Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'The Convention on the Future of the EU'

This thesis aims to scrutinize the Visegrad Quadruple Initiative as a device of the Central European countries in the process of involving into the re-negotiations in Europe and in world politics. The thesis argues that the Visegrad group was built in order to respond the demands of changing Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures, and thus to overcome the double process of transition and integration. However that was not the only reason to launch the Visegrad regional cooperation. The group produced an affirmative discourse that its members are distinguished from the other countries in transition, so that they are constantly one step forward to &lsquo
return to Europe&rsquo
. In the aftermath of the eastern enlargements of NATO and the EU alike, the original mission of the group, integration with the West, was achieved. That created a profound discussion about the survival of the group. As it is argued in this thesis, the group, as a prosperous and substantial regional cooperation, should rather continue to work in order to have more words to say in the re-negotiations processes. Another argument of the thesis is that the Visegrad group, taking Benelux group as a model in its continuity, is beneficial to produce a common foreign policy tendency among its members as long as the interests of its members are overlapping, otherwise the group is just being a political platform in which its members can share their views in such areas as regional regulations.

This thesis aims to scrutinize the Visegrad Quadruple Initiative as a device of the Central European countries in the process of involving into the re-negotiations in Europe and in world politics. The thesis argues that the Visegrad group was built in order to respond the demands of changing Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures, and thus to overcome the double process of transition and integration. However that was not the only reason to launch the Visegrad regional cooperation. The group produced an affirmative discourse that its members are distinguished from the other countries in transition, so that they are constantly one step forward to &lsquo
return to Europe&rsquo
. In the aftermath of the eastern enlargements of NATO and the EU alike, the original mission of the group, integration with the West, was achieved. That created a profound discussion about the survival of the group. As it is argued in this thesis, the group, as a prosperous and substantial regional cooperation, should rather continue to work in order to have more words to say in the re-negotiations processes. Another argument of the thesis is that the Visegrad group, taking Benelux group as a model in its continuity, is beneficial to produce a common foreign policy tendency among its members as long as the interests of its members are overlapping, otherwise the group is just being a political platform in which its members can share their views in such areas as regional regulations.

The European Union's regional policy has become one of its principal policy areas: It accounts for a major share of EU's budget and is of essential interest for its beneficiaries, the Southern countries and the new EU members of 2004. Created with the ambition to reduce income differences between countries and regions in the EU, it did not only achieve success and thus has also repeatedly been criticised. This paper wishes to present the most important facts of EU regional policy as it developed during the past two decades. It starts with the historical development and discusses the major theoretical arguments which motivate EU regional policy. Consequently, the policy priorities, the so-called "objectives", are presented and the financial contribution made by the Structural Funds to old and new members is shown. The experience in objective 1 areas: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Italian South and East Germany, are discussed in detail. A look at the variety of regional problems in objective 2 areas follows. The paper concludes with the main arguments involved in the present drafting stage of the future EU regional policy. (author's abstract)
Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

In 1999 the European Union (EU) defined for the first time common priorities in the area of migration and asylum. In 2014 the Justice and Home Affairs Council is deciding on the fourth multi-annual strategic guidelines. This thesis examines the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the EU influencing these guidelines through the European Commission public consultation, and their impact on shaping the future agenda for migration and asylum. While the EU has gained more competences in this field and increased legal protection standards across the EU, member states favour restrictive and security-oriented policies. EU NGOs represent a more liberal rights based approach, and having difficulties getting their points across. A step-by-step process tracing reveals the factors that enabled influence, such as a structured civil dialogue with opportunities for input. However, there were also elements disabling this influence, related to the disconnection between civil society and the Council, which partly undermined the purpose of the consultation.

This thesis addresses the gap in the literature of the Gulf Cooperation Council and its distinct relations with the European Union by identifying the obstacles preventing the development of GCC–EU interregionalism, in two case studies: energy security and economic cooperation in the Mediterranean. By bringing an empirical application of interregionalism to the study of GCC–EU relations, the thesis draws an original comparison that is based on a Hettne and Söderbaum typology of regionness (2000) to determine the GCC’s and the EU’s types, levels of actorness and the subsequent type of interregionalism resulting from the interaction between their kinds. The theoretical construct of the thesis underlines interregionalism as a tool for consolidating the organisations’ identities and actorness and increasing their capacities at exerting influence within the changing dynamics in the regional and global theatres. In addition, this thesis sheds light on the obstacles that impede the development of interregional cooperation and the mechanism to overcome them. As such, the thesis considers the dynamics instigating the renewed interest in deepening GCC–EU interregional relations; outlines the tools available at the GCC and the EU, and highlights the implications of the Arab Spring and GCC–Asia ties on GCC–EU relations. By avoiding benchmarking the EU as a model, the thesis purports that cooperation in energy security is ongoing and is opening avenues for promising partnerships in renewables, energy sustainability and efficiency. On the other hand, the divergence in the organisations’ levels of actorness, economic strategies and the unwillingness to assess policies are major hindrances against a successful partnership in the Mediterranean. Asymmetries in actorness, bilateralism, the American influence and the growing GCC–Asia ties do impact the development of the relations; albeit, they do not impede the multilateral framework from producing unintended outcomes in other areas of the relations.

On 1 July 2017, the Commission of the European Union (Commission) announced that investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) was dead. Apart from the fundamental public distrust of ISDS, its rejection by the European Union (EU) is a symptom of several underlying causes, the foremost of which is the need to protect the autonomy of the EU legal order and its right to regulate public policy objectives, as well as to avoid jurisdictional conflicts. With this backdrop EU state aid law, which enjoys public policy status, has emerged as a major example of the conflict between investor protection and the right to regulate. As state aid law imposes measures on the EU Member States that conflict with these states’ international obligations to foreign investors under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), they have become subject to claims and substantial liabilities. This dilemma can arise in any setting that involves the EU or one or more of its Member States. It also includes relations with non-EU countries, as the web of international investment agreements (IIAs) operates, in different forms, on an international scale. Therefore, this dilemma and the EU’s responses to it is analysed through the different forms in which EU state aid law appears, dependent on the EU investment policy aspect utilised as a platform for analysis. Utilising a doctrinal analysis by studying, discussing and analysing the impact of EU state aid law on the EU Member States’ BITs and EU Trade Agreements, this dissertation provides an insight into the function and logic behind international treaties involving the EU’s competition and investment policy. This is done by utilising the research question: How does the European Union (EU) state aid law affect the future of EU investment policy in a global context? Further, this thesis puts forward three arguments in which EU state aid law is affecting the future of EU investment policy in a global context. First, state aid law applies in the EU’s incorporation of clauses promoting fair competition and state aid policy in international trade agreements. Second, state aid law and policy has contributed to recent EU internal development, which led the EU Member States to terminate their bilateral agreements with each other (intra-EU BITs) by the end of 2019. Third, the EU has been working towards replacing the existing BITs between the EU’s Member States and third countries (extra-EU BITs) with the EU’s own trade agreements, which are aligned with EU legislation. Essentially, this thesis golden thread is a debate on who gets to decide on the scope of state aid law now and in the future. In other words, is it the EU that sets the borders and the status of state aid law and policy law regarding investment protection or the international investment tribunals by their legal practice? Hence, this thesis offers a glimpse of a conceivable future of EU investment policy in a global context. An analysis of the relevant literature, and observation of recent policy changes on its subject matter, as reflected in the Commission’s policy documents, the EU’s international agreements and declarations by the Member States, leads to the findings of this dissertation. A conflict situation that originated from legal conflicts within the EU, the EU experience of investment protection and state aid regarding intra-EU BITs, provided some lessons to learn for the EU organs. These lessons learned have found expression on a global scale. By incorporating fair competition and state aid policy in international trade the EU is reasserting that it is the EU that decides on state aid law and policy law regarding investment protection. Indeed, the EU is attempting to tame investment protection in such a way that fair competition and investment protection can peacefully coexist in international trade. Ultimately, the interplay of state aid and the EU’s investment policy within the internal market reflects on the external trade relations of both the Member States and the EU through this practice. Thus, state aid law affects and will continue to affect the future of EU investment policy in a global context.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Law School
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

