Today, Europe is living a new decisive time as it has been in its past after World War II, in search of unity in diversity in the name of a peace project to safeguard future. If, on the one hand, Europe expresses aspirations for profound changes in its external environment, in the domestic context, it ends up colliding with aspects linked to sovereignty and human rights; on the other hand, in European foreign policy, the model reveals the search to legitimize its action. Precisely, the objective and the motivation of this study seek, through the qualitative methodology in Political Science, to analyse and understand the current context of the European Union in the international system. In fact, it is identified that this new hierarchy of powers, in the reaffirmation of the Westphalian system, where economic power comes, is bound to consolidate the democratic development between the old and new times of international relations in the destiny of Europe. From the results obtained during the analysis, in order to face again the unpredictability of the world scenario, it is a reality that Europe must promote the re-encounter of an alternative role, in other words, to assume its initial project of European edification in the name of equality of circumstances and rights of its affirmation in the global arena.
It is common today, even in the European media, to treat the current crisis of the European Union almost exclusively as an economic crisis. The present article pretends to show that such a focus is not only wrong but is indeed dangerous for the future development of the European Union as a whole. The article will argue that the present economic crisis simply aggravated – and a lot – a crisis of legitimacy through which the European Union has been passing for some time. Showing that the anti-European tendencies which are spreading throughout the countries of the continent threaten the very future of the European project, the article will make suggestion on reforms for the future development of the EU, alerting to the necessity to finally elaborate once again a coherent argument for the continuation of the European integration process which puts the European population at the heart of the political process instead of just austerity.
Executive council Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session 07 - 08 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; The Heads of State and Government in 2016 adopted African Space Policy and Strategy through Assembly/AU/Dec.589(XXVI) Decision and requested the Commission to carry out consultations with a view to evaluating the legal, structural and financial implications for the creation of a continental African Space Agency. This was followed by the adoption, in January 2018 through Assembly/AU/Dec.676(XXX), the Statute of African Space Agency.
Executive council Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session 07 - 08 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; The Heads of State and Government in 2016 adopted African Space Policy and Strategy through Assembly/AU/Dec.589(XXVI) Decision and requested the Commission to carry out consultations with a view to evaluating the legal, structural and financial implications for the creation of a continental African Space Agency. This was followed by the adoption, in January 2018 through Assembly/AU/Dec.676(XXX), the Statute of African Space Agency.
O presente artigo tem como objetivo mostrar como a União Européia, por meio da atividade da Corte de Justiça das Comunidades Européias, vem restringindo a proteção à saúde em nome da efetivação do Mercado Comum Europeu, base da construção européia. Demonstra-se este fato pela análise das mais significativas decisões relativas, direta e indiretamente, à saúde emanadas por essa Corte. Constata-se o esvaziamento da noção de proteção à saúde por meio, principalmente, da interpretação estrita dos artigos(1) do Tratado das Comunidades Européias, que viabilizam a possibilidade de existência de medidas nacionais que contradigam o Direito Comunitário em nome da proteção de certos valores, aqui a saúde. Nesse contexto, a saúde enquanto medida derrogatória, o monopólio farmacêutico, o princípio de precaução encontram-se fortemente enfraquecidos. Esse fato revela o papel que a Corte européia vem assumindo por meio da integração negativa, dentro do atual contexto decisional cada vez mais complexo da União, e a incapacidade desta para traçar objetivos comuns em áreas controvertidas, mas de suma importância, como a da saúde. ; This article aims to highlight how the European Union, throughout the activity of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, has been restricting the protection of health on the behalf of the European Common Market effectiveness. This is shown by the analysis of the most significant decisions related to health. It is noted that the notion of protection of health has been loosing its sense by the strict interpretation of the articles of the European Community Treaty, which actually allows the existence of measures in opposition to the European Law, in the name of the protection of certain major tenets, like the protection of health. In this context, the derogatory measures, pharmaceutical monopoly and principle of precaution find themselves almost weakling. This fact reveals the role played by the European Court through the negative integration process, inside the complex decisional context of the European Union, and its incapacity of establishing common goals in controversial but highly important domains like health.
