction of pay — Municipal law prohibiting discrimination — Education Act 1944, Section 30 — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950 — Article 9 — Freedom to manifest religion in community with others — Interpretation of municipal law by municipal court — Relevance of Convention provisions in absence of enabling legislation — European Commission of Human Rights — Application of municipal law by municipal court — Whether reviewable by Commission — Article 14 of the Convention — Non-discrimination in the enjoyment of rights under the Convention — The law of England and the European Convention on Human Rights, 1950

AbstractWhile feeling rules have been found to be highly relevant in social research and international relations, little is known about their role in European policy‐making. This article explores how emotions have been understood by Commission and Council officials and by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) across policy areas over a long time period (1999–2014). Qualitative content analysis reveals the existence of feeling rules and that the appropriateness of emotions has been contested. Many policy‐makers, placing emotions in opposition to rationality, have claimed that policy‐making should be devoid of emotions, especially in policy areas such as public health, energy, and the environment. In contrast, in policy areas such as foreign policy and home affairs, emotions are often considered to be appropriate. This article also reflects on the role of feeling rules in constraining and enabling the policy process, uncovering subtle power dynamics. Data analysed include the European Parliament (EP) database (1999–2014) and the EUSpeech database (2007–2015).

The University of Malta would like to acknowledge its gratitude to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) for their permission to upload this work on OAR@UoM. Further reuse of this document can be made, provided the source is acknowledged. This work was made available with the help of the Publications Office of the European Union, Copyright and Legal Issues Section ; The Ministry for Justice, Dialogue and Family coordinates gender equality policies in Malta. General training in the public administration comes under the Centre for Development Research and Training (CDRT), although the key gender training provider is the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE). The NCPE is in contact with the different departments of the ministries to identify gaps and write recommendations on the implementation of gender training. No policy commitments for gender training have been made at any level (national, ministerial or regional), since the termination of the 2009–10 gender equality action plan ; N/A

European Communities — Treaty amending certain budgetary provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the Treaty establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities (22 April 1970) — Decision of Council of Ministers of European Communities on replacement of the financial contributions of Member States by the Communities' own resources (21 April 1970) — Whether containing clauses contrary to French Constitution — The law of France418 Treaties — Conclusion and operation of — Constitutional limitations — French Constitution, Article 54 — International commitments containing clauses contrary to the Constitution — Ratification conditional on prior amendment of Constitution — European Communities — Treaty amending certain budgetary provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the Treaty establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities (22 April 1970) — Decision of Council of Ministers of European Communities on replacement of the financial contributions of Member States by the Communities' own resources (21 April 1970) — Whether containing clauses contrary to French Constitution — The law of France

Acknowledging the importance of gender studies for a rethinking of concepts such as democracy and citizenship, this article focuses on the development of the principle of equality of opportunities between men and women in postcommunist Romania. More precisely, starting from a case study that analyzes the functioning of the parliamentary commissions for equality of opportunities, this study seeks to analyze how Romanian society internalized gender equality. In this framework the author asserts that there is a gap between the institutional discourse and the daily realities and that the authorities still lack a coherent strategy for overcoming traditional attitudes concerning women's status within society. Considering the important role of international and regional organizations in transposing equality of opportunities in national legislation, this article provides a necessary insight into the dynamics of this principle within the United Nations and the European Union. The case study is based on an analysis of legal sources governing the functioning of the parliamentarian commissions, as well as on interviews with some of its members, seeking to reveal their goals and their comprehension of gender equality.

