Suchergebnisse

The chief preoccupation of the dissertation revolves around the European Union's project of calling forth a collective sense of "European identity" amongst people in the Union. It focuses specifically on how the European Union's identity politics plays out once the ethnic minorities with immigrant background now living in the Union are brought into view. The main purpose can be described as twofold; involving, firstly, a mapping and examination of how the EU construes and defines the identity it seeks to mobilize, and, secondly, a thorough discussion of the types of consequences or implications that stem from this endeavour. In demonstrating the strong tendency on part of the EU to articulate a common identity for the Union in ethno-cultural terms — whereby the EU is conceived as primarily a cultural community whose members are said to share the same origin, cultural heritage, religion and history — the study goes to great length in discussing the excluding implications that an ethno-cultural identity politics gives rise to. The dissertation argues that such an ethno-cultural disposition partly must be seen in light of the European Union's gradual adjustment to a largely neoliberal order; an order which has worked restraining on the feasibility of a social and political articulation of identity and citizenship in the Union. An introductory chapter outlines the discourse theoretical approach which guides the analyses in five essays. The essays mainly explore how the European Union's discourse on identity manifests in various policy areas - immigration, citizenship and education - all of which in one way or another address the issues of culture, the multicultural society, ethnic exclusion, racism and the situation for ethnic minorities and migrants. The complex of problems concerning ethnic, cultural and social exclusion in today's European Union thus constitutes a central theme engaged with throughout the dissertation. ; digitalisering@umu

This National Europe Centre publication collates the proceedings from a conference held at the Australian National University in December 2000. The purpose of the conference was to allow the Australian diplomatic missions of nine Central and Eastern European nations seeking entry into the European Union to give their case for admission. Although Malta, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Romania are at different stages of preparation for the EU, the object is to gauge their progress on the formal entry criteria. The papers address the countries progress toward meeting these criteria, as well as the obstacles they face. The papers begin with a preview from the Commission. It cites the three core requisites for accession into the EU as a market economy, democratic political institutions and the capacity to abide by the EU's obligations of membership.

peer-reviewed ; Democratization has suddenly become a fashionable theme in both the practice and the study of European integration.1 Since the Treaty on European Union (TEU) of 1991, which both raised the profile of the integration process and substantially extended the scope of powers enjoyed by the European Union (EU; the Union), the Union has become far more controversial. Received wisdom dictates that it suffers from a (generally unspecified) 'democratic deficit', which was scarcely noticed beforehand. Paradoxically, however, in the last decade several attempts to render the EU more democratic have actually been made, a good example being the significant empowerment of the European Parliament (EP). Moreover, the TEU made member-state nationals EU citizens, an unprecedented step in world history, even if EU citizenship remains rather limited. Indeed, the EU is preparing for both further enlargement and the next round of Treaty reform (due in 2004) by launching a process of 'civil dialogue' and a quasi-constitutional convention. These are supposed to provide suggestions about increasing the legitimacy and democratic credentials of the Union system.

The subject of the present paper is the state of linkage between society and politics in the European Union (EU). In this field, political science is a science of democracy: the democratization of the EU is a ubiquitous issue. We therefore begin with a clarification of the notion of a "democratic deficit" in the European Union. In the second and third parts, we address questions of interest intermediation and opinion formation. In doing so, we try to substantiate the view that the democratic deficit of the EU is caused by a defective process of opinion formation much more than by problems of interest intermediation. We end with a proposal for EU constitutional reform that suggests itself as an appropriate means to more effectively shape the process of opinion formation.

Competition Law has proved to be a dynamic legal institute of great economic, legal and social significance. Indeed, the over-all positive effect this institute has had in the United States of America since the Sherman Act (1890), and in Europe since the Treaty of Rome (1957), is plainly manifest. Other contending economic strategies have in the long run proved to be inconsequential. Fair Competition is paradoxically dominating the economic environment, at least, in democracies. Like all other legal institutes, this too naturally directly effects the well being of those falling within this regimen. Strategists therefore, have to be quite alert to avoid situations that rather than leading to the intended positive effects advocated by academic analysis instead lead in the opposite direction to the detriment of those that have to bear its weight. The emphasis within the European Community for prospective Member States to adopt this legal regime in their legal order has therefore to be treated with great circumspection. The pre-accession period does not consequentially necessitate a period of mere structural readjustment. It also demands a period of deep reflection for the redefinition and proper assimilation of the delicate issues involved. ; peer-reviewed

