The Decline and Decay of European Refugee Policy

This article challenges the view, implicit in much current researchon EU migration and asylum policy, that supranationalizationis a self-evident antidote to the exclusionary and securitizedmigration policy that has been enacted through inter-governmentalcooperation. It does so by treating supranationalization asan open question in need of empirical scrutiny. To develop thisthesis, it undertakes not only a critique of the current developmentstowards supranational policies, but also of the inter-governmentalpolicy-making system, pursuing a broad brush historical assessmentup to and beyond Amsterdam, with the aim of bringing fresh andfurther insights into the future development of EU asylum policy.It concludes that the current aims are less to do with the establishmentof a common European asylum system and more to do with reducingimmigration pressure and compensating for the perceived lossesof internal security in the wake of full freedom of movementinside the Union. Communitarization will not necessarily occursimply because the European Union is intent upon institutingever stricter immigration controls. Communitarization is doggedby the legacy of intensive trans-governmentalism. In particular,the British, Danish and Irish governments have only been preparedto support communitarization so long as they could have separateprotocols that legitimized their non-participation. The UK andIreland have opted into all proposals on asylum, illegal migrationand civil law but have opted out of practically all proposalsconcerning visas, borders, and legal migration. The securitarianframe still predominates and trans-governmentalism refuses todie. In January 2005, following the agreement on The Hague programme,there was change in decision-making rules from unanimous votingto Qualified Majority Vote (QMV) in the European Council andco-decision with the European Parliament. Yet, there is no guaranteethis will bring about more liberal asylum rules, as is clearfrom the ‘Schengen Borders Code’ which was agreedin June 2005. This is because European migration policy hasalways been fraught with internal contradictions, which haveyet to be resolved. Accordingly, the emergence of a rights-respectingmodel of asylum law based on the Geneva Convention 1951 remainsa distant dream.     

Current environmental problems in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union

Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union face many common problems in the field of environmental protection inherited from the Soviet Union. These problems gained momentum in early XXI century. This article is devoted to the analysis of modern environmental problems in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union as well as to search for ways to resolve them. Effective environmental management in the Eurasian Economic Union requires cooperation with the European Union using its experience in the field of environmental activities and implementing its international policies. EurAsEC needs to develop its own programs aimed at saving the environment, modernization of environmental legislation, promotion of activities aimed at environmental preservation in addition to relevant prohibitions and sanctions. Special attention should be given to utilization of industrial and consumption waste, since it jeopardizes the environment. The authors of this study summarized the information regarding environmental issues in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, the EU experience in addressing environmental issues and the international legislation related to the environmental activities. In addition, the study provides practical recommendations, which in the case of their practical application will promote environmental restoration in the Eurasian Economic Union. However, this activity will have positive effect beyond the Union.     

Reflections: the challenge of biotechnology and public policy

Rapid developments in the area of biotechnology within the next decade are likely to have a significant impact on Canadian society. This article outlines the practical and ethical issues that will need to be addressed in the face of scientific advances, and contemplates the development of an appropriate policy framework in this regard. Surveying the approaches to policy development taken thus far, the author notes the underlying need for greater transparency and public participation. Rational and effective policies will only result from additional basic scientific data being made available to a more informed and engaged Canadian public.     

Expanding Media Law and Policy Education: Confronting Power,Defining Freedom,Awakening Participation

The changes brought about by the Digital Age have not triggered significant increases in political participation or meaningful reductions in longstanding social power asymmetries, which are now increasingly negotiated in policy contexts that involve mass media (surveillance, big data, net neutrality). At the same time, new technology and communication patterns have opened fissures in public opinion about the limits of free expression while also creating new legal risks for citizen-communicators. This article suggests that universities need to recalibrate their curricula to meet the exigencies of this moment, which should include an increased emphasis on media law and policy courses and initiatives. The article outlines a rationale for action, and some strategies, based on the need to: (1) expand citizens’ expressive agency by equipping them with the knowledge to shield themselves from overt restraints and subtle forms of coercion; (2) deepen citizens’ civics knowledge, enhance their political efficacy and enable their political participation; (3) facilitate citizens’ engagement in reemerging debates about the meaning and scope of the First Amendment; and (4) spur citizen involvement in confronting pressing constitutional and media policy issues whose resolution will ultimately shape the broader balance of social power.     

