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The paper "Israel in the European neighborhood policy" attempts to explain the importance of the relation EU-Israel for the security of the European Union, but also for the global security. This task will be accomplished by analyzing basic documents vital for European political architecture, such as the European Security Strategy, Strategy Paper for Israel for the period 2007-2013, or EU/Israel Action Plan. The speeches of members of European Commission about the relation of EU with Israel are also important sources of the present paper, bringing valuable ideas who successfully complete the content of EU-Israel treaties. This paper attempts, also, to explain the functionning and the role of European neighborhood policy, its principles of action and objectives and, later on, to analyse the importance of Israel as a country found in the proximity of European Union. The reason for choosing Israel from all the other neighbors of the European Union, as subjects of European neighborhood policy, was the common values reflected in tradition and culture of the Jews from Israel and of the Europeans, enhanced by the European Jewry Heritage from Europe. We consider that the relationship between European Union and Israel is very normal and useful.
Among the priorities of action established by the two parts as a consequence of European Union-Israel treaties, we would like to point out the assignment to fight against anti-Semitism and against terrorist actions. The Jewish people are a people who passed through a lot of difficulties and inconveniences during history and through a great tragedy during the Holocaust. Israel represents the refuge they longed for centuries and democratic states do support Israeli aspiration towards having their own fatherland. Anti-Semitism increased now in the Arab world being the consequence of the conflicts between Palestinians and Israelites in the last decades. Some times it can take the form of terrorist action and hence the connection with terrorist networks. The fight against terrorism is not strictly connected with anti-Semitism; terrorist networks are acting more and more widely, including actions versus western civilization. So it is both in the interest of Europeans and Israel to act against the ones who put in danger the basic human values. Both Israel and European Union and United States also, have to reconsider their relation with Arab world whose aggression increased as being home for numerous extremist and terrorist Islamic movements. Terrorism is the present day threat and not a global war. But terrorism can cause much more damage than a war as affecting the entire world and mainly civilians. No place can be safe enough when confronting with such a threat. But the treaties between Israel and European Union have also economic, social, political, security related objectives. They have at their base the common values that Israel and European Union countries share: democracy, human rights and respect for fundamental freedoms. They wish to create more prosperous and secure countries. And they open European economy to Israeli participation. Strenghtening the economic ties between Israel and European Union, all sectors of cooperation will be strenghtened because economic interest is at the basis of long term relations. The method of work will be critical interpretation of the documents concerning European neighbourhood policy and its connection to Israel. The purpose is to understand the written base of EU and Israel relations as a precondition for further possible analysis of the diplomatic relations and politics of the two entities. Our position is to encourage the relationship between Israel and European Union. Israel and the European Union countries are united through historical ties as Jews from whole Europe contributed after 1948 to the creation and development of the Israelian state. Their relationship appears us very normal and an expected result.

"The current study aims to analyze certain trends in reporting about the European Monetary Union (EMU) in the press of four EU countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It examines the profile that the new currency has acquired when it was launched and particularly, the extent to which the currency is profiled in press reporting as a matter of national versus transnational as well as economic versus political significance. The purpose of this type of analysis is to examine the 'framing' of EMU. This study follows a well-established tradition in which media output is analyzed to examine how cumulative reporting of an issue (or a series of linked issues) results in a more or less coherent profile of the issue in question." (author's abstract)

Heffernan offers data on the trading, economic, & political power of the European Union (EU). Organizational expansion is shown by a list of historical stages in European integration. Criteria for EU membership & details of evolving enlargement are cited. An explanation of the EU's contemporary functions & characteristics includes review of the creation of the Council of Europe & events moving the organization from the ECSC (European Coal & Steel Community) to the Maastricht treaty. Examination of the EU's interdependence considers the influence of the two world wars on European integration. There is reflection on conflict over integration & development as well as intergovernmentalism & supranationalism. The question, "How is the EU governed?" delves into the European Council's functions & the European Commission's composition. Legislative & executive systems are outlined. Fast periods of integration are listed & compared with slower, more conflictive epochs. Historical perspective of the EU covers the specificity of Western Europe & the role of intergovernmental bargaining. 12 References. M. C. Leary