Defence date: 21 November 2008 ; Examining Board: Prof. Doutor Jacques Ziller, Instituto Universitário Europeu; Prof. Doutor Pedro Bacelar Vasconcelos, Universidade do Minho; Prof. Doutor Rui Moura Ramos, Universidade de Coimbra; Prof. Doutor Francesco Francioni, Instituto Universitário Europeu. ; First made available online 14 January 2015. ; Portugal is a very good illustration of the current identity quests that are pursued by communities of all shapes and sizes – local, national, supranational, international, civilizational – in response to old urges and new threats posed in a globalised, but also "glocalised", world. Torn between its European body and its atlantic/lusophone "soul", Portugal tries to strike a balance between the two dimensions of its identity as a polity and, in the process, claims a special role as mediator between north and south, Europe and the African continent. Although fully committed to the European immigration policy, with its restrictive dimensions and its focus on integration, Portugal purports to articulate the European demands with the special solidarity bonds that exist with the Portuguese speaking countries. It has been so for a number of years, but the recent developments in both the Portuguese nationality and immigration laws show that the fears expressed by many that Schengen would surpass the lusophone ties were well founded and that, no matter how well intended the Portuguese policies are in these matters, the result will be detrimental to the so-called lusophone citizens. They do enjoy a special status – encompassing voting rights and access to public office that is generally forbidden to all foreigners (a status unparalleled in the two other European countries under scrutiny, France and the United Kingdom) – but their access to the Portuguese territory has been curtailed. Even more than Portugal, which until recently was the last of the European "nation states" and only now faces visible cultural diversity in its society, the European Union and the Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) struggle with the definition of their respective identities and sense of purpose, seeking to win the hearts and minds of their peoples. Commonly considered a natural spontaneous community, due to the existence of a common language, the CPLP faces the difficulties posed by mutual distrust and old grudges and the fear, by many, that it is only an expression of imperial nostalgia on the part of Portugal. Its member states show only a mild commitment, engaged as they all are in other regional communities of their own, as can be seen in the discussions on citizenship and free movement within the lusophone area. There are many similarities between the legal systems of the CPLP member states, which can be explained by the cooperation between lawyers and academics specially in Africa and East Timor, but some of those similarities are merely formal, with little correspondence in the law in action, and coexist with relevant differences due mostly to different levels of socio-economic development and political will. For the European Union the purpose of fostering a feeling of belonging and solidarity between the peoples of Europe is an ongoing struggle for legitimacy which has suffered major setbacks in recent years. After the constitutional momentum, the Union has adopted a more modest stance, but has by no means given up winning the support of the European citizens. One of the fields in which its intervention is demanded is directly linked with the identity quest in progress – border definition and control, policies towards illegal and legal aliens. Stressing the need to integrate the third country nationals who are legal residents and adopting the mantra of intercultural dialogue, the EU presents itself as a guardian for human rights and a fighter against racism, at the same time as it tries to keep Europe for the Europeans as much as possible. Its member states are willing, for European or domestic reasons, to go along and easily drop old preferences for extra-community bonds of solidarity. Portugal may again be the last of the empires, keeping a special status for the foreigners of lusophone origin, but it nevertheless keeps with the times when it comes to admission to its territory.
Executive Council Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session 7 – 8 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) was created in 1991 in response to the shortage of capacity to build indigenous human and institutional capacity to promote sustainable development in Africa. The Foundation was designed to serve as a coordinating mechanism for donor support to capacity building in Africa, through the pooling of resources and a common governance and reporting system. To date, 40 African countries have become members of ACBF. ACBF has, however, continued to avail its support to all African countries regardless of their membership status. In recognition of its effective support to African countries, ACBF was designated by African Heads of States and Government a Specialized Agency of the African Union by Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.621 (XXVIII) of the 28th Assembly in January 2017.