The negotiations for the Mid-Term Review of the Fourth Lome Convention marked the introduction of multiple conditionality - economic adjustment and good governance - into the Lome relationship. It placed additional demands on the two parties, giving rise to the essential concern of this thesis: do the two sides possess the requisite institutional capacity to meet those demands. The introduction was not a sudden development. The origins of multiple conditionality lay in the Pisani Memorandum and its proposal of policy dialogue. The path from the proposal to multiple conditionality was assisted by developments within the Lome relationship, including the unintended effects of ACP initiatives. This thesis is thus, in one sense, the history of the Memorandum's legacy of inverted conditionality through policy dialogue. It is also an analysis of the capacities generated by the Convention and their applicability to multiple conditionality. My analysis of bargaining, operational and instrumental capacities demonstrates a weak ACP capacity and an asymmetrically greater EU capacity. My initial conclusion is that the EU is much more capable of meeting the demands of multiple conditionality. However, it too faces limits on its capacity, especially in dealing with the sociopolitical aspects of governance. This recognition highlights an ignored factor: there is a second legacy of the Pisani Memorandum. In addition to the instrument of policy dialogue, the Memorandum identified institutional capacity as the means to help overcome the problems of development. The new tale of two legacies illustrates an EU emphasis on policy control at the expense of capacity building. It has failed to perceive the importance of the link, in the Pisani Memorandum, between the instrument and the means. It forces me to amend my initial conclusion: neither side is adequately prepared for the demands of multiple conditionality.

This master thesis is dedicated to the press publishers’ right introduced by Article 15 of the Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market. The article became one of the most debated provisions in the whole directive. On the one hand, the discussion was driven by EU press publishers because of thecommercial crisis in the traditional press publishing and news mediasectors. Press representatives began to express concerns about the free riding of press publications by content aggregators and search engines who usually reuse such contents for profit. On the other hand, service providers argued that press publishers would lose traffic to their websites, affecting the quality of the press and constrainingfundamental rights. This conflict pushed the press publishers to bringing these issues before courts, legislators and competition authorities. Since these complaints were not resolved completely, the only way to resolve the conflict seemed to be the introduction of the EU-wide related right.

The secessionist conflict in Transdniestrian region of the Republic of Moldova have led to more than a decade of political dialogueon finding a peaceful solution to conflict resolution, proving that the current format of negotiations is inefficient. The increased interest of the EU in the resolution of this conflict is caused by prospective inclusion of Romania in the EU, placing the Transdniestrian conflict at EU periphery, where confrontation is contrary to the all-European orientation at stability and integration. Presumably the involvement of the EU could lead to finding a political solution to the Transdniestrian conflict. Thus, the purpose of this research is to explore how EU involvement in the Transdniestrian conflict could lead to its prospective resolution. The results of this research, in form of conclusions and recommendations, depict that a more active involvement of the EU in Transdniestrian conflict resolution, as consulter and mediator, make it feasible to find a solution to the long-lasting disputes in the Republic of Moldova.