Contemplation of expansion takes into account the European Union (EU)'s original ideals. The EU's formation & growth, 1951-1995, is charted along with cautionary projections, including those made by Jacques Delors, on growth. There is discussion of the costs of enlargement, models of EU development, & the EU's commitment to & conditions for expansion. Considered consequences of enlargement include conflict over accession & the need for institutional reform. Post-Cold War integration is compared with previous conditions & with prospects for integrating current applicants. The process of reaching an agreement on new conditions for membership, 1991-1995, is reviewed. Figures on individual Eastern European countries' populations & economies are given. There is listing of EU conclusions regarding applicant states' eligibility for membership & of concerns that arose regarding issues of agriculture, single market implementation, environmental standards, transport, nuclear safety, & border disputes. Potential admission of Mediterranean countries is contemplated. Proposed shifts in the EU's practices, institutions, & policies are laid out. 2 Tables, 4 Figures, 13 References. M. C. Leary

"Demographic pressures and the sustainability of the social protection systems ensure increasing the percentage of older workers in employment is at the top of the EU political agenda. Recent data demonstrate that increased employment among the 55-64 age group has been one of the most dynamic aspects of the EU labour market, rising 7.8 percent between 2000 and 2007. However, there is widespread ignorance about the quality of jobs held by this age group. Early retirement is often underpinned by discourse blaming older workers for not being able to adapt to technological and organizational changes. Sharp asymmetries in older worker employment rates between European countries refute simplistic explanations based on stereotypes suggesting, rather, the importance of the different national approaches to active ageing. In this paper, we challenge some highly diffused ideas that encourage discriminatory practices against older members of the workforce and analyse the quality of older worker employment in European Union countries." (author's abstract)

Investigates the socioeconomic structures of the member nations of the European Union (EU) using data on the agricultural, industrial, & services sectors gathered by various international organizations. Socioeconomic structure is defined as the social arrangements with respect to ownership & control of the means of production & their allocation in the production of goods & services. Results reveal a significant gap between the northern & southern states of the EU. In agriculture, the socioeconomic structures of the South, particularly in Portugal & Greece, more closely resemble those of developing than advanced countries. Further, while the North tends to specialize in human capital accumulation, the South focuses on intensive-resource products. This difference is exacerbated by the large gap in expenditures on social security between North & South. It is argued that the push toward uniformity of these structures will require either massive investment or the development of a preferential treatment program for the South. 2 Tables, 28 References. D. M. Smith

Article 8b of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) extends municipal & European electoral rights to all Union citizens residing in each member state. This is clearly one of the most controversial provisions of the TEU, since municipal political rights have traditionally been extended only to the citizens of a particular state. In discussing the potential consequences of this principle of equal treatment, it is argued that Article 8b will necessarily have some effect on the overall regulation of the political participation of nonnationals in various member states & that it will ultimately require a full guarantee of the political freedoms of expression, assembly, & association. M. Maguire

Argues that the neocorporatist model of labor politics that was initially developed by early integration theorists, & applied by particular nation-states in the 1950s & 1960s, was never realized at the European Union (EU) level -- primarily because, in contrast to the nation-state level, labor continued to be underorganized & thus could not stimulate an interaction effect between capital, the state, & itself. The underorganization of labor is traced to wide regional disparities in Europe & corresponding differences in national labor movements. Other causes for the failure of the neocorporatist model in EU integration efforts include the presence of the Council of Ministers, which worked to halt any attempt by supranational bodies to organize interests, & the strength of national corporatist efforts. Three trends indicate that the restoration of neocorporatism at either the national or supranational level is unlikely: (1) an increasing differentiation of social structures & collective interests in advanced capitalist societies; (2) market instability & volatility; & (3) changing roles & structures of interest associations. The future of interest politics at the nation-state & EU levels in light of this context is discussed. D. M. Smith

The objective of this work is to determine the extent of the conformity of the Croatian energy sector with the conditions for membership in the EU. According to a comparative analysis an identification is made of the state of affairs in the energy sector in the EU, in the Republic of Croatia and in the applicant countries, the level at which the conditions for membership are fulfilled and the necessary measures that have to be implemented during the reform. The main conclusion is that the legal system itself in the area of the Croatian energy system is already mainly harmonised with the EU system. However, concrete application of the rules departs from the
way rules are applied in the EU. Since these rules obtain their final form only during application, and the manner of interpretation and application is much harder to change than the rules themselves, particular attention needs devoting to practice in the process of adjustment.

