An alternative route of European integration: The community's railways policy

The process of European integration and policy‐making is sometimes rather puzzling. On the one hand, it is well documented that with respect to the implementation of European legislation member states tend to do less than they are supposed to do. On the other hand, it is striking that with respect to the implementation of the Council Directive 91/440 on the development of the Community's railways many member states went far beyond the minimum required by the European legislation. We argue that these differing evaluations of implementation success can be traced to different implementation approaches, which may be termed the ‘compliance approach’ and the ‘support‐building approach’. While the first is directed at prescribing domestic reforms from above’, the latter aims at triggering European integration within the existing political context at the national level. Here, successful implementation refers to the extent to which European legislation triggers domestic changes by stimulating and strengthening support for European reform ideas at the national level. In this respect, European legislation can influence the domestic arenas in basically three ways: by providing legitimisation for political leadership, concepts for the solution of national problems, and strategic constraints for domestic actors opposing domestic reforms.     

Researching Environmental Crime in Non-democratic Regimes

This article describes how one might study environmental crime in non-democratic regimes. Environmental crimes and harms are committed in both democratic and non-democratic regimes, yet in non-democratic regimes, researchers face unique methodological challenges (e.g., threats to physical integrity). Despite these challenges, studying environmental crime in autocratic regimes is a worthwhile endeavor for both students and scholars of autocratic regimes and environmental crime, as well as the overlap thereof. First, such inquiries illuminate how environmental crime provides autocratic leaders with the resources to cement their power. Second, studying environmental crime in autocratic settings encourages a reconceptualization of the meaning of environmental crime. Namely, environmental crime in autocratic regimes does not start at the law implementation stage, but already at the law-making stage. In this article, we summarize and reflect on our work on environmental crime in the Armenian mining industry (Stefes and Theodoratos in Fighting environmental crime in Europe and Abroad: the role of the EU and its member states, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2016). Much of this work relied on interviews conducted with journalists, NGO representatives, and foreign diplomats familiar with the situation in the Armenian mining sector. As we present our findings, we highlight the challenges that researchers face when tracing the institutions, actors, and their networks that facilitate environmental crime. We conclude with some practical advice for researchers who want to study environmental crime under such autocratic conditions.     

Zum Umfang der Informations- und Nachforschungspflichten des Immobilienmaklers

Die Beurteilung einer Pflichtverletzung des Maklers ist jeweils im Einzelfall unter Berücksichtigung der dem Makler erkennbaren Interessen des Auftraggebers vorzunehmen. Mangels irgendeines Anhaltspunkts für eine au?erbücherliche Dienstbarkeit und im Hinblick darauf, dass im notariellen Kaufvertrag eine Haftung der Verk?uferin dafür vereinbart wurde, dass das Kaufobjekt vollkommen frei von bücherlichen und au?erbücherlichen Lasten und Bestandrechten in das Eigentum der K?ufer übergehe, besteht für den Immobilienmakler keinerlei Veranlassung, Nachforschungen in Richtung einer au?erbücherlichen Servitut anzustellen und insb die Verk?uferin diesbezüglich zu befragen.     

Social support in healthy adolescents

Social support is examined in a representative sample of 141 healthy adolescents. By means of a revised version of the Mannheim Interview on Social Support, the number, type, perceived adequacy (satisfaction), and quality (importance) of the social relationships available were assessed. While peers were found to provide prime supportive functions in day-to-day matters, the social support provided by parents has a stress-buffering effect in emergency situations. The role of other family members is discussed. Differences in gender and education are moderate. The data suggests the adequacy of social support and social integration, contrary to the traditional view of adolescence as a time of crisis and conflict.This study was supported by the Swiss National Foundation (Grant Number 32.26367.89).Received M.D. from University of Berne. Has conducted research on chronic illness (cystic fibrosis), minimal brain dysfunction, and suicide prevention in children.Received Ph.D. from University of Berne. Has done research on coping in cancer and cystic fibrosis.     

Gewöhnung an ein Suchtmittel,Eigensuchtfinanzierung

Eine Begrenzung des der Gew?hnung zugrunde liegenden Abh?ngigkeitsbegriffs iS eines schon medizinischen Krankheitswertes oder einer jedenfalls psychotherapeutischen Behandlungsbedürftigkeit ist weder dem Gesetzeswortlaut zu entnehmen, noch ergibt sich diese Auslegung aus der Systematik des Gesetzes oder dessen historischem Hintergrund bzw der Teleologie des SMG. Nicht nur die privilegierte Form des Suchtgifthandels, sondern auch der nunmehr in die Kompetenz des Einzelrichters fallende Grundtatbestand des § 28a Abs 1 SMG unterliegt im Fall einer Gew?hnung des T?ters den Diversionsbedingungen des § 35 Abs 2 SMG. Angesichts der in § 27 Abs 2 SMG vorgesehenen (mit § 27 Abs 1 SMG aF identen) Strafdrohung im Zusammenhalt mit der nach der SMG-Novelle 2007 wesentlich weitergehenden Diversionsm?glichkeit nach § 35 Abs 1 und Abs 2 SMG ist nach § 48 SMG iVm § 61 StGB die für den Rechtsmittelwerber günstigere Bestimmung des § 27 Abs 2 iVm Abs 1 Z 1 erster und zweiter Fall SMG anzuwenden.     

Generalisierung von Beschäftigungsrisiken oder anhaltende Arbeitsmarktsegmentation?

The article inquires whether segmentation concepts might shed a new light on the debates about the generalization of employment risks in Germany and develops the concept of firm employment sub-systems. The result of our empirical analyses is that the German labour market structure is shifting from a hegemony of Internal Labour Markets to a tense and instable co-existence of Internal and External markets, with East Germany having taken the lead. There is neither a generalisation of risks nor a stable division of employment. We rather observe dynamic segmentation with shifts between Internal and External Markets and endogenous transformations within segments.     

‘Alliance with the Enemy’: Why the CDU and the Greens Formed Their First Coalition in a Large German Federal State

This article seeks to explain the 2013 coalition between the CDU and the Greens in the German federal state of Hesse. It applies traditional office-seeking and policy-seeking coalition formation theories to the case alongside a new explanation underscoring the influence of past behaviour on coalition partnership; namely, the negative impact of a pre-electoral commitment breach on future coalition formation. The results show that pure office-seeking cannot explain the coalition outcome. Instead, as the analysis of textual data extracted from political parties' manifestos shows, there has been a constant process of policy approximation between the CDU and the Greens in Hesse. Additionally, we find evidence suggesting that the SPD's breach on their promise not to rely on support by the Left Party in 2008 shaped the CDU's refusal to coalesce with the SPD in 2013. The findings add to our understanding of the interplay between office-seeking and policy-seeking motivations as well as the personal enmities of key actors in shaping the coalition formation. The study further offers insights into the new German coalition option between the Greens and the CDU, which can serve as a blueprint at the national level.     

Betriebsübergang bei Veräußerung eines Miethauses im Hinblick auf das Hausbesorgerdienstverhältnis

Vor dem Hintergrund der bestandrechtlichen Rechtslage und den Besonderheiten des Hausbesorgerdienstverh?ltnisses ist unter dem Aspekt der Erlangung der ma?geblichen "Verfügungsbefugnis" über den Betrieb davon auszugehen, dass diese noch nicht nachgewiesen wurde, wenn weder nachgewiesen ist, dass die Bestandverh?ltnisse übergegangen sind, noch, dass der einzige "Arbeitnehmer" – der Hausbesorger – von der übernahme und den neuen Verfügungsbefugnissen informiert wurde.