Assembly of the union Thirty-Second Ordinary Session 10 – 11 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; Africa is the origin of man, four and a half million years ago and all human beings only lived in Africa until about 100,000 years ago. The last ice-age ended 11,700 years ago. Before that People could not live in many parts of the North of our Globe. Therefore, the European Stock (Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Australians), the Asians, the Arabsetc. are all former Africans
Executive Council Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session 7 – 8 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; The significance of human rights and transitional justice (TJ) cannot be overemphasized. This underscores why Aspiration three (3), "An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law",and Aspiration four (4), "A peaceful and secured Africa", of Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want – focus on human rights promotion, silencing the guns by 2020, peace, security and development. In order to accomplish these objectives of Africa's Agenda 2063, a ten-year implementation plan was developed. The year 2015 was dedicated to Women's empowerment and 2016 to human rights, with a special focus on the rights of women
After the Lisbon Summit of 2009, the whole matter of fundamental rights in the European Union has taken a new connotation. Local economic interests and social protests – in opposition to the "neoliberal agenda" of EU institutions – have played an important role in stopping the enforcement of the "Constitutional Treaty" and boosted an anti-Euro mobilization. In the meanwhile, the European bodies and transnational corporations have continued to settle a new and alternative basis for the integration. A radical shift can be observed, from the research of synthetic set of principles – as those established on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – to a deeply technical and detailed normative production. The regulation on safety and healthy workplaces is one of the best point of view to study this change. Far from calling into question the unbalanced positions between the parties in contemporary labour relationships, the European strategy for workers' protection move through procedural issues and voluntary obedience to the soft law instruments. In the past, the legal doctrine described the creation of a multilevel architecture of institutions, sometimes implemented in a top-down approach. Along with this, recently, it was implemented the establishment of common organizational standards associated to a specific system of corporate governance to pursue a better integration between business and fundamental rights. ; Após o Summit de Lisboa de 2009, toda a questão dos direitos fundamentais na União Europeia tomou uma nova conotação. Os interesses econômicos locais e os protestos sociais – em oposição a "agenda neoliberal" promovida pelas instituições europeias – têm desempenhado um papel importante em parar a execução do "Tratado Constitucional" e impulsionaram uma mobilização anti-Euro. No enquanto isso, os organismos europeus e as empresas transnacionais instalaram uma base nova e alternativa para a integração. Uma mudança radical pode ser observada, a partir da pesquisa de um conjunto (ainda) sintético de princípios – como os estabelecidos na Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia – para uma produção normativa profundamente técnica e detalhada. A regulação da segurança no lugar de trabalho é um dos melhores pontos de observação para estudar a transformação mencionada. Longe de pôr em causa as posições desequilibradas entre as partes nas relações de trabalho contemporâneas, a estratégia europeia para a proteção da saúde dos trabalhadores prefere as questões procedimentais e a adesão voluntária aos instrumentos de soft law. No passado, a doutrina jurídica descrevia a criação de uma arquitetura multi-nível de instituições, as vezes implementada por meio de uma abordagem de cima para baixo (top-down approach). Junto com isso, recentemente, teve a implementação de padrões organizacionais comuns para a criação de um sistema específico de governança corporativa, finalizado a buscar uma melhor integração entre os negócios e os direitos fundamentais.
O autor parte do reconhecimento da existência da atual crise – à semelhança da crise no pós-guerra – para elaborar sobre o significativo percurso no âmbito da cooperação judiciária penal na União Europeia, que acompanhou, por sua vez, a evolução da integração política. A União Europeia encontra-se hoje numa etapa crucial no que respeita à construção de uma jurisdição penal plena, caminho esse parametrizado pelo Tratado de Lisboa, nomeadamente quanto à criação de uma Procuradoria Europeia. Esta poderá vir a desenhar-se como um órgão "federal", com uma atuação concentrada e uniforme para todo o território da União Europeia, como espaço natural da sua jurisdição territorial. ; The author firstly recognizes the existence of the current crisis – similar to the crisis in post-war Europe – to elaborate on the significant path that criminal judicial cooperation in the European Union undertook, sustained by the evolution of political integration. Today the European Union is at a crucial stage in regards to the construction of a full criminal jurisdiction, particularly regarding the creation of a European Public Prosecutor's Office, as parameterized by the Lisbon Treaty. This is likely to emerge as a "federal" agency, with a concentrated and uniform action throughout the territory of the European Union, as the natural area of its territorial jurisdiction.
