Suchergebnisse

Today few people deny the existence of regional substate diplomacy (Criekemans 2010). But there is still no common agreement on a region's right to do so and, above all, on their scope of action. This question goes against what used to be the dominant approach in international relations, the state-centric approach that leads to the logic of speaking with one voice. Increasingly, a multilevel-governance approach has contested this state-centric view and proposes an alternative logic of multiple actors speaking with their voice, nuancing strongly the seminal distinction between "sovereignty-bound" and "sovereignty-free" actors (Rosenau 1990). From the 1970s, the world has seen the growing presence of sovereignty-free actors in international relations. Among these actors, non-central or, better, substate, governments of federal states have developed intensive foreign relations. These governments are using a range of techniques: from shaping the federal government's foreign policy to establishing themselves directly in the international arena (Blatter et al. 2008). For minority nation governments this is particularly a challenge, as they have to act internally – where they have developed full-fledged legislative powers within a multinational federation – and externally – where international and national laws are often still reluctant to recognise their right of action (Lejeune 2003). Yet some minority nations have thrived in developing their own international relations. Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders, Quebec, Scotland and Wallonia are often seen as successful international players even if they are not fully sovereignty bound (Michelmann 2009; Criekemans 2010). The international actions of these minority nations have been characterised under the umbrella of "identity paradiplomacy" (Paquin 2003); that is, a willingness to use international relations to foster a nation-building process within a multinational state. This observation was particularly prevalent for minority nations strongly in competition with a federal government about their nationbuilding process, albeit for different reasons, namely Flanders, Quebec and Scotland (Paquin 2004). The case of Wallonia seems to fits less well into the identity paradiplomacy framework, which therefore raises the question of alternative roads to international relations. This is the core question of this chapter: is identity paradiplomacy the only way to go for minority nations? Quebec and Wallonia are both well known for their active foreign relations.

The Red Devils, chocolate or beer and the King, such is the typical answers given to the oft-asked question of what is still holding Belgium together. To these three symbols, two extra elements are often added: the debt and Brussels, the capital of the country and of the Flemish Region/Community, the French Community (politically but not constitutionally the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), the European Union (to be more specific, one of the three capitals, along with Strasbourg and Luxemburg), while being as well the seat of the Brussels Capital Region. Generally, the list of factors of unity in Belgium ends with this short list. Is it already too long, or on the contrary, is it really too short? This is the main question of this chapter. Paradoxically, although this question often arises, there are very few scientific writings analyzing it. To do so, this chapter will discuss six sets of factors: historical, identity, socio-economic, political, international and symbolic. Nonetheless, it is important to take into account that such enterprise seeks to be informative and not prescriptive. This chapter does not assume that Belgium should be united. There are several points of view about what Belgium should be, and this contribution merely wishes to nurture the political debate by conveying an original approach on six types of factors.

After years of political crises and negotiations, the deep-rooted conflict between Dutch- and French-speaking parties recently led to the 2011 agreement concerning a further reform of the Belgian state. This reform mainly furthers decentralises the – already federal – state structure, including the allocation of additional competences and fiscal powers to sub-national entities (Regions and Communities). But this new state reform also brings about a radical reform of the upper house: the Belgian Senate. Since 1995, the Senate was composed of three different types of members: Senators directly elected by two linguistically separated electorate (the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking electorates), Senators indirectly elected by the Community parliaments and Senators coopted by the two other types. The French- and German-speaking linguistic minorities had a fixed amount of seats in this assembly. The reform of the state radically changed the legislative competences of the Senate and its composition as its members will now be designated by Regional and Community parliaments (plus 10 coopted senators). Broadly speaking, the appointment of the majority of the Senators moved from a system of direct and language-based election to a system of indirect and mixed regional and language-based designation. This change is not without consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. In May 2014, regional, community and federal elections will be organised in Belgium, testing for the first time this new system of designation of Senators by regional and community parliaments. This paper intends to present the 2013 reform of the Senate in Belgium and its consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. The situations before and after the reform of the Senate will be compared, not only in terms of the way Senators are appointed but in terms of its consequence on the linguistic aspects of the regional and community elections campaign and of the profile of the appointed Senators.