Título que forma parte de la serie 'Las organizaciones del mundo' que examina las organizaciones internacionales clave y el papel que desempeñan en mejorar las vidas de personas en el mundo. Cada título incluye estudios de casos que revela cómo funciona la organización. En éste se examina cómo la UE trabaja para fomentar la estabilidad económica, la seguridad y las normas jurídicas a través de Europa. ; SC ; Biblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín 5 -3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; biblioteca@mecd.es ; GBR

Título que forma parte de la serie 'Las organizaciones del mundo' que examina las organizaciones internacionales clave y el papel que desempeñan en mejorar las vidas de personas en el mundo. Cada título incluye estudios de casos que revela cómo funciona la organización. En éste se examina cómo la UE trabaja para fomentar la estabilidad económica, la seguridad y las normas jurídicas a través de Europa. ; SC ; Biblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín 5 -3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; biblioteca@mecd.es ; GBR

Introduction: European enlargement generally refers to the inclusion of new states into the European Union's Treaty area. This article considers instead the enlargement of Economic and Monetary Union into Africa. We know that no part of Africa is in the EU, though Morocco has sought to join, and the island of Mayotte belongs to an EU member state (France) and uses the euro. But the EU's single currency area is not identical with its monetary area. This article is about EMU beyond the EU itself, and in particular about the monetary shadow European colonial history has cast over western and central Africa. Here as well as in the Comoros islands three local currencies were long in the monetary area of France, and are now but local expressions of the euro. That was why in the late 1990s the impending introduction of the single European currency aroused considerable interest and some anxiety in those African countries that faced possible inclusion in the EU's monetary union. The question was whether the EC institutions should take over responsibly for monetary policy in the former French African overseas territories, although they are not in the EU now, and were never part of the EEC before independence. Alternatively, experts in Europe and in Africa considered whether France should maintain its monetary guarantee, and if so, whether the CFA franc should be decoupled from the future European currency. Finally, the CFA franc zones could simply disappear. Today currencies in the fourteen Francophone states plus those of two of Portugal's former African overseas countries are simply local variants of the euro. This paper briefly puts this strange situation in its historical context, considering what has changed and what has not with the changeover from the franc CFA pegged to the French franc, to a franc CFA pegged to the euro. I shall then ask, together with mainly African economists, political analysts and politicians, whether Africa's proxy euro zone should expand to take in perhaps the entire sub Saharan continent, which has a privileged trade and aid relationship with the EU. Alternatively, do Africans and Europeans see a European monetary zone in Africa as an opportunity or as an anachronistic burden? Do Africans within the zone want to remain tied to the EU to a degree that exists in no other sovereign states outside Europe? Two of the three CFA franc cum euro monetary zones have expanded both in nature and in geographical extent, having become economic unions and taken in two ex Portuguese dependencies. Do these now wish to form even larger units and turn themselves into regional common markets, with a common currency that in reality is not a currency at all, but only one or several local variants of the euro? How do other African states regard such ambitions? The answers to these questions require first a brief historical comment.

This substantially updated and revised edition offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges confronting the political system as well as the international politics of the European Union. It draws from a rich spectrum of regional integration theories to determine what the Union actually is and how it is developing. The book examines constitutional politics of the European Union, from the Single European Act to the Treaty of Nice and beyond. The ongoing debate on the future of Europe links together questions of democracy and legitimacy, competences and rights, and the prospects for European polity-building. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the emerging European polity and the questions that further treaty reform generate for the future of the regional system. The authors also assess the evolving European security architecture, the limits and possibilities of a genuine European foreign, security and defence policy, and the role of the European Union in the post-Cold War international system. Common themes involve debates about stability and instability, continuity and change, multipolarity and leadership, co-operation and discord, power capabilities and patterns of behaviour. The book traces the defining features of the 'new order' in Europe and incorporates an analysis of the post-September 11 context. This major new edition will be of particular interest to academics, policy-makers and students with an interest in the politics and governance of contemporary Europe, as well as to those pursuing a career in international affairs.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [477]-493) and indexes. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Continental Europe is now only 20 minutes away by train from mainland Britain, and moving ever closer politically. Mutual recognition of medical qualifications within the European Union is well established: working in other parts of Europe is, in principle, straightforward. Working in different health care systems can offer new perspectives on British medical practice and the NHS. But the cultural differences are not always easy to overcome.