Public institutions own the greater proportion of the world’s forests and wooded areas —about 86%. In general, there are important regional variations of the proportion of state and private or municipal ownership. Recent European studies in the forestry sector show that nearly half of the European Union (EU) forests are publicly owned – around 42%. Considering the importance of forest resources, it is essential to ensure they are used sustainably. National governments and different agreements regulate use of forest resources; however, the actual manager has the greatest responsibility over the exploitation of the resource. Bearing in the mind the ownership structure of the forests in Europe, state forest organizations play an important role in the management of forest resources. This key place is justified by the overall duties they are dealing with and of course by their resourcefulness and significant influence on stakeholders. The future of forests and forestry strongly depends on the direction of state forest organizations development. In fact, the forestry sector has undergone enormous changes in the past decades, but the forest institutions in many countries have been slow to adapt to these changes. Changes in the forest sector normally do not happen quickly, it takes a longer time that in other sectors. The main reasons to explain this fact are that, firstly, investments in forestry may take several generations to yield returns. Secondly, foresters are generally conservative, feeling more comfortable with forest botany rather than with social concerns that prevail forestry nowadays. Therefore, while the demands and expectations of society have changed, the structure of most forest institutions have remained largely unchanged. Despite the conservative mode of most forest institutions, a number of changes have taken place in the sector. Agrawal, Chhatre, and Hardin (2008) state that major features of modern forest governance include decentralization of forest management, logging concessions in publicly owned commercially valuable forests, and timber certification, mainly in temperate forests in the developed world and, additionally privatization of state-owned enterprises. In addition, the rise of labor costs and a decrease in timber prices forced the sector to undertake radical rationalization of production processes. It resulted in intensive mechanization of harvesting and personnel reduction. Despite the importance of state owned forest and the changes it faces, there is little literature about management of state forests, the lack of such literature is particularly palpable in the European countries. Therefore, this work aims to contribute to narrowing the knowledge gap about the topic by clarifying the role of state forest in the EU countries, its status, trends, challenges and opportunities. The work applies a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including a review of reporting system, qualitative, quantitate data analysis, Principal Component Analysis, cluster analysis and case study research. Chapter II of the dissertation investigates the reporting system of State Forest Management Organizations (SFMOs). This chapter explores how SFMOs report about their activities, what kind of information is available and the way they present it to the public. Therefore, the questions of transparency and accountability of State organizations are examined. Chapter III seeks to group SFMOs in the EU according to their management priorities and to see if they are influenced by characteristics of the forest sector of their countries. The existence of different forest management alternatives is essential for sustainable forest management (SFM) and this knowledge should be shared between forest experts, the forest industry, and various interest groups. Chapter IV presents a discussion about a management model of the Cansiglio (CF) forest in Italy (a publicly owned forest) as a case study. In this case, I analyze the main priorities, outcomes and possible scenarios for the future development of this publicly owned forest. In terms of the main findings about the information disclosure of SFMOs, there is the lack of a coordinated reporting framework or a minimum standard of indicators in common use. Comparability between SFMOs is limited due to the use of different indicators, periods and units of measure. Another important focus of the dissertation is the comparative synthesis of different management models of SFMOs; it can be observed that the countries under study show an application of different management priorities and SFMOs apply diverse business strategies. With the help of the cluster analysis, we obtained three SFMOs’ clusters (C1, C2, and C3) and three outliers (O1, O2 and O3). The clusters present different approaches SFMOs use in prioritizing pillars of SFM: C1 has diversified goals, C2 behaves as a protector of public interests and C3 is commercially oriented. This division is partly defined by natural conditions of the country where the organizations are located, but also by the decisions of an organization itself (e.g. profit-oriented in Ireland, a country with a low forest cover and, on the other side, Czech Republic – profit oriented SFMO in the country with a high forest cover). The case study (the Cansiglio forest in Italy, Veneto region) presents a management model of a publicly owned forest with clear objectives and a vision for the next 5-10 years. The CF has diversified goals providing production of timber and social services. Specific attention is given to recreational activities as there is an increased demand from society for ecotourism and outdoor recreation. The management of the forest is performed by the regional administration together with some private actors (e.g. concessioner, logging companies). Among four presented scenarios, the fourth scenario "Long-term forest concessions signed by private enterprises" was evaluated as the most promising. To conclude, SFMOs in Europe have adopted different organizational models in their management. However, they have common tendencies. Among the most notable are (i) they are owned by the state but function as a private unit; (ii) functions of supervision and management are separated and divided between different institutions; (iii) SMFOs often engage the help of private companies to perform some activities; (iv) SFMOs increase attention to the environmental and social pillar of SFM; (v) SFMOs have low level of information disclosure. As the main recommendations to SFMOs, there are two clear priorities: the need to optimize the balance between the three SFM pillars (social, economic and ecological) and also a need for improvement in their reporting systems and communications with the public.
Le istituzioni pubbliche sono proprietarie della maggior parte delle foreste e delle altre aree boscate del mondo, circa l’86%. Esistono tuttavia importanti differenze a livello regionale nella proporzione tra proprietà statali, private o comunali. Studi europei nel settore forestale mostrano che quasi la metà delle foreste dell'Unione europea (UE) sono di proprietà pubblica - circa il 42%. Considerando l'importanza delle risorse forestali, è essenziale assicurarne un uso sostenibile. I governi nazionali e diversi accordi intergovernativi regolamentano l'utilizzo delle risorse forestali, tuttavia, sono i gestori forestali che hanno la più alta responsabilità sullo sfruttamento delle risorse forestali. Tenendo presente la struttura fondiaria delle foreste europee, le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali hanno un ruolo importante nella gestione delle risorse forestali. Questa importanza è giustificata dagli impegni globali che hanno assunto e, naturalmente, dalle numerose risorse a disposizione e dall’influenza che hanno sugli stakeholder. Il futuro delle foreste e della gestione forestale dipende quindi fortemente dalla direzione di sviluppo delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. Il settore forestale ha subito enormi cambiamenti negli ultimi decenni, ma le istituzioni forestali di molti paesi sono state lente ad adattarsi a questi cambiamenti. I cambiamenti nel settore forestale normalmente non sono rapidi e sicuramente sono più lenti che in altri settori. Le ragioni principali per spiegare questo sono diverse. In primo luogo, gli investimenti forestali possono richiedere diverse generazioni per produrre ritorni d’investimento. In secondo luogo, i forestali sono generalmente conservatori, sentendosi più a proprio agio con la botanica forestale piuttosto che con le questioni sociali che prevalgono il settore oggi. Pertanto, mentre le esigenze e le aspettative della società sono cambiate, la struttura della maggior parte dei dipartimenti forestali è rimasta sostanzialmente invariata. Nonostante l’approccio conservativo della maggior parte dei dipartimenti forestali, numerose modifiche hanno avuto luogo nel settore. Agrawal, Chhatre e Hardin (2008) affermano che le principali caratteristiche di una moderna governance forestale includono il decentramento della gestione, concessioni di taglio in foreste pubbliche di alto valore commerciale e la certificazione forestale, soprattutto nelle foreste temperate del mondo sviluppato, oltre alla privatizzazione delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. In aggiunta, l'aumento del costo del lavoro e la diminuzione dei prezzi del legname hanno costretto il settore a intraprendere una radicale razionalizzazione dei processi produttivi, risultata in intensa meccanizzazione delle utilizzazioni e della riduzione del personale. Nonostante l'importanza delle foreste statali e dei cambiamenti che sta vivendo, c'è una scarsa letteratura scientifica sulla gestione delle foreste statali, e questa mancanza è particolarmente riscontrabile in Europa. Pertanto, questo lavoro mira a contribuire alla riduzione del divario conoscitivo sul tema chiarendo il ruolo delle foreste statali nei paesi dell'UE, il suo status, le tendenze, le sfide e le opportunità. Il lavoro si basa su una combinazione di metodi qualitativi e quantitativi, tra cui una revisione del sistema di reporting, l'analisi quantitativa e qualitativa dei dati, la Principal Component Analysis, l'analisi dei cluster e casi studio. Il capitolo II della tesi esamina il sistema di reporting delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali. Questo capitolo esplora come le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali riportano le loro attività, quali informazioni sono disponibili e il modo in cui le presentano al pubblico. Pertanto, anche le questioni della trasparenza e della responsabilità delle organizzazioni statali sono incluse. Il capitolo III tenta di raggruppare le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali dell'UE in base alle loro priorità e vedere se sono influenzate dalle caratteristiche del settore forestale dei loro paesi. L'esistenza di diverse alternative di gestione forestale è essenziale per una Gestione Forestale Sostenibile e questa conoscenza dovrebbe essere condivisa tra esperti forestali, industria e gruppi di interesse. Il capitolo IV presenta una discussione sul modello di gestione della foresta di Cansiglio in Italia (foresta di proprietà pubblica) come caso di studio. In questo caso, sono analizzate le principali priorità gestionali, i risultati e le direzioni future. Dai principali risultati sulla divulgazione di informazioni delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali, emerge la mancanza di un quadro di reporting coordinato o di uno standard minimo di indicatori di uso comune. La comparabilità tra le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali è tuttavia limitata a causa dei differenti indicatori, periodi e unità di misura. Un altro aspetto importante della tesi è la sintesi comparativa di diversi modelli di gestione delle organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali; si può osservare che i paesi in esame mostrano un'applicazione di diverse priorità di gestione e le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali applicano diverse strategie di business. Con l'aiuto dell'analisi cluster abbiamo ottenuto tre cluster (C1, C2 e C3) e tre outliers (O1, O2 e O3). I cluster presentano diversi approcci che le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali usano per le priorità dei pilastri della Gestione Forestale Sostenibile: C1 ha obiettivi diversificati, C2 si comporta come protettore di interessi pubblici e C3 è commerciale. Questa divisione è in parte definita dalle condizioni naturali del paese in cui si trovano le organizzazioni, ma anche dalle decisioni dell’organizzazione stessa (ad esempio, da un lato, in Irlanda è orientata al profitto in un paese con una bassa copertura forestale, dall'altro, in Repubblica Ceca, l’organizzazione di gestione delle foreste demaniali è orientata al profitto in un paese con invece un'alta copertura forestale). Il caso studio (foresta del Cansiglio in Italia, regione Veneto) presenta un modello di gestione di una foresta pubblica con traguardi specifici e una prospettiva di sviluppo per i prossimi 5-10 anni. La foresta del Cansiglio si pone diversi obiettivi per la produzione di legname e la fornitura di servizi sociali. Una particolare attenzione è rivolta alle attività ricreative in quanto vi si è creata una crescente domanda da parte della società per l'ecoturismo e la ricreazione all'aperto. La gestione della foresta viene eseguita dall'amministrazione regionale insieme ad alcuni gestori privati (ad esempio concessionari, imprese boschive). Tra i quattro scenari presentati, il quarto scenario "Concessioni forestali a lungo termine firmate da imprese private" è stato valutato come il più promettente. Per concludere, le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali in Europa hanno adottato diversi modelli organizzativi nella loro gestione. Tuttavia, hanno delle tendenze comuni. Tra i più notevoli sono le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali (i) che sono posseduti dallo Stato ma che funzionano come unità privata; (ii) la maggior parte delle quali decide di separare le funzioni di supervisione e di gestione tra le varie istituzioni; (iii) che spesso impegnano l'aiuto di società private per svolgere alcune attività; (iv) che aumentano l'attenzione sul pilastro ambientale e sociale di gestione sostenibile delle foreste; (v) che hanno un basso livello di divulgazione di informazioni. Le prioritarie raccomandazioni per le organizzazioni di gestione delle foreste demaniali sono due: la necessità di ottimizzare l'equilibrio tra i tre pilastri di gestione sostenibile delle foreste (sociale, economico e ecologico) e di migliorare i propri sistemi di comunicazione con il pubblico.

