Del "excepcionalismo" venezolano al surgimiento del chavismoCon esta columna damos inicio a una serie de tres artículos en los que repasaremos el proceso político venezolano de las últimas décadas. En éste en particular recorreremos la Venezuela previa a Hugo Chávez o, lo que es lo mismo decir, las condiciones que anticiparon y de algún modo explicarían la aparición del fenómeno chavista.La historia de la democracia venezolana comienza en 1958 con la caída del último gobernante militar del país. Aquel año marco el inició de la construcción de lo que se conoció como el "excepcionalismo" venezolano, consistente en la presencia de un sólido sistema de partidos, abundantes recursos fiscales, la sujeción del poder militar al civil, la capacidad de generar acuerdos inter élites y los altos niveles de participación electoral.Los breves interregnos democráticos anteriores a 1958 habían resultado una experiencia negativa debido a un conflicto exacerbado. Con esos antecedentes, los principales actores socio políticos optaron por acordar un conjunto de reglas formales e informales consideradas imprescindibles para el funcionamiento del orden democrático. Además de los celebrados entre trabajadores y empresarios y del Estado con la Iglesia, los acuerdos más relevantes fueron el Pacto de Punto Fijo y el Programa Mínimo de Gobierno entre representantes de los partidos políticos, firmados durante aquel año 1958. Especialmente, el Pacto de Punto Fijo determinó las bases de la convivencia democrática con la realización de elecciones libres y transparentes, el respeto a sus resultados, la conformación de gobiernos equilibrados y con representación de todas las fuerzas políticas firmantes y la toma de decisiones necesarias para el desarrollo con el debido consenso. Los acuerdos, una apuesta a la cautela, la conciliación, el compromiso, terminaron por convertirse en parte constitutiva de la cultura política venezolana, la que recibió el ampuloso nombre de "sistema populista de conciliación de élites".Este sistema se sostuvo sobre la interrelación de tres pilares. Primero y fundamental, la abundancia de recursos económicos provenientes de la renta petrolera, los que posibilitaron la sobrevaluación del tipo de cambio y la atención de demandas heterogéneas por parte del Estado, con una presión tributaria baja. Segundo, un nivel relativamente bajo y simple de las demandas. Por último, las propias características de los partidos políticos —altamente disciplinados, multiclasistas y muy presentes en todos los niveles de la vida nacional y local— en régimen bipartidista de los socialdemócratas de Acción Democrática (AD) y los socialcristianos del Comité de Organización Política y Electoral Independiente (COPEI).En la segunda mitad de la década de los ochenta comienza a producirse la modificación negativa de las bases de sustentación del sistema. Entre 1981 y 1983 los ingresos petroleros se redujeron a un tercio con la concomitante reducción de la capacidad del Estado para atender las demandas sociales. Como consecuencia se produjo la quiebra de los servicios públicos fundamentales, así como quedaron en evidencia las deficiencias intrínsecas de las diversas políticas sociales. En 1994 el 50% de la población de Venezuela estaba por debajo de la línea de pobreza y un cuarto se encontraba en extrema pobreza. La enorme visibilidad del Estado venezolano hizo que fuera directamente responsabilizado por las penurias de los sectores afectados, lo que acentuó el descrédito de los gestores públicos tradicionales. De esta manera, las virtudes de una cultura política basada en consensos sustantivos y de largo alcance entre partidos políticos insertados en todas las organizaciones relevantes de la sociedad, vino a demostrar su contracara. La ciudadanía terminó percibiendo a los partidos como una misma cosa y con acercamientos no siempre santos, que parecen representarse a sí mismos más que aquella. El clientelismo, la partidización institucional, la corrupción administrativa y la ineficiencia en el uso de los recursos abundantes, se tornaron aún más evidentes en un contexto de crisis económica.Se considera al año 1989 como el inicio de la crisis (si bien su comienzo puede rastrearse en la abrupta maxi devaluación de 1983) con la llegada al gobierno por segunda vez de Carlos Andrés Pérez (AD) (1989-1994). Su propuesta, consistente en el regreso al pasado dorado de su primer gobierno (1974-1979) —la "Venezuela Saudita"—, comenzó a acumular la frustración colectiva ya que, en su lugar, el gobierno emprendió una profunda revisión y desmontaje del modelo socioeconómico y político institucional con que se había venido funcionando (el "Gran Viraje). Se devaluó la moneda, se ingresó en la espiral inflacionaria, se incrementaron las tarifas públicas y se congelaron los salarios. La respuesta fue el "Caracazo" (febrero de 1989). Lo que comenzó como una protesta por el aumento del costo del transporte de pasajeros se convirtió en el estallido social de mayor envergadura en América Latina, con un saldo de centenares de muertos y desaparecidos. Por otro lado, las rebeliones militares de 1992 (febrero y noviembre) rompieron el consenso entre militares y políticos y significaron la intervención militar directa en la política. Venezuela se había convertido en una sociedad de protesta y rebeldía. Como cierre de este complejo período, Carlos Andrés Pérez fue separado del cargo por el Congreso Nacional acusado del delito de malversación de fondos públicos.Exactamente treinta años después de su primer gobierno, las elecciones de 1993 llevaron a la presidencia a Rafael Caldera (1994-1999) en alianza atípica con el Partido Comunista y el Movimiento al Socialismo. Caldera había abonado su carrera presidencial con la oposición a las políticas de ajuste del gobierno de Pérez, así como una muestra de comprensión y casi justificación al estallido social y a las insurrecciones militares. Cuando asume intenta llevar adelante políticas que, en rigor, eran el retorno a viejos moldes de desarrollo, lo que fue aplaudido por vastos sectores de la sociedad. Pero estas políticas fracasaron en medio de una crisis financiera y bancaria de proporciones, con el derrumbe de decenas de instituciones bancarias y la quiebra de decenas de miles de pequeñas y medianas empresas. En 1996 Caldera propone la "Agenda Venezuela", un paquete de medidas de austeridad, recortes y reformas, semejantes a las del Consenso de Washington. En un país petrolero el combustible aumento 800%, también aumento el IVA y se volvió a devaluar la moneda significativamente. Las medidas provocaron la ruptura de la coalición gobernante, la que excluía expresamente a AD, considerado el máximo representante del status quo. Sin embargo, ante la perdida de apoyos parlamentarios, Caldera formaliza una alianza justamente con AD, incluyendo la participación de alguno de sus miembros en el Gabinete. Esta alianza se prolongaría por todo lo que quedaba del período. Como resultado del viraje en la política económica y la consecuente ruptura de las promesas electorales, aumentaron los niveles de protesta.Asimismo, durante aquellos años se ingresó en una fase de cambios recurrentes en las reglas electorales. Independientemente de sus buenas intenciones, los cambios provocaron una impresión de oportunismo e improvisación con sus secuelas de desconfianza, lo que sumado al descontento generalizado se tradujo en un incremento sistemático de la abstención electoral que llegó a superar el 50%.La vieja dinámica partidaria que configuraban AD y COPEI se debilitó. Mientras estos dos partidos reunían el 90% de los votos en las elecciones de 1988, en las de 1993 habían disminuido al 46%. Asumía como presidente el candidato de un tercer partido, "Convergencia" (fundado por Caldera, que había hecho lo propio con el COPEI en su momento), la primera vez que un tercer partido superaba la "barrera" del 8%. El resquebrajamiento del bipartidismo se fue profundizando con la aparición de otros terceros partidos que accedieron a cargos de gobernadores y alcaldes, aunque en su mayor parte sus dirigencias eran de extracción "adeista" o "copeidista". Razón por la cual, al final, también la crisis partidaria los afectó. La inclusión de actores no partidistas en el juego político y electoral, como grupos vecinales, personalidades del mundo artístico y deportivo, o figuras políticas individuales sin partido, todas con un acento fuertemente antipartidista, complejizaron el escenario.Las elecciones de 1998 pueden considerarse como el fin del período de transición. En las parlamentarias de noviembre AD y COPEI sólo sumarían entre ambos el 36 % del electorado, mientras el "Movimiento Quinta República" liderado por Hugo Chávez, creado un año antes, obtiene el 20%. Para las presidenciales de diciembre, la cuestión se planteó entre Chávez, candidato a presidente por el denominado "Polo Patriótico" —una coalición variopinta, integrada por la izquierda ortodoxa, los partidarios de la reivindicación militar y los frustrados del bipartidismo— y Henrique Salas Römer, el candidato de "Proyecto Venezuela" —partido de reciente creación emergido de las competencias estaduales— que se encontraba entre los mejores posicionados en las encuestas. Salas Römer terminó siendo apoyado por AD y COPEI que renunciaron a sus propias candidaturas en un desesperado intento de hacer un frente común anti Chávez. En esas condiciones, la figura de Henrique Salas Römer representaba para muchos ciudadanos más la continuidad que el cambio, por lo que era probable que terminara recogiendo el voto castigo. Abiertas las urnas, Hugo Chávez es electo presidente de Venezuela con el 56% de los votos y con más de 15 puntos de margen sobre Salas Römer (36% de abstención).Cuarenta años después de que el modelo venezolano fuera considerado formidable por su fortaleza y estabilidad, el "Huracán Hugo", como los venezolanos habían comenzado a llamar al coronel golpista de 1992, barría lo que quedaba de aquel y llegaba al Palacio Presidencial de Miraflores. Una nueva Venezuela había comenzado. Sobre el autorPolitólogo. Universidad de la República.
This thesis consists of five essays in the field of political economy. The first part of the thesis includes three essays covering various aspects of the political economy of globalization and economic reforms, which are linked in several ways. The second part of the thesis includes two essays on the political economy of development in India. The aim of this introductory section is to give a brief and non-technical overview of the essays, as well as to explain the links between them. The discussion of the contribution of the research to the existing literature will be carried out separately in each essay. Globalization and economic reforms are two important concepts in the international political economy field. Explaining the social effects of both has been at the center of the international political economy literature for an extensive period of time. Much has been written about the effects of globalization on social outcomes (Dreher, Gaston, and Martens 2008, Schneider, Barbieri, and Gleditsch 2003) and there are at least two distinct trains of thought in academia and the public discourse. One view is that the structural changes towards more liberal economic policy can positively transform the economy and polity, increasing economic growth and welfare, as well as bringing much required modernization (Bhagwati 2004, Wolf 2004, Friedman 1999). On the other hand, more pessimistic voices, which include mainstream economists such as Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, and Marxist critical theorists, believe that globalization can simultaneously promote a 'race to the bottom' in social standards that degrades communitarian bases of social stability and welfare (Rodrik 1997, Stiglitz and Charlton 2006). In fact, the global financial crisis of 2008, where people took to the streets in both developing and developed countries, has made the issue of whether or not globalization and economic reforms create socially undesirable consequences, ever more crucial. The first part of the thesis sheds new light on various aspects of the social effects of globalization and economic reforms, reviewing findings in the literature to date and extending existing theories. A major contribution of the thesis is the rigorous and thorough empirical evaluation of the human rights effects of economic reforms, and to what extent globalization has induced a race to the bottom in labour standards, while also contributing new empirical findings to extend the research surrounding the side effects of participating in IMF programs. The thesis is structured as follows. In chapter 1, we focus on the impact of economic reforms and economic freedom on human rights. It is argued that economic policy reforms will benefit most people in terms of better access to goods, lower inflation, and better economic opportunities (Murphy et al. 1991). However, critics of market reforms see the majority as losers from such reforms, expecting resistance that would lead to political repression (Przeworski 1991). Using the change in the Index of Economic Freedom as a measure of market liberalization reforms, employing data from a panel of 117 countries for the 1981–2006 period, the results show a strong positive association between reforms towards more free markets and governments' respect for human rights, controlling for a host of relevant factors, including the possibility of endogeneity. These results lend support to those who argue that freer markets generate better economic conditions and higher levels of social harmony. In fact, halfhearted measures at implementing reforms could be dangerous to human rights. After exploring the impact of economic reforms on human rights, we continue by linking economic liberalization policies prescribed by international organizations such as the IMF to the outbreak of civil war in chapter 2. As the global economic downturn has heightened concerns over intervention by international financial institutions, as well as political stability, a prominently published work by Hartzell, Hoddie and Bauer (2010) purports to show that signing on to an IMF Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) increased the risk of civil war during the 1970–1999 period. They claim that the IMF's SAPs push economic liberalization to the point where some people are so negatively affected as to foment civil war. We advance this debate by critically examining their theoretical and empirical evidence, particularly questioning their crucial assumptions about the impact of IMF programs on the economic environment in terms of the actual winners and losers from economic liberalization, and who might be in a position to rebel. Separating the effects of crises from IMF interventions is crucial since crises also generate losers in their own right. With only minor adjustments to their study, we find the exact opposite of what they conclude. We show that their measure of signing on to an IMF program remains consistently insignificant in explaining the outbreak of civil war, using the threshold of 25 battle deaths when defining the onset of a civil war. These results suggest that their operationalization of the IMF variable, as well as the utilization of large-scale civil wars (1000 deaths and above), captures the effect of ongoing war rather than the effects of liberalization. After extending the time period under study from 1970–1999 to 1970–2008, as well as making some minor changes to operationalization, again we find that IMF involvement is at worst a poor predictor of conflict, and at best, an alleviator of the risk. The next chapter turns to a topic which is currently the focus of both politicians and the labour unions in general. We analyze whether inter-country competition for investment has adverse effects on labour standards. Among the many concerns over globalization is that as nations compete for international firms, they will relax labour standards as a method of lowering costs and attracting investment. Using spatial econometric estimation on panel data for 148 developing countries over 18 years, we find that the labour standards in one country are indeed positively correlated with labour standards elsewhere (i.e., a reduction in the labour standards of other countries reduces the labour standards of the country in question). This interdependence is more evident in labour practices (i.e., enforcement) than in labour laws. Furthermore, competition is most fierce in those countries which already have low standards. Since there has been a decline in the labour practices and laws across all three groups, this is possible evidence of a race to the bottom as nations compete for investment. The second part of the thesis focuses on essays on the political economy of development in India. India is often hailed as one of the success stories of globalization (Basu 2008). Indeed, after the inception of market economic reforms in 1991, economic growth has been both sustained and impressively robust in terms of national economic indicators (Basu 2008). However, despite rapid economic growth during the post-1990 period, the benefits of economic growth are unevenly distributed, and some areas and groups of people have seen their living standards decline (Banerjee 2010). One could argue that this is somewhat surprising given the rapid surge in economic growth in recent years (Bardhan 2010). In connection with this, two critical issues have attracted a lot of attention, both within and outside India. First is the issue of corruption which is seen as a hindrance to prosperity and development, and the second is the emergence of India as one of the major donors of development aid. In chapter 4, we focus particularly on the influence of the timing of elections on controlling corruption. Firstly, we develop a conceptual framework that extends theories of political budget cycles to corruption, where an incumbent government considers controlling corruption based purely on political considerations. More specifically, we investigate whether the timing of elections affects the responsiveness of the incumbent government to control corruption. Secondly, we empirically test the predictions of the conceptual framework using 30 Indian states during the 1988–2009 period. Consistent with the conceptual framework developed, i.e., an incumbent politician might exert greater effort in an election year to control corruption, the findings show that scheduled elections (and not unscheduled elections) are associated with an increase in the number of corruption cases registered. In addition, we find that corruption cases registered tend to increase as a scheduled election year draws closer. Furthermore, the effects are found to be stronger in 'swing states' (where the margin of victory of the incumbent in the previous election was 5% or less), and in state scheduled election years which coincide with national elections. On the other hand, there is no effect of scheduled elections on corruption cases being investigated by anti-corruption agencies. The following chapter examines a puzzling question about India. Here, we analyze what determines Indian development aid. It is indeed puzzling to note that India, which has a large domestic population suffering from underdevelopment, chronic poverty and mal-governance, is emerging as an important aid donor. With the intension of learning why poor countries provide foreign aid, this is the first work to econometrically analyze India's aid allocation decisions. We utilize cross-sectional data on aid commitments to 128 developing countries by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Export-Import Bank of India, obtained in US dollars from AidData for the 2008-2009 period. We then compare India's bilateral aid allocation with that of other donors to examine if India is any different regarding the motivation behind its allocation decisions. The findings show that India's aid allocation decisions are largely driven by commercial and political self-interest. While recipient need does not seem to be a key determinant, neighboring countries receive considerable attention.
