Suchergebnisse

The results of the UK referendum in favour of leaving the European Union (EU) clearly put into question the European economic and political project as well as its institutional structure. This article argues that the Brexit may be a momentum to reform the institutional structure and procedural rules through which tax policy is made at the EU level. The UK referendum is indeed unlikely to further slow down the EU harmonization process in tax matters, which has always followed a tortuous path. Instead, the Brexit may give momentum to reform major weaknesses of the EU institutional and decision-making process in tax matters, in particular the unanimity rule and the role of the European Parliament. Finally, with regard to taxation specifically, the establishment of an EU tax, providing the EU with sufficient genuine own resource, could also reinforce EU's legitimacy by countering the criticisms related to Member States' contribution to the European budget.

Maģistra darba mērķis ir izvērtēt Āfrikas Savienības (ĀS) nozīmi miera un drošības uzturēšanā, darba sākumā izvirzot apgalvojumu, ka ĀS lielākie izaicinājumi miera uzturēšanā un konfliktu risināšanā ir nespēja nodrošināt nepieciešamo resursu mobilizāciju un spēku ģenerēšanu. Darba teorētiskajā ietvarā tiek aplūkoti miera uzturēšanas un konfliktu pārvaldības principi, kā arī reģionālo organizāciju loma miera uzturēšanā. Darba tālākajā gaitā tiek aplūkoti drošības izaicinājumi Āfrikā, ĀS izveides vēsturiskais konteksts un tās galvenie darbības principi un miera uzturēšanas un konfliktu pārvaldības instrumenti. Pētījuma analīzes daļā tiek izvērtētas ĀS miera uzturēšanas misijas Burundi, Sudānā un Somālijā, analizējot ĀS ieguldījumu šo konfliktu risināšanā. Darba noslēgumā tika apkopoti ĀS miera un drošības uzturēšanas ierobežojumi un izaicinājumi. ; The main aim of this thesis is to assess the role of the African Union (AU) in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa. This study focuses on the argument that the main challenge affecting the AU's peacekeeping and conflict resolution capabilities is the inability to provide the necessary resource mobilization and force generation. The theoretical basis of this thesis consists of peacekeeping, conflict management and resolution principles, as well as the role of regional organizations in the maintenance of peace and security. Further discussed topics are the security challenges in Africa, the establishment of the AU, as well as its key operating principles and peacekeeping and conflict management tools. The analysis section focuses on the AU peacekeeping missions in Burundi, Sudan and Somalia, which were selected to evaluate the role of the AU.

This article investigates what happens when governmental actors foster the participation of non-state actors (NSAs) in treaty ratification and implementation decisions. NSAs, being non-governmental organisations, business groups, citizens, or research institutions among others represent interests that will be ultimately impacted by policy choices. While governments have long consulted them on an ad hoc basis, a "deliberative turn" happened in the 2000s to encourage their involvement, for greater legitimacy and transparency, through among others, the use of public consultations. This proactive turn raises questions about public consultations: are such instruments effective? Do they encourage new thinking? Do they matter for final decisions? This article answers these questions by investigating, using among others lexicometry tools, the public consultation organised by the European Commission in 2011 prior to the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing (ABS) by the European Union in 2014. The results are mixed. While the studied public consultation favoured the expression of small national NSAs the process is still poorly inclusive. NSAs did not propose any fresh ideas on the ABS issue and their final influence on European decision-makers is blurred by the diversity of interests expressed.

The EUROSUR system is supposed to further the surveillance of external borders of European Union Member States. From this point of view, it can be considered an important step in the construction of a controlled space. Drawing inspiration from the Foucauldian attention to programs and technologies, and mobilizing the Actor- Network-Theory concepts of setting and actant, the paper investigates EUROSUR main methodological operations. It highlights how the making of a controlled space is, first and foremost, a mise-en-discours going well beyond surveillance and pro- hibition: a continuous effort to make sense of a disparate multiplicity, encompassing both human and nonhuman elements, both controlled and controlling ones. From a theoretical perspective, the chapter contributes to on-going endeavors to reinvigor- ate the post-structuralist studies of International Relations with approaches inspired by Actor-Network-Theory.

In recent years, public authorities and civil-society organisations, driven by increasing public disengagement and a growing sense of distrust between the public and their representatives, have been instituting exercises in public deliberation, often using 'mini-publics', that is relatively small groups of citizens, selected according to various criteria and representing different viewpoints, brought together to deliberate on a particular issue. From small-scale experiments, mini- publics have recently taken a constitutional turn, at least in Europe. Iceland and Ireland have turned to deliberative democracy to reform their constitutions. Estonia, Luxembourg and Romania have also experienced constitutional processes in a deliberative mode. In Belgium, the G1000, a citizen-led initiative of deliberative democracy, has fostered a wider public debate about the place and role of citizens in the country's democracy. At the same time, the European Union institutions have introduced different forms of deliberative democracy as a way to reconnect with citizens. These empirical cases are indicative of a possible 'constitutional turn' in deliberative democracy in Europe. These examples of constitution-making happened in a particular time and place but they may also serve as models for other events.