European Law Beyond ‘Ever Closer Union’ Repositioning the Concept,its Thrust and the ECJ's Comparative Methodology

The article investigates competing understandings of European law. It supports, against the prevailing EU‐centred understanding, an ecumenical concept that embraces EU law, supplementing international instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights and, importantly, various domestic laws enacting or responding to such transnational law, as well as European comparative law. To keep the concept in sync with European politics, it posits a new idea that binds the parts together: to provide for a European legal space rather than further European integration (the ever closer union). This idea can also serve as European law's functional equivalent to forming one legal order. European law thus conceived grasps the puzzling complex of interdependent legal orders, sets a common frame for corresponding reconstructions (European composite constructions, legal pluralism, network theories, federalism or intergovernmentalism) and allows forces with diverging outlooks to meet in one legal field, on one more neutral disciplinary platform. Within this framework, European comparative law finds a new mission as well as a sound legal basis.     

民主社会主义思潮与苏东剧变浅析

民主社会主义实质就是一种社会改良主义。它主张在不触动现存资本主义统治的条件下进行改良,渐进地、和平地过渡到社会主义。在民主社会主义思潮的影响下,马克思主义指导地位被削弱,阵地被缩小,以致完全丧失。由此可以看出,民主社会主义与我们的科学社会主义是完全对立的两种意识形态。     

苏联对中国性别平等的影响——以20世纪50年代为例

本文主要讨论在20世纪50年代,社会主义苏联对中国性别平等的影响。中国政府对于苏联模式的仿效与借鉴,以"就业权"上的男女平等最为突出,效果最为显著,以至深刻地影响了几代人的思想与生活。改革开放带给中国人的冲击与反思是强烈的,在苏联模式影响、西方女权主义和中国式妇女解放共存并相互影响的今天,苏联模式与影响虽然已经成为历史讨论的话题,但在经济全球化、文化多元化加速发展的时代,无疑成为全面了解中国社会、中国妇女以及重新审视性别平等的重要方面。     

Astuteness in Commitment: Rwanda and UN Peacekeeping 1994–2014

Abstract

This article traces Rwanda’s history under German and Belgian colonialism, through independence and genocide to international respectability and membership of the Commonwealth. It examines Rwanda’s impressive contributions to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping forces. There is no single explanation for the magnitude of Rwanda’s contribution. It owes something to Rwanda’s commitment to ‘African solutions for African problems’. Deployment is relatively cheap and allows Rwanda to use its participation for political leverage in international affairs, to attract donors and to benefit financially. Peacekeeping is a factor in the astute foreign policy of Paul Kagame’s government that enhances its authority and stability at home and its prestige abroad.     

Economic,trade and development relations between South Africa and the European Union: The end of a strategic partnership? A South African perspective

ABSTRACT

The relationship between democratic South Africa and the European Union (EU) has been in existence for over 20 years, with its roots tracing back to anti-apartheid support measures. In its earlier form, it was anchored in the Reconstruction and Development Programme. Currently, it is guided by the National Development Plan of the National Planning Commission. This relationship has been tested over time, especially as a result of negotiations over the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. In the meantime, the euphoria that marked new South Africa's participation in the global system, with trade and development cooperation with the EU as one of the cornerstones, has waned considerably. The cancellation of several bilateral investment treaties with EU member states has further strained the relationship. While there are notable successes in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, these may not be reflective of the actual strategic value of the partnership in the context of global shifts and the rising influence of emerging powers with which South Africa is integrating.     

Reforming sacred institutions: the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Roman Catholic Church compared

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) are both conceptualized as sacred institutions, with many features of ideology/theology, hierocratic structure, and policy process in common. After periods of exclusion, they both also faced strong pressures to adapt to changes in the modern world, both internal and external, and to reduce status differentiation within the hierarchy and between the clergy/apparatchiki hierarchy and the laity/population. The present article compares and contrasts de-Stalinization under Khrushchev (1956–1964) with the results of Vatican II (1959–1965), and Gorbachev’s reforms (1985–1991) with the efforts of Pope Francis to reform the RCC (2013–present). The comparisons validate the explanatory power of the noted similarities between these sacred institutions, while also highlighting significant differences in structure, mission, and process, which explain why Pope Francis has adopted an incremental strategy for reform of the RCC, in contrast to Gorbachev’s revolutionary strategy for reforming the CPSU.     

The Control of Police Powers

This article points to a frequent feature in debates about the control of the police. Aside from cultural and political characteristics in the last decades, policing has changed and at present it is going through a stage of rapid change. The author defines the historical roots of police in democracies. He places the police within the framework of the sovereign state, the administration, the judiciary and the citizens. The state's control of police powers is described in its interdependency with new demands on the part of citizens regarding micro (domestic sphere/neighbourhood/community) and macro (urban sphere/state/European) levels. On a European scale, the article provides an oversight over the existing network consisting of internal, administrative, parliamentarian, judiciary, and civil (non-government/social movements) control agencies and mechanisms. In its conclusions the concept of ethical standards is introduced as a means of effective high-quality police management.     

论中国工会学的学科自主性

自主性是学科体系和知识体系的内在特性,强化学科自主性是贯穿于改革开放以来中国工会理 论研究的基本线索,是工会学作为独立学科的本质性规定。工会学的研究对象、学科基础和知识疆域有其自身 的独特性,这种独特性是由中国工会的历史传统、价值内核、指导思想、组织原则、结构特征和制度精神等因 素共同决定的,这是设置工会学学科的基本依据。在马克思主义理论一级学科下设置工会学学科,是中国工运 事业和工会工作的一件大事,这对于开辟马克思主义工会学说中国化时代化新境界,推进中国特色社会主义工 会发展道路守正创新,构建中国工会自主知识体系具有重大的现实意义和深远的历史意义。     

Who’s afraid of an EU tax and why?—revenue system preferences in the European Parliament

The current revenue system of the EU is still structured like that of an organization based on intergovernmental cooperation, although the EU is already far advanced in legislative and political integration. This antagonism gives reason to discuss whether or not the EU should be granted an autonomous tax source. Our contribution to this debate explores the factors which shape the acceptance of the EU tax option among European policy makers. A self-conducted survey among Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), which resulted in a response of some 150 of the representatives, offers us a unique database. Concerning MEPs’ revenue system preferences, our findings confirm an important impact of party ideology and individual characteristics while they indicate that country-specific factors also contribute to understand the attitudes towards an EU tax. In the light of our findings the status quo bias in the revenue system of the EU can be attributed to the persistent importance of national interests with respect to tax policy.

When soft regulation is not enough: The integrated pollution prevention and control directive of the European Union

Recent debates regarding the effectiveness of regulatory policymaking in the European Union (EU) focus on the merits of soft, non-binding forms of regulation between public and private actors. The emergence of less coercive forms of regulation is analyzed as a response to powerful functional pressures emanating from the complexity of regulatory issues, as well as the need to secure flexibility and adaptability of regulation to distinctive territorial economic, environmental, administrative, and social conditions. In this article we empirically assess the above normative claims regarding the effectiveness of soft regulation vis-à-vis uniformly binding legislation. We draw on an exploratory investigation of the application of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive of the EU in four countries. Our study reveals that effectiveness in the application of soft policy instruments is largely contingent upon strong cognitive, material, and political capacities of both state regulators and industrial actors involved in regulatory policymaking. In the absence of those conditions, the application of soft, legally non-binding regulation may lead to adverse effects, such as non-compliance and the “hollowing out” of the systems of environmental permits to industry. In the medium term, such developments can undermine the normative authority of the EU.