A profound reminder of mortality: catabasis, relationality and retrovision in Ingrid Winterbach's Die benederyk (2010) The aim of this article is to indicate that Die benederyk (The underworld) may be read within the theoretical framework of catabasis, relationality and retrovision. My point of departure is that relationality manifests itself in two ways in Die benederyk, namely as an ontological relationship on a personal level between people (whether it be family relations or the bonds of friendship), and also as an ontological relationship between specific artists through the ages. With reference to Kaja Silverman's book Flesh of my flesh (2009), but also referring to Etty Mulder's Freud and Orpheus (1987), a brief summary of the theoretical concepts of relationality, catabasis and retrovision will first be provided. It will be shown, furthermore, that at the same time Die benederyk is a narrative philosophical reflection on the nature, value and function of art and the artistic process. However, since every artist also works within a specific public sphere and tradition this aspect, too, is relationally based. The title itself, Die benederyk, already establishes a connection with death and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that is confirmed throughout the story. Silverman uses this well-known myth, as recorded by Ovid in Book X of The metamorphoses, as her starting point from which she develops her theory of relationality. What is not so well known in Western literature is the fact that after the second disappearance of Eurydice into Hades, Ovid adds a redemptive coda to Book XI, which largely invalidates the woman-death link and lays the foundation of relationality. Orpheus is murdered by the vicious Maenaden. This results in his second descent into the underworld. When he arrives in Hades he sees what he had seen before, but he sees it anew and differently. He embraces Eurydice lovingly and in doing so he acknowledges her ontological equality (Silverman 2009:181). In this way, they re-enact what had happened before, cancelling the violence of the events and transforming it into a reversible and ontological equalising analogy (Silverman 2009:181). Orpheus's descent into the underworld is related to the Greek concept of katabasis–a concept defined as a movement or journey downwards. According to Falconer (2005:2) the Greeks used the term katabasis (Latin descensus ad infernas) metaphorically to refer specifically to the story of a living person who had visited the underworld and returned reasonably unscathed to the land of the living. Silverman's (2009) thesis regarding the theory of relationality is bound up with the fact that mortality is the most comprehensive and basic feature that man shares with every other living being on earth. Finiteness marks the time and place where we end and others begin, both spatially and temporally. It is the acknowledgement of this limitation that gives us a sense of our place within the larger whole (Silverman 2009:4). Silverman (2009:8) then engages with the ideas of psychoanalyst and writer Lou Andreas-Salomé. She refers to Salomé's memoir, Looking back, in which she voices insights that correspond with Ovid's coda in the recording of the Orpheus myth. Salomé attributes a redemptive power to this type of looking, i.e. the capacity to revive the past so that it happens again, but in a new way. She refers to this process as the healing power of Nachträglichkeit–a term originally created by Freud, but used in a different sense by Salomé. She also attributes a number of other powers to Nachträglichkeit, namely the possibility that it can cleanse sin, raise the dead and resolve differences between people. Die benederyk tells the story of two brothers, Aaron Adendorff and his brother Stefaans. The novel addresses, among other issues, the quest for the meaning of life by both characters after each one descends into his own personal hell and in the slow process of re-emerging back towards the light. Both are struggling with their own sins, the death of their loved ones, broken relationships between people and the intense emotions of dealing with loss. The most striking reference to someone visiting the underworld and returning is found when Stefaans is said to have gone down to the darkness and had been lost for a long time. During the course of the narrative Stefaans is likened to the biblical New Testament Lazarus, who was resurrected to life, but also to Joseph of the Old Testament, who was saved from certain death in the pit. Among other things, the novel tells the story of Stefaans's descent into darkness due to drug addiction, the turning point in his life, as well as his gradual return to the land of the living. After this catabatic experience, Stefaans gains insight into his relationship with other flesh being of his flesh and understands his existence as an aware being with a body that has limitations, so that relationality is established. He then reflects on those that he has left behind, whether dead or alive, and so he starts his journey to renewal and regeneration. He accepts his fate, reconnects with his lost brother and heals broken relationships with departed family and friends through retrovision, exorcises his fears, and finally experiences release. Aaron Adendorff, the painter, is the central character in the novel. His story, too, is one of destruction and salvation. After the death of his wife, Naomi, Aaron descends to the dark depths of depression and is also confronted with his own mortality when a cancerous growth is removed from one of his kidneys. There is another striking link with the Orpheus myth in this novel regarding art and the creative process. A conclusive connection exists between being an artist and relationality. It is specifically the descent into the underworld that is presented as the creative process. In this way, the story of Aaron as an artist highlights a different aspect of relationality. Aaron's art is initially figurative in nature and as such he associates himself with the recognisable image. However, after the 1980s his work becomes more abstract as he loses touch with the physical image. This change in the subject-object relation distresses Aaron, because he is constantly aware that the loss of the image –of a discernible object –could be the death of all structure: a formal deadend. The tone in which the novel is written gets its power from the inevitable influence of the invisible image as is evidenced by the description of the intense experience of loss every time the recognisable image disappears. For Aaron, the benefit of his insights into relationality is the rediscovery of his lost loved one, here being the recovery of the recognisable image. He, too, accepts loss and overcomes his anxiety. His renewed creative drive and the prospect of the exhibition in Berlin is proof of his renewal and regeneration. The ontological relationship between people isn't important only for the personal connections and dialogue with predecessors, but also for the insight it gives into what it entails being an artist. It also highlights the connection between artists throughout the ages. Thus, Aaron's retrovision is also a comprehensive overview of Western art history, including many references to predecessor artists with whom he feels a kinship. Feeling himself marginalised (both as a person and as an artist), Aaron takes a critical look at his own figurative paintings as well as those of a few chosen, fictional artists. These include Jimmy Harris (a videographer who has an obsession with deconstructive creativity) and Moeketsi Mosekede (a politically correct artist). Many deceased artists, of whom Joseph Beuys and Francisco Goya are the most notable, are resurrected through retrovision. This historical layering has the effect of a palimpsest, viewing the present as being intertwined with the past. In this way relationality between the past and the present is suggested. Die benederyk is, therefore, indeed a narrative philosophical reflection on the nature, value and function of art in the early 21st century, the history of Western art and the artistic process. Thierry De Duve's comment, as quoted by Lyotard (1992:16), is especially relevant to this novel as it refers to the issues addressed by it: "The question of modern aesthetics is not 'What is beautiful, but rather what is art to be and what is literature to be?'" This article also briefly explores what the terms art and artwork currently mean. Adorno's statement in Aesthetic theory (1997:1) is relevant here: "It is self-evident that nothing concerning art is self-evident anymore, not its inner life, not its relation to society, not even its right to exist." In fact, it could be argued that this pronouncement is the artistic theoretical framework on which Winterbach constitutes her reflection of art and what it means to be an artist in Die benederyk. This novel reflects on the meaning of art, the origin and nature of creative expression (the formation of art) and the possible value thereof. In conclusion it is clear that Winterbach is making explicit pronouncements on art theory through her characters. This means there is evidence of inter-textual poetic reflection. Although these poetic views cannot necessarily be attributed to Winterbach as a visual artist, the narrative philosophical reflection about the creative process confirms once more the particular relationship between her prose and her visual disposition ; http://litnet.co.za/assets/pdf/5GWNel.pdf
A profound reminder of mortality: catabasis, relationality and retrovision in Ingrid Winterbach's Die benederyk (2010) The aim of this article is to indicate that Die benederyk (The underworld) may be read within the theoretical framework of catabasis, relationality and retrovision. My point of departure is that relationality manifests itself in two ways in Die benederyk, namely as an ontological relationship on a personal level between people (whether it be family relations or the bonds of friendship), and also as an ontological relationship between specific artists through the ages. With reference to Kaja Silverman's book Flesh of my flesh (2009), but also referring to Etty Mulder's Freud and Orpheus (1987), a brief summary of the theoretical concepts of relationality, catabasis and retrovision will first be provided. It will be shown, furthermore, that at the same time Die benederyk is a narrative philosophical reflection on the nature, value and function of art and the artistic process. However, since every artist also works within a specific public sphere and tradition this aspect, too, is relationally based. The title itself, Die benederyk, already establishes a connection with death and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that is confirmed throughout the story. Silverman uses this well-known myth, as recorded by Ovid in Book X of The metamorphoses, as her starting point from which she develops her theory of relationality. What is not so well known in Western literature is the fact that after the second disappearance of Eurydice into Hades, Ovid adds a redemptive coda to Book XI, which largely invalidates the woman-death link and lays the foundation of relationality. Orpheus is murdered by the vicious Maenaden. This results in his second descent into the underworld. When he arrives in Hades he sees what he had seen before, but he sees it anew and differently. He embraces Eurydice lovingly and in doing so he acknowledges her ontological equality (Silverman 2009:181). In this way, they re-enact what had happened before, cancelling the violence of the events and transforming it into a reversible and ontological equalising analogy (Silverman 2009:181). Orpheus's descent into the underworld is related to the Greek concept of katabasis–a concept defined as a movement or journey downwards. According to Falconer (2005:2) the Greeks used the term katabasis (Latin descensus ad infernas) metaphorically to refer specifically to the story of a living person who had visited the underworld and returned reasonably unscathed to the land of the living. Silverman's (2009) thesis regarding the theory of relationality is bound up with the fact that mortality is the most comprehensive and basic feature that man shares with every other living being on earth. Finiteness marks the time and place where we end and others begin, both spatially and temporally. It is the acknowledgement of this limitation that gives us a sense of our place within the larger whole (Silverman 2009:4). Silverman (2009:8) then engages with the ideas of psychoanalyst and writer Lou Andreas-Salomé. She refers to Salomé's memoir, Looking back, in which she voices insights that correspond with Ovid's coda in the recording of the Orpheus myth. Salomé attributes a redemptive power to this type of looking, i.e. the capacity to revive the past so that it happens again, but in a new way. She refers to this process as the healing power of Nachträglichkeit–a term originally created by Freud, but used in a different sense by Salomé. She also attributes a number of other powers to Nachträglichkeit, namely the possibility that it can cleanse sin, raise the dead and resolve differences between people. Die benederyk tells the story of two brothers, Aaron Adendorff and his brother Stefaans. The novel addresses, among other issues, the quest for the meaning of life by both characters after each one descends into his own personal hell and in the slow process of re-emerging back towards the light. Both are struggling with their own sins, the death of their loved ones, broken relationships between people and the intense emotions of dealing with loss. The most striking reference to someone visiting the underworld and returning is found when Stefaans is said to have gone down to the darkness and had been lost for a long time. During the course of the narrative Stefaans is likened to the biblical New Testament Lazarus, who was resurrected to life, but also to Joseph of the Old Testament, who was saved from certain death in the pit. Among other things, the novel tells the story of Stefaans's descent into darkness due to drug addiction, the turning point in his life, as well as his gradual return to the land of the living. After this catabatic experience, Stefaans gains insight into his relationship with other flesh being of his flesh and understands his existence as an aware being with a body that has limitations, so that relationality is established. He then reflects on those that he has left behind, whether dead or alive, and so he starts his journey to renewal and regeneration. He accepts his fate, reconnects with his lost brother and heals broken relationships with departed family and friends through retrovision, exorcises his fears, and finally experiences release. Aaron Adendorff, the painter, is the central character in the novel. His story, too, is one of destruction and salvation. After the death of his wife, Naomi, Aaron descends to the dark depths of depression and is also confronted with his own mortality when a cancerous growth is removed from one of his kidneys. There is another striking link with the Orpheus myth in this novel regarding art and the creative process. A conclusive connection exists between being an artist and relationality. It is specifically the descent into the underworld that is presented as the creative process. In this way, the story of Aaron as an artist highlights a different aspect of relationality. Aaron's art is initially figurative in nature and as such he associates himself with the recognisable image. However, after the 1980s his work becomes more abstract as he loses touch with the physical image. This change in the subject-object relation distresses Aaron, because he is constantly aware that the loss of the image –of a discernible object –could be the death of all structure: a formal deadend. The tone in which the novel is written gets its power from the inevitable influence of the invisible image as is evidenced by the description of the intense experience of loss every time the recognisable image disappears. For Aaron, the benefit of his insights into relationality is the rediscovery of his lost loved one, here being the recovery of the recognisable image. He, too, accepts loss and overcomes his anxiety. His renewed creative drive and the prospect of the exhibition in Berlin is proof of his renewal and regeneration. The ontological relationship between people isn't important only for the personal connections and dialogue with predecessors, but also for the insight it gives into what it entails being an artist. It also highlights the connection between artists throughout the ages. Thus, Aaron's retrovision is also a comprehensive overview of Western art history, including many references to predecessor artists with whom he feels a kinship. Feeling himself marginalised (both as a person and as an artist), Aaron takes a critical look at his own figurative paintings as well as those of a few chosen, fictional artists. These include Jimmy Harris (a videographer who has an obsession with deconstructive creativity) and Moeketsi Mosekede (a politically correct artist). Many deceased artists, of whom Joseph Beuys and Francisco Goya are the most notable, are resurrected through retrovision. This historical layering has the effect of a palimpsest, viewing the present as being intertwined with the past. In this way relationality between the past and the present is suggested. Die benederyk is, therefore, indeed a narrative philosophical reflection on the nature, value and function of art in the early 21st century, the history of Western art and the artistic process. Thierry De Duve's comment, as quoted by Lyotard (1992:16), is especially relevant to this novel as it refers to the issues addressed by it: "The question of modern aesthetics is not 'What is beautiful, but rather what is art to be and what is literature to be?'" This article also briefly explores what the terms art and artwork currently mean. Adorno's statement in Aesthetic theory (1997:1) is relevant here: "It is self-evident that nothing concerning art is self-evident anymore, not its inner life, not its relation to society, not even its right to exist." In fact, it could be argued that this pronouncement is the artistic theoretical framework on which Winterbach constitutes her reflection of art and what it means to be an artist in Die benederyk. This novel reflects on the meaning of art, the origin and nature of creative expression (the formation of art) and the possible value thereof. In conclusion it is clear that Winterbach is making explicit pronouncements on art theory through her characters. This means there is evidence of inter-textual poetic reflection. Although these poetic views cannot necessarily be attributed to Winterbach as a visual artist, the narrative philosophical reflection about the creative process confirms once more the particular relationship between her prose and her visual disposition