Como respuesta al conflicto armado que se ha desarrollado en Libia a lo largo de 2011, la UE ha ejecutado las sanciones decididas por el Consejo de Seguridad que no implican el uso de la fuerza, ha destinado más de 150 millones de euros de ayuda humanitaria a la región, ha puesto en marcha la operación FRONTEX "EPN Hermes Extensión 2011", y ha proyectado una operación militar de apoyo a la asistencia humanitaria, la EUFOR Libia, que nunca se ha desplegado. En una perspectiva más general, las revueltas populares que se han sucedido en varios Estados del sur del Mediterráneo, entre ellos Libia, en el que se ha desembocado en una guerra civil, han certificado el fracaso de la política exterior de la UE en esta región. En efecto, durante la última década la política euromediterránea de la UE ha estado mucho más centrada en la cooperación económica y comercial —sobre todo en el campo energético— y en el control de la inmigración irregular, que en el escrupuloso respeto del ordenamiento internacional y la promoción de la democracia, el Estado de derecho y el respecto de los derechos humanos, así como el desarrollo económico y social de la población de los Estados del sur del Mediterráneo. ; As a response to the armed conflict occurred in Libya during year 2011, the EU has applied those Security Council sanctions not involving the use of force. Likewise, the EU has allocated more than E 150 million to humanitarian assistance in the region having implemented Frontex Operation «EPN Hermes Extension 2011» as well and having designed a military operation in support of humanitarian assistance there —the so-called EUFOR Libya, never deployed before. From a more general perspective, people's uprisings in several Southern Mediterranean States —which in the Libyan case has led to a civil war— have proved the failure of EU's foreign policy in the region. In fact, EU's Euro-Mediterranean Policy in the last decade has been mainly focused on financial and trade cooperation (especially in the energy field) and on irregular migration control, to the detriment of the full respect for International Law, and the promotion of democracy, the rule of Law and the respect for human rights, and the economic and social development of the peoples in Southern Mediterranean States. ; Trabajo elaborado en el marco del proyecto de investigación coordinado, concedido por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, "La Política Mediterránea de la Unión Europea en perspectiva: el proceso de Barcelona, la Unión para el Mediterráneo y los intereses españoles" (DER2009-14238-C02-01).

Grandson, son and father of architects, renowned professor and honoured urban planner, Manuel Ribas Piera was the foremost promoter of international relations at the Barcelona School of Architecture, inviting the best known architects of the time (such as Stirling, Kleihues and Aymonino), and co-founder, with Giancarlo de Carlo, of the ILAUD programme (International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design). He set up the pioneering landscape architecture studies in Catalunya, now an international point of reference. His overt cosmopolitanism went hand in hand with a staunch commitment to the city of Barcelona, at metropolitan and local level, as shown by plans for Bellvitge and El Carmel, and his openly voiced disagreement with some political decisions. For all of these reasons, we thank him posthumously for his great skill, his friendship, his culture, his generosity, his tenacity and his example. ; Peer Reviewed

Grandson, son and father of architects, renowned professor and honoured urban planner, Manuel Ribas Piera was the foremost promoter of international relations at the Barcelona School of Architecture, inviting the best known architects of the time (such as Stirling, Kleihues and Aymonino), and co-founder, with Giancarlo de Carlo, of the ILAUD programme (International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design). He set up the pioneering landscape architecture studies in Catalunya, now an international point of reference. His overt cosmopolitanism went hand in hand with a staunch commitment to the city of Barcelona, at metropolitan and local level, as shown by plans for Bellvitge and El Carmel, and his openly voiced disagreement with some political decisions. For all of these reasons, we thank him posthumously for his great skill, his friendship, his culture, his generosity, his tenacity and his example. ; Peer Reviewed

