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(2) EU Foreign & Security Policy
Created on Tuesday, 06 October 2015 09:18 | Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 October 2015 09:18 | 
EU plans new strategy on foreign and security policy
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union
Why and how have the EU and its Member states developed a Mediterranean dimension of JHA? What were the motivations to ‘go external’ in the field of JHA? Was it the result of ‘unintended consequences’, or did actors willingly bypass institutional constraints because of rational calculations (both domestic and supranational)? What were the actors’ incentives to develop a Mediterranean dimension of JHA? Was it purely motivated by security concerns? To what extent have legacies influenced the development of a JHA external dimension? Did the Mediterranean partners influence the development of a JHA Euromed agenda? Which institutions were really important in developing an external dimension of JHA? Did the pillar structure and its related institutional set-up, across which the JHA policies extend, constrain actors? All these questions lie at the heart of the thoughts and are approached from a new institutionalist angle. While the case studies selected reflect developments that took place during the 2005-2009 period, I also take into account the changes introduced by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009.
(1) EU Foreign & Security policy
Created on Monday, 14 September 2015 06:27 | Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2015 06:27 |
Justice and Home Affairs Council, 14/09/2015
In September 2010, Qaddafi was threatening the European Union (EU) that Europe would become a ‘black continent’ if it did not pay him 5 billion Euros per year to stop migrants from Africa coming to Europe. This anecdote, which can now be seen from the perspective of the war in Libya, is actually sadly symptomatic of the contradictions of EU policies towards the region over the last couple of years. The initial positive spirit of the Barcelona Process was overtaken by realpolitik concerns that led Europeans to be less forceful about the promotion of normative principles such as democratization. Instead it seems that EU internal security concerns of migration, border control, security and energy took precedence over the promotion of the rule of law and democratization.
(34) EU Constitutional Law
Created on Friday, 04 September 2015 07:29 | Last Updated on Friday, 04 September 2015 07:29 |
COMPETENCES OF THE EU
Exercise of the Union’s competences by a limited number of Member States: the enhanced co-operation procedure
The possibility for some Member States to establish closer co-operation between themselves, through the Community institutions and procedures, had been introduced by the ToA, and is known as “enhanced co-operation”. The IGC, revising the ToA, decided that the conditions triggering enhanced co-operation needed substantial amendment. The ToA limited the use of enhanced co-operation to matters dealt with in Pillar 1 and in Pillar 3 (matters concerning police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters), imposed strict conditions for its use, and gave the right of veto to every Member State, even if that Member State did not wish to participate. Under the ToA the procedure was never used. The ToN profoundly revised the enhanced co-operation procedure in order to make it more attractive to Member States. The ToL has further reformed the procedure. Provisions relevant to enhanced co-operation are contained in Title IV of the TEU and Title III of Part Six of the TFEU.
(44) History of Europe
Created on Friday, 21 August 2015 08:30 | Last Updated on Friday, 21 August 2015 08:31 |
Europe as a republic: the story of Europe in the twenty first century
Europe in the Twenty-first Century
In the two centuries following the French Revolution, Europe was transformed from a factionalized collection of feudal, hierarchical, Christian monarchies into an affluent community of peaceful, democratic, secular, and capitalist states. Along the way, these changes were shaped by upheavals of revolution and war. The Enlightenment and the French Revolution of 1789 first raised ideas of individualism, human rights, and popular sovereignty. The Napoleonic wars and the Peoples’ Spring of 1848 spread these notions across Europe, planting the seeds of liberalism and nationalism. The Industrial Revolution, based on the emergent principles of capitalism, brought expanded prosperity but also new forms of exploitation and inequality. Marxism was a reaction to the excesses of capitalism and led in two directions: toward socialism and social democracy in much of Western Europe, and toward communist revolution in Russia. The Darwinian revolution transformed both science and religion and changed the way we think about human beings and their place on the planet.
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