Presentation of the study. Analysed issues. Relevance of the topic. The Legal regulation of gambling differs across Europe and the world. Some jurisdictions have liberal gambling regulation where operators are free to engage in the betting and gaming business, other jurisdictions enjoy a gambling monopoly. Those countries which have state gambling monopolies participate in gambling through state-owned enterprises or through private concession-based operators. The Scandinavian countries also have long standing gambling monopolies and all gambling revenues are returned back into society to finance state budgets or public projects. Having followed the consequent Nordic tradition during the interwar period, after the restoration of independence Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with certain exceptions) chose a completely different gaming regulatory approach. These jurisdictions chose a fairly liberal and also unique gambling regulation. The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian gambling regulators acknowledge that these countries can not be classified within any gambling legal regulatory system. Certain conceptual problems that are endemic in gaming legal regulation in Lithuania and Baltics were observed by the author while working as a legal practitioner. Since then, through becoming more and more involved in gambling legal regulation and through the observation of foreign law, the author began to think about what might constitute ideal gambling regulation guidelines, and began encouraging the students of Mykolas Romeris University to carry out investigations into ideal gambling legal regulation in their Master theses. In this way, the problem of the selection of the gambling regulatory regime most advantageous to the public came to be crystallised, later forming the axis of this thesis. Is there an ideal legal regulation for gambling at all and what form should this legal regulation take? These reasons led to a comparative legal study – in which the gambling regulatory features in Scandinavia and the Baltic states were compared. As the Scandinavian and Baltic states represent two major approaches to the regulation of the gaming market – a market monopoly (in Scandinavia) and a liberal, competition-based regulation (in Baltic states), the separate issue under investigation were the pros and cons of each of these regulatory approaches. It has to be noted that a gambling monopoly is not just a legal concept enabling the exclusive entity to organize and provide gambling services. The monopoly is also a socio-economic category, whose consequences to the market and the public can be measured. For this reason, the analysis in the thesis touched not only on the legal but also the socio-economic peculiarities of gambling regulation. State and society benefits were also under evaluation, as legally they have to offset an indisputably negative attribute of gambling – it's addictiveness. Thus, this dissertation assesses whether there is a legal basis to assert that the monopoly, based on Nordic gambling regulation traditions, is more proactive (or defective) than the free market based gambling regulations followed in the Baltic States, in terms of the legal, social and economic aspects of these two alternative gaming market regulation methods. The relevance of the study, in particular, is founded on the existing conceptual problems faced by the current Lithuanian legal regulation regarding games of chance. During the nine years of its gambling regulation practice, the Republic of Lithuania has been unable to develop an effective gambling regulatory model that could effectively combine public (society's and state's) and private (gambling operators') interests. The current situation is evidence of the fact that public interest in the gaming sector is not legally covered and protected. The current legislation neither foresees public protection against the harmful effects of gambling, nor regulates public self protection. There are no legal measures of protection in Lithuania that would allow for personal self exclusion from casinos and other gambling venues. The public interest of the government is not protected from the economic point of view. Gambling tax collection and distribution in Lithuania is not effective. Data from 2008 showed that Lithuania had the lowest aggregate gambling tax collection in the region. In contrast, the study showed that the gambling turnover in Lithuania was the largest among the Baltic countries. This shows that the gambling business does not face any real restrictions with regards to its operations. Lithuania lacks legal mechanisms to either regulate the working hours of gaming establishments, or their places of establishment. The dissertation tackles this problem by offering a concrete option - the establishment of a state gambling and lottery monopoly. Monopolistic state participation in the gambling business (the Scandinavian model) guarantees not only the state revenue collected in the form of taxes, it also makes it possible to claim for full gambling generated income (profit). The raising of state revenue is of perpetual relevance to every jurisdiction, especially in the presence of a global financial crisis. The financial difficulties currently met by the Baltic States add additional relevance to this dissertation. The relevance of the thesis is not only contingent on the solution offered to conceptual problems in the field of gambling and the increasing of public revenue. The thesis also evaluates the legitimacy of the monopoly. If sovereign jurisdictions are free to choose a gambling regulatory method, legal problems have occasion to arise when the particular method chosen does not correspond with international legal obligations. For example, article 43 of the Treaty on European Community regulates the freedom of establishment within the EC. Article 49 prohibits restrictions on the provision of services to another Member state of the Community. The infringement of the aforementioned articles is often addressed to states in which legal regulation of gambling is based on a state monopoly. The dissertation provides response to the question of whether gambling monopolies are legal. Due to the international nature of the topic of the dissertation, it is relevant not only in Lithuania, but also Latvia, Estonia and those other Scandinavian countries which are currently concerned with the dilemma of maintaining a monopoly or opening it. The last, but most important, elements which determine the permanent topicality of this paper are the legal aspects of gambling addiction prevention that are researched in the dissertation. In all Baltic States, the prevention of gambling addiction is not given adequate legal consideration. Scandinavian countries apply a number of different gambling addiction prevention measures. Public safety and public order are universal legal values towards which special attention must be paid during the process of forming gaming legal regulation. The paper reveals what legal stand is occupied by the Baltic States in comparison to those Scandinavian countries with monopoly based gambling regulation. The paper reveals how the legal basis of all three Baltic jurisdictions can be improved in the context of gambling addiction prevention. In this respect, the paper is also relevant. The objective and tasks of the study The dissertation is comprised of a comparative legal study, whose purpose is to compare monopolistic legal regulation and the liberal legal regulation of gambling in a specific context - Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, as well as Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian jurisdictions. This specific context – the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, has been chosen due to the fact that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia share a similar history, geopolitical situation, legal system and legal regulation of gambling, even if they are not identical. Latvia and Estonia have monopolized their lottery market, but the rest of the gaming market is liberal. The Scandinavian countries, which are all representatives of state owned gambling monopoly countries, have been chosen as they are close Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian neighbours, whilst their social protection system and social policy are perhaps the best in Europe. These are social welfare countries whose social welfare indices, according to the classification of the Nobel Prize winning economist Amarta Sen, are among the highest in the world. Therefore, the aim of the study was to reveal the effectiveness and appropriateness of gambling legal regulation in Lithuania and other Baltic states, by first comparing these countries to each other and then to Scandinavian countries which are famous for their social well-being. In order to meet the study objective the following tasks have been set: 1. To disclose the concept, nature, evolution and characteristics of the legal regulation of gambling. To disclose social costs management in the Nordic and Baltic countries. 2. To compare gaming regulatory features, including the practice of gaming regulatory institutions, liability against infringement of gambling legal regulation and gambling taxation in Nordic and Baltic countries. 3. To compare gaming safety measures applied in Nordic and Baltic countries The novelty of the study. The scientific value of the dissertation. This is the very first legal dissertation in Lithuania on gambling. The countries under investigation (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia) are also lacking any single comparative legal study on gaming regulatory issues. This is the first scientific work to analyze the pro et contra of market competition and monopoly-based gambling regulation. Only one study, which was performed by the Comparative Law Institute of Lausanne (Switzerland) under assignment of the European Commission: \"Study of Gambling Services in the Internal Market of the European Union. Final report.\" can be held as inter-related to the cur
Presentation of the study. Analysed issues. Relevance of the topic. The Legal regulation of gambling differs across Europe and the world. Some jurisdictions have liberal gambling regulation where operators are free to engage in the betting and gaming business, other jurisdictions enjoy a gambling monopoly. Those countries which have state gambling monopolies participate in gambling through state-owned enterprises or through private concession-based operators. The Scandinavian countries also have long standing gambling monopolies and all gambling revenues are returned back into society to finance state budgets or public projects. Having followed the consequent Nordic tradition during the interwar period, after the restoration of independence Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with certain exceptions) chose a completely different gaming regulatory approach. These jurisdictions chose a fairly liberal and also unique gambling regulation. The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian gambling regulators acknowledge that these countries can not be classified within any gambling legal regulatory system. Certain conceptual problems that are endemic in gaming legal regulation in Lithuania and Baltics were observed by the author while working as a legal practitioner. Since then, through becoming more and more involved in gambling legal regulation and through the observation of foreign law, the author began to think about what might constitute ideal gambling regulation guidelines, and began encouraging the students of Mykolas Romeris University to carry out investigations into ideal gambling legal regulation in their Master theses. In this way, the problem of the selection of the gambling regulatory regime most advantageous to the public came to be crystallised, later forming the axis of this thesis. Is there an ideal legal regulation for gambling at all and what form should this legal regulation take? These reasons led to a comparative legal study – in which the gambling regulatory features in Scandinavia and the Baltic states were compared. As the Scandinavian and Baltic states represent two major approaches to the regulation of the gaming market – a market monopoly (in Scandinavia) and a liberal, competition-based regulation (in Baltic states), the separate issue under investigation were the pros and cons of each of these regulatory approaches. It has to be noted that a gambling monopoly is not just a legal concept enabling the exclusive entity to organize and provide gambling services. The monopoly is also a socio-economic category, whose consequences to the market and the public can be measured. For this reason, the analysis in the thesis touched not only on the legal but also the socio-economic peculiarities of gambling regulation. State and society benefits were also under evaluation, as legally they have to offset an indisputably negative attribute of gambling – it's addictiveness. Thus, this dissertation assesses whether there is a legal basis to assert that the monopoly, based on Nordic gambling regulation traditions, is more proactive (or defective) than the free market based gambling regulations followed in the Baltic States, in terms of the legal, social and economic aspects of these two alternative gaming market regulation methods. The relevance of the study, in particular, is founded on the existing conceptual problems faced by the current Lithuanian legal regulation regarding games of chance. During the nine years of its gambling regulation practice, the Republic of Lithuania has been unable to develop an effective gambling regulatory model that could effectively combine public (society's and state's) and private (gambling operators') interests. The current situation is evidence of the fact that public interest in the gaming sector is not legally covered and protected. The current legislation neither foresees public protection against the harmful effects of gambling, nor regulates public self protection. There are no legal measures of protection in Lithuania that would allow for personal self exclusion from casinos and other gambling venues. The public interest of the government is not protected from the economic point of view. Gambling tax collection and distribution in Lithuania is not effective. Data from 2008 showed that Lithuania had the lowest aggregate gambling tax collection in the region. In contrast, the study showed that the gambling turnover in Lithuania was the largest among the Baltic countries. This shows that the gambling business does not face any real restrictions with regards to its operations. Lithuania lacks legal mechanisms to either regulate the working hours of gaming establishments, or their places of establishment. The dissertation tackles this problem by offering a concrete option - the establishment of a state gambling and lottery monopoly. Monopolistic state participation in the gambling business (the Scandinavian model) guarantees not only the state revenue collected in the form of taxes, it also makes it possible to claim for full gambling generated income (profit). The raising of state revenue is of perpetual relevance to every jurisdiction, especially in the presence of a global financial crisis. The financial difficulties currently met by the Baltic States add additional relevance to this dissertation. The relevance of the thesis is not only contingent on the solution offered to conceptual problems in the