Una de las consecuencias de la creciente movilidad de los ciudadanos en la Unión Europea es el aumento exponencial de sucesiones que presentan una dimensión internacional. La sucesión de estos nacionales de la Unión se plantea cuanto menos compleja, debido a la disparidad legislativa existente en materia de sucesiones y la inseguridad jurídica que provoca la multiplicidad de regímenes jurídicos en el ámbito del Derecho internacional privado de sucesiones en la Unión Europea. El nuevo Reglamento de sucesiones permitirá disponer de un sistema uniforme para determinarla competencia judicial, la ley aplicable y el reconocimiento y ejecución de resoluciones en materia sucesoria en el ámbito de la Unión Europea. El objeto de este trabajo es reflexionar sobre las consecuencias de la aplicación del sistema unitario que plantea el Reglamento en materia de sucesiones internacionales y, en particular, en relación a la ley aplicable, su incidencia en la figura del reenvío, las ventajas e inconvenientes que aporta y sus consecuencias en los sistemas nacionales de Derecho internacional privado de los Estados miembros. ; One of the consequences of the increasing mobility of citizens within the European Union is the exponential increase of international successions. The succession of these EU citizens appears complex because of the disparity of the existing legislation concerning successions and the legal uncertainty caused by the multiplicity of legal regimes in the field of Private international law on succession in the European Union Member States. The adoption of the new Regulation on successions in the European Union provides a uniform system for determining the jurisdiction, the applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matters of succession at the European Union level. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the consequences of the application of the unitary system proposed in the Regulation for international successions, especially in relation to the applicable law, their impact in the institution of renvoi, their advantages and disadvantages and their consequences on the national systems of Private international law of the EU Member States.

Transparency is a widely used concept in debates on international politics, from transnational anti-corruption campaigns to renewed requests for greater disclosure on health, finance, or even security issues. Calls for transparency date back at least to the League of Nations, when internationalists demanded open diplomacy. Yet, it is in the subfield of GEG, and its developments on nonstate actors as a key research topic (see introduction), where the practice and theory of transparency has made the most profound inroads (Gupta 2010a). GEG has been a particularly fertile ground for the development of informational governance (Mol 2008) and the rise of numerous transparency initiatives which have been analyzed in a rapidly developing literature. Importantly, current GEG research is also highly relevant for other IR subfields. For one, recent GEG research can help IR scholars to further refine the concept of transparency and to increase conceptual clarity and sophistication. Second, research on GEG has improved our understanding of the factors that determine the effectiveness of transparency as a governance tool in international politics.

Le monde diplomatique: ttip, nafta, tisa: una otan de la economía -- Página Legal -- Índice -- Los tratados comerciales -- 1 Nueva ola -- El tifón que amenaza a los pueblos -- La globalización feliz -- Agrupados frente -- Los obstáculos que bloquean -- Tribunales para atracar a los Estados -- La máquina de coser del mundo -- Cincuenta sombras de liberalización -- El Far West asiático -- El beso de la muerte -- 2 Perseverare diabolicum -- Y Paraguay descubrió el libre comercio -- Asia, el regreso -- Nueva mirada sobre -- Napoleón III eligió el libre comercio

Le thème de la gouvernance culturelle est abordé sous une triple approche : approche historique ; approche par la coopération au développement et les relations internationales ; approche par la société du savoir, l'économie créative et les tic. Aujourd'hui, les politiques culturelles, en se fondant sur les droits culturels et sur une autre "gouvernance", pourront mieux répondre aux défis du monde de demain. ; El tema de la governança cultural queda englobat en un enfocament triple: l'enfocament històric, l'enfocament de la cooperació al desenvolupament i les relacions internacionals, i l'enfocament de la societat del saber, l'economia creativa i les tic. Avui en dia, les polítiques culturals, en basar-se en drets culturals i en una altra «governança», podran respondre de manera més satisfactòria als desafiaments del demà. ; El tema de la gobernanza cultural queda englobado en un enfoque triple: el enfoque histórico, el enfoque de la cooperación al desarrollo y las relaciones internacionales, y el enfoque de la sociedad del saber, la economía creativa y las tic. Hoy en día, las políticas culturales, al basarse en derechos culturales y en otra «gobernanza», podrán responder de manera más satisfactoria a los desafíos del mañana. ; The question of cultural governance is dealt with from three approaches: the historical approach, the development cooperation and international relations approach, and the knowledge society, creative economy and ict approach. Today, cultural policies, based on cultural rights and on other "governance", will be better placed to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

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.