Executive Council Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session 7 – 8 February 2019 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ; The African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC) was established in accordance with the provisions of article 22 (5) (a) of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC). The Convention was adopted at the second ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, on 11th July 2003, and entered into force on 5th August 2006, thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth instrument of ratification. As at November 2018, the Convention had been signed by 49 states and ratified or acceded to by 40 States.
Le droit de l'Union Européenne est fondé sur la garantie de la liberté de circulation des personnes, des marchandises, des capitaux et des services. D'autres impératifs sont venus s'ajouter à la garantie de ces libertés, dont la garantie d'un niveau élevé de protection de la santé humaine. Pour concilier ces objectifs, il est notamment nécessaire de s'assurer que les professionnels de santé souhaitant délivrer des prestations dans l'Union Européenne disposent de qualifications suffisantes. Chaque Etat membre de l'Union reste en principe maître de l'organisation générale de son système de santé. Mais le droit de l'Union Européenne peut parfois inciter voire obliger les Etats à modifier certaines limites de compétence entre professionnels. ; European Union law is based on guaranteeing the free movement of people, goods, capital and services. Other requirements were added to these freedoms, including the ensure of a high level of protection for human health. To reconcile these objectives, it is essential to ensure that health professionals who provide services throughout the European Union are sufficiently qualified. In principle, each Member State is responsable for the general organization of its health system. However, European Union law may, in many cases, encourage or even oblige States to modify certain limits of competence among the health professions. ; O direito da União Europeia baseia-se na garantia da livre circulação de pessoas, bens, capitais e serviços. Outros quesitos foram adicionados a essas liberdades, incluindo a garantia a um elevado nível de proteção da saúde humana. Para conciliar esses objetivos, é especialmente necessário assegurar que os profissionais de saúde que prestam serviços na União Europeia sejam suficientemente qualificados. Em princípio, cada Estado-membro é responsável pela organização geral de seu sistema de saúde, mas a legislação da União Europeia pode, em muitos casos, estimular ou mesmo obrigar os Estados a modificarem certos limites de competência entre as profissões de saúde.
Analyzing the "left" and "right" political positions of individuals is challenging because personal attributes may influence political decisions without directly causing them. This issue may be even more pronounced in Latin America, where young democracies encounter the challenge of stabilizing political choices over time. This study contributes to the literature by analyzing the influence of personal attributes on political choices, focusing on the early 2000s, when the "left" turn occurred. The present study relies on the World Values Survey's fifth wave (2005-2008) to fulfil this objective. This dataset is composed of data that have been collected globally, and the questions are related to diverse subjects associated with the quality of life of individuals. From the available sample, we included all of the Latin American countries that participated in this wave: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. In this study, the aim is to directly understand the impact of these individuals own attributes on their declared self-positioning about the political leaning. To this aim, an ordered logit model was used to analyse how each variable exerts influence on the political leaning of the respondents. Our results found that political cleavages depend on demographic factors, economic factors, and individual opinions in agreement with previous studies. Increased age, religious service attendance, and satisfaction with one's financial life increase the tendency of individuals for self-positioning to the right of the political spectrum. The possession of a university degree and residence in a large city increases the likelihood of individuals of self-identifying with a leftist political position. This study contributes to the literature by analysing the influence of personal attributes on political choices. Although this research represents an important step toward understanding political leanings in Latin American countries, a significant amount of future research remains. The definitions of "left" and "right" continue to be unclear as they relate to dimensions that include democracy, autocracy, and political reform. Understanding the ways individuals set up their choices would increase the responsibility of political parties and authorities for the hidden claim the population has about their deliverables. At the same time, studies like ours may enhance the awareness of the general impression over political party choices of candidates. Finally, even with so many confounding aspects in this antagonist position, the left and the right continue to be a simple way to characterize veiled assumptions. Therefore, it may be an ambiguous form of defining choices, but this seemingly binary choice is still very significant for voters in Latin America.