field of gambling and the increasing of public revenue. The thesis also evaluates the legitimacy of the monopoly. If sovereign jurisdictions are free to choose a gambling regulatory method, legal problems have occasion to arise when the particular method chosen does not correspond with international legal obligations. For example, article 43 of the Treaty on European Community regulates the freedom of establishment within the EC. Article 49 prohibits restrictions on the provision of services to another Member state of the Community. The infringement of the aforementioned articles is often addressed to states in which legal regulation of gambling is based on a state monopoly. The dissertation provides response to the question of whether gambling monopolies are legal. Due to the international nature of the topic of the dissertation, it is relevant not only in Lithuania, but also Latvia, Estonia and those other Scandinavian countries which are currently concerned with the dilemma of maintaining a monopoly or opening it. The last, but most important, elements which determine the permanent topicality of this paper are the legal aspects of gambling addiction prevention that are researched in the dissertation. In all Baltic States, the prevention of gambling addiction is not given adequate legal consideration. Scandinavian countries apply a number of different gambling addiction prevention measures. Public safety and public order are universal legal values towards which special attention must be paid during the process of forming gaming legal regulation. The paper reveals what legal stand is occupied by the Baltic States in comparison to those Scandinavian countries with monopoly based gambling regulation. The paper reveals how the legal basis of all three Baltic jurisdictions can be improved in the context of gambling addiction prevention. In this respect, the paper is also relevant. The objective and tasks of the study The dissertation is comprised of a comparative legal study, whose purpose is to compare monopolistic legal regulation and the liberal legal regulation of gambling in a specific context - Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, as well as Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian jurisdictions. This specific context – the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, has been chosen due to the fact that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia share a similar history, geopolitical situation, legal system and legal regulation of gambling, even if they are not identical. Latvia and Estonia have monopolized their lottery market, but the rest of the gaming market is liberal. The Scandinavian countries, which are all representatives of state owned gambling monopoly countries, have been chosen as they are close Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian neighbours, whilst their social protection system and social policy are perhaps the best in Europe. These are social welfare countries whose social welfare indices, according to the classification of the Nobel Prize winning economist Amarta Sen, are among the highest in the world. Therefore, the aim of the study was to reveal the effectiveness and appropriateness of gambling legal regulation in Lithuania and other Baltic states, by first comparing these countries to each other and then to Scandinavian countries which are famous for their social well-being. In order to meet the study objective the following tasks have been set: 1. To disclose the concept, nature, evolution and characteristics of the legal regulation of gambling. To disclose social costs management in the Nordic and Baltic countries. 2. To compare gaming regulatory features, including the practice of gaming regulatory institutions, liability against infringement of gambling legal regulation and gambling taxation in Nordic and Baltic countries. 3. To compare gaming safety measures applied in Nordic and Baltic countries The novelty of the study. The scientific value of the dissertation. This is the very first legal dissertation in Lithuania on gambling. The countries under investigation (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia) are also lacking any single comparative legal study on gaming regulatory issues. This is the first scientific work to analyze the pro et contra of market competition and monopoly-based gambling regulation. Only one study, which was performed by the Comparative Law Institute of Lausanne (Switzerland) under assignment of the European Commission: \"Study of Gambling Services in the Internal Market of the European Union. Final report.\" can be held as inter-related to the cur
Research problem It has been four decades since conclusion of the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties. The Convention included a provision that a treaty shall be inter-preted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose. The customary status of this rule has been accepted by the International Court of Justice. Disregarding that, some question whether the rules, as opposed to principles, of interpretation are possible (i.e. would that not be better not to reduce them to writing). The International Law Commission itself has com-mented on this. On the other hand, the differences concerning interpretation of treaties were apparent already at the time the treaty was drafted. When the Convention was finally adopted, a few scholars representing the so-called New Haven approach opined that they expected the Convention to fail due to its "insistent emphasis upon an impossible, comformity-imposing textuality". In their view, conclusion of an international agreement was a continuous process of cooperation and collaboration of the parties, which required a much more detailed focus on the intentions of the parties than the Vienna Convention rule of interpretation envisaged. They called for interpretation which would search for genuine shared expectations, together with the complementary appeals for 'supplementing' and 'policing' communications in accordance with overriding community goals. Disregarding these hallmarks, they accepted that the text should remain an important index of party expectations, which they identify as one of the goals of interpretation. In their view, attention to the carefully worked out arrangements of the parties encourages the clarity of expectation, especially when sources of equal credibility give contradictory results concern-ing their expectations. Although the New Haven approach to interpretation of treaties was not included in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a form of their reflection could be identified in national law, especially that of continental legal systems. It is agreed that the major difference between common law and conti-nental practice lies in the rules of interpretation: common law is based on a presumption of law, into which statutes are interwoven, hence the practice of drafting statutes in the fullest detail, and the broad assumptions that a statute deals only with those cases which fall within its actual wording. Continental theory, on the other hand, treats statutes as a basis of the law, but these tend to be drafted in a very general and abstract way, leaving it up to the courts to fill in the details by reference to a presumed legislative intention. However, this key difference seems to dissipate, as the common law tends to move away from the purely literal towards the purposive construction of statutory provi-sions, i.e. a new, 'revamped' version of literal rule has developed, which required the general context and purpose to be taken into consideration before any decision is reached concerning the ordinary meaning of statutory words. The continental practice remains consistent on its emphasis on the legislative intention. In the law of contracts this rule turns into a global one: both Lando and UNIDROIT principles of international commercial contracts include a rule of interpretation requiring to determine the common intentions of the parties. This approach finds reflection also in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, which was drafted on the basis of the UNIDROIT Principles. The International Law Commission returned to the topic of interpreta-tion of treaties thirty years later, in 2000, when it decided to consider the issue of fragmentation of international law and the potential problems it might give rise to. With this purpose in mind in its report on the topic of 2006 the study group has identified four general principles of interpretation of international rules: first, international law should be considered as a legal system, not as a random collection of international rules; second, in applying international law, it is necessary to determine the precise relationship between two or more rules and principles that are both valid and applicable in respect of the whole situa-tion (i.e. to identify whether their relationship is a one of interpretation or con-flict); thirdly, the norms should be interpreted in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties, and fourthly, when several norms bear on a single issue, they should be interpreted so as to give rise to a set of compatible obligations. Explaining the latter principle, the Commission, similarly to the New Haven group approach, emphasized the need to take into consideration the community values, i.e. ius cogens and erga omnes, even though continues to recommend to follow the Vienna Convention approach on the ordinary meaning of the terms. Forty years later, it is already possible to consider, whether the New Haven group was correct criticising the Vienna Convention rule of interpreta-tion for its excessive emphasis on text, and how significant is the practical difference between the rule requiring to determine the common intentions of the parties as opposed to the rule, which requires to interpret a treaty in accor-dance with the ordinary meaning of its terms. Also, what is the practical im-pact of these differences on protection of the rights of persons. In order to answer this research question, the focus of the dissertation is on the foreign investment law in the energy sector. The topic is suitable and convenient to consider the impact of the rules of interpretation and the problems posed by fragmentation of international law. Its sources include in-ternational, national, and for the EU countries also EU law, even though the nature of the relationship between EU law and international investment law remains a disputable issue. The energy sector has been chosen in order to evaluate more precisely the impact of the rules of interpretation and fragmenta-tion of international law on the content of the rights of persons and their appli-cation. Research sources The Dissertation analyzes multilateral and bilateral investment trea-ties which are significant for the the protection of investment in the energy sector and the decisions of international investment arbitral tribunals. The ma-jor sources of international investment law are international treaties. The most significant documents for the energy sector currently are the Energy Charter treaty, the ICSID Convention, and the bilateral investment treaties, although national law remains also important for enforcement of arbitral awards and interpretation of state contracts. State contracts also remain significant, be-cause as a rule they include arbitration clauses and stabilization clauses. The latter are particularly common in the energy sector due to its specificity – on the one hand, energy is a heavily politicized sector due to its significance for the development of the economy of a state and both its economic and political stability. Therefore it has a status of a strategic sector, even an issue of national security. This could be observed ever since the beginning of the twentieth century. On the other hand, energy is an infrastructure sector, which requires high investments for development. Not all states are capable to develop this sector by their own financial means, and choose to attract foreign investment. As a result, investment contracts (state contracts) are concluded; they have a status of international commercial contracts, and their parties are free to choose both the applicable law and the means of dispute settlement. The en-ergy contracts as a rule include stabilization clauses, which seek to maintain stable business legal and financial environment for the duration of the contract. Finally, European Union law may also be accepted as a source for in-vestment protection, despite its generalized purposes, which are to achieve the strengthening and convergence of their economies and to establish a monetary and economic union, to implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of the common defence policy, and to estab-lish the area of freedom, security and justice. EU law and foreign investment law are still largely conceived as independent and hardly interlinked. However, as integration between the EU member states becomes closer, EU legislation makes an increasing impact also on the specific sectors of the economy, in-cluding the energy sector. Research object The research object of this dissertation are the problems of interpreta-tion and application of law which arise in the resolution of disputes concerning protection of investments in the energy sector between the host states and for-eign investors. They may be grouped into three groups on the basis of the ap-plicable law: 1. The problems of interpretation of international agreements. Both BITs and MITs apply only with respect to investment. ICSID arbitral tribunals can hear only disputes arising directly out of an investment. Disregarding the key role the notion has on the exercise of rights, its meaning remains unclear. The most recent arbitral practice is completely inconsistent on this issue. No less problems are posed by the umbrella clauses, which are included in a large number of BITs and the Energy Charter Treaty, and which requires states to observe obligations they have entered into with an investor. These provisions have been included even in the BITs of 1970s, but in practice they have emerged only recently. The arbitral tribunals differ on whether this provision should be read literaly, or whether its meaning should be restricted. 2. The problems of interpretation of arbitration clauses and invest-ment contracts. This group includes the problems concerning arbitrab
Research problem It has been four decades since conclusion of the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties. The Convention included a provision that a treaty shall be inter-preted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose. The customary status of this rule has been accepted by the International Court of Justice. Disregarding that, some question whether the rules, as opposed to principles, of interpretation are possible (i.e. would that not be better not to reduce them to writing). The International Law Commission itself has com-mented on this. On the other hand, the differences concerning interpretation of treaties were apparent already at the time the treaty was drafted. When the Convention was finally adopted, a few scholars representing the so-called New Haven approach opined that they expected the Convention to fail due to its "insistent emphasis upon an impossible, comformity-imposing textuality". In their view, conclusion of an international agreement was a continuous process of cooperation and collaboration of the parties, which required a much more detailed focus on the intentions of the parties than the Vienna Convention rule of interpretation envisaged. They called for interpretation which would search for genuine shared expectations, together with the complementary appeals for 'supplementing' and 'policing' communications in accordance with overriding community goals. Disregarding these hallmarks, they accepted that the text should remain an important index of party expectations, which they identify as one of the goals of interpretation. In their view, attention to the carefully worked out arrangements of the parties encourages the clarity of expectation, especially when sources of equal credibility give contradictory results concern-ing their expectations. Although the New Haven approach to interpretation of treaties was not included in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a form of their reflection could be identified in national law, especially that of continental legal systems. It is agreed that the major difference between common law and conti-nental practice lies in the rules of interpretation: common law is based on a presumption of law, into which statutes are interwoven, hence the practice of drafting statutes in the fullest detail, and the broad assumptions that a statute deals only with those cases which fall within its actual wording. Continental theory, on the other hand, treats statutes as a basis of the law, but these tend to be drafted in a very general and abstract way, leaving it up to the courts to fill in the details by reference to a presumed legislative intention. However, this key difference seems to dissipate, as the common law tends to move away from the purely literal towards the purposive construction