"Here, we analyse the diffusion of labour market programmes across the member states of the EU as a result of a peer review procedure explicitly designed to promote the transfer of 'good practice'. This peer review procedure provides an ideal setting to evaluate the application of the concepts and methods that can be drawn from the policy review literature. It also allows us to test the extent to which learning and/or transfer actually occurs. By defining the scope of the policy under review - as we do in the next section - it should be possible to track the degree to which use is made of the experiences of others and to which specific programmes or measures can be exported to another jurisdiction. Our focus is specifically with 'policy convergence' in the context of the European Employment Strategy (EES). We look for evidence as to whether its peer review procedure, by encouraging member states to learn more about the policy approaches and policy measures operating in other countries, has contributed to policy emulation or harmonization. We also look at whether it is typified by elite networking or by penetrative processes that involve external actors (Bennett 1991). Our analysis reveals major barriers that impede policy learning, let alone transfer. We argue that, to date, the peer review procedure has tended to be exclusive, involving a narrow 'epistemic community' (Haas 1992), and has had scarcely any impact upon either the Commission or the governments of the member states. Some of the reasons for this failure are explicable in terms of more general factors that impede organizational learning. Moreover, we show that the peer review procedure has barely, if at all, touched other actors foreseen as key to the workings of the EES - the social partners, civil society organizations and sub-national governments. Learning might take place, but it is ad hoc and often outside the formal, systematic process that the EES sought to establish. We conclude with some proposals for improvement." Forschungsmethode: deskriptive Studie. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum 1999 bis 2001. (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku).

The two ways in which the European Union might represent a challenge to the concentration of power in the US are explored to argue that the internal contradictions of European leadership & present developments in the world economy threaten to destabilize the entire structure of the EU. A brief historical narrative traces the process of European construction sponsored by the US since 1949, which achieved a strong European economy without creating major problems for the US. The frictions between the US & French led European order of 1958-1969, the low point of US prestige at the end of the 70s & the neoliberal zeitgeist were the context for the European response with the Single European Act of 1986 which gave rise to the EU. Analysis of the Single Act identifies the system of supranational law, & the unbalanced nature of European construction. The current efforts of the EU to integrate member states financial systems & to build huge liquid markets in euro dominated securities are hindered by the way the EU elites conceive financial integration. Overcoming the internal contradictions of the EU would require rejection of the purely market creating focus of the present EU, & a determination to preserve & develop the deep integration achieved over the last half-century. Only if progressive forces of opposition to find enough common ground to redirect rather than dismantle the EU, the significant challenge to US hegemony emerge on the old continent. References. J. Harwell

Recent debate on the existence of democratic processes in the European Union (EU) has provoked more questions than answers. The difficulty of choosing a suitable model for comparison is cited along with the need for the EU to use increasingly democratic means. Lord explores the means by which democratic government may reliably reflect public wishes. It is asserted that more democracy in the EU could mean less legitimacy. Means of avoiding this problem are explored via a list of methods for institutionalizing democracy & a comparison of intergovernmental & supranational approaches. Also considered are the idea of democratizing the EU by a "consociational" method & monitoring governors. Examples of deeper democratization's impact on national & populist representation are given. European elections & the European Parliament (EP) are examined for their ability to herald results of the proposed change. There is discussion of the powers of executive formation & dismissal & of the EP's legislative power. The possibilities attending strengthening of the EP, popular election of an EU executive, & Swiss-style referendums are analyzed. 1 Table, 40 References. M. C. Leary