Das europäische Verfassungsprojekt scheiterte an ungünstigen innenpolitischen Umständen. Nun weitet sich der halbherzige Ratifizierungsprozess zu einer Orientierungskrise aus, die auch durch den „Plan D“ der Brüsseler Kommission nicht aufgefangen werden kann. Kernpunkte des Verfassungsentwurfs sollten 2009 erneut zur Diskussion gestellt und in einem paneuropäischen Referendum zur Abstimmung gebracht werden.
The project of the European Constitution failed because of unfavourable circumstances related to domestic affairs. Now the ratification process extends to a crisis of orientation, which cannot be solved by the „Plan D“ of the Brussels-based commission. The essentials of a draft constitution should be presented again for discussion in 2009 and then decided in a pan- European referendum.

The goal of the thesis is to explore how a concept of fair criminal evidence in Europe can be utilised by the EU in its further steps of integration in the area of European Criminal Law. The answer to this question presupposes that there is indeed such a concept and the exploration can be further split in two questions. Which are the characteristics of a concept on evidential fairness in Europe? Which are the applications of this concept in EU Criminal Law? As far as the characteristics of such a concept are concerned, it is argued that fairness in evidential matters in a European level comes into existence in the realm of the Council of Europe. Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is presented as evidence-­‐relevant, while the context of Strasbourg’s case law is proposed as the right platform for finding the material needed for the distillation of the principles of evidential fairness. In relation to the second question, the interest moves into the European Union and the evidential matters in the context of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. More specifically, it is discussed how the findings about a fair criminal evidence concept apply to the judicial cooperation in criminal evidence in EU level. By the term ‘applying’ it is meant the testing of two different conditions; firstly, if the principles adopted are already followed in practice, and to what extent, and secondly, how they can improve and adjust the existing system. In this process the key role of mutual recognition’s character is demonstrated and particular amendments to existing and future legislative instruments such as the European Evidence Warrant and the European Investigation Order are proposed.

Biofuels were first used, as motor fuel (bioethanol) in 1860 in Germany and soon after, biofuels became the main rival for petroleum. But the abundance and the low price of fossil fuels had severe impact on the use of biofuels. Decades later, in 1970s, the shortage of fossil fuels due to the geopolitical conflicts, and the subsequent rise in the price of crude oil in 2000s, alongside energy security and climate change concerns, once again attracted the attention of governments to the use of biofuels. As a result of investment in biofuel production, the share of biofuels among the total renewable energy sources has increased since the beginning of the new century. The crop-based fuels (the so-called first generation biofuels) were considered as panacea to solve energy problems and environmental concerns. At the same time, research in advanced biofuel production methods, i.e. the second (non-food crops and residues) and the third (algae) generation has increased. However, in 2007-2008, biofuels were blamed for pushing up food prices, failing to meet environmental standards, and destroying natural habitats. As such, the use of first generation biofuels has been controversial. As for the second and the third generation biofuels, there is a need for further technological breakthrough. Currently, they cannot compete with crude oil economically, and are not commercially viable yet. In addition, fracking and the discovery of the new shale gas resources add further complication to this already complicated case. Although there is vast number of publications on biofuels, and they have been discussed extensively, to date, very little effort has been made to integrate the knowledge to provide new ideas to inform policy. The aim of this study is to investigate, bring together, and analyse the current biofuel science and regulations to provide recommendations for policy-makers in the UK/EU. Therefore, an extensive and critical literature review of the refereed journals, books, relevant publications, and official policy documents was carried out in this study, and views of the experts in three different sectors (academic, governmental, and industrial/private) were collated and analysed. The participants were recruited based on purposive sampling, and the semi-structured qualitative interviewing method was adopted. The participants’ views were analysed in relation to the published literature in order to drive an inclusive and integrated insight to develop novel recommendations for the biofuels agenda and extend the knowledge about this platform. This thesis suggests that, while the first generation biofuels are problematic, it is likely that they will remain dominant until 2022. The fate of the second generation biofuels is mainly determined by the advances in technology, and this type could become dominant beyond 2022. The potential of algae for the third generation biofuels is being increasingly recognised; however, to date, it is difficult to predict any time period for this method to become a commercial reality. The future of biofuels is very much related to the price of fossil fuels. If the global supply of fossil fuels continues to be tight, the price of crude oil may go above US$100 per barrel beyond 2030. Increasing crude oil prices is interpreted as increasing demand for biofuels in the future. A robust development in biofuels research and technology, and tighter mandatory policies for biofuel blending is forecasted. But, if shale gas resources are used extensively in the coming years, the price of crude oil may decrease/stay under US$ 100 per barrel and as a result, at least the current level of investment in biofuels technology may be kept. However, a backing away from investing in biofuels and re-focusing on other climate mitigation methods beyond 2030 is also possible but very unlikely. Based on the results of this study, there is no single, simple and generic solution for the issues surrounding biofuels. In this context, a range of recommendations are provided, a major one is for the UK/EU policy makers to push for the establishment of an international biofuels governing body, supported by the UN, to oversee sustained global biofuels production and consumption.

The objective of this research is to investigate perception regarding autonomous vehicles in the European Union with a particular focus on travel time and safety perception. The core element of the study is a new concept called “travel time benefit”, which was introduced by the author as an expansion of travel time perception literature. This represents the research core of the work with an additional focus on safety perception as a secondary matter. A complete overview of the automotive industry latest trends and upcoming changes is provided as an introduction. A series of hypotheses are formulated based on previous studies in literature and applied to the newly introduced concept of travel time benefit. A sample of European Union citizens was used to fulfil a survey through Amazon Mturk with the goal of gathering primary data on the matter, to be then analysed with SPSS. Results are to be read as the current perception of autonomous driving technology. The main consequences are investigated, with a focus on additional time made available thanks to the fact of not having to drive, and added safety of the occupants. Findings of this research establish a useful market insight for the automotive industry huge upcoming autonomous vehicle revolution and add to the body of research on the topic in the European Union.

The treatment of non-refugee stateless persons varies greatly across the States of the European Union. Not much is known about it and it is disputed whether, and to what extent, national mechanisms are in line with the corresponding international obligations. In light of the differences observed, this thesis argues that the recognition of stateless status and the related application of a basic set of rights, according to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (the ‘1954 Convention’), are more likely to occur when Member States incorporate specific laws and procedures. In particular, the protection of stateless persons is more effective when Member States rigorously address the issue of identification of statelessness by adopting exact provisions rather than simply modifying existing norms and making marginal changes to immigration laws. Although the 1954 Convention does not explicitly require that a procedure or specific means for determining statelessness be established, it sets forth standards of treatment which can only be put into practice if its beneficiaries have been recognised. Effective protection also necessitates taking measures to remove obstacles of general applicability and publicity of rights and procedures. By analysing the treatment of claims for protection by stateless persons in ten European Union States that have ratified the 1954 Convention, this research contributes to the questions of whether detailed statelessness determination procedures are needed, what their constituent elements should be, how decision-makers apply the definition of ‘stateless person’, and what rights are attached to the grant of lawful status. It highlights shortcomings as well as good models of the national legal frameworks, and makes recommendations for further developments. Against this backdrop, it adds insights to the wider debate on how human rights treaties should be implemented by demonstrating that their formal incorporation into the national frameworks is desirable to ensure certainty and effectiveness of the law.