of statutory provi-sions, i.e. a new, 'revamped' version of literal rule has developed, which required the general context and purpose to be taken into consideration before any decision is reached concerning the ordinary meaning of statutory words. The continental practice remains consistent on its emphasis on the legislative intention. In the law of contracts this rule turns into a global one: both Lando and UNIDROIT principles of international commercial contracts include a rule of interpretation requiring to determine the common intentions of the parties. This approach finds reflection also in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, which was drafted on the basis of the UNIDROIT Principles. The International Law Commission returned to the topic of interpreta-tion of treaties thirty years later, in 2000, when it decided to consider the issue of fragmentation of international law and the potential problems it might give rise to. With this purpose in mind in its report on the topic of 2006 the study group has identified four general principles of interpretation of international rules: first, international law should be considered as a legal system, not as a random collection of international rules; second, in applying international law, it is necessary to determine the precise relationship between two or more rules and principles that are both valid and applicable in respect of the whole situa-tion (i.e. to identify whether their relationship is a one of interpretation or con-flict); thirdly, the norms should be interpreted in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties, and fourthly, when several norms bear on a single issue, they should be interpreted so as to give rise to a set of compatible obligations. Explaining the latter principle, the Commission, similarly to the New Haven group approach, emphasized the need to take into consideration the community values, i.e. ius cogens and erga omnes, even though continues to recommend to follow the Vienna Convention approach on the ordinary meaning of the terms. Forty years later, it is already possible to consider, whether the New Haven group was correct criticising the Vienna Convention rule of interpreta-tion for its excessive emphasis on text, and how significant is the practical difference between the rule requiring to determine the common intentions of the parties as opposed to the rule, which requires to interpret a treaty in accor-dance with the ordinary meaning of its terms. Also, what is the practical im-pact of these differences on protection of the rights of persons. In order to answer this research question, the focus of the dissertation is on the foreign investment law in the energy sector. The topic is suitable and convenient to consider the impact of the rules of interpretation and the problems posed by fragmentation of international law. Its sources include in-ternational, national, and for the EU countries also EU law, even though the nature of the relationship between EU law and international investment law remains a disputable issue. The energy sector has been chosen in order to evaluate more precisely the impact of the rules of interpretation and fragmenta-tion of international law on the content of the rights of persons and their appli-cation. Research sources The Dissertation analyzes multilateral and bilateral investment trea-ties which are significant for the the protection of investment in the energy sector and the decisions of international investment arbitral tribunals. The ma-jor sources of international investment law are international treaties. The most significant documents for the energy sector currently are the Energy Charter treaty, the ICSID Convention, and the bilateral investment treaties, although national law remains also important for enforcement of arbitral awards and interpretation of state contracts. State contracts also remain significant, be-cause as a rule they include arbitration clauses and stabilization clauses. The latter are particularly common in the energy sector due to its specificity – on the one hand, energy is a heavily politicized sector due to its significance for the development of the economy of a state and both its economic and political stability. Therefore it has a status of a strategic sector, even an issue of national security. This could be observed ever since the beginning of the twentieth century. On the other hand, energy is an infrastructure sector, which requires high investments for development. Not all states are capable to develop this sector by their own financial means, and choose to attract foreign investment. As a result, investment contracts (state contracts) are concluded; they have a status of international commercial contracts, and their parties are free to choose both the applicable law and the means of dispute settlement. The en-ergy contracts as a rule include stabilization clauses, which seek to maintain stable business legal and financial environment for the duration of the contract. Finally, European Union law may also be accepted as a source for in-vestment protection, despite its generalized purposes, which are to achieve the strengthening and convergence of their economies and to establish a monetary and economic union, to implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of the common defence policy, and to estab-lish the area of freedom, security and justice. EU law and foreign investment law are still largely conceived as independent and hardly interlinked. However, as integration between the EU member states becomes closer, EU legislation makes an increasing impact also on the specific sectors of the economy, in-cluding the energy sector. Research object The research object of this dissertation are the problems of interpreta-tion and application of law which arise in the resolution of disputes concerning protection of investments in the energy sector between the host states and for-eign investors. They may be grouped into three groups on the basis of the ap-plicable law: 1. The problems of interpretation of international agreements. Both BITs and MITs apply only with respect to investment. ICSID arbitral tribunals can hear only disputes arising directly out of an investment. Disregarding the key role the notion has on the exercise of rights, its meaning remains unclear. The most recent arbitral practice is completely inconsistent on this issue. No less problems are posed by the umbrella clauses, which are included in a large number of BITs and the Energy Charter Treaty, and which requires states to observe obligations they have entered into with an investor. These provisions have been included even in the BITs of 1970s, but in practice they have emerged only recently. The arbitral tribunals differ on whether this provision should be read literaly, or whether its meaning should be restricted. 2. The problems of interpretation of arbitration clauses and invest-ment contracts. This group includes the problems concerning arbitrab
Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia Forestale ; Negli ultimi anni si sono sviluppate nuove linee di ricerca applicate al settore agro-forestale, finalizzate allo sviluppo delle migliori tecniche e alla selezione e al miglioramento genetico di materiale vegetale per la produzione delle biomasse ligno-cellulosiche. Questi studi sperimentali sono stati favoriti dalle necessità politiche generate dall'eccessivo consumo energetico dei Paesi industrializzati ed emergenti soggetti ad un intenso sviluppo economico ed al contemporaneo aumento dei costi delle fonti energetiche fossili. La scarsità di queste fonti, ed il loro implicito aumento di prezzo, sono la conseguenza della connaturata esauribilità di questi beni nel lungo periodo, della crescita significativa della domanda globale non supportata da un aumento di produzione nel breve e medio periodo, e delle continue tensioni politico-militari che si hanno in molti Stati produttori. Per la produzione delle biomasse in campo agro-forestale, le piantagioni forestali a turno breve(Short Rotation Forestry) potranno avere un ruolo significativo soltanto se le difficoltà, di natura tecnica ed economica, oggi riscontrabili in questo particolare settore dell'agricoltura, saranno affrontate e risolte. In Italia, le specie considerate utili per queste produzioni sono quelle a rapido accrescimento dei generi Eucaliptus L., Populus L. e Salix L. Nei terreni considerati marginali si ipotizza l'impiego di Robinia pseudoacacia L. Per quanto riguarda il genere Populus, gli obiettivi dell'attività di selezione e miglioramento genetico puntano ad ottenere un'elevata produzione, un rapido accrescimento e una maggiore tolleranza alle avversità biotiche ed abiotiche. Presso il Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente Forestale e delle sue Risorse (DiSAFRi) dell'Università della Tuscia, negli ultimi anni sono state realizzate collezioni di germoplasma di Populus, in particolare di Populus alba L. e Populus nigra L. Il materiale genetico raccolto è stato sviluppato all'interno dell'Azienda Agraria dell'Università della Tuscia, le cui progenie hanno costituito famiglie di fratellastri (half sib). I singoli genotipi sono stati identificati per mezzo di un codice, il quale rende possibile l'identificazione della famiglia e della popolazione di appartenenza. Oltre alla conservazione ex situ, queste famiglie half sib risultano essere un'ottima base di partenza per studi di genetica delle popolazioni e di genetica quantitativa. I caratteri quantitativi, alla base della produzione delle biomasse ligno-cellulosiche, possono essere compresi attraverso lo studio delle progenie di prima generazione generate da genotipi di pioppo appartenenti alla medesima specie o a specie differenti. Conseguentemente, è stato generato un pedigree che racchiudesse la più ampia variabilità genetica della specie, utilizzando dei parentali provenienti da ambienti e latitudini molto diverse. Il pedigree di pioppo bianco, denominato POP4 (142 genotipi), studiato in quest'attività di ricerca, è stato ottenuto dall'incrocio dei parentali "14P11" e "6K3", che fanno parte di popolamenti naturali ben distinti. Il "14P11" è il parentale femminile (♀), ed appartiene alla famiglia derivante dalla pianta madre 14P, originaria dell'Italia meridionale (Policoro, MT). Il "6K3" (♂), che appartiene alla famiglia 6K, è originario dell'Italia settentrionale (Carcare, SV). Nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca europeo, denominato POPYOMICS, tramite lo studio di questa progenie si tenta di valutare e comprendere l'importanza di alcuni caratteri quantitativi coinvolti nella produzione delle biomasse ligno-cellulosiche nella specie autoctona di P. alba. Quest'attività di ricerca si integra con studi di biologia molecolare necessari all'individuazione dei marcatori genetici coinvolti nell'espressione dei caratteri, utilizzando un'analisi QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) finalizzata al miglioramento genetico e allo sviluppo della selezione assistita da marcatori molecolari (MAS). La sperimentazione è stata condotta in tre siti situati in Inghilterra, Francia ed Italia. Gli impianti sono stati realizzati e gestiti con gli stessi criteri tecnici. I caratteri valutati nella sperimentazione possono essere distinti in caratteri legati all'accrescimento e alla produzione, circonferenza, altezza, indice di volume, produzione di biomassa epigea, in caratteri legati alla morfologia della foglia, area fogliare e lunghezza del picciolo, ed in caratteri che descrivono la ramificazione delle piante, numero dei rami sillettici ed indice dei rami. Per raggiungere gli obiettivi preposti, la sperimentazione è stata condotta secondo un piano generale di lavoro ben definito. Tale piano è suddivisibile secondo queste fasi: 1. Collezione dei dati; 2. Correzione dei dati (individuazione degli outliers, trasformazione dei dati, aggiustamento spaziale dei dati); 3. Analisi dei dati intrasito (medie genotipiche aggiustate, ereditabilità individuale e genotipica, correlazione fra caratteri, eterosi); 4. Analisi dei dati intersito (componenti della varianza, correlazione fra siti per singoli caratteri). ; In the last years new lines of search have been developed applied to the sour-forest field, finalized to the development of the best techniques and to the selection and the genetic improvement of material vegetable for the production of the biomass. These studies experience them have been favourite from the political necessities generated from the excessive energetic consumption of the Countries industrialize to you and emerged subject to an intense economic development and the contemporary increase of the costs of the fossil energetic sources. The sparsity of these sources, and their implicit increase of price, are the consequence of the inborn sparsity of these assets in along period, of the meaningful increase of the not supported total question from a production increase in the long and medium term, and of the continuous political-military tensions that have in many States producers. For the production of the biomass in sour-forest field, the forest plantations to short turn (Short Rotation Forestry) will only be able to have a meaningful role if the difficulties, of technical and economic nature, today found in this particular field of agriculture, will be faced and resolved. In Italy, the species considered useful for these productions is those to express increase of the kinds Eucaliptus L., Populus L. and Salix L. In lands it considers marginal assumes the employment you of Robinia pseudoacacia L. As far as the Populus genus of trees, it objects it you of the selection activity and genetic improvement heads to obtain a high production, an express increase and one greater tolerance to the stress. Near the Department of Forest Resources and Environment (DiSAFRi) of the University of the Tuscia, in the last years have been realized collections of germplasm of Populus, in particular of Populus alba L. and Populus nigra L. The collected genetic material has been developed to the inside of the Agrarian Company of the University of the Tuscia, whose progeny have constituted families of stepbrothers (half sib). The single genotypes have been identifying to you for means of a code, which it renders the identification of the family and the population of belongings possible. Beyond to the former conservation ex-situ, these families half sib turn out to be an optimal line of departure for studies of genetics of the populations and quantitative genetics. The quantitative characters you, to the base of the production of the biomass, can be comprised through the study of the progeny first generation generated from genotypes of poplar pertaining to the same different species or species. Consequently, it has been generated pedigree that the widest genetic variability of the species enclosed, using of the coming from ancestral celebrations from atmospheres and various latitudes much. The pedigree of poplar white man, called POP4 (142 genotypes), studied in this activity of search, have been obtained from the crossing of the ancestral celebrations "14P11" and "6K3", that they make part of natural populations very distinguished. "14P11" it is the feminine parent (♀), and belongs to the family deriving from the plant mother 14P, original of southern Italy (Policoro, MT). "6K3" (♂), that it belongs to the family 6K, it is original of northern Italy (Carcare, SV). In the within of the European plan of search, called POPYOMICS, through the study of this progeny it is tried to estimate and to comprise the importance of some quantitative characters been involved you in the production of the biomass in the native species of P. alba. This activity of integral search with studies of necessary molecular Biology to the location of the genetic markers been involved in the expression of the characters, using an analysis QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) finalized to the genetic improvement and the development of the selection assisted from molecular markers (MAS). The experimentation has been lead in three situated ones situates to you in England, France and Italy. The systems have been realize to you and managed with the same technical criteria. The characters estimated in the experimentation can be distinguished in characters legacies to the increase and the production, circumference, height, index of volume, production of biomass, in characters legacies to the morphology of the leaf, leaf area and length of the petiole, and in characters who describe the ramification of the plants, number of branches sylleptic and index of branches. In order to catch up he objects it to you places, the experimentation has been second lead a general plan of job very defined. Such slowly he is subdivided second this makes yourself: 1. Collection of the data; 2. Correction of the data (location of the outliers, transformation of the data, adjustment spaces them of the data); 3. Analyses of the data intra-site (medium fixed genotypic, hereditability characterize them and genotypic, correlation between characters, heterosis); 4. Analysis of the data inter-site (components of the variance, correlation between situated for single characters).