Merging self-driving cars with the law

Self-driving cars are gradually being introduced in the United States and in several Member States of the European Union. Policymakers will thus have to make important choices regarding the application of the law. One important aspect relates to the question who should be held liable for the damage caused by such vehicles. Arguably, product liability schemes will gain importance considering that the driver's fault as a cause of damage will become less likely with the increase of autonomous systems. The application of existing product liability legislation, however, is not always straightforward. Without a proper and effective liability framework, other legal or policy initiatives concerning technical and safety matters related to self-driving cars might be in vain. The article illustrates this conclusion by analysing the limitation periods for filing a claim included in the European Union Product Liability Directive, which are inherently incompatible with the concept of autonomous vehicles. On a micro-level, we argue that every aspect of the Directive should be carefully considered in the light of the autonomisation of our society. On the macro-level, we believe that ongoing technological evolutions might be the perfect moment to bring the European Union closer to its citizens.     

Privacy law as price control

The median Internet user is concerned about digital advertisers collecting personal information. To address these fears, the European Union passed the Privacy Directive to regulate the common business practice of information collection. This paper investigates the potential effects of this regulation, finding that the law is likely to generate several unintended consequences. Economists and legal scholars acknowledge that personal data serves as the “price” for accessing many digital platforms. I extend this logic to argue that if a regulation enables consumers to stop supplying this information, while continuing to consume the site’s content, it is equivalent to a price control. Next, I discuss unintended consequences that this price control may generate: tie-in sales, investment flight, and altered exchange characteristics. Lastly, I conclude that, just as with traditional price controls, the privacy price control may be a way for government officials to enhance their popularity with the citizenry. In short, my analysis suggests that one of the most well-researched policy interests of economics—the theory of price controls—can shed light on one of economists’ newest interests: digital privacy.     

European integration and the french parliament: From ineffectual watchdog to constitutional rehabilitation and an enhanced political role

The development of the European Union is as much an opportunity as a threat to national parliaments. Our case study of the French Parliament suggests that as the process of integration has quickened in pace and broadened in scope, parliament has on successive occasions used the opportunity to strengthen its constitutional position with the introduction of Article 88‐4 and improve its capacity to scrutinise government through the adoption of a series of laws. Parliament now has the power to delay if not block the adoption of measures at European Union level by refusing to lift its scrutiny reserve. It is difficult to determine if parliament has significantly increased its influence over the government on European affairs, but it is now able to adopt potentially politically significant resolutions on all European Union issues which the government takes into account when negotiating in Union institutions. European integration has been a significant factor in the rehabilitation of the French Parliament.     

Emerging from the Chrysalis: Union Citizenship Must Escape its Nationality-Based Shortcomings

The European Union is at the core of a supranational citizenship project. This supranational project resulted in a crystallised form of citizenship in 1992, although it has been subject to constant revision by the ECJ since then. Nonetheless, the basis on which this novel form of citizenship is predicated is the traditional national paradigm of citizenship, with all its inherent sensitivities and inhibitions replicated on the international stage. It will be suggested that this nation-centric focus is ultimately the single biggest failing of European Union citizenship and its greatest limitation. The very nature of the supranational entity is exclusionary, to the detriment of over a million individuals. This paper will address which sectors of the broader European society are most affected by European citizenship’s exclusive properties and will explore the Union’s obligations and its responsibility to include marginalised groups, particularly the stateless, refugees, and third country nationals on an equal footing with Member State nationals. The extent of the statelessness problem will form the main portion of the discussion with a view to considering the challenges these at risk individuals face on a daily basis and how they can be incorporated in the most effective way within the Union framework: such incorporation will, of necessity, also mandate an examination of surrounding human rights issues, all the more pressing in light of the post-Lisbon Union commitment to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. The stateless are not the only marginalised group found in Union territory: third country nationals who do not benefit from Directive 2003/109 nonetheless make a considerable contribution without receiving the same rights and freedoms as those serendipitous enough to call themselves ‘long-term residents’. The human rights and democratic bases of the Union appear to be undermined by the restrictive approach to inclusion that has, to date, been taken when addressing non-nationals’ incorporation under the citizenship umbrella. This paper aims to assess the shortcomings of the European Citizenship project by highlighting the effects of its exclusivity and the limitations of its notion of inclusivity. Rather than establishing a single supranational form of citizenship the Union has, instead, succeeded in developing a multi-tiered and hierarchical construct, far removed from the notion of ‘a broader community of peoples’. It will culminate in a proposal for a significantly modified vision of Union citizenship which would seek to overcome the current version’s apparent limitations, elevating the standing of the at risk groups in such a way that their contribution to Union life is fully, and deservedly, recognised.     

Bosman—There and Back Again: The Legitimacy of Playing Quotas under European Union Sports Policy

The 1995 ruling of the European Court of Justice in Bosman was a pivotal point in the relationship between the European Union and sport. It has had an immense impact upon professional team sports, most notably football, in terms of liberalising the transfer system and abolishing player quotas. This paper will chart the development of a European sports law policy generally and will specifically discuss two current proposals concerning the reintroduction of playing quotas in football. We will examine the legality of these proposals with reference to Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and will evaluate the political context within which these proposals have been promulgated. It will be suggested that a possible solution, which should end legal uncertainty, could be the adoption of a collective agreement or directive based on the methodology of reflexive labour law.     

Neo-Voluntarism: A New European Social Policy Regime?

Abstract: The essay begins with a recapitulation of core institutional properties of the European Union as they have evolved over several decades. The leading insight deriving from this exercise is that European social policy will always, for all practical purposes, be made simultaneously at two levels, a supranational one and a national one, and will be shaped by complex interactions between them and among the national systems situated in the integrated market economy of the Union. Proceeding from here, the remainder of the paper examines the two levels of social policy-making, beginning with the supranational and moving on to the national, in an effort to identify the kinds of policies that are most likely to emerge given the constraints and opportunities offered by the institutional framework.     

On the criminal policy of China in regulating economy in transition

While detailing the emergence of such issues as problem-plutocrats, original sin, forced rule-or law-breakings during the transitional period (from a command economy to a market economy), the author of this article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of rigid regulations as well as lax regulations which involve criminal policy in China. On that basis, the writer probes into the laws and overall criminal policy orientation that regulates the economy during our current transitional period (from command economy to the market economy). He argues that certain leniencies may be appropriate to lesser crimes, since in fact developing the economy depends upon the success of entrepreneurial businesses throughout the nation.     

Wikitopia: Balancing intellectual property rights within open source research databases

Wiki “communities” based on the open access ideology allow any visitor to easily add, remove or edit content. However, there are a slew of ethics and policy challenges inherent in their use. Open source software developers are faced with the dilemma of openly sharing their intellectual property and prevent others from claiming proprietary rights from the code they freely shared to the public? Intellectual Property rights licensing, ironically, is the route by which open software developers have chosen to regulate their free code in cyberspace. Open source code is generally free on the surface; but in reality, it comes with obligations which are enforceable by law. Aside from the potential liability for intellectual property infringement, the use of open software raises competition law and tort liability issues. The European Union has developed the European Public License which is written in conformity with the copyright, product liability and consumer protection laws of the 27 member states. The EU Commission has also proposed a new Directive which will extend the principles of consumer protection rules to cover licensing agreements of products like software. This paper will address the various legal issues that may arise in open source community sharing.     

Bahamas: procedural law

This article investigates the legal basis for the implementation of sustainable development in Nigeria. It analyzes several contemporary challenges of sustainable development in Nigeria as well as the obstacles hindering the effective implementation of sustainable development in Nigeria. The article suggests several legal and policy strategies that will enhance the implementation of sustainable development in Nigeria and emphasizes the need for legal and policy measures that will stimulate the participation of citizens in the implementation of sustainable development.     

Three meanings of capacity; or,why the federal government is most likely to lead on insurance access issues

This essay considers on what health policy issues the federal government is best able to lead. Positive leadership requires knowledge, power, and will. The federal government has different supplies of each for different aspects of quality of, cost of, and access to health care. Here I review technical capacity to attain desired ends, define the institutional strengths and weaknesses of the federal government, and outline current dynamics of the national political process. This analysis suggests both prospects for and some characteristics of successful policy. The federal government is more likely to lead on insurance than on other health policy issues because its supply of relevant knowledge and power is relatively high on insurance issues and the political barriers are lower than conventional wisdom suggests. But that leadership could take the form of either the expanding or contracting of access to insurance.     

Towards rational and evidence-based crime policy

Rational crime policy constitutes a basic goal for society. If, however, evidence-based, cost-efficient crime prevention is the standard, there is little indication that current policies—including programs, laws, and court decisions—are rational. To support that assessment, this article uses an evaluation research perspective to highlight five prominent problems with extant crime policies: (1) a lack of empirical assessment of the need for them; (2) a range of design issues, including gaps between crime theory and policy, and, most notably, the pursuit of silver bullet solutions; (3) a range of implementation issues, including disjunctures between ideal and actual practice; (4) the lack of rigorous impact evaluations and the sometimes misplaced emphasis on them; and (5) a scarcity of cost-efficiency analyses for guiding investment decisions. It then discusses the implications of these problems and suggests steps that can be taken to place crime policy on a more evidence-based foundation.     

Sixth Annual Meeting of the Soviet International Law Association

The regular meeting of Soviet international lawyers opened with introductory remarks by the president of the association, G. I. Tunkin. He emphasized that the ending of the crisis in the Caribbean Sea was a major triumph for the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. It provided a convincing demonstration of the correctness of the proposition propounded by the 22nd CPSU Congress to the effect that the forces of peace are today capable of restraining the forces of war.     

European educational policy on shifting sand?

European integration makes educational policy even more important, especially as an instrument to forge the future of Europe. This growing consciousness is a motivation to critically analyse and compare the educational policies of the countries of the European Union. This investigation is only realistic on condition that the research objectives are clearly set out. Therefore, the following questions guide the article: 1. Concerning the ‘facts’: – Can the history of European educational policies provide us with a taxonomy to distinguish ‘types’ of educational policy? – What are the main changes concerning both structures and role conceptions in the field of educational policy? – Is educational policy autonomous or is this policy influenced by other leading sub-systems? – What is the impact of supra-national organisations on educational policies? – Are educational policies in the EU visibly influenced by (new?) underlying ‘ideologies’? – What are the main current policy issues in the EU-countries? 2. Concerning the ‘trends’: Is it possible to deduce certain ‘trends’ from the comparative analysis of the mentioned ‘facts’? 3. Concerning the ‘critical analysis’: – Does the literature on educational policy analysis provide us with ‘critical interpretation schemes’? – What will the outcome be if the discovered ‘facts’ and ‘trends’ are confronted with such-like schemes? The article concludes with some critical recommendations concerning the future of educational policy in the EU.     

Free Movement of Third Country Nationals in the European Union? Main Features,Deficiencies and Challenges of the new Mobility Rights in the Area of Freedom,Security and Justice

The adoption of European Community (EC) Directives in the field of legal migration has been accompanied by the introduction of intra-community mobility rights. This new kind of right is characterised by specific features with regard to free movement rights enjoyed by European Union (EU) citizens. Besides, existing mobility rights for third country nationals (TCNs) raise some important problems with regard to their legal configuration and to their relationship with other fields of Community law. After having addressed these issues, it will be argued that the current regulation of mobility rights for TCNs does not fulfil the requirements of systematic coherence, and does no meet the need to grant a level of free movement that encompasses the evolution of harmonisation in the field of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.     

Family Reunification Rights of (Migrant) Union Citizens: Towards a More Liberal Approach

Over the years, in the case‐law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) determining the availability of family reunification rights for migrant Member State nationals, the pendulum has swung back and forth, from a ‘moderate approach’ in cases such as Morson and Jhanjan (1982) and Akrich (2003), towards a more ‘liberal approach’ in cases such as Carpenter (2002) and Jia (2007). Under the Court's ‘moderate approach’, family reunification rights in the context of the Community's internal market policy are only granted in situations where this is necessary for enabling a Member State national to move between Member States in the process of exercising one of the economic fundamental freedoms; in other words, where there is a sufficient link between the exercise of one of those freedoms and the need to grant family reunification rights under EC law. Conversely, under the Court's ‘liberal approach’, in order for family reunification rights to be bestowed by EC law, it suffices that the situation involves the exercise of one of the market freedoms and that the claimants have a familial link which is covered by Community law; in other words, there is no need to illustrate that there is a link between the grant of such rights and the furtherance of the Community's aim of establishing an internal market. The recent judgments of the ECJ in Eind and Metock (and its order in Sahin) appear to have decidedly moved the pendulum towards the ‘liberal approach’ side. In this article, it will be explained that the fact that the EU is aspiring to be not only a supranational organisation with a successful and smoothly functioning market but also a polity, the citizens of which enjoy a number of basic rights which form the core of a meaningful status of Union citizenship, is the major driving force behind this move. In particular, the move towards a wholehearted adoption of the ‘liberal approach’ seems to have been fuelled by a desire, on the part of the Court, to respond to a number of problems arising from its ‘moderate approach’ and which appear to be an anomaly in a citizens' Europe. These are: a) the incongruity caused between the (new) aim of the Community of creating a meaningful status of Union citizenship and the treatment of Union citizens (under the Court's ‘moderate approach’) as mere factors of production; and b) the emergence of reverse discrimination. The article will conclude with an explanation of why the adoption of the Court's liberal approach does not appear to be a proper solution to these problems.     

'Food for Thought': Reconciling European Risks and Traditional Ways of Life

The European Food Safety Authority marks a new stage in European Union governance. It has no direct regulatory powers, but is entrusted with developing norms of food safety, which are to inform the material content of EC food law. The hope is that its independence and expertise will restore popular confidence both in the EU and in the food we eat. The irreducible nature of lay-expert conflicts about hazard suggests that a more likely scenario is that such disputes become recast as opposition to EC law. Such conflict is most likely to manifest itself in national courts through challenges to or non-compliance with EC law. The current principles for resolution of such conflicts are hopelessly outmoded. The article, therefore, argues for a constitutional resettlement, which sets out principles germane to the nature of the EC regime, namely that of a multi-level regulatory State. It argues for a new defence of regulatory balance. Individuals could argue for the disapplication of EC norms where these violated a valued local regime which had given consideration to the issues raised in the EC legislation and whose positive value to its subjects exceeded its negative impact on the interests protected by the EC legislation.