Brexit and Strand Three of the 1998 Agreement: The Three Faces of East-West

Under Strand Three of the 1998 Belfast ‘Good Friday’ Agreement, institutions were set up to promote the ‘harmonious and mutually beneficial development’ of the ‘totality of relationships’ between the peoples and governments of Ireland and the UK, including its devolved administrations and Crown Dependencies. According to the text of the 1998 Agreement this ‘east-west’ dimension was to have two elements with corresponding institutions: an intergovernmental one reflected in the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIC) and an interjurisdictional one reflected in the British-Irish Council (BIC). These Strand Three institutions were designed to provide fora for, respectively, intergovernmental cooperation on ‘non-devolved Northern Ireland matters’ in the case of the BIIC and information exchange and cooperation ‘on matters of mutual interest within the competence of the relevant Administrations’ in the case of the BIC. Nowhere in the 1998 Agreement text is the concept of ‘east-west’ used to refer to relations between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Yet, in the wake of Brexit, and in the midst of controversy over the implications of the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland, relations between Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB–NI) have been newly framed as ‘east-west’. The creation of this new discursive face of ‘east-west’ relations marks an important, but little discussed, impact of Brexit on the political and constitutional landscape of the UK and Ireland. Against this backdrop, this article considers the impacts of Brexit, and the Protocol, on three faces of ‘east-west’ relations—the BIIC, the BIC and, newly, GB–NI—and discusses their implications for the future of Strand 3 institutions and the ‘totality of relationships’ they represent.     

The embedded flexibility of Nordic labor market models under pressure from EU-induced dualization—The case of posted work in Denmark and Sweden

While many coordinated market economies have responded to internationalization by regulation that creates dualization between insiders and outsiders, the Nordic countries have opted for an embedded flexibilization in which strong unions and cooperative employers have combined flexibility and equality. However, in recent years, the Nordic countries have come under pressure from an EU-induced dualization that has institutionalized mobile low-wage workers as an outside group. This article presents case studies of how Denmark and Sweden have responded to these challenges. While political processes have been different in the two countries, pressure from EU regulation and changes in employers' incentive to compromise implies that there is now a specific category of low-wage workers in both countries' otherwise egalitarian labor markets. The article, thus, contributes to the literature on dualization by highlighting the pressure coming from EU regulation rather than national policy.     

全球化背景下的东南亚伊斯兰金融

全球化包括经济、政治、文化、社会等多个维度,其中经济全球化最为重要。经济全球化突出表现为金融的全球化。20世纪70年代,伊斯兰国家创建现代伊斯兰金融业,并逐步将伊斯兰金融推向全球,形成一个声势浩大的伊斯兰金融体系。本文试以东南亚地区为例,分析全球化背景下东南亚伊斯兰金融业发展的特点和趋势。     

欧盟亚太外交中的朝鲜半岛政策

1991年12月9日《欧洲联盟条约》签署后,欧洲联盟国家在追求经济一体化的同时,也在追求政治一体化,即欧洲联盟国家应以国家联盟共同体的方式,用一种声音说话。由于欧盟成员国间政治经济发展的不平衡以及在对外关系中的各自特点和差异,欧盟在对外政策上要完全用一个声音说话,还需要一个较为漫长的过程,也会受到成员国各种因素的制约。欧盟对朝鲜半岛政策从奉行接触到积极介入以及其中的起伏变化,多少能够看出欧盟在对外政策方面的相对模糊与迟缓。     

印度一欧盟贸易关系发展现状及其发展态势

欧盟作为世界上最大的经济体,为印度的经济发展提供了广阔的市场及发展空间,印度很重视发展与欧盟的关系,尤其是经济关系;而印度作为一个发展潜力极大的发展中国家,自然资源、人力资源极为丰富,欧盟同样需要进一步加强与印度的贸易关系。目前双方的贸易关系进展平稳,但也存在不可避免的挑战,特别是欧盟东扩后,双边贸易关系的前景面临着更多的变数。     

金融全球化与转轨国家金融自由化的效应分析--以俄罗斯为例

自20世纪90年代以来,随着经济全球化的不断深化、贸易自由化和生产国际化的进一步扩大,金融全球化和金融自由化已成为一种更加明显甚至是必然的趋势;与此同时,原计划经济国家相继向市场经济转轨。在此背景下,金融全球化与转轨国家的经济和金融发展之间存在着互动关系,并具有内在的逻辑一致性。这一联动关系对经济转轨国家利弊兼具,经济转轨国家不仅要直面金融全球化所带来的利益和风险,而且要承受金融全球化与其经济和金融互动所产生的双重效应。同样,由于联动关系,如果转轨国家顺利融入金融全球化进程,并能获得较大的收益,这对金融全球化的可持续发展将是极大的贡献,否则他们的缺失或者不稳定将严重影响到金融全球化的可持续发展。     

图们江地区内域经济关系的量化分析

根据图们江地区内域经济关系的量化指标,该地区各国为互助型内域经济关系。因此,在建立图们江地区绿色食品基地这一决策上,应以延吉为龙头,协手该区域各县市依次产生互补,准确定位、合理分工,为与朝俄等邻国形成绿色食品生产基地链做好准备。     

构建公共财政框架的经济法思考

随着社会主义市场经济体制的建立和完善 ,必将带来财政职能的调整和转换 ,表现在政府财政退出“越位” ,弥补“缺位” ,财政应理性地退出私人商品生产领域 ,而转向为公众提供公共商品和公共服务。公共财政实质上是对政府财政职能的定位 ,直接引起我国政府经济行为的变革 ,必将推进财政的民主化和法治化建设。作为规范国家宏观调控经济关系的经济法当然是建构公共财政的框架的指导理论 ,同时公共财政框架的建立也必将促进我国现行财政法体系的完善。