Einleitung: Da im Fokus einer nachhaltigen Entwicklungsstrategie die grundlegende Transformation der Gesellschaften und der politischen Systeme steht, stellt sich die Frage, welche Rolle in einem solchen Prozess, der primär von den Gesellschaften selbst getragen werden muss, externen Akteuren wie der EU zukommen kann und vielleicht sogar zukommen muss. Für Europa begründet sich der eigene Anspruch, durch die Anbindung der arabischen Staaten an das westliche Wirtschaftssystem ein höheres Wohlstandsniveau dieser Staaten zu erreichen und so zu Stabilität beizutragen, sowohl aus der geschichtlichen Verflechtung mit der Region, als auch aus der geographischen Nähe. Während letztere die Möglichkeiten einer intensiven Austauschbeziehung und einer Ausweitung europäisch-arabischer Handelsverflechtungen impliziert, birgt sie gleichsam die Gefahren illegaler Migration und eines Überschwappens der regionalen Konflikte nach Europa. Es ist daher im ureigensten Interesse der EU, die Probleme der Region nicht zu ignorieren. Ein stärkeres europäisches Engagement in der Region wird auch von arabischer Seite gefordert, die die EU zunehmend als alternativen Verhandlungspartner zu den USA wahrnimmt. Dass die EU bereit ist, die Rolle des externen Förderers der Region zu übernehmen, bekräftigte sie in einem 2004 veröffentlichten Papier zur "Strategischen Partnerschaft der EU mit dem Mittelmeerraum und dem Nahen Osten". Darin wird die Ambition zum Ausdruck gebracht, die Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen, die man in der "Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft" seit 1995 gesammelt hat, auf den größeren arabischen Raum östlich von Jordanien auszuweiten. Die Frage, ob durch dieses Partnerschaftsprogramm tatsächlich ein effektiver Handlungsrahmen geschaffen wurde, macht eine eingehende Analyse der Kooperations- und Prozessstrukturen dieser Partnerschaft notwendig. Die "Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft" stellt daher nicht nur das Kernkonzept der "Strategischen Partnerschaft" dar. Es dient auch in der vorliegenden Arbeit als Analysemodell, anhand dessen aufgezeigt werden soll, unter welchen Bedingungen ökonomische Zusammenarbeit als integratives Element in einem Prozess inter-regionaler Kooperation fungieren kann. Die zentrale Fragestellung dieser Diplomarbeit lautet daher: Kann die EU über den Weg der wirtschaftlichen Kooperation die Weichen stellen für anhaltendes Wachstum in den arabischen Entwicklungsländern? Eröffnet sich dadurch auch die Möglichkeit, politisch Einfluss zu nehmen auf den Prozess der Demokratisierung, der für eine gesellschaftliche und politische Transformation als Grundlage betrachtet wird? Dazu werden in einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit der Entstehung, der Art und der Entwicklung der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft zunächst die Schwachpunkte des Kooperationskonzepts identifiziert. In einem nächsten Schritt werden die Schwierigkeiten, die sich bei der Implementierung des Konzepts ergeben haben, auf ihr Reformpotential untersucht, um in einem abschließenden Kommentar auf Erfolg versprechende Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten des Partnerschaftsprogramms hinzuweisen. Gang der Untersuchung: Bevor in Kapitel 3 mit einem historischen Rückblick auf die euro-mediterranen Beziehungen seit den frühen sechziger Jahren die Grundlagen für ein besseres Verständnis der Entstehung und Entwicklung der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft geschaffen werden, wird im zweiten Kapitel ein theoretischer Analyserahmen aufgestellt. Dieser dient dazu, die deskriptive Darstellung der historischen Prozesse und Muster um eine analytische Perspektive zu erweitern. Zur Unterstützung der Argumentationslinie dieser Arbeit wurden mit der Interdependenztheorie, der Integrationstheorie sowie der Friedensforschung spezifische Erklärungsansätze internationaler Interaktion gewählt, die der idealistischen Denkschule zugeordnet werden können. Die Theorien unterstützen sich in ihrer Aussage gegenseitig und stellen für den Versuch, die Motivation des europäischen Handelns zu beleuchten und die normative Handlungsorientierung der EU aufzuzeigen, ein hilfreiches Instrument dar. Dass durch die Begrenzung auf drei Theorien der idealistischen Strömung bestimmte Verhaltens- und Erklärungsmuster betont werden, andere jedoch unberücksichtigt bleiben, liegt in der Natur der Sache. Die Wahl der theoretischen Ausrichtung hat somit einen stark instrumentellen Charakter, so dass eine alternative Deutungsweise der europäischen Politik im mediterranen Kontext denkbar, angesichts der Fragestellung dieser Arbeit aber nicht Ziel führend wäre. Im dritten Kapitel wird zunächst der inkrementelle Charakter der euro-mediterranen Kooperationsbeziehung herausgestellt und die Dynamik beleuchtet, die der europäische Integrations- und Erweiterungsprozess auf die Entwicklung der euro-mediterranean Beziehungen überträgt. Als erste gesamteuropäische Kooperationsinitiative wird die "Globale Mittelmeerpolitik" vorgestellt, die sich als ein umfassender Ansatz mit handelspolitischen, finanziellen und technischen Kooperationselementen auszeichnet. Die kritische Betrachtung der einzelnen Elemente führt jedoch zu der Feststellung, dass der Nutzen für die arabischen Kooperationspartner aufgrund wesentlicher Einschränkungen im Handelsbereich, und hier vor allem im Agrarsektor, begrenzt bleibt. Die Einordnung dieser ersten Phase der Zusammenarbeit in den größeren historischen Kontext sowie die Auseinandersetzung mit den staatlichen Strukturen der arabischen Mittelmeerpartner, führen in einem nächsten Schritt zu der Erkenntnis, dass eine erfolgreiche Kooperation nicht nur ökonomische Elemente beinhalten darf, sondern dass zivilgesellschaftliche Reformen ebenso in die europäische Strategie einbezogen werden müssen wie die Aspekte Rechtstaatlichkeit, Transparenz und "Good Governance". Mit der Barcelona-Deklaration wird im November 1995 die "Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft" ins Leben gerufen, die die Etablierung einer Region des Friedens und des Wohlstands anstrebt. Kapitel 4 erläutert, wie mit der Gliederung der Zusammenarbeit in einen politischen, einen wirtschaftlichen und einen sozialen Bereich die Defizite der "Globalen Mittelmeerpolitik" behoben und dem gewandelten Sicherheitsverständnis der EU Rechnung getragen werden soll. Das Konzept der Konditionierung finanzieller Unterstützung auf politische Reformen ist dafür wegweisend. Da das europäische Interesse an der Mittelmeerregion jedoch nicht auf dessen "Potential" als Sicherheitsrisiko beschränkt ist, wird in einem nächsten Schritt das ökonomische Potential der Region analysiert. Aufgrund der Klassifizierung der arabischen Partnerländer als Entwicklungsländer wird dafür ein Ansatz der endogenen Wachstumstheorie herangezogen. Die in diesem Kontext angewandte Definition von ökonomischem Potential besteht demnach in der Fähigkeit der Mittelmeerpartnerstaaten, durch die Einführung von "Good Governance"-Strukturen die Bedingungen für Investition und Wachstum zu generieren. Aus einem Vergleich des in diesem Sinne definierten, ökonomischen Potentials mit dem der AKP-Staaten wird zwar das relativ größere Gewicht der Mittelmeerpartner für die EU deutlich. Die Marginalität im Gesamtverhältnis lässt allerdings erkennen, dass die euro-mediterrane Zusammenarbeit im wirtschaftlichen Bereich primär unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Stabilisierung der Region gesehen werden muss. Kapitel 4 schließt mit dem Projekt der euro-mediterranen Freihandelszone, das als Kernstück der Partnerschaft unter den Aspekten der Vereinbarkeit mit bestehenden WTO-Regelungen und der ökonomischen Folgewirkungen betrachtet wird. Das fünfte Kapitel setzt sich schließlich mit den konkreten Problemen auseinander, die eine effektive Umsetzung des Partnerschaftsprogramms behindern. Die unterschiedlichen Hemmnisse werden zu diesem Zweck vorwiegend auf ihre Wirkungsweise sowie auf ihr Reformpotential untersucht. Die Hauptaufgabe besteht dabei weniger in der Klärung der Schuldfrage, als vielmehr in der Herausarbeitung der Bedingungen, die für eine erfolgreiche und effiziente Arbeit der Partnerschaft in Zukunft geschaffen werden müssen. Die Flexibilisierung des Partnerschaftskonzepts steht dabei im Zentrum eines jeden Reformvorschlags. Das Fazit stellt zunächst die vielfältigen Interdependenzverhältnisse, die die EU zu den arabischen Mittelmeerpartnern in Bezug setzen, dar. Dabei wird vor allem der stets an der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft geübten Kritik, eine asymmetrische Beziehung zu einer partnerschaftlichen Beziehung zu stilisieren, Rechnung getragen. Positive Betonung findet dagegen das Reformpotential, das in der gegenseitigen Ergänzung des euro-mediterranen und des innereuropäischen Integrationsprozesses steckt. Optimistische Erwartungen für die Umsetzung der unterschiedlichen Reformvorschläge werden vor allem mit der "Strategischen Partnerschaft der EU mit dem Mittelmeerraum und dem Nahen Osten" verbunden, da diese die zukünftigen europäisch-arabischen Beziehungen als inhaltlich und geographisch ausgeweitetes Konzept durchaus Erfolg versprechend abbildet. Die zentrale Frage, ob die EU durch ihr ökonomisches Gewicht eine politische Rolle im Nahen Osten übernehmen kann, lässt sich letztlich nur bedingt beantworten: "Ja", wenn die EU im Konzert mit den USA als gemeinsamer und somit in der Sache glaubhafter Akteur auftritt; "Nein", wenn die EU diese Glaubwürdigkeit aufs Spiel setzt, indem sie innereuropäische Interessenkonflikte die außenpolitische Verantwortung der gesamten EU dominieren lässt.