‘(…) to ensure equality for all children, this Regulation covers all decisions on parental responsibility, including measures for the protection of the child, independently of any link with matrimonial proceedings.' [Recital 5 of Brussels II bis] Brussels II bis (Council Regulation 2201/2003) complements the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, with its well-established set of international rules and the related definitions based on a considerable body of case law. The interrelation has given rise to difficulties of application and issues of interpretation despite the existence of a set of rules supposed to regulate the complementary structures. Besides this interrelation, the Regulation interacts with the Hague Convention on Child Protection. Though Brussels II bis has been analysed with regard to different single aspects, it has not yet been considered which consequences the actual provisions of the Regulation and the ECJ’s decisions have both on the interrelation and its application in the national courts. It has further hitherto not been critically analysed whether the Regulation and the judgments of the ECJ take the right direction to meet the ambitious aim defined in the preamble and throughout the text, respecting the ‘best interests’ of the child. Now that a decade of Brussels II bis has passed and with a series of pioneer cases decided by the ECJ and with an intervention of the ECtHR in Convention and Regulation cases, the Regulation’s effectiveness is worthy of critical consideration. Despite the existence of some specific rules on the interrelation of the Regulation and the Conventions, their very co-existence gave rise to various interacting situations and questions of interpretation. For courts familiar with the rules of the Convention on Child Abduction and with at least their own respective national case law arising under it, the application of the added layer of rules of the Regulation and the interpretation of its different concepts was and still remains a challenge. A comparison of Brussels II bis with the two international instruments with regard to the role of ‘habitual residence’ and the suitability of the other central concepts of the provisions for the particularity of family disputes will demonstrate the differences of cases involving the Regulation and those involving the Conventions. III By governing jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments and orders relating to parental responsibility, the Regulation has a very wide application covering, for example, custody, access, guardianship and even placement of children in foster or institutional care. Further, Brussels II bis takes up concepts which lie at the very heart of the application of the Convention on Child Abduction and about which there is extensive jurisprudence. This thesis will explore a selection of legal issues arising from the interrelation between these private international law instruments dealing with parental responsibility and child abduction which the national courts applying the Regulation are confronted with. The question whether Brussels II bis is an effective instrument which has strengthened the return mechanism under the Convention on Child Abduction and can work hand in hand with the Convention on Child Protection is also important to critically evaluate. It will be considered if the provisions in the Regulation have been drafted clearly enough and the concepts defined so well that they promote the interests of the children concerned, where the provisions are complementing the Convention on Child Abduction, and has learned from the latter’s flaws so as to enhance the recognition and enforcement processes related to child abduction. It will be concluded whether or not the Regulation is an advancement only in terms of having implemented efficient, intra-Community provisions on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement or a real advancement supporting the ‘best interests’ of the child(ren), despite the complications of application it has introduced.

Unaccompanied minors who are fleeing and being sent way from their countries of origin are nothing new. In 2011, 12 225 unaccompanied minors where registered in The European Union, none undocumented minors included. Most of the minors are coming from Afghanistan and Somalia. The aim of this essay is to investigate how The European Union’s migration policies are applied in reality and how United Nation’s Convention on the Right of Children are put in practice by the member states of The European Union and Norway. This will be investigated through a qualitative literature essay. The results of this essay illustrate that unaccompanied minors are being subjects of The European migration policies like Dublin II regulation, and are being held in detention around in Europe. The unaccompanied minors’ fundamental rights are taken from them, rights like education, health care and social welfare. The unaccompanied minors are not seen as children by the authorities; instead they are seen and treated as refugees and illegal migrants.
Barn i Barnhus

The thesis seeks to answer the question whether the European Union (EU) constitutional treaty offers improved protection for human rights in the EU jurisdiction. Within this context, it first seeks to find out what the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the constitutional treaty promises for the human rights&rsquo
field. Furthermore, it examines how the possible accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights will affect this field. Then, it focuses on what the constitutional treaty offers for third countries concerning human rights. Finally, in the light of the recent developments on the treaty, the discussion enlightens the role of the constitutional treaty on protecting and developing human rights in the EU.

Computer programs must give a technical effect that goes beyond"normal physical interaction"to be considered to belong to a technical field. The invention shall be be susceptible of industrial application, which means that it should be possible to reproduce or use in any other industrial way. The reqirement that the invention shall be new means that the technique must not be previously known because of patents, published articles, etc. That an invention shall be a contribution to the state of the art in a technical field means that the invention shall not be obvious to invent for a person skilled in the art. Patents do effect the innovation among the inventers, but in most industries most inventions would be invented independent if there was a patent system or not. Only in pharmaceuticals- and chemicals industries, the patent is of a great importance. Patents are probably of lesser importance for the computer industry than for those industries, even though the industry is of great importance for many other industries and therefor, the patent system can be of great importance for some computer-implemented inventions as well. There is a risque the the competition is negatively affected by the patent system, becuase of the monopoly it gives. I believe, though, that the gain of the patent system compensates for the risque of imperfections in the market. The free movement for goods, persons, services and capital will probably not be affected if the proposal of the directive about patentibility of computer-implemented invention will get passed.

EU direktiv 2005/0182 röstades igenom i början av år 2006. All trafik-data kring Internet- och telekommunikation ska lagras mellan sex må-nader och ett år. Direktivet kommer innebära gemensamma regler för EU:s medlemsstater. Syftet med direktivet är att data ska lagras för till-gänglig vid utredning, avslöjande och åtal av grov organiserad brottslig-het och terrorism.

Studien innehåller tre problemområden som behandlar andra gällande direktiv och konventioner, personlig integritet och etik. Först undersöks det nya direktivet i relation till European Convention on human rights (ECHR) Vidare förs diskussioner kring lagring av trafikdata och lokali-seringsdata i förhållande till personlig integritet. Även etikens syn på hur lagring av personuppgifter ska hanteras och rättfärdigas tas upp.

Studien har kommit fram till ett resultat kring varje problemområde. I relation till redan gällande direktiv och konventioner visar studien att det är väldigt öppet för tolkningar. Dock är det framförallt mot artikel 8 i ECHR som det nya direktivet strider mot.

Peter Seipel har definierat sex olika teorier kring synen på personlig in-tegritet. Direktivets påverkan på den personliga integriteten har analy-serats med hjälp av dessa teorier. Sammanfattningsvis kan det konstate-ras att lagring av trafikdata och lokaliseringsdata kan ses som ett in-trång i den personliga integriteten, frågan är om detta intrång är berät-tigat?

Inom etiken är synen på direktivet koncentrerat till vems nytta direkti-vet är och vilket mål direktivet ska uppnå. Ofta hamnar olika regler och ställningstagande i konflikt med varandra där två saker kan ses som rätt, men de båda inte kan samexistera.

At the beginning of year 2006 EU directive 2005/0182 was approved by the European parliament. The directive contains rules concerning the retention of traffic and localization data created with electronically communication. This data will be stored between six months and 1 year depending on the data type. The intension is to use the data to detect, investigate and prosecute heavy criminals and terrorists.

This study contains three different problem areas, if the directive op-poses to existing directives and conventions. The relationship between personal integrity and storage of personal information is also investi-gated. The last area is ethical issues with the storing of personal data.

The result is divided into three parts, one for each problem area. It shows that the new directive don’t comply with article 8 in the European convention on human rights. Although all the articles presented are open for wide interpretation.

Peter Seipel has made a categorization of six different views of the per-sonal integrity. It is clear that the new directive will affect the personal integrity.

The ethical view on the directive is concentrated to who will benefit from the changes and witch goals are the directive set to meet. Often the rules of ethics will conflict with each other because of two sets of rules can’t exist together.

