Agonizing Reappraisals: Anthony Eden, John Foster Dulles and the Crisis of European Defence, 1953-54

In 1953, the US government threatened to undertake an 'agonizing reappraisal' of its commitment to European security if the rearmament of West Germany through the European Defence Community (EDC) came to nothing. Although many in Europe dismissed the threat as a bluff, the British government, and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in particular, took it extremely seriously. In September 1954, following the demise of the EDC, the British broke with long-standing tradition and pledged to retain military forces in Germany at a set level for as long as their European allies so desired. This was Britain's own 'agonizing reappraisal', undertaken at Eden's prompting to neutralise the danger of the United States implementing its own version.     

The Sovereign German States and the Code Napoléon. What Spoke for its Adoption in the Rhine Confederation?

In the principality of Hesse-Nassau and the other states of the Rhine Confederation (1806–1814) the sovereign princes were eventually to comply with Napoleon's wishes and adopt the Code Napoléon (CN). The subject treated here is how this adoption came about.French law was more modern than contemporary German law. Napoleon wanted the CN to be adopted in all the states where French troops were stationed. The sovereigns of the states of the Rhine Confederation (1806–1814) asked their lawyers to assemble at the Congress of Giessen for the purpose of creating a common version of the CN for their respective states. This involved solving various problems.It was the liberals in South Germany, not the conservatives and the nationalists in Prussia, who accepted the CN as a modern, liberal and sophisticated body of law. But for the liberals, too, there was a critical point: the definition of who was subject to the law in the CN. This was no longer the individual owner of property, but the citizen of a sovereign state who was a member of his nation. This definition was unacceptable to Germans because, under the German conditions of the period, their membership of a nation and their citizenship of a sovereign state differed.People did not have their estates in just one of the little post-Empire states, but in several. (But only in one state were they given the status of being subject to the common law.) Herr von Almendingen, an important lawyer of the period, suggested a European nationality!     

Product Liability in the European Union: Compensation and Deterrence Issues

In Europe a common standard of strict liability has been introduced with the European directive 85/374. The implementation of this Directive has not led to an expansion of product liability cases. Moreover neither the product nor the insurance market has been dislocated as in the United States. Both the fact that most liability cases continue to be discussed under national legislation—even when it is based on liability with fault—and the different price of insurance in Eurpean Countries show that the directive did not reach its harmonisation goals. We discuss the optional provisions that limit strict liability under the directive, but claim that the scarce impact of liability laws—in spite of increasing concerns for product safety—may be due to compensation provided by the Welfare State and to the cost of access to justice in Europe. Compensation by the Welfare State is inadequate with respect to the internalisation of the cost of accidents especially when public institutions do not file claims against liable producers. Product safety regulation should have performed the deterrence function. However we also point out that the threat of reputation losses is a powerful incentive for firms to carefully control product safety, when consumers increasingly care about product quality and accidents are heavily advertised by media.JEL Classification: K13, K41     

贸易投资一体化与中国对外开放战略

加入WTO后 ,我国的对外开放面临着质的变化 ,即由主动性开放向被动性开放、由政策性开放向制度性开放转变 ,国际分工环境也出现了不同以往的诸多新特征 ,经济全球化、要素分工和贸易投资一体化成为世界经济发展的主流。在这种情况下 ,中国的对外开放应有新思路 ,要适应贸易投资一体化发展的新趋势 ,努力发挥比较优势 ,不断创造出动态的竞争优势 ,不断提高我国在国际分工体系中的地位。     

Preferring Rome to Brussels: Mapping Interest Group Europeanisation in Italy

ABSTRACT

How much do Italian interest groups undertake their advocacy/lobbying activities at the EU level? How often have groups gained access to different EU level institutions? This paper presents an original conceptualisation for the concept of ‘interest group Europeanisation’, which takes into account both the percentage of EU lobbying and access to EU institutions, and assesses the role of national centrality (i.e. access to national institutional venues and self-perceived influence in national policy-making) in determining whether there is more or less interest group Europeanisation. Original data from a national survey conducted on around 500 Italian interest groups are provided. Groups that are at the core of the national interest system are less likely to undertake a large part of their lobbying activities at the EU level, but more likely to gain EU access.     