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Inhaltsverzeichnis: InhaltsverzeichnisI TabellenverzeichnisIII AbbildungsverzeichnisIV AbkürzungsverzeichnisV 1.Einleitung1 2.Theoretischer Analyserahmen10 2.1Problematik nationalstaatlicher Rhetorik11 2.2Interdependenztheorie13 2.3Integrationstheorie15 2.4Friedensforschung18 2.5Universalismus vs. Regionalismus21 3.Historische Entwicklung der Beziehungen der EU zum Mittelmeerraum24 3.1Bilaterale Abkommen (Phase I: 1957 – 1972)24 3.2Globale Mittelmeerpolitik (Phase II: 1972 – 1990)27 3.2.1Struktur und Umsetzung des Globalansatzes28 3.2.2Problematische Partnerschaft31 3.3Multilaterale Initiativen zur Formulierung einer Mittelmeerpolitik33 3.3.1Konferenz für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit im Mittelmeerraum34 3.3.2"5 plus 5"-Gespräche35 3.4Zusammenfassung36 4.Die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft – der Barcelona Prozess ab 199539 4.1Barcelona Deklaration – Programm, Motivation und Zielsetzungen43 4.2Bedeutung des Wirtschaftsraums für die EU48 4.2.1Grundlagen neoklassischer und endogener Wachstumsmodelle49 4.2.2Stabilität als Wachstumsfaktor51 4.2.3Analyse des ökonomischen (Entwicklungs-) Potentials54 4.2.4Vergleich zu AKP-Staaten67 4.3Freihandelszone als Kernstück der EMP73 4.3.1Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen73 4.3.2Freihandel im Rahmen der WTO/GATT 199475 4.3.3Ökonomische Implikationen des Freihandelskonzepts77 4.4Zusammenfassung83 5.Spannung zwischen Konzeption und Implementierung85 5.1Defizite in der europäischen Marktöffnungspolitik88 5.2Institutioneller Dualismus93 5.3Demokratisierung vs. Stabilisierung96 5.4EU als "Global Payer" oder "Global Player"?99 5.5Regionalkonflikte als Kooperations-Determinante102 5.6Nahost-Konflikt und dessen Auswirkungen auf die EMP105 5.7Zusammenfassung107 6.Fazit109 Literaturverzeichnis113 Aufsätze, Monographien und Sammelwerke113 Dokumente123 Institutionen126 Online-Publikationen129 Anhang134Textprobe:Textprobe: Kapitel 5., Spannung zwischen Konzeption und Implementierung: Dass das Fazit, das 2005 anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft auf beiden Seiten des Mittelmeers gezogen wurde, weder ausschließlich positiv, noch ausschließlich negativ ausfiel, kann angesichts der Langfristigkeit der Konzeption und der Vielzahl der Einfluss nehmenden Interdependenzen nicht überraschen. Bestritten werden kann allerdings auch nicht, dass sich der Barcelona Prozess zum bedeutendsten Rahmenwerk für die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Beziehungen, für Dialog und regionale Kooperation entwickelt hat. So resümiert die EU 2005 positiv, dass die Verhandlungen der Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen mit allen Partnerländern abgeschlossen werden konnten. Mit Ausnahme von Syrien besteht ein vollständiges, bilaterales Vertragsnetzwerk, im Rahmen dessen Assoziationsräte und Ausschüsse auf Experten- und Ministerebene regelmäßig tagen und die praktische Implementierung der Kooperationsziele begleiten. Besonders hervorzuheben sind darüber hinaus die institutionellen Erweiterungen des Partnerschaftskonzepts: Im Rahmen der Europäischen Investitionsbank wurde 2002 die "Investitionsfazilität und Partnerschaft Europa-Mittelmeer" (FEMIP) gegründet, deren Schwerpunkt die Finanzierung und Entwicklung des Privatsektors bildet. Ausdruck einer egalitären Beziehung ist die paritätisch besetzte und im Jahr 2004 ins Leben gerufene "Parlamentarische Versammlung Europa-Mittelmeer" (EMPA), deren Vertreter vom Europäischen Parlament und von den nationalen Parlamenten berufen werden und die ihre erste Plenarsitzung im März 2005 in Kairo abhielt. Als Parlament des Barcelona Prozesses hat die EMPA allerdings nur beratende Funktion. Im sozialen Bereich wurde mit der "Anna Lindh Stiftung für den Dialog zwischen Kulturen Europa-Mittelmeer" 2005 die dritte Institution im Rahmen der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft gegründet. Als "Network of Networks" fungiert sie als verbindendes Element der Kulturen und soll zur intensiveren Teilnahme der Zivilgesellschaften am Partnerschaftsprozess beitragen. Positiv ist ebenso zu vermerken, dass der Mittelmeerraum bewusst in den Bereich europäischer Verantwortung gerückt wurde. Denn mit der EU-Osterweiterung im Jahr 2004 bestand die Gefahr einer Verschiebung auf der europäischen Prioritätenliste. Man fürchtete, dass die umfassende Förderung der politischen und institutionellen, euro-mediterranen Infrastruktur nicht die erhofften Wirkungen entfalten und sich der Graben, die den südlichen Teil des Mittelmeers vom nördlichen vor allem unter Wohlstands- und Wachstumsaspekten noch deutlich trennt, vertiefen könnte. Um die Vorteile der EU-Erweiterung in Bezug auf Stabilität, Sicherheit und Wohlstand auch den Mittelmeerpartnerländern angedeihen zu lassen, wurde die ursprünglich im Hinblick auf die neuen östlichen Nachbarn der erweiterten EU konzipierte "Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik" auf die Mittelmeerdrittländer ausgedehnt. Somit steht auch die Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik in der Tradition der europäischen Mittelmeerpolitik, die Dynamik des EU-Erweiterungsprozesses durch Modifizierung der bestehenden Kooperationsvereinbarungen auf die Mittelmeerpartnerschaft zu übertragen. Sie soll die Euro-Mediterrane Partnerschaft allerdings nicht ersetzen, sondern vielmehr den erweiterten Rahmen bilden, innerhalb dessen die Partner vollständigen Nutzen aus den vorhandenen Strukturen ziehen können. Gemäß der Vision eines "Größeren Europas" intendiert die Nachbarschaftspolitik, einen "Ring verantwortungsvoll regierter Staaten" zu bilden, die die grundlegenden Werte und Ziele der EU teilen und daher enger an die EU herangeführt werden sollen. Dazu werden differenzierte, bilaterale Aktionspläne in enger Abstimmung mit den Mittelmeerdrittländern erstellt, die die Zielvorgaben der Europa-Mittelmeer-Abkommen zwar widerspiegeln, diese aber durch eine bewusste Verbindung zu nationalen Politikprogrammen bzw. zu EU-Politiknormen und –standards stärker operationalisierbar gestalten. Als bedeutende Reformpriorität wird die Einbeziehung in den EU-Binnenmarkt durch Annäherung von Rechts- und Verwaltungsvorschriften anvisiert. Um die dafür nötigen Reformen im Bereich der Regierungsführung zu beschleunigen, wird die Mittelzuweisung durch das MEDA-Programm im Sinne eines Benchmark-Konzepts einem stärkeren Wettbewerb ausgesetzt. Die Einhaltung von Menschenrechten und den Prinzipien von Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit soll dadurch verstärkt gewährleistet werden. Angesichts der Langfristigkeit dieser Maßnahmen wird jedoch deutlich, dass man der 1995 gesetzten Zielvorgabe, einen Raum des Friedens, der Stabilität und des Wohlstands zu schaffen, auch nach zehn Jahren der Kooperationsbemühungen kaum näher gekommen ist. Kritiker wie Befürworter der europäischen Mittelmeerpolitik ziehen daher gleichermaßen ein enttäuschtes Fazit : In der politischen und Sicherheitspartnerschaft scheiterte bereits 2002 das Vorhaben einer "Euromediterranen Charta für Frieden und Sicherheit". Trotz des wiederholten Bekenntnisses, Friede und Stabilität durch vertrauens- und sicherheitsbildende Maßnahmen schaffen zu wollen, enthält das im November 2005 verabschiedete fünfjährige Arbeitsprogramm keine Ambitionen, das Charta-Projekt wiederzubeleben. Lediglich die Absicht, den Dialog über eine Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik zu vertiefen und einen Verhaltenskodex für den Kampf gegen den Terrorismus zu implementieren, ist in das Programm aufgenommen worden. Die Sicherheitspartnerschaft entbehrt jedoch weiterhin konkrete Pläne, den Mittelmeerraum zu einer massenvernichtungswaffenfreien Zone zu machen. So wie die verschiedenen regionalen Konflikte nicht eingedämmt werden konnten, wurden nach eigenen Angaben der Kommission auch im Demokratisierungsprozess keine signifikanten Fortschritte verzeichnet. Im wirtschaftlichen Bereich besteht trotz der Erfolge, die im Rahmen der Einrichtung einer euro-mediterranen Freihandelszone in Bezug auf den Abbau der Außenprotektion der Mittelmeerdrittländer erzielt wurden, weiterer Reformbedarf. So vor allem bei der Anpassung der politischen und institutionellen Strukturen, beim Abbau bürokratischer Schwerfälligkeit, bei der Harmonisierung und regionalen Angleichung technischer Standards und Regelwerke sowie bei der Reformierung des öffentlichen Sektors. Trotz der Zusage finanzieller Mittel von annähernd 9 Mrd. EUR im Rahmen der MEDA I und MEDA II-Programme und von EIB-Krediten von knapp 10 Mrd. EUR hat das durchaus beachtliche jährliche Wirtschaftswachstum von durchschnittlich 4% bis 6% weder zu einer nennenswerten Verbesserung des Lebensstandards weiter Bevölkerungsteile der Mittelmeerdrittländer geführt, noch konnte die Wohlstandskluft zwischen dem südlichen und nördlichen Mittelmeerufer verringert werden. Als "Roadmap" bezeichnet das Arbeitsprogramm die Summe der Zielvorgaben, die bis zur vollständigen Umsetzung der Freihandelszone im Jahr 2010 angestrebt werden. Dazu zählt primär die stufenweise Liberalisierung des Agrar- und des Dienstleistungshandels sowie die Beschleunigung des intra-mediterranen Integrationsprozesses. Sozial und kulturell ist die Partnerschaft weiterhin durch einen Mangel an einem bewussten Partnerschaftsdenken gekennzeichnet. Die Förderung zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationsformen führte weder zur erhofften Dynamisierung des interkulturellen Dialogs, noch zu einer Verbesserung der sozioökonomischen Verhältnisse. Auch gelang es nicht, durch die Einbindung zivilgesellschaftlicher Eliten eine Brücke zu schlagen zwischen der Ebene der Regierungen und der breiten Öffentlichkeit. Der Informationsstand bezüglich der Euro-Mediterranen Partnerschaft ist daher völlig unzureichend, um von einer tatsächlichen Wirkung auf die Menschen sprechen zu können. Zwar wurden durch Med-Programme wie "Euromed Heritage", "Euromed Audiovisual" und "Euromed Youth" aktive Dialog- und Kooperationsforen geschaffen. Und auch das "Euromed Civil Forum", das als Plattform nicht-staatlicher Organisationen seit Anbeginn des Partnerschaftsprogramms die jährlichen Außenministerkonferenzen begleitet, leistet in Zusammenarbeit mit der 2005 gegründeten "Euro-Mediterranean non-governmental Platform" durch Reflektion und Kommunikation einen Beitrag zum zivilgesellschaftlichen Charakter der Partnerschaft. Doch bleiben die Resultate dieser Anstrengungen sowohl aufgrund mangelnder ideeller Unterstützung der jeweiligen Regierungen als auch der begrenzten Mittelausstattung durch die EU hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Das einmütige Urteil der unterschiedlichsten – europäischen wie arabischen – Beiträge zum Jubiläum lautet, dass trotz der bisherigen Errungenschaften das Potential der Partnerschaft bei weitem nicht ausgeschöpft ist und daher Ansatzpunkte für die Erweiterung, Verbesserung und Intensivierung der euro-mediterranen Beziehungen bestehen. Im Folgenden soll daher dazu übergegangen werden, einige strukturelle Schwierigkeiten, die eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung der Partnerschaft behindern, zu diskutieren und gleichsam auf ihr Reformpotential hin zu analysieren. Melanie Noetzel. Studium der Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg sowie der Außenpolitik an der American University, Washington DC. Abschluss 2007 als Diplom-Kauffrau. Anschließender Aufenthalt zu Sprachstudien an der Universität von Damaskus, Syrien. Momentan tätig als Doktorandin im Bereich europäischer Integrations- und Erweiterungspolitik mit Blick auf die arabischen Nachbarstaaten der EU.