The EU regulatory framework for direct taxation is composed of three interconnected elements. First, having satisfied the requirement of a unanimous vote, the EU adopted a range of directives on the basis of the general harmonisation provision (Article 115 TFEU). Therefore, a traditional hard law framework harmonising some aspects of direct taxation exists in the EU. Second, case law is an indirect method of exerting influence on the direct tax field. As long as no positive integration has been brought about, the Member States are free to regulate this sphere as they see fit. The boundaries of their regulatory freedom are imposed, however, by negative integration i.e. by the ECJ applying the Treaty rules on non-discrimination. Jurisprudence has been an influential and dominant regulatory tool. Third, corporate taxation has also been regulated through soft law. The key example of a non-legally binding instrument in the direct tax field is the Code of Conduct for Business Taxation. This thesis investigates interactions between these hard and soft law measures and draws conclusions about the future of EU direct tax regulation. To achieve these aims, two research strands are explored. First, the thesis discusses the nature of the Code. In particular, it is investigated whether the Code can be regarded as an example of a ‘pure’ soft law measure. It is argued that the nature of the Code is not as clear-cut as is officially presented. Behind soft law terminology, the Code operates as a hard law measure. Supported by an examination of the OECD anti-harmful tax competition initiative, the thesis concludes that the use of soft law in tax regulation has not been wholly successful. The introduction of legally binding solutions is restricted by the requirement of unanimity, which is difficult to attain in the expanding EU. Thus, hard law has instead been introduced through the back door, raising valid questions about regulatory legitimacy. Second, this thesis explores the relationships between hard and soft law in the wider context of EU direct tax regulation. The extent to which the Code is embedded in the broader environment of tax regulation is analysed. The Code tends to be characterised as a soft law measure situated within the regulatory environment of taxation that, for years, has been dominated by hard law instruments. At this level, interactions between ECJ jurisprudence and soft law instruments are also explored. Consequently, the thesis demonstrates that hard law and soft law are not necessarily alternative choices; both approaches can be applied simultaneously to influence one regulatory field, and both offer different strengths and values. In a field as politically sensitive as direct taxation, soft law may prove to be insufficient to bring about real change. The addition of a hard law (or legally binding) element might be necessary to secure effectiveness of regulation. This thesis proposes that the current, disingenuous hybrid regulation of direct taxes in the EU should be replaced with a more transparent hybrid, where hard law measures are openly applied and soft law is given the opportunity to regulate in parallel and to its own distinct potential.

The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights is a promising way to improve the legitimacy of the supranational regime, provided that accession is organised in a well-considered and effective manner. My work tries to find, at least partial, resolution to the problem of the erosion of the EU authority, and is based on the underlying presumption that human rights substantially contribute to the successful functioning of the European polity. Understanding of the human rights environment in the EU is therefore crucial to find remedies to the lack of credibility in its exercise of power. For this reason the EU Human Rights Policy, in its internal realm, in particular the normative-judicial, monitoring, enforcement, and promotion components of the Policy, are examined in great detail. The identified flaws and insufficiencies, regarding both the design and implementation of the Policy in question, lend weight to the view that only a serious, comprehensive, and feasible plan for the reform of the Policy on human rights can provide an answer to the legitimacy problem at the supranational level of governance. But how is this objective best achieved? In this context, the proposal for the EU accession to the ECHR should be understood as a plausible means to rectify the shortcomings of the EU Human Rights Policy, and thus improve its image of the Union as a credible and powerful actor in European affairs. The proposal put forward in this work outlines principles which should govern the human rights reform of the EU and how they should be translated into practical terms. My research is therefore an invitation to a discussion about the role of the European Union, its orientation towards human rights, and its aspirations for the future.

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This thesis examines the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) among organizations dealing with security issues, such as the United Nations, the European Union, and NATO. This study further analyzes the OSCE commitments in the fields of human rights, democracy, rule of law, and national minorities. This analysis is performed in order to promote the OSCE to a broader public. The thesis further analyzes and describes the origins of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and its development since 1975, when the Helsinki Final Act was signed by the Heads of State or Government of all participating States. The development of the international situation in Europe, the end of Cold War, and escalation of violence, especially in South Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia, caused fundamental changes in the European, and subsequently, the world security environment. The CSCE identified and responded to this new situation, resulting in a dramatic growth of its own role in shaping a common security area. Consequently, the CSCE changed its name to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. However, some critics think that OSCE is a "dead" organization, lacking tangible results and the necessary "teeth." It is necessary to review the main ideas why the CSCE was established and to properly identify the role of the OSCE in the European Security Architecture. Therefore, the main part of the thesis focuses on the European Security Architecture, the OSCE itself, and the OSCE missions, three of which are detailed and evaluated as case studies.
Lieutenant Colonel, Czech Republic Army

Seit einigen Jahren ist die Welt mit dem Aufstieg der chinesischen Region zu einem der wichtigsten Handelspartner der entwickelten Industrienationen konfrontiert. Wenn sich die Gewichte im Welthandel verschieben, komparative Vorteile von Nationen im internationalen Wettbewerb ändern und neue Wettbewerber auftreten, so ist regelmaßig eine Anspannung des handelspolitischen Klimas zu beobachten. Die Handelspolitik wird allzu leicht zum Instrument einer falsch verstandenen Besitzstandswahrung. Insofern stellt der Aufstieg der chinesischen Region ohnehin eine Herausforderung an die Wirtschaftspolitik der entwickelten Industrienationen dar. Diese Herausforderung ist aber um so schwieriger, als nicht dem Aufstieg einer Nation, sondern eines Wirtschaftsraumes zu begegnen ist, der große innere Unterschiede hinsichtlich des Entwicklungsstandes, von Institutionen und der politischen Verhältnisse aufweist. Die herkömmliche Handelspolitik ist jedoch auf Nationen ausgerichtet. Dies gilt auch für die Politik der Europäische n Union, wenn sie auch stets das Ergebnis langer Auseinandersetzungen zwischen EU-internen nationalen Interessen ist.

This diploma thesis deals with European Union and current security threats, concretely with Cyberterrorism. Cyberspace and internet became essential parts of our living over the last decades due to rapid development of information and communication technology. The increased dependency on cyberspace is visible in all governmental operations, public-private sector, financial and business operations, as well as communications between individuals and groups. As a result our society is facing new threats. On one hand cyberspace is a place for economic growth and innovation, on the other hand criminals, spies and terrorist use cyberspace as a place for their activities. Our society should be aware of these negative impacts as well. Cyberterrorism by its nature is considered to be a very dynamic phenomenon. Regarding this fact this thesis provides a dynamic way how to define Cyberterrorism and reveals main perspectives of Cyberterrorism. Tracking the European Unions Convention on Cybercrime and main means to fight Cyberterrorism, this thesis analysis whether European Union disposes of appropriate means to engulf the dynamic nature of this phenomenon.

In der Diskussion um die internationale Rolle Europas ist die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (GASP) Gegenstand häufiger Kontroversen. Ist die EU-Außenpolitik „das blutärmste Produkt der europäischen Integration“ (Kagan 2002) oder gar Beleg für eine wachsende Kluft zwischen Erwartungen und Fähigkeiten (Hill 1998)? Deutlich im Gedächtnis ist noch die Zerrissenheit und Einflusslosigkeit der europäischen Außenpolitik während des Irakkrieges 2003. Sind entsprechende Bemühungen der EU also nicht der Rede wert? Sind die Vorschläge zu Reformen der Verfahren und Institutionen, wie sie der Europäische Konvent zur Zukunft Europas und die anschließende Regierungskonferenz zuletzt vorlegten1, nur Sandkastenspielzeug für Politikwissenschaftler? Oder verspricht der geplante Verfassungsvertrag den strategischen Durchbruch, der die EU zu einem wirklichen außen- und sicherheitspolitischen Akteur im internationalen System werden lässt?
The institutional set up of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has been a highly controversial issue on the agenda since its creation. In light of the forthcoming enlargement, the European Convention proposed an institutional reform of the CFSP in July 2003. The reform envisages, among other things, the establishment of an Union minister for foreign affairs instead of the rotating presidency. The hybrid institutional nature of the CFSP makes prognoses very difficult, especially with regard to the division of labour within the EU. New flexible modes of cooperation may become a common feature in the EU-25. „Structured cooperation“ is likely to strengthen EU crisis management.