The production of biofuels is strongly supported all over the world as a renewable energy source for reducing dependence on the unstable oil market. Bioethanol, the main biofuel produced in the world, is widely used to power vehicles in both the USA and Brazil, but concerns exist in both places regarding its sustainability. In Brazil, it is produced from a by product of the sugar cane industry, while in the USA it is manufactured from food crops. The production of biogas and biodiesel is growing rapidly, but neither has outpaced the production of bioethanol. The European Union (EU) is greatly interested in this issue, and in 2011 adopted an extensive strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to transport by 60% by the year 2050. In order to achieve this result, the current European transportation system must be transformed. This ambitious goal will require the implementation of complex measures including the reduction of fossil fuels in favor of renewable fuels. This program has various options regarding the development of biofuels (e. g., biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel) and their related technologies, which are still on trial (mainly regarding the bioethanol production), and must also analyze their sustainability from a social and economic standpoint. The paper discusses the use of biofuels for transport in the European setting, and shows that their sustainability may result in relevant negative social effects due mainly to the use of land for energy crops (e.g., change of food price and world food shortage). ; A produção de biocombustíveis é fortemente reconhecida em todo o mundo como uma fonte de energia renovável para reduzir a dependência do mercado instável do petróleo. Bioetanol, o principal biocombustível produzido no mundo, é largamente utilizado para a mobilidade no Brasil, e também nos EUA, mas com diferenças de sustentabilidade, porque no Brasil ele é produzido a partir de um subproduto da indústria de cana-de-açúcar, enquanto nos EUA é fabricado com culturas alimentares. Biogás e biodiesel estão crescendo rapidamente, mesmo que em um nível muito menor do que o bioetanol. A União Europeia (UE) observa este assunto com grande interesse e, há dois anos, adoptou uma ampla estratégia para reduzir em 60% as emissões de dióxido de carbono no setor de transporte, até o ano 2050. A fim de alcançar esse resultado, será necessária a transformação do atual sistema europeu de transportes. A ambiciosa meta implicará em medidas complexas, incluindo a limitação do uso de combustíveis fósseis em favor de combustíveis renováveis. Este programa abre várias possibilidades de desenvolvimento dos biocombustíveis (ou seja, biogás, bioetanol e biodiesel). Para concretizar este avanço, é preciso se desenvolver tecnologias de nova geração em fase de experimentação (principalmente para a produção de bioetanol a partir de resíduos florestais), bem como a análise da sustentabilidade econômica e social desta nova fonte de combustível. Este artigo trata da utilização de biocombustíveis nos transportes no cenário europeu e mostra que a produção de biocombustíveis pode aumentar efeitos sociais negativos relevantes, principalmente ligados ao uso da terra para culturas energéticas em vez de alimentos com efeitos sobre o preço de mercado e da escassez mundial de alimentos. ; The production of biofuels is strongly supported all over the world as a renewable energy source for reducing dependence on the unstable oil market. Bioethanol, the main biofuel produced in the world, is widely used to power vehicles in both the USA and Brazil, but concerns exist in both places regarding its sustainability. In Brazil, it is produced from a by product of the sugar cane industry, while in the USA it is manufactured from food crops. The production of biogas and biodiesel is growing rapidly, but neither has outpaced the production of bioethanol. The European Union (EU) is greatly interested in this issue, and in 2011 adopted an extensive strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to transport by 60% by the year 2050. In order to achieve this result, the current European transportation system must be transformed. This ambitious goal will require the implementation of complex measures including the reduction of fossil fuels in favor of renewable fuels. This program has various options regarding the development of biofuels (e. g., biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel) and their related technologies, which are still on trial (mainly regarding the bioethanol production), and must also analyze their sustainability from a social and economic standpoint. The paper discusses the use of biofuels for transport in the European setting, and shows that their sustainability may result in relevant negative social effects due mainly to the use of land for energy crops (e.g., change of food price and world food shortage).