Abstract. Recent rapid advances in technology have provided us with a golden opportunity to effect change in health-related outcomes for chronic disease by employing digital technologies to encourage and support behavior change to promote and maintain health. Behavior change theories are the bedrock to developing evidence-based mHealth interventions. Digital technologies enable researchers to empirically test behavioral theories in "real-world" contexts using behavior change techniques ( Hekler, Michie, et al., 2016 ). According to the European Commission (2014) among the world's population of 7 billion, there are over 5 billion mobile devices and over 90% of the users have their mobile device near them 24 hr a day. This provides a huge opportunity for behavior change and one that health psychologists have already begun to address. However, while a novel and exciting area of research, many early studies have been criticized for lacking a strong evidence base in both design and implementation. The European Commission conducted a public consultation in 2016 on the issues surrounding the use of mHealth tools (e.g., apps) and found a lack of global standards was a significant barrier. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) mHealth Technical Evidence Review Group developed the mHealth evidence reporting and assessment (mERA) checklist for specifying the content of mHealth interventions. Health psychologists play a key role in developing mHealth interventions, particularly in the management of chronic disease. This article discusses current challenges facing widespread integration of mobile technology into self-management of chronic disease including issues around security and regulation, as well as investigating mechanisms to overcoming these barriers.

In the area of policymaking, we observe that decisions increasingly base on knowledge/evidence debated in hybrid think thanks by external experts. This knowledge is used to ideally fade uncertainties by calculating the risks involved in the final decision and by this to legitimize political decisions by delivering hard-facts in the argumentation (e.g. as "evidence-based-policy-making"). A consequence of this decision-making processes is the authoritative implementation of knowledge and direct application into the context of everyday-life. Such a political-decision-context often is a very specific situation, in which traditional mono-disciplinary scientific knowledge commonly is not precise enough, because usually it is produced to be universally valid and bases on certain assumptions. What is needed in such a context of real life application is socially robust knowledge. As a response to that demand, the mode of knowledge production is changing. Instead of linear-ordered knowledge-production, hybrid forums of heterogeneous actors are becoming important. These actors are debating and bargaining solutions to a problem and are co-constructing a contextualized knowledge as decision-making-base for the specific context of application. This discursive process of knowledge production is not only affected by the different forms of knowledge from the heterogeneous actors, it is also influenced by the heterogeneous world of relevancies (interests, targets, practices, experiences…). This study assesses and analyses by a multiple triangulation how an Indicator Expert Group of the European Commission develops social indicators (as an example for political evidence) within a transdisciplinary- and transnational expert-discourse. Based on multiple data sources my study is offering information on how evidence is produced in decision-making within such hybrid forums, e.g. important factors, processes and structures influencing indicator-systems.

When the country of Yugoslavia disintegrated into war, the United Nations created a research commission, the Yugoslav Commission of Experts, to document war crimes. This commission, led by Cherif M. Bassiouni, depicted the conflict as a perpetual problem with historical roots and also as having victims on both sides, which presented a legal-definitional paradox to the Security Council, requiring litigation of principles, categorization of conflicts, and discussion of further involvement - if applicable. This paper traces the essentialist understandings of the Commission of Experts and the International Human Rights Law Institute – two groups that otherwise had good intentions to bring about peace and justice in the former Yugoslavia, but presented contradictory evidence and descriptions of the conflict. This essentialist portrayal stalled the UN Security Council, stalling adequate aid for the first half of the 1990s.

PurposeIn 2010, "The Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour" published a major report. This paper critically assesses the report by placing it within a context of juvenile/youth justice policy reform extending over the last 50 years.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based upon national and international policy analysis and comparative research.FindingsIn recent years the persistent politicisation of youth crime and an obsession with "tough" responses to child offenders in England and Wales have produced one of the most problematic youth justice regimes in the Western world. Against this backdrop the report of the Independent Commission on Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour is designed to influence policy reform. By drawing on an international evidence base, this paper assesses the merits of the Commission's proposals and the extent to which they signify a "fresh start" or a "false dawn".Originality/valueThe paper argues that international evidence, alongside the provisions of both global and pan‐European human rights standards, provides a compelling case for raising the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales, for developing youth justice policy and practice in accordance with the principle of minimum necessary intervention and for abolishing prison service and private sector penal custody for children and young people.

Holm (Institute of Medicine, Law, and Bioethics, University of Manchester, UK) and Jonas (Center for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester) gather papers representing the work performed as part of the Empirical Methods in Bioethics project sponsored by the European Commission, DG-Research. The papers are mainly concerned with investiga