L’Union européenne a accompli un parcours évolutif depuis sa fondation au début des années ’50. La CIG de Nice a été le tournant qui a bien montré les limites de cette méthode de reforme des traités. A la lumière du succès de la première Convention, le Conseil européen de Laeken a donc décidé la convocation d’une nouvelle Convention avec la tache de proposer une reforme globale de l’Union européenne. Cette nouvelle expérience a impliqué une multiplicité d’acteurs qui incluait les Etats Membres, les représentants du Parlement européen, des députes nationaux ainsi que la Commission européenne. Apres avoir analysé les raisons pour lesquelles les Etats Membres ont accepté de partager leur pouvoir exclusif du changement institutionnel, le but principal de cette recherche était de comprendre dans quelle mesure ce nouveau contexte de négociation ait pu influencer les comportements des acteurs gouvernementaux, leurs préférences, stratégies et alliances. Le deuxième but était de comprendre si cette nouvelle méthode avait pu être un remède efficace contre le blocages de CIG précédentes. L’hypothèse que les différents sujet dont on négocie puissent influencer les comportements de négociation des acteurs gouvernementaux fut vérifié à travers deux études de cas: la simplification des instruments et du cadre juridiques de l’Ue, et la reforme de l’architecture institutionnelle. Les deux études ont confirmé que la prise en compte des caractéristiques de la matière dont on négocie en tant variable intervenante peut aider à compléter la valeur explicative du contexte institutionnel dans lequel les négociations ont lieu
The EU has undergone an incremental evolution since its foundation in the 50s. The Nice IGC was a turning point that shown the weakness and the limits of this method of treaty reform. In the light of the first Convention success, the Laeken European Council decided to convoke a new Convention with the aim of proposing a comprehensive reform of the European Union Treaties. This new experiment involved a multiplicity of actors ranging from Member States governments’ representatives to MEP’s, national parliamentarians and some representatives from the European Commission. After understanding why the Members States’ governments decided to share their reform treaty power with other actors, the main purpose of this research was to verify how this new context of negotiation might have affected governmental actors negotiating behavior, preference, strategies and alliances; And finally, to verify if the use of a new treaty reform method was an effective remedy for lowest common denominator outcomes. The hypothesis that the different issues areas under negotiation might affects the negotiating behavior of the governmental actors during the European Convention, was tested was by considering two issue areas: the simplification of the EU legal framework, and the reform of the institutional architecture. The two case study confirmed that taking into account the properties of different issues under negotiation as an intervening variable can help to complement the explanatory value of the institutional context in which negotiations are taking place

There are three starting points for this thesis. First, there is the system of ESD, which is criticised for lacking capacity to improve the working conditions within the EU. Secondly, there is the system developed through the global ITF FOC campaign, which is considered to have capacity to improve working conditions for seafarers at a global level. Thirdly, there is the theory on self-referential autopoietic systems, which is a useful tool for analysing systems of industrial relations and their functions. The purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the function of the ESD in relation to the development of EU legislation and policy with the aim of trying to find a model for providing a holistic analysis of regulatory systems for the labour market. The research questions are: ‘How can the significant differences and similarities between the ESD and the global ITF FOC campaign be understood?’ and ‘Why is the ESD generally regarded as lacking the capacity needed for producing results that improve working conditions, while the ITF FOC is considered to have such capacity?’ The theoretical framework used for the analysis is Luhmann’s theory on autopoietic systems. Since the thesis has a normative core I have applied a methodological model that consists of a two-layer analysis at both the empirical and theoretical level. Firstly an analysis of positivistic values has been carried out and secondly an analysis of hermeneutic values. The empirical material consists of documents and texts that can be considered part of or reflecting the communication of the studied systems. The main conclusion is that whereas the ITF FOC system is a traditional system of industrial relations based on the binary code of negotiable or non-negotiable between collective actors the ESD is a system of industrial relations based on a less clear binary code of discussable or non-discussable. The ESD is also subject to less developed communicative structures that negatively affect the system’s capacity both to produce results and to secure the efficient implementation and application of these results. This makes the ESD as a system more sensitive to hermeneutic values framing the programming of structurally coupled systems causing difficulties for the ESD to challenge such hermeneutic values.

Recent reform agendas have emphasised a perceived need to bring the European Union (EU) institutions and the citizens of the member states and closer together, as a means of enhancing the legitimacy of EU governance. The debate on the future of the EU, the initiative which led to the signing of the constitutional treaty in October 2004, addressed the challenge of 'bringing closer' by incorporating civil society in to the treaty reform process. In this thesis I investigate the role played by transnational civil society organisations in helping to bring citizens and institutions closer together. I employ the notion of democratic linkage to describe and explain the downward-facing interactions between civil society organisations and ordinary citizens, which have sometimes been neglected, as well as their upward-facing interactions with elite decision-makers. Drawing upon data from qualitative interviews with 25 civil society organisations and six officials from various EU institutions I find serious discrepancies between the rhetoric of the EU institutions on bringing citizens closer, and the capacities and willingness of the civil society actors involved as well as the opportunities for doing so.

In questa tesi finale viene analizzata la volontà di aumentare la connettività tra i paesi asiatici, in particolare la Cina, e i paesi europei. C’è la volontà di coinvolgere e contribuire allo sviluppo dell’area Euroasiatica, Asiatica e Africana da parte della Cina e di molte potenze mondiali. Il tutto parte dall’analisi dell’iniziativa cinese Belt and Road (BRI) che mira ad aumentare la connettività infrastrutturale, via terra e via mare, tra i paesi coinvolti nel progetto, ma è anche un’iniziativa che mira ad aumentare le relazioni economiche, politiche e socio-culturali. Verranno analizzate in particolare nel quadro della BRI, le rotte della nuova vie della seta, i paesi e la popolazione coinvolta e i grandi finanziatori del progetto. Seguirà un’analisi del ruolo dell’Italia anche alla luce dei nuovi accordi commerciali e istituzionali firmati tra Italia e Cina e un’analisi geopolitica su pro e contro, mettendo in luce le reali intenzioni cinesi e le reazioni internazionali al progetto, soprattutto da parte degli Stati Uniti d’America. La parte centrale di questo elaborato si concentrerà sul commercio marittimo mondiale attuale e futuro, considerando rotte e volumi del commercio, segnando l’importanza di Suez e della ritrovata centralità del Mar Mediterraneo in un mondo dove il baricentro geo-economico del commercio si sta spostando sempre più ad Est. Seguirà una comparazione della strategia europea e quella cinese sul tema. Ci sarà poi un’analisi dell’impatto della BRI sui porti italiani e un focus sui possibili sviluppi e prospettive per i porti del Nord Adriatico, che sono di particolare interesse Cinese e possibile porta d’accesso via mare al commercio europeo. Il ruolo dell’Italia all’interno delle reti europee TEN-T, essenziale sul mare e importante del punto di vista ferroviario, diventa centrale e una grande potenzialità di sviluppo per il nostro paese. Sul tema, proveremo a dare una soluzione per l'azione futura italiana, all'interno di una visione comune europea, per poter far fronte alle nuove sfide del commercio globale e all'emergere di nuove potenze globali, in un mondo che sta sempre più cambiando.

