Suchergebnisse

In the last twenty years, a lot has changed in the process of European integration. The direct competence of the EU in many areas continues to increase without doing them the way we've always done them. In other words, the European train is hurtling full speed ahead. Adapted from the source document.

Rupnik, J.: The implications of changes in East-Central Europe for European integration. - S. 7-24 Hassner, P.: The European Union and the Balkans. - S. 25-46 Tatu, M.: Russia and the world. - S. 47-84 Brands, M. C.; Havenaar, R.: De central plaats van Duitsland in de Europese politiek : bindende kracht of bron van divergentie? - S. 85-136

It is noted that Belgium, itself a small country on this continent, has always been & continues to be the most enthusiastic supporter of European integration. With the advantages of economic integration no longer questioned by anyone, the strengthening of the EU in the political domain, which would translate into a greater relevance of this organization on the geopolitical arena, has become the chief objective of the current Belgian foreign policy. Policies formulated & implemented by the prime minister Guy Verhofstadt & foreign minister Louis Michel are surveyed, assessing their position vis-a-vis such contentious issues as a la carte Europe (individual member states choosing their particular & preferred areas of involvement), "two-speed" Europe (the formation of a European Federation within the EU by core members, with a different status afforded to new members), & the formulation & carrying out of a uniform foreign policy by the EU as a supranational entity. Special attention is devoted to two projects promoted by the Belgian government for the EU: a common defense strategy independent from the US-led NATO & the formation of a military force capable of providing such defense. Z. Dubiel

Several reasons are listed to explain why Belgium always was & still is a very staunch supporter of European integration & the European Union (EU). Drawing on personal experience as a permanent representative of the Belgian government to the EU, the significant role played by this country in building a united Europe is illustrated with a report of the meetings in Nice, France, & Laken at which the current 15 member states of the EU struggled with procedural & content questions pertaining to the future enlargement of the organization to 25 or 27 members. The give-and-take nature of these meetings, Belgium's valuable input, but also concessions it had to accept, & the accomplishments of the Laken Declaration are discussed. Z. Dubiel

This article tries to analyse & improve the individual-level approaches to the study of public Euroscepticism in Belgium. In recent literature, three approaches focusing on instrumental, cultural & political cues can be distinguished. First, the utilitarian approach associates Euroscepticism with economic interests. Second, the cultural approach draws on cultural attitudes & affective identities. Third, the political approach associates support for European integration with political efficacy & institutional trust. Drawing upon Belgian data from the IntUne Project 2007, the results show that negative evaluations of the benefits of European membership, social distrust in European fellow citizens & institutional distrust in the EU are the most important determinants of Euroscepticism, while education, national attachment, exclusive identity & political powerlessness have a minor impact. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines the impact of European integration on national policy in the field of migration. Member States have since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) power over immigration policy largely ceded to supranational institutions. The Governments of the Member States do not seem to give full account of this new situation. The same applies to the academic literature on the Europeanisation of migration policy which - still dominates the intergovernmental perspective - unlike in the wider EU study literature. This article focuses on the impact of the Family Reunification Directive of 2003 on policymaking in the Netherlands. And politics The Dutch case shows that the reality of migration policies in the EU are increasingly in conflict with intergovernmental assumptions and that it is high time that researchers of migration broaden their theoretical perspective. Adapted from the source document.

Changes in Dutch attitudes towards the European Union For decades, the Dutch were seen as relatively positive towards the European Union. However, in 2005 a majority of the Dutch population voted against the proposed European Constitution. Therefore, in this article we examine to what extent the Dutch 'no' marks a sudden change in attitudes, or is merely a manifestation of a gradual trend that started at an earlier stage of the European integration process. We raise the question to what extent attitudes towards the European Union have changed in the Netherlands, and further ask to what extent these changes can be attributed to characteristics of the context and the life course. We derive hypotheses from theories on the influence of birth cohort, societal context and life course on attitude changes. In order to test these hypotheses, we employ Eurobarometersurveys of 1973 to 2004, as well as additional data at the contextual level. Our findings suggest that in the Netherlands attitudes towards the European Union have become more negative since the early nineties, after becoming more positive in the preceding years. While characteristics of the birth cohort and the life course do not account for these changes, the development towards more political integration seems to provide an interesting explanation. However, even after adding respondents' characteristics at the individual level to our models, variance in attitudes towards the European Union is hardly explained. Even though differences between social groups exist, attitudes towards the European Union seem to be largely unexplained.