Slavery is a historical antecedent, which affected all continents, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes successively; its genesis is the sum of all that happened during an intermediate period of history. Paradoxically, slavery and slave trade still exist today under various pseudonyms: servants, nannies, prostitutes, indentured servants, extremely low paid workers. The examination here is confined to the Atlantic Slave Trade and its implications to Africa and its people, both in Africa and in Diaspora. Various aspects and instruments of law, particularly, international and inter-temporal law were examined to justify or repudiate the demand for compensation vis-à-vis reparation. The Atlantic Slavery, which began in the year 1440 was first abolished in 1787 throughout British Empire and in 1833, the British parliament abolished slavery in its colonies. In 1838, the slaves were emancipated and by 1880, slavery had been abolished in southern United States and across the world an estimated figure of over 14 million blacks was forcibly transported to overseas countries. This figure does not include those who died before they arrived to their various destinations. The thesis that slavery and slave trade contributed to the development of capitalism because slave trade constituted an essential element in the early mercantilist stage of capitalist development and abolition, which was a reflex of the resulting industrialism and its free commercial policies may have adherence here and there. Apparently, the increased demand for slaves not only reallocated resources, but also produced externalities thought to impede long-time development in Africa. These impediments were constraints on the growth of African states, increase in ethnic and socio stratification and sustained a culture of political violence. The history of West Africa will be used as a model for the economic marginalisation and depopulation of Africa. While most scholars agree that the depopulation of Africa was a consequence of Atlantic Slave Trade and must have reduced the aggregate population between 1700 and 1850, nevertheless it is problematic to assess the causal impact of slave population growth and development. The regular slave raiding was a constraint to production, social life obscured the ethnic boundaries and the inability to distinguish insider from outsider as the people scattered to escape the risk of being caught. Between the 16th and 19th centuries more than 14 million slaves were produced in Africa and transported to overseas. Book one Chapter I addresses the term "Slavery" and its concepts in all its ramifications. The instruments of semantics, philology and biology e.t.c. were used to arrive at an acceptable definition of slavery. Chapter II have as its priority the examination of slavery as an ancient institution of all cultures and the subsequent break of this culture by the Europeans. Enough evidence were advanced to prove that almost every continent and country practiced one form or another of slavery and slave trade, but this seemingly established culture and norm were put to question by the Europeans. The practice of the Atlantic triangular slave trade and the colonial Plantation economy with the attendant exploitation of the slave workers were extensively discussed in this chapter. Chapter III have as its priority racism, cultural differences, and above all, economics as the motives for Atlantic slave trade vis-à-vis triangular slave trade. The roles and the works of intellectuals, movies, newspapers, and physical contacts with the Africans contributed to slavery and also to the Atlantic slave trade. Book Two Chapter IV dealt with the examination and analysis of the motives of Atlantic slavery and slave trade using the economic, social and political yardstick as the most compelling factors. Mathematical calculations and economic diagrams were used here to describe the demand and supply of slaves and its effect on African economies. In Book Two, the implications of Atlantic slave trade to Africa and its people in strictly economic and demographical terms were examined. Chapter V presented various definitions of natural law and present its prominent progenitors and contributors. The role of natural law in the examination of the atrocities of the Atlantic slave trade cannot be underestimated considering the fact that during this period, international law or positive law as we understand it today, had hardly existed therefore, the only appropriate yardstick open for the examination of the treatment and trade of the Africans appear to be the instrument of natural law vis-à-vis moral law. Chapter VI examined in detail the merits and demerits of the concept of "Pacta sunt servanda" as applied by the Europeans in trade with his African partners. The unfolding implications that resulted because of the failure of adherence to "Pacta sunt servanda" to the contracting persons, nations, villages also featured here prominently. It is on record that the European expansion over other parts of the world was undertaken by the acts of states and governments and later also private business partners participated in the slave trade. Therefore, the implication of this under international law was evaluated. Chapter VII combined the extent and influence of the Radbruch's Formula of Ratio Juris, its logicality and the nature of legal theory and Robert Alexy's conceptual analysis and the theory about the nature of law to determine the degree of morality and justice embodied in the slave laws enacted in the United States during the Atlantic Slave Trade. For example, Radbruch postulated that the objective of legal philosophy is to appraise the law in terms of congruency with its ultimate goal, i.e. to realize the ideas of law. Chapter VIII highlighted the abolition and emancipation of slavery and emphasized the role of Quakers, Anglicans and most importantly anti-slavery campaigners, like Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson. They initiated, campaigned and fought for the abolition and emancipation of African slavery, without which the history of Africa and its people would have being hitherto be rewritten today. Just as the instruments of publications, sermon, pamphlets, treatise, poems, narratives, newspaper articles, reports and petitions were used to promote and aggravate Atlantic slave trade and slavery so also were these instruments used to fight for the emancipation of slavery. Though the cause of reparation for Africans and Africans in Diaspora cannot be seriously questioned, particularly under natural law and the laws of morality, the conceptual, legal, moral and historical issues were discussed extensively in Chapter IX. The normative arguments for and against reparations and the identity of beneficiaries and those sued for reparations were the object of analysis. Causation and attenuation arguments of reparations, particularly in tort liability, for example, act attenuation, victim attenuation and wrongdoer attenuation will help to determine culpability. Tort law analogy in slavery reparations and more so lawsuits for Jim Crow, constitutional requirements and unjust enrichment are all indispensable legal instruments to ascertain the merits and demerits of reparations. The concepts of restitution and genealogical determinism are also essential parts of this chapter. And finally, the philosophy of Libertarianism also constituted to the evaluation of the case for reparations. Reparation has been a common feature or idea in public international law before the emergence of international human rights law. The various international courts have defined the notion of reparation in relation to the notion of international responsibility of the state in • Art. 31: ILC (s. pages 238, 241) • Art. 3: ILC • Art. 13 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) • Art. 11(2) • Art. 7(1) The international law advances that any conduct, which is attributable to the state and which constitutes a breach of an international obligation of the state is an international wrongful act and comes under the state responsibility. The international law that adjudicates on state responsibility stipulates that there must be a link between a past wrong and present claim, consequently any legal claim for reparation at the international level will be confronted with the problem of proving that the present day western countries caused the injury inflicted on slaves. Other bodies of law like restitution, which deals with benefit-based liability or benefit-based recovery, has become an increasingly powerful tool in the case of reparation, particularly for mass wrongs. The merits and demerits were done justice to in this Dissertation. Natural Law has played an important role in the affairs of men through the ages because it entails basic principles of moral law and legislation and is in some cases objective, accessible to reason and based on human nature. Though, the concept of natural law is controversial, however, the Nuremberg War-Crimes trials after World War II, had no foundation in written laws. The prosecutors and judges justified their sentences on the assumption of natural laws binding all human beings and the present insistence on human rights also implies the affirmation of a kind of natural law. Natural law is therefore, a reflection of morality and consequently, legally valid if they conform to morality. He appraised human rights as surpassing all written laws and advanced that the law of nature should be sufficient to address the issue of restitution. Therefore, the kidnappings, the involuntary enslavement, the killings or murder of protesting or rebellious African slaves were an offence and a crime that needed to be addressed. Africa and the Africans in Diaspora can seek for justice albeit post mortem of the slaves.
[spa] El nacimiento del derecho disciplinario se produce claramente en la Baja Edad Media. Allí, la aparición de un aparato burocrático importante y la atribución a los funcionarios u oficiales de una esfera de competencia propia dejando de ser meros mandatarios reales provoca la aparición de una serie de instituciones que bajo el nombre de visita, juicio de residencia pesquisa o purga de Taula (Taula = mesa, lugar donde se desempeñaba el trabajo) persiguen un objetivo común (asegurar una administración leal, justa y eficaz) y recogen todos los rasgos primitivos de lo que hoy denominamos régimen disciplinario de las funcionarios públicos pues se tipifican usos ilícitos que pueden ser cometidos en el ejercicio del cargo y se prevén unos castigos a imponer, todo ello fruto de un procedimiento especial no judicializado.Esta interpretación, que sigue con matices la efectuada por el profesor Nieto y hasta hoy ha sido discutida por nadie, sitúa al derecho disciplinario como un derecho privado que pone en relación al Monarca con sus oficiales, claramente desgajado del derecho penal.Esta circunstancia, por otra parte común todas las instituciones que forman parte del universo que el derecho administrativo, nos sirve para constatar lo que en su origen fue el régimen disciplinario, pero poco más. Por tanto, en la actualidad hemos de partir del derecho positivo vigente para saber lo que es el derecho disciplinario de los funcionarios públicos.En concreto, el punto de partida de nuestro Estudio lo constituye el artículo 25.1 del Texto Constitucional, que como es sabido equipara delito, falta e infracción administrativa. Al respecto, la primera jurisprudencia del TC ya recordó que los principios inspiradores del orden penal son de aplicación, con ciertos matices, al derecho administrativo sancionador, dado que ambos son manifestaciones del ordenamiento punitivo del E. Por tanto, se reconoce una potestad sancionadora a la Administración por motivos de eficacia y de política legislativa, pero ésta no se distingue sustancialmente de la potestad punitiva ejercida por los Tribunales.Esa línea jurisprudencial es también la seguida por el TEDH entre otras en su sentencia OZTURK de 21 febrero 1984, en la que se declaraba la ilegalidad de una sanción de tráfico a un ciudadano turco en Alemania, castigo que había sido impuesto sin respetar el derecho a un intérprete.En ese marco nos debemos preguntar: ¿Cuál es la naturaleza jurídica del derecho disciplinario?En la actualidad, perviven dos grandes corrientes doctrinales que, amparándose en unas presuntas diferencias entre el derecho penal y el derecho disciplinario, concluyen justificando una aminoración de garantías a respetar en el seno de este último.Así, los defensores de la diferenciación cuantitativa, encabezados por el profesor CEREZO MIR consideran que al derecho disciplinario se le encomienda el conocimiento de las conductas más leves siendo las sanciones a imponer igualmente menores a las contempladas en el ámbito penal. Pues bien, de los Textos vigentes precisamente podemos deducir todo lo contrario. Citaré un único ejemplo para no hacer excesivamente plúmbea esta exposición. La sanción típica por excelencia en el derecho disciplinario es la separación del servicio, castigo de carácter perpetuo e irreversible y que no tiene parangón alguno con cualquiera de las penas previstas por el C.P. para los funcionarios públicos, todas ellas de duración temporal.Una segunda doctrina es la llamada teoría de la diferenciación cualitativa o en ocasiones dogma de las especiales relaciones de sujeción. La misma es seguida por casi toda la doctrina administrativa, aunque haciendo derivar diferentes consecuencias. Entre ellos destacaría a los profesores GARRIDO FALLA, GARCÍA DE ENTERRÍA, ENTRENA CUESTA, PARADA VÁZQUEZ o MONTORO PUERTO. En síntesis, sus partidarios consideran que el primero se aplica a la mejor organización del servicio público, mientras que el segundo considera la defensa del orden social general. Configurado de ese modo, el derecho disciplinario seria un derecho interno, doméstico, que únicamente trata de solventar las disputas que surgen en el seno de la Administración-Institución, por oposición a un derecho público, el penal, que defiende cualquier alteración de la convivencia social.De ahí, llegan a deducirse que los principios y garantías que deben ser respetados por uno y otros han de ser distintas.Considero que esa concepción debe ser matizada a la luz de varios argumentos que he recogido en la tesis de los cuales citaré algunos:a) En primer término la constatación que el artículo 25.1 CE no distingue entre distintos tipos de infracciones.b) El examen de los distintos ilícitos disciplinarios arroja el dato de la constante referencia a los conceptos "ciudadanos administrados" o "público" (por ejemplo se tipifica como ilícito la ligera incorrección con el público, la falta de consideración con los administrados, etc.) circunstancia que pone de relieve precisamente la preocupación social del derecho disciplinario y los contornos cada vez más difuminados que le separan del derecho penal.c) Asimismo, la cláusula del Estado Social de Derecho del art. 1.1 C.E. y la tarea constitucionalmente encomendada a la Administración (servir con objetividad los intereses generales) hace que no pueda mantenerse la concepción de la Administración como una caja cerrada aislada de la sociedad. Como dijo en un memorable aserto la doctrina, "los funcionarios no existen sólo porque trabajan para la Administración sino que existen porque trabajan para los ciudadanos a través de una organización (Administración); la Administración no es fin en si misma, sino medio hacia otro fin (servicio a los ciudadanos)". En conclusión, considero que pueden existir diferencias de tipo cualitativo en la concreta tipificación de algunos ilícitos, pero esa constatación no debe servir como excusa para aminorar o inaplicar el conjunto de garantías y principios cimentados en el derecho penal, aunque sí pueden ser adaptados, matizados o incluso modificados atendiendo a las peculiaridades propias del derecho disciplinario. A averiguar esas adaptaciones he dedicado el nudo gordiano de la Tesis.Así son analizados los principios de Reserva de Ley, tipicidad, irretroactividad, "non bis in idem", proporcionalidad, prescripción de faltas y sanciones, ejecutividad de las mismas y el procedimiento legalmente establecido a la luz del artículo 2.4. CE. ; [eng] The first problem that I will analyze is the question of the juridical nature of the law. Until now, two doctrines have been used: the first, called "The theory of quantitative differentiation" should be put aside because, for example, the typical sanction "par excellence" in the disciplinary law is the dismissal; this punishment is perpetual and irreversible and is not comparable into other penalties (which have time limits) in the Penal Code tor the public officials.The second doctrine is called the "theory of the qualitative differentiation" or, sometimes, the "dogma of special subjection relation". This theory is followed by practically all of the representatives of administrative (government) theory though they reach different conclusions; between them I would quote GARRIDO FALLA, GARCIA de ENTERRIA, ENTRENA CUESTA, PARADA VAZQUEZ, MONTORO PUERTO. In summing up, supporters of this theory consider that disciplinary law and criminal law seek different ends, diverse objectives. The former looks to obtain well-organised public service and the latter, to defend the general public social order.So configured, disciplinary law wouId be an internal, domestic law that only has to resolve the arguments that appear within the public administration (government), as opposed to a public law which defends against any sort of alteration of the social coexistence.From this we can inter that the principIes and guarantees which have to be respected in both situations must be different.I consider that this conception has to be slightly shaded by the arguments I put forth in my thesis. To quote some of them:a) First, we should observe that art. 25.1 Spanish Constitution does not distinguish between those infractions.b) The analysis of different disciplinary illicities shows a permanent reference to the concepts of "administrated citizens" or "public". (For example, the following behaviours are typified as "faults": a slight discourtesy to the public, incivility with the administered citizen, etc.) And this makes obvious precisely the social occupation of disciplinary law and the less and less defined frontier between this and penal law. c) In this way, the clause "The Social State", art. 1.1. S.C., and the mission constitutionally entrusted to the public administration (to serve objectively the general interest) do not allow us to maintain the conception of the public administration as a closed box, isolated from society. To quote a memorable saying: "public officials don't exist only because they work for the citizen by means of an organisation (the public administration); the public administration is not an end in itself, but rather a means to another service (service to the citizen)".In conclusion, I consider that some qualitative differences can exist within the concrete typify of some illicities, but this argument must not be used to look for excuses to decrease or not ascribe all the guarantees and principles offered by penal law, eventhough they can be adapted and shaded or even modified regarding the special idiosycrasies of disciplinary law. I have dedicated the centre of my thesis to looking for theses adaptations. To that end, I have analysed the principles of legal reserve, typicality, absence of retroactivity, "non bis in idem", proportionality, prescription of faults and sanctions, the execution of them, and the legal process established by the art. 24 S.C.
Background: Google Trends (GT) searches trends of specific queries in Google, which potentially reflect the real-life epidemiology of allergic rhinitis. We compared GT terms related to ragweed pollen allergy in American and European Union countries with a known ragweed pollen season. Our aim was to assess seasonality and the terms needed to perform the GT searches and to compare these during the spring and summer pollen seasons. Methods: We examined GT queries from January 1, 2011, to January 4, 2017. We included 15 countries with a known ragweed pollen season and used the standard 5-year GT graphs. We used the GT translation for all countries and the untranslated native terms for each country. Results: The results of pollen, ragweed, and allergy searches differed between countries, but ragweed was clearly identified in 12 of the 15 countries. There was considerable heterogeneity of findings when the GT translation was used. For Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, the GT translation was inappropriate. The country patterns of pollen, hay fever, and allergy differed in 8 of the 11 countries with identified ragweed queries during the spring and the summer, indicating that the perception of tree and grass pollen allergy differs from that of ragweed pollen. Conclusions: To investigate ragweed pollen allergy using GT, the term ragweed as a plant is required and the translation of ragweed in the native language needed. (C) 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel
