Towards political integration in Europe: the involvement of national parliaments in European Union politics and policy-making

This article provides an overview of the life of the European Union over a period that has witnessed a number of historical international and institutional developments, and provides a politico-juridico-historical perspective on its growth. The article aims to examine the role of national parliaments in relation to increasing European legislative powers. The European Union is using these powers to ensure that non-European-Union states accept its rules as universal standards. At the same time, European foreign policy has expanded remarkably, reflecting its more prominent international role. The European Parliament is the world's first directly elected transnational parliament. In recent decades, the principles of human rights, peace, and democracy have reflected the deeply embedded values at the core of European integration since its inception, determining the evolution of the European Union from international actor to a model of democratization: a model promoting not only respect for human rights, but also democracy and peace, which have become concrete goals steering the European Union foreign policy.     

Hype,disillusionment and capacity problems: Turkish Cypriot media and the European Union

Since the failed 2004 Annan Plan referendum, a special relationship between the Turkish Cypriot community and the EU institutions has been established. Increased unofficial contacts have paved the way for a reinforced role of sub-state actors, including Turkish Cypriot media. The role of the Turkish Cypriot media in shaping public opinion towards the EU has been largely correlated with the course of the Cyprus negotiations. Weak institutionalisation has negatively affected the influence of the local media on advancing the sui generis relationship between the Turkish Cypriot community and the European Union, as well as Europeanisation in the northern part of Cyprus. This article applies the theoretical framework of horizontal and vertical Europeanisation to explore the impact of local media on the relations between the European Union and the Turkish Cypriot community.     

Determinants of a regional organisation's role in peace and security: the African Union and the European Union compared

This article presents the determinants of the influence of regional organisations in the area of international peace and security. It is aimed at initiating and provoking debate on the preponderant factors shaping that influence. The factors or determinants treated include (1) the willingness of the regional organisation to act, (2) the acceptance of its actions and (3) its capacity to discharge such peace-related tasks. The determinants are contingent on nine sub-determinants. The article uses a comparative approach, focusing on the African Union and the European Union after placing the discussion in the context of the relationship between regional organisations and the United Nations in international peace and security efforts.     

Changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: The effects on China

The rapidly changing political, economic, and security policies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in late 1989 and 1990 have added to the complications faced by Chinese leaders since they decided to suppress the unprecedented large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in Chinese cities in spring 1989. These changes had an obvious “ripple effect” in China, encouraging prodemocracy forces and alarming Chinese leaders. They attracted strong positive attention from the developed countries of the West and Japan, and international financial institutions and businesses. This came at the indirect expense of China. And they accelerated changes in world politics (especially in U.S.-Soviet relations) and in the politics of government decision making in the West that promised to reduce China’s relative influence in world affairs in the 1990s. The prospect of reduced influence abroad and curbed economic contacts did not appear to be sufficient cause for Beijing leaders to markedly change existing policies. Chinese leaders in mid-1990 appeared focused on issues of internal political power at a time of leadership transition. Significant changes in policy appeared most likely to await leadership changes as Deng Xiaoping and other aged leaders die or are incapacitated.     

Building capacities,exerting power: The European Union police mission in the Palestinian Authority

This article offers a Foucauldian approach to examine the European Union Police Mission in the Palestinian Authority. Using Foucault’s ideas on ‘policing’, ‘discipline’ and ‘normalization’ and applying an interpretive approach, the article argues that the EU police mission rests on ideas, visions and techniques that problematize local capacities and skills in the policing of the population. It highlights the epistemic context of knowledge creation within which the local becomes an object of intervention through two techniques: benchmarking and capacity-building. The article also discusses what is left invisible and unaddressed in EUPOL COPPS activities.     

Franco–German relations and European integration: peeling off the labels

Books Reviewed in this article:
Alistair Cole, Franco–German Relations
Julius Friend, Unequal Partners: French–German Relations 1989–2000
Gisela Hendriks and Annette Morgan, The Franco–German Axis in European Integration
Douglas Webber (ed.), The Franco–German Relationship in the European Union     

Scrutinising European Union legislation in light of subsidiarity: the Maltese Parliament

ABSTRACT

One of the main objectives of the Lisbon Treaty was to increase the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU). Member state parliaments were, therefore, equipped with new tools for monitoring compliance of EU draft laws with the principle of subsidiarity. The aim of this article is to shed some light on the unicameral Maltese Parliament’s ex ante subsidiarity scrutiny of European legislation. Based on the island’s historical and cultural background, the Kamra tad-Deputati confers great importance to the application of subsidiarity, although it is still in its learning curve over the rapid and effective implementation of such procedures.     

International Organisations and the Evolution of Humanitarianism: Cross-perspectives on the Commonwealth and the European Union

Abstract

As international relations actors in the post-Second World War world, international organisations have played a significant role in the standardisation of global policy concepts during the 20th century, and humanitarian assistance has been no exception. While the study of the role of international organisations in shaping a dominant model of humanitarian aid has recently gathered pace, few historians have focused on different, less successful models and interpretations developed by other international organisations. Recently declassified Commonwealth Secretariat records show that discussions within the Secretariat and among member states regarding the potential objectives and scope of Commonwealth humanitarian assistance programmes took place as early as the 1960s, and continued throughout the following decades. This article provides an overview of the origin and evolution of the Commonwealth’s approach to humanitarian assistance since the 1960s. Its objective is to document this hitherto little known aspect of Commonwealth assistance policies, and, based on an initial literature and archival survey, to contribute to the identification of further research questions and gaps in this aspect of Commonwealth history. Although they are very different in nature and scope, the Commonwealth and the European Union share at least one common feature in so far as humanitarian assistance is concerned, namely their difficulty in reaching a consensual definition of it. By exploring the links and discrepancies between, as well as within, each organisation’s approach to humanitarian assistance, and by examining the initiatives of some of their member states, this paper seeks to highlight the plasticity of the definition of humanitarian assistance.     

Imagining Europe: political identity and British television coverage of the European economy

The article considers European economic news coverage on British television and its relationship with the UK public's perceptions of and identity with Europe. Stress is placed on the symbolic content of news about Europe; stories about the economic entitlements offered to citizens within the European Union; and portrayal of material benefits or losses for Britain. The results suggest that coverage offers mixed signals about Europe. As yet, they offer an unlikely platform for the development in the United Kingdom of European solidarity or identity. The results are assessed in the light of the way journalists approach political issues. The implications for statistical modelling of the media's relationship with attitudes towards Europe are also considered.     

2000年以来的欧盟条约改革进程——欧洲联盟宪政化进程中的曲折起伏

2000年至2008年期间,欧洲联盟付出了巨大努力以正式推进宪政化进程。基于欧洲一体化进程长期以来形成的传统,成员国在谈判《尼斯条约》的政府间会议的最后阶段首次提出了制宪这一议题,从而开启了所谓的莱肯进程:就欧洲的未来展开正式而公开的辩论、设立制宪大会,以及谈判起草一部《欧洲宪法条约》。然而,《欧洲宪法条约》遭遇否决使得整个改革计划受到质疑。经过一段时间的反思和重新谈判,各国政府就一部新条约达成了一致。该条约在很大程度上保留了原宪法条约的实质内容,但不再使用一些象征性用语。这次条约修改的成果《里斯本条约》自2009年12月1日生效。本文详尽列举了2000至2008年期间条约改革进程中的曲折起伏,提出应将欧盟的宪政化视为一个长期而渐进的过程。即使今后一段时间内不会重提通过一部欧盟宪法的正式计划,这一过程仍将继续。