En este número se recogen tres ponencias presentadas en el X Congreso Internacional Internet, Derecho y Política (IDP 2014), organizado por los Estudios de Derecho y Ciencia Política de la UOC, que tuvo lugar en Barcelona los días 3 y 4 de julio de 2014.A lo largo de estos diez años de vida, este congreso se ha convertido en un foro académico internacional de referencia en materia de la incidencia de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en el ámbito del derecho y de la ciencia política. En concreto, se han abordado temas como la libertad de expresión en la red, los retos de la propiedad intelectual en internet, la protección de la privacidad en las redes digitales, el derecho al olvido, el comercio electrónico y la protección de los consumidores, la ciberdelincuencia, la administración pública electrónica, y la utilización de las nuevas tecnologías en el ámbito de la política y la participación ciudadana. ; En aquest número es recullen tres ponències que es van presentar al X Congrés Internacional Internet, Dret i Política (IDP 2014), organitzat pels Estudis de Dret i Ciència Política de la UOC, que va tenir lloc a Barcelona els dies 3 i 4 de juliol de 2014.Al llarg d'aquests deu anys de vida, aquest congrés s'ha convertit en un fòrum acadèmic internacional de referència en matèria de la incidència de les tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació en l'àmbit del dret i de la ciència política. Concretament, s'han abordat temes com ara la llibertat d'expressió a la xarxa, els reptes de la propietat intel·lectual a internet, la protecció de la privadesa a les xarxes digitals, el dret a l'oblit, el comerç electrònic i la protecció dels consumidors, la ciberdelinqüència, l'administració pública electrònica, i la utilització de les noves tecnologies en l'àmbit de la política i la participació ciutadana. ; This issue includes three conference papers presented at the Tenth International Conference on Internet, Law & Politics (IDP 2014) that took place in Barcelona on 3 and 4 July 2014 and was organised by the UOC's Law and Political Science Department.In its ten-year history, this conference has become a leading international academic forum on the impact of the information and communications technologies on the fields of law and political science. Topics addressed over the years have included the freedom of expression on the Internet, intellectual property challenges posed by the Internet, privacy protection in digital networks, the right to be forgotten, e-commerce and consumer protection, cybercrime, e-government, and the use of new technologies in politics and citizen participation.

The doctoral thesis analyzes the labor and social protection problems associated with older workers from 45 years old. It examines the employment statute of older workers, specifically: the existing active and passive employment policies in Spain and Catalonia that target older workers, the retirement regulation in Spain and the scope of legal protection against age discrimination in International, European and Spanish legislation, comparing it with the anti-discrimination law of the United States as it was the pioneer country in enacting an act prohibiting age discrimination in employment ; La present tesi doctoral té per objecte l'anàlisi de la problemàtica laboral i de la seguretat social que afecta als treballadors de més edat. Es pren l'edat de 45 anys com a edat referencial per aproximar-se a l'estatut ocupacional dels treballadors d'edat. En concret, s'examinen les polítiques d'ocupació actives i passives existents a Espanya i Catalunya dirigides a aquest col·lectiu delimitat per l'edat avançada, la regulació de la jubilació a Espanya en clau de política d'ocupació i l'abast de la normativa internacional, comunitària i espanyola relativa a la prohibició de discriminació per raó d'edat en el treball i l'ocupació, així com se n'elabora un estudi comparatiu amb la legislació antidiscriminatòria per raó d'edat dels Estats Units, tenint en compte que és el país pioner en aprovar una norma en contra de la discriminació motivada per l'edat