The 1993 Union Treaty sets forth a process of deepening and widening of the European single market by creating institutions in which decisions are taken as dose as possible to the citizen" and by establishing the ECU as single currency before the end of the century. If it succeeds in inducing diverse nation-states into changing their economic regimes in the direction of price stability, the process may spread throughout the emerging European economy. Deepening implies cohesion, but, since the current divergence of national incomes per capita among union states matches the one observed among Swiss cantons, further convergence is likely to be gradual. As income redistribution among union states requires higher taxes, it impinges on national political processes and implies that appropriate medium-term convergence programs must be implemented, especially in the so-called cohesion states. Political stability and a social consensus about the regime change will in turn facilitate the fulfillment of the criteria for fiscal discipline set out in the Treaty. The regime change should have taken place during the first phase of economic and monetary union, which began on July 1, 1990, so that convergence may endure during the second phase, beginning January 1, 1994. But the medium term orientation of national budgetary consolidation is not credible until headline inflation is in single digits and the ability to stabilize a convertible currency has been tested in world financial markets. Membership in the European Monetary System does not suffice: discipline must be domestically generated, especially under the current wide fluctuation margins. In spite of several currency realignments in 1992 and in 1993, the reputation for financial stability acquired during the run-up to the single market was maintained in cohesion states. The regime changes in Ireland (1986), Spain (1989) and Portugal (1992) will become benchmarks even beyond the continent if the credibility of national policies is sustained until the third and final phase of economic and monetary union and incomes per capita continue to converge. ; N/A

This paper briefly outlines the historical evolution of the Western European Union, from its origins in the Brussels Treaty to WEU's recent linkage with the process of European integration. Particular attention is paid to the political and military development of WEU as this relates to the apparent goal of eventual Western European defense integration. It is argued that in spite of the clamour to establish a European Defense Identity under WEU, however, the Europeans do not have a practical short-term alterative to the present situation of military dependence upon the United States and NATO.

International audience ; : National defence arrangements appear to be increasingly complex due to budgetary pressures, rising costs and changing threats. There is a risk of massive investment in defence at a time when threats are diminishing, when Europe remains completely dependent on the United States and in a context where a policy of effective neutrality could be imposed through structural disarmament. Threats to European interests may not find echoes and support from the US Government. There are clear advantages to joint procurement by member countries because of the high fixed costs of R&D and the learning curve effects associated with weapons. The main problems to be resolved concern the differing perceptions of national interest among states, highly heterogeneous military strategies and competing industrial interests. ; Les dispositions nationales de défense semblent de plus en plus complexes en raison des pressions budgétaires, de l'augmentation des coûts et de l'évolution des menaces. Il y a le risque d'un investissement massif dans la défense à un moment où les menaces diminuent, où l'Europe reste complètement dépendante des États-Unis et dans un contexte où une politique de neutralité effective pourrait être imposée par le désarmement structurel. Il est possible que des menaces qui pèsent sur les intérêts européens ne trouvent pas d'échos et d'appui de la part du gouvernement des États-Unis. Les achats communs des pays membres présentent des avantages évidents en raison des coûts fixes élevés de la R&D et des effets de la courbe d'apprentissage associés aux armes. Les principaux problèmes à résoudre concernent les divergences de perception de l'intérêt national des Etats, des stratégies militaires très hétérogènes et des intérêts industriels en compétition.

International audience ; : National defence arrangements appear to be increasingly complex due to budgetary pressures, rising costs and changing threats. There is a risk of massive investment in defence at a time when threats are diminishing, when Europe remains completely dependent on the United States and in a context where a policy of effective neutrality could be imposed through structural disarmament. Threats to European interests may not find echoes and support from the US Government. There are clear advantages to joint procurement by member countries because of the high fixed costs of R&D and the learning curve effects associated with weapons. The main problems to be resolved concern the differing perceptions of national interest among states, highly heterogeneous military strategies and competing industrial interests. ; Les dispositions nationales de défense semblent de plus en plus complexes en raison des pressions budgétaires, de l'augmentation des coûts et de l'évolution des menaces. Il y a le risque d'un investissement massif dans la défense à un moment où les menaces diminuent, où l'Europe reste complètement dépendante des États-Unis et dans un contexte où une politique de neutralité effective pourrait être imposée par le désarmement structurel. Il est possible que des menaces qui pèsent sur les intérêts européens ne trouvent pas d'échos et d'appui de la part du gouvernement des États-Unis. Les achats communs des pays membres présentent des avantages évidents en raison des coûts fixes élevés de la R&D et des effets de la courbe d'apprentissage associés aux armes. Les principaux problèmes à résoudre concernent les divergences de perception de l'intérêt national des Etats, des stratégies militaires très hétérogènes et des intérêts industriels en compétition.