Avoiding another Brexit: the subsidiarity principle,the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Following a number of controversial judgments, the British government has been pushing for some time for a limitation of the supervisory powers of the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. On a British proposal, the member states of the Council of Europe agreed in 2012 to include a reference to the subsidiarity principle into the Preamble of the European Convention on Human Rights. This paper describes these developments and explores the possible role of subsidiarity considerations in the context of international human rights protection.     

The European Union’s credibility–expectations gap in its European neighbourhood policy: perspectives from Georgia and Ukraine

ABSTRACT

Fifteen years have passed since the European Union launched the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Despite the EU’s attempts to reload the ENP, first in 2011 and later in 2015, in response to challenges in the neighbourhood, the ENP continues to suffer from a credibility-expectations gap. This article argues that understanding neighbour perceptions of the ENP offers useful insights about the ENP. Supported by twenty-five interviews with Georgian and Ukrainian public officials, the article unveils the EU’s credibility challenge in the Eastern neighbourhood caused by a gap between the EU’s own perception of its role and the role expectations held by the ENP partners, as well as a gap between partners’ expectations and the EU’s performance on the ground. The lack of coherence, legitimacy and consistency has undermined the credibility of the ENP in the eyes of its Eastern partners. The latest review of the ENP does not seem to address the credibility challenge.     

欧洲能否摆脱美国的监护

在欧洲和美国的战略关系中,北约是非常重要的纽带.冷战结束以来,美国坚持强化北约,目的在于继续控制欧洲.欧洲人一直希望在本区域的防务和军事一体化问题上加强合作,建立一支独立的军事力量.在科索沃战争的"催化"作用下,欧洲在共同防务和军事一体化领域迅速达成一致,并进入实施具体规划的阶段.这对欧美关系将产生重大的影响,欧洲人希望摆脱美国 的监护,已经付诸于行动.     

Roll Call Votes in the European Parliament: a good sample or a poisoned dead end?

The Roll Call Vote (RCV) of Members of the European Parliament is a standard data source for modern research into the European Parliament (EP). RCV samples are used in particular to study political group cohesion and the emergence of conflict lines within the EP. Current mainstream research thus treats RCVs as a reliable source of data. But other research exists that questions the suitability of the RCV as a sample that fairly represents the population of EP votes. Specifically, this latter research stream points to the over-representation of non-legislative items over legislative items and to the under-representation (or even complete absence) of some committees. However, these critically oriented studies focus on data that does not take into account changes that have occurred in recent years, after the Treaties of Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007) came into force in 2003 (Nice) and 2009 (Lisbon). By analysing all votes that took place in 2013, the authors find that the RCV has become a more reliable data source in recent years. The most important difference – that which obtained between legislative and non-legislative issues – has completely vanished and the remaining differences show only a very weak effect. The authors attribute this change to the empowerment of the EP in the legislative arena and the amendment of the Rules of Procedure.     

Italy and EU enlargement to the Western Balkans: the Europeanization of national interests?

Abstract

Italy is a vocal supporter of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. Relying on primary and secondary sources and semi-structured interviews, this article analyses Italy’s position, including the ‘what?’ (the traditional views of the country on EU enlargement), the ‘how?’ (formal processes and actual practices of decision-making) and the ‘why?’ (the main factors influencing its position). The expected economic and security benefits for Rome largely compensate for the perceived costs of EU enlargement towards the region. Nevertheless, Italy’s influence capacity is hampered by lack of resources and a traditional focus on mere diplomatic presence, as it emerges from the recent examples of the Berlin Process, the refugee crisis, and the EUSAIR.