The international air transportation industry has historically been a paradox. While the industry enables globalization, historically, the international air transportation regulatory regime has been largely mired in protectionism. This restrictive regime was developed by national actors, who either owned or heavily subsidized their domestic carriers, and guarded their interests very closely, thus insulating the industry from large levels of foreign competition. This paradox of international air transportation continued until the development of convergence in regulatory policy through the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ air transportation agreement between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the developmental process of this agreement as an examination of policy convergence theory, in order identify the explanatory powers leading to the formation of the ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. To identify the explanatory powers, a comparative analysis is established, using two historical reference points, t(0) and t(1), as case studies. This thesis uses two mechanisms for the development of policy convergence, international harmonization and regulatory competition, to identify why the convergence took place at this specific time and why it was set at this specific level of regulation. Using these mechanisms, the 2002 European Court of Justice (ECJ) ‘open skies’ ruling is identified as the explanatory power for the convergence of policy in this field, and the precedent set by the previous bilateral agreement between the US and the Netherlands is identified as establishing the standards of regulation in the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. The thesis concludes with an examination of the prospects for further liberalization of transatlantic air transportation, as well as recommendations for the continued development of the field.

Objective: To project the proportion of population 65+ years with severe long-term activity limitations from 2017 to 2047. Design: Large population study. Setting: Population living in private households of the European Union (EU) and neighbouring countries. Participants: Participants from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions aged 55 years and older and living in one of 26 EU and neighbouring countries, who answered the health section of the questionnaire. Outcome: measures Prevalence of severe long-term activity limitations of particular subpopulations (ie, 55+, 65+, 75+ and 85+ years) by sex and country. Results: We find a huge variation in the prevalence of self-reported severe long-term limitations across Europe for both sexes. However, in 2017, about 20% of the female population aged 65 years and above and about 16% of their male counterparts are expected to report severe long-term activity limitations after accounting for differences in reporting. Accounting for cultural differences in reporting, we expect that European countries will have about 21% (decile 1: 19.5%; decile 9: 22.9%) of female and about 16.8% (decile 1: 15.4%; decile 9: 18.1%) of male 65+ years population with severe long-term activity limitations by 2047. Conclusions: Overall, despite the expected increase of life expectancy in European countries, our results suggest almost constant shares of older adults with severe long-term activity limitations within the next 30 years.

A person filing a civil claim faces the risk of being unable to enforce a favourable judgment. This is because their opponent may dissipate his assets and consequently be unable to satisfy a judgment given against him. Several mechanisms seek to alleviate this risk by preserving the defendant's assets pending judgment. These are predominantly the civilian in rem order and the common law freezing order. Fundamental differences between the common and civil law traditions may be observed in the freezing order and its civilian counterpart. Primarily, these are to be found in the margin of discretion given to the judge and the sanctions against non-compliance. The latter issue is closely related to the entity against which an order is directed: in the common law it is directed against the person, while in the civil law, against the asset. The significantly diverse approaches in these areas show the different course each of the legal families has taken in the administration of justice. The problem of preserving assets pending judgment becomes more complicated when the assets are not located in the same country as the courts with jurisdiction on the merits. The recently introduced European Account Preservation Order (‘EAPO') regulation is a pre-judgment instrument which enables a litigant to obtain an order preventing the transfer of funds held by the respondent in a bank account within the EU. It is the first of what may become several EU-wide provisional and protective measures. At first glance, the EAPO resembles the continental model rather than its common law counterpart, and, thus, brings into the open the differences between the two traditions in the area of provisional and protective measures. This work examines whether the features of the common law tradition - which in fact derive from the law of equity - ie judicial discretion in granting or refusing relief and contempt of court sanctions, could improve the EAPO as well as other EU-wide provisional and protective measures that may follow. It is argued that greater judicial discretion and a contempt sanction, provided that they are kept within certain limits, would improve the EAPO and similar measures in terms of efficiency and fairness.

Denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka arbetet med den gemensamma asyl policyn inom EU.Beslutet för policyn togs 1999 vid EU mötet i Finska Tammerfors och började med en plan på fem år.Jag vill i denna studie se vad som har hänt sedan 1999 och effekten av detta på personer som söker asyl inom EU:s gränser. Detta är ett interdisciplinärt arbete genom att jag ser på faktorer som de legala utvecklingarna genom vilka lagar som presenterats och implementerats samt ett frågeformulär som jag sänt till personer som jobbar för organisationer i samarbete med the European Council for Refugees and Exiles för att få deras syn på utvecklingen. Jag presenterar även statistik och diagram från the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees för att illustrera mönster i utvecklingen av migrationsmönster. Utgångspunkten för harmoniseringen är att alla Medlems Stater ska behandla ansökningar om asyl på ett likvärdigt sätt, men under nuvarande omständigheter verkar det som att det finns stora skillnader i antalet ansökningar, antalet erkända flyktingar och vilken status som godkänns inom EU:s medlemsländer.Dublin regulationen uppfattas som ett orättvist verktyg mot asylsökanden eftersom staterna har olikheter i erkännandet och olika status för flyktingar. EU:s medlemsländer har en ganska lång väg kvar i harmoniseringsarbetet innan de kan hävda att de har likvärdig hantering av asylsökanden.
The aim of this study is to investigate the development of the Common European Asylum System which was called for at the Tampere European Council in 1999. The intention was to harmonize the legal standards of asylum seekers and refugees and coordinating the policies Thus, with this study I want to give an account as to what has happened so far and what effect this might have had on asylum seekers in the Member States of the European Union.This is done through an interdisciplinary approach by looking at the developments in the legal section as to what laws have been passed and implemented so far but also with a questionnaire sent to organizations working in connection to European Council for Refugees and Exiles aiming to understand their perception of the harmonization process. Further, I present statistics and diagrams taken from statistic publications of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in order to illustrate patterns in the history of migration as to trends and patterns.The main idea of the harmonization process is that all Member States should treat asylum applications in a similar way. However at present there still seems to be major differences in the numbers of applications, the recognition rates and what status granted between the Member States of the European Union. The Dublin Regulation is perceived as an unjust tool against the asylum seekers since states have differences in the recognition and statuses. The Member States of the European Union still have a very long way to go in this harmonization process to claim equal treatment of asylum seekers.

Domestic Violence and Gender Violence impact every society on many different layers, loss of capability of work, traumas, and economical losses are amongst the most talked issues. Domestic Violence is not exclusively a violence in which the perpetrator is a male and the victim is a female and they live as a married couple. A lot has been discussed in the last century regarding the equality amongst people irrespectively on their gender, sex, origin, religion. On the International legal level though, legislations protecting victims of Domestic Violence are new and not embraced for the majority of the countries. In this work the goal is to study some International Documents in order to better understand on a legal level if International Law is aiming to protect everyone who is victim of Domestic Violence equally, including members of the extended family. As an International Document there is the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) that aims to protect everyone who is a victim of Domestic Violence. Unfortunately, it is not compulsory to the state members from the council of Europe to ratify the document and therefore people might not have their Human Rights completely guaranteed in these countries.

The so called democratic deficit and the lack of legitimacy have been at the core of the EU-debate in the last decades. Low turnouts in the elections for the European parliament and disapproval in the ratification processes of the latest changes of the treaties are examples of the citizens lack of confidence for the EU and continuous integration. In Nice 2000 the heads of the member states governments agreed to try to improve the democratic legitimacy in the EU and initiated a public debate aiming at proposals for changes in the decision making processes in the EU. In July 2001 the commission published a white paper with their view. A fundamental presumption in discourse theory is that language and language usage not just is a way to deliver information about ideas and behaviours. Language shapes our apprehension about identities, social relations and system of knowledge. This essay analyses which meanings of democracy and legitimacy the commission establishes, and excludes, in the white paper. The commission emphasise results and possibility to act in favour of procedures for accountability, reversibility and representation. The decision making processes in the EU has a double democratic mandate according to the commission which makes them reluctant to suggest fundamental changes.