公共财政理念与中国预算法完善

我国要建立和市场经济相适应的公共财政模式,预算法作为财政法的重要组成部分,从公共财政理念角度看我国预算法还有诸多需要完善的地方.文章从公共财政决策的民主性、支出的公共性、社会监督的公开性探讨了现行预算法的缺陷并提出相应的修改建议.     

Switzerland in the European Research Area: Integration Without Legislation

From the point of view of modes of governance and constellations of interdependence, EU research policy offers ideal conditions for the flexible inclusion of non‐member states: it is based on transgovernmental coordination through policy networks rather than supranational legislation, it follows scientific rather than political imperatives, and cooperation is in the interest of both the EU and of Switzerland. This article analyses the degree to which these factors have allowed for Switzerland's inclusion into the regulatory and organisational aspects of EU research policy, and highlights the limits of such flexible sectoral integration.     

Catering to Organizational Needs in Ethics Management: The Case of the European Commission

This article examines the ethical challenges encountered by European Commission officials in their day-to-day work. Based on an intra-organizational comparison between three Directorate Generals (DGs), the analysis reveals that ethical questions differ in these settings, depending on the type of external actors employees engage with. This internal heterogeneity makes the European Commission an interesting (unusual) case, which highlights the challenges of practising ethics management in a way that is truly responsive to organizational needs. The policy solution implemented by the Commission as a response—the appointment of “ethics correspondents” at DG level—has been only moderately successful.     

Much ado about nothing? The European Union and the global politics of untying aid

This article has two main purposes. The first is that of providing a longitudinal analysis of the global politics of untying aid, by looking at a number of debates that have occurred within the Development Assistance Committee and in the context of a number of high-level forums on aid effectiveness. The second is that of proposing some explanations for the lack of significant progress in these contexts. The focus is on the European Union (EU), which has been widely perceived as one of the most fervent supporters of promoting the aid untying agenda. In all these debates, the EU's leadership aspirations have remained largely unfulfilled. Thus, the EU has failed to adopt a EU-wide vision on aid untying; persuade non-EU donors to untie their aid, even when it has played the reciprocity card; and promote a pro-poor use of foreign aid, by supporting local ownership and facilitating greater access of developing country firms to aid contracts.     

‘Obligations of good faith’: on the difficulties of building US-style EU federalism

The sovereign debt crisis has exposed the weaknesses of the regulative and institutional arrangements of the European Monetary Union. A number of American scholars have highlighted that there are lessons on federalism for Europe to learn from the USA. But to what extent can the US model of fiscal federalism be transferred to the European context? Our general assumption is that besides the differences of the historically developed institutions, structures and economic concepts, it is the different logic that has and is driving the two integration processes that would impede such a transfer. Basing the argument on Oates’ theory of two generations of fiscal federalism, we see that the USA – building on a firm constitutional framework – provided for a crucial role of central government in macro-economic stabilization, whereas the European Union (EU) style of fiscal federalism remains contractual. Although transfers are inevitable, the EU shuns the logic of financial solidarity as economic divergencies cannot be harmoniously accommodated by a commitment to a common constitutional framework. As crisis management largely relies on an intergovernmental decision-making process, it enhances the power of creditor states vis-à-vis the debtor states and follows the logic of ‘surveillance and punishment’. The European emphasis is on controlling the moral hazard and the most likely outcome of the crisis will be differentiated integration.     

Assessing the European Union's engagement with transnational policy networks on conflict-prone natural resources

Transnational policy networks (TPNs) are attracting greater scholarly interest given their impact on the contemporary conduct of international affairs. While this has been a welcome development for International Relations scholars and provided some preliminary insights, there is a need for more scholarly studies of TPNs that delve into specific issue-areas on a comparative basis. The paper addresses the above need by providing analyses of the role of European Union (EU)-based actors – the European Commission, member states, civil society organizations, and firms – in regulatory frameworks on conflict-prone natural resources such as oil, diamonds, coltan, tin, tungsten, and gold. To that end, the paper draws upon participant observations, interviews with state and non-state actors, and access to primary documents in order to provide a comparative examination of EU-based state and non-state actors within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and draft EU legislation that seeks to prevent the trade of conflict-prone minerals.     

Public services and local government: the end of the principle of ‘funding following duties’

Recent attention to local government finance in England has focused on the substantial cuts in grant funding during the 2010–15 Parliament. However, the newly introduced Business Rates Retention Scheme, which links the distribution of central funding to business rate revenue raised in each local area, constitutes a historically significant disjuncture in the funding of English local authorities. Since the nineteenth century, with the exception of one short period, funding of English local government has followed statutory duties set by Parliament, a principle which underlay a variety of central control and audit regimes throughout the twentieth century. The new system breaks that link, implying a rejection of responsibility for local services by central government. This plays into demands for greater ‘autonomy’ currently emanating from local authorities, but this may not be a panacea for the stretched financial situation that many of them are experiencing at present.     

European law as a lever for female workers at the national level: Belgium and the Equal Pay Directive of 1975

‘Equal pay for equal work’ is a longstanding feminist claim. In this regard, the 1975 Equal Pay Directive of the European Economic Community has generated momentum for women at the national level. Based on the Belgian case, we explain how national actors – and more specifically trade unions and their women’s committees – have used European law to foster wage equality. Despite the existence of binding norms since the 1950s, this principle of equal pay has been poorly applied. The implementation of the directive in the Belgian neo-corporatist institutional framework has given trade unions the possibility to secure an extensive interpretation of the directive’s general provisions. The assumption driving this paper is that this directive has generated momentum for change – though this is not a synonym of ‘a miracle solution’ – in Belgium regarding wage equality. More fundamentally, this study is about the intertwining of European and national laws and the way in which European norms can offer instrumental opportunities to national actors to impact their domestic polity and policies, here on social and gender matters.     

The European Union and Upheavals in its Neighborhood: A Force for Stability?

This article explores the EU’s action in the context of revolutionary upheavals in its neighborhood, focusing on two cases where the EU’s overall influence is relatively strong: Moldova in 2009 and Tunisia in 2010–2011. It analyzes the intertwining of the normative and strategic agendas by examining the goals, instruments and impact of EU action in each case. The findings highlight a limited and reactive role of the EU, a strong emphasis on stability and a shift towards a more normative engagement in response to external changes that made it easier to merge security- and value-oriented goals.     

日本浪漫主义对欧洲浪漫主义的摄取

欧洲浪漫主义文学思潮产生于18世纪末的英德两国,继而影响法国,席卷欧洲大陆,点燃了北欧、俄国、美国以及亚洲的星星浪漫之火。借助欧洲浪漫主义的火种,在大约一个世纪后日本浪漫主义悄然兴起。日本浪漫主义虽然未能像欧洲浪漫主义那样在日本文学史上留下浓重的一笔,但也在欧洲浪漫主义的催发下,荡起了一串涟漪。吉田精一曾说过"日本近代文学离开欧洲文学的影响是不能成立的。"[1]众所周知,当一个国家的文学接受外来影响的时候,不是被动的,而是有选择的。通过对代表作家的个案分析,可以进一步理清日本浪漫主义和欧洲浪漫主义的文学关系。