Dokumentation Europa

Diese übersicht enth?lt eine Aufstellung wichtiger zwischen 6. Oktober und 10. Dezember 2009 von der Europ?ischen Kommission verabschiedeter Vorschl?ge für von Rat und Europ?ischem Parlament zu beschlie?ende Rechtsakte, sowie von Initiativen der Mitgliedstaaten und Entwürfen des Rates im Rahmen des Titels VI des Vertrages über die Europ?ische Union. Zus?tzlich wird auf rechtspolitisch interessante Texte der Europ?ischen Kommission wie zB Grünbücher oder Erfahrungsberichte hingewiesen. Damit soll dem Leser die M?glichkeit gegeben werden, in einem m?glichst frühen Stadium von neuen Entwicklungen im Gemeinschaftsrecht Kenntnis zu erhalten. Die übersicht enth?lt umgekehrt keine Angaben über vom Rat endgültig verabschiedete Texte. Als Fundstelle wird grunds?tzlich die Referenz des Kommissionsdokumentes angegeben (COM, SEC). Soweit nicht anders angegeben, handelt es sich um EG- (und nicht EAG-) Rechtsakte.     

Anticorruption agencies: expressive,constructivist and strategic uses

This article explores the reasons for the introduction of anticorruption agencies of a specific type in Eastern Europe. It is argued that one of the important functions of these agencies—which are stronger on information gathering, coordination and strategy rather than on investigation of concrete cases—is to give to the government some leverage over the anticorruption discourse. Presenting the anticorruption commissions and agencies as (discourse-controlling) instruments gives an answer to the troubling question why governing parties are at all interested in the introduction of such bodies. Apart from instrumentalization in political discourse, anticorruption bodies in Eastern Europe have had other effects as well. As shown in the Baltic case, institutional engineering provides for a brief window of opportunity during which political forces committed to integrity could gain the upper hand. The problem in Eastern Europe, however, is not the lack of such windows of opportunities—it is more the lack of really committed political forces capable of continuous and consistent anticorruption effort.     

A unique case of congenital bilateral absence of parietal bones in a neonate

The remains of an unidentified female neonate were discovered in a field in central Missouri. Examination revealed bilateral absence of the parietal bones. A search of the literature describing similar defects suggests that the present case represents a unique condition, described here for the first time.