L'envelliment de la població és una qüestió que preocupa des de ja fa un temps les autoritats polítiques. D'aquí que, tant a nivell nacional com internacional, s'aposti per la promoció d'iniciatives adreçades a millorar la qualitat de vida de les persones grans. La promoció de les relacions intergeneracionals n'és una, per això dediquem aquest treball al tractament d'aquestes relacions. Aquesta contribució aporta algunes dades que aconsellen la promoció de les relacions entre generacions, i aposta pels programes intergeneracionals com un recurs per a fer-les possible. ; The issue of the aging of the population has been of concern to the political authorities for quite some time now, and there is a commitment at both national and international level to developing and implementing initiatives capable of improving the quality of life of older people. One of these initiatives is the promotion of intergenerational relationships, and in taking these as its subject, this paper puts forward data to support the promotion of closer relations between young and old, and identifies intergenerational programmes as a key resource for fostering these. ; El envejecimiento de la población es una cuestión que viene preocupando desde hace ya algún tiempo a las autoridades políticas. De ahí que, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional, se apueste por la promoción de iniciativas dirigidas a mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas mayores. La promoción de las relaciones intergeneracionales es una de ellas, de ahí que dediquemos este trabajo al tratamiento de las mismas. Esta contribución aporta algunos datos que aconsejan la promoción de las relaciones entre generaciones, y apuesta por los programas intergeneracionales como un recurso para posibilitarlas.

From the beginning of the 1990's onwards, political analysts in all Western European countries discovered the contours of what they thought to be a widespread crisis of democracy. The alleged decline of political trust and public participation, and the rise of electoral volatility pointed out that the gap between politicians and citizens had never been wider. This political climate characterized by a deep-rooted crisis of democratic legitimacy offered an excellent breeding ground for critical reflection on the role, shape and function of democracy in modern societies. It gave rise to a fruitful quest for new and innovative ways of governing a democracy. It is in this turbulent period that the ideal of a deliberative democracy was coined (Dryzek 2000). A community of international scholars and philosophers, inspired by the work of Jürgen Habermas, became more and more convinced that a vibrant democracy is more than the aggregate of its individual citizens, and that democratic politics should be about more than merely voting. The quality of a democracy and the quality of democratic decisions, according to them, did not depend on the correct aggregation of individual preferences, but rather on the quality of the public debate that preceded the voting stage. Democratic decisions were thus no longer considered a function of mere compliance with aggregation rules. Instead, they were determined by extensive argumentation about political choices before voting on them. Because of its strong focus of public involvement in politics, this deliberative model of democracy started out in life as a theory of legitimacy (Benhabib 1996; Cohen 1997; Dryzek 2001; Parkinson 2006). By including everyone who is affected by a decision in the process leading to that decision, deliberation has important political merits: it is capable of generating political decisions that receive broad public support, even when there is strong disagreement on the aims and values a polity should promote (Geenens & Tinnevelt 2007, p. 47). After all, talking about political issues allows citizens to hear other perspectives to a problem and to see their own perspectives represented in the final decision. However, deliberation's beneficial effects do not come about easily. If deliberative democracy wants to contribute to increasing the legitimacy of the political system as a whole, it has to be legitimate in itself. In other words, deliberative events have to reflect the principles of legitimacy in their own functioning before their outcomes can generate legitimate political decisions. It is therefore crucial to assess the internal legitimacy of deliberative mini-publics before making claims about their contribution to the legitimacy of the political system as a whole. Our research question is therefore: to what extent can deliberative mini-publics live up to the criteria of democratic and political legitimacy? In this paper, we set out to assess the internal legitimacy of one specific deliberative event, namely the G1000 project in Belgium (Caluwaerts & Reuchamps, 2012). The G1000 project takes a particular place in the world of deliberative practice because it was not only grassroots in its process and its results, but also in its organization. Most deliberative events are introduced and funded by either public administrations or scientific institutions. The G1000 was rather considered a genuine citizens' initiative from its very inception. All of the organizers of the event were volunteers, and all of the funds were gathered using crowd funding. So instead of a scientific experiment, the G1000 was more of a democratic experiment by, through, and for citizens. This grass-root structure makes it a very interesting case for students of legitimacy, because as we will see later on it situated at the heart of the democratic trade-off between input and output legitimacy.