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Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Søberg (2008): The Quest for Institutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina E... - 0 views

eep.sagepub.com/...714

eu-research enlargement enlargementpolicy_candidates bosnia literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 17 Dec 08 - Cached
  • This version was published on November 1, 2008 East European Politics & Societies, Vol. 22, No. 4, 714-737 (2008) DOI: 10.1177/0888325408316527 The Quest for Institutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina Marius Søberg Norwegian University of Science and Technology This article investigates the quest for institutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. Reform does not take place in a vacuum and the successful reform of the Bosnian polity is dependent on public support. Public demands for reform are likely to be influenced by how the current institutions are believed to be functioning and by the public support for the current institutional set-up as such. Still, the demands for alterations by the political elites of the different national communities highlight a continuing lack of consensus. Although the Constitution allows for a revision, the political room for such changes is limited, and the challenge remains to provide adequate degree of autonomy of national groups without diminishing the quality of democracy. The need to differentiate between the protection of legitimate national and minority rights and unacceptable nationalist demands emerges as a challenge with no easy solution. Key Words: Bosnia and Herzegovina • institutions • public support • reform
  • Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 17 Dec 08
     
    This version was published on November 1, 2008 East European Politics & Societies, Vol. 22, No. 4, 714-737 (2008) DOI: 10.1177/0888325408316527 ---------- This article investigates the quest for institutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. Reform does not take place in a vacuum and the successful reform of the Bosnian polity is dependent on public support. Public demands for reform are likely to be influenced by how the current institutions are believed to be functioning and by the public support for the current institutional set-up as such. Still, the demands for alterations by the political elites of the different national communities highlight a continuing lack of consensus. Although the Constitution allows for a revision, the political room for such changes is limited, and the challenge remains to provide adequate degree of autonomy of national groups without diminishing the quality of democracy. The need to differentiate between the protection of legitimate national and minority rights and unacceptable nationalist demands emerges as a challenge with no easy solution. Key Words: Bosnia and Herzegovina * institutions * public support * reform
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

The EU's competences: The 'vertical' perspective on the multilevel system - 0 views

europeangovernance.livingreviews.org/...lreg-2010-1

eu eu-research literature governance multilevel-system

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 25 May 10 - Cached
  • Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 25 May 10
     
    From the outset, European integration was about the transfer of powers from the national to the European level, which evolved as explicit bargaining among governments or as an incremental drift. This process was reframed with the competence issue entering the agenda of constitutional policy. It now concerns the shape of the European multilevel polity as a whole, in particular the way in which powers are allocated, delimited and linked between the different levels. This Living Review article summarises research on the relations between the EU and the national and sub-national levels of the member states, in particular on the evolution and division of competences in a multilevel political system. It provides an overview on normative reasonings on an appropriate allocation of competences, empirical theories explaining effective structures of powers and empirical research. The article is structured as follows: First, normative theories of a European federation are discussed. Section 2 deals with legal and political concepts of federalism and presents approaches of the economic theory of federalism in the context of the European polity. These normative considerations conclude with a discussion of the subsidiarity principle and the constitutional allocation of competences in the European Treaties. Section 3 covers the empirical issue of how to explain the actual allocation of competences (scope and type) between levels. Integration theories are presented here in so far as they explain the transfer of competence from the national to the European level or the limits of this centralistic dynamics. Normative and empirical theories indeed provide some general guidelines for evaluation and explanations of the evolution of competences in the EU, but they both contradict the assumption of a separation of power. The article therefore concludes that politics and policy-making in the EU have to be regarded as multilevel governance (Section 4). The main theoretical approaches and r
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Stone Sweet (20109. The European Court of Justice and the judicialization of EU governance - 2 views

europeangovernance.livingreviews.org/...lreg-2010-2

governance eu-institutions ecj eu-research literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 18 Jun 10 - Cached
  • Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 18 Jun 10
     
    This Living Reviews article evaluates the most important strains of social science research on the impact of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on integration, EU-level policymaking, and national legal orders. Section 2 defines the concepts of judicialization and governance, and discusses how they are related. As the article demonstrates, the "constitutionalization of the EU," and its effect on EU governance, is one of the most complex and dramatic examples of judicialization in world history. Section 3 discusses the institutional determinants of judicial authority in the EU in light of delegation theory. The European Court, a Trustee of the Treaty system rather than a simple Agent of the Member States, operates in an unusually broad zone of discretion, a situation the Court has exploited in its efforts to enhance the effectiveness of EU law. Section 4 focuses on the extraordinary impact of the European Court of Justice, and of the legal system it manages, on the overall course of market and political integration. Section 5 provides an overview of the process through which the ECJ's case law - its jurisprudence - influences the decision-making of non-judicial EU organs and officials. Section 6 considers the role of the ECJ and the national courts in monitoring and enforcing Member State compliance with EU law, a task that has provoked a steady Europeanization of national law and policymaking.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

09.05.08: National parliaments prepare for bigger role in the EU - 0 views

www.euractiv.com/...article-172270

constitution lisbon-treaty national_parliaments

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 13 May 08 - Cached
  • Members of parliament from across the EU, meeting in Brdo (Slovenia) on 7-8 May, have begun developing an embryonic strategy to deal with new provisions contained in the EU's Lisbon Treaty that would significantly increase their powers within the EU. 
  • Indeed, the Lisbon Treaty, due to enter into force in 2009 once it has been ratified by all member states, would give national MPs a stronger voice in the EU policymaking process by granting them the right to raise objections against European Commission legislative proposals - the so-called "yellow and orange card" procedure.
  • In this new legislative context, cooperation among national parliaments will be essential. Indeed, a reasoned opinion will have to gather support from at least a third of all EU national parliaments (18 out of the total of 54 chambers in the EU) in order for a proposal to be sent back for review by the Commission (the so-called "yellow card"). To actually strike down a Commission proposal ("orange card"), a simple majority of national parliaments will be required.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Links Parliament Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC):
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Loveless/Rohrschneider (2008) Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance - 0 views

europeangovernance.livingreviews.org/...lreg-2008-1

eu-research governance literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 26 May 08 - Cached
  • Abstract 1 Introduction 1.1 Conceptual Basis 1.2 Significance and Relevance of this Research 1.3 State of the Field 2 Explaining Attitudes about European Integration 2.1 Instrumental self-interest 2.2 Social Location 2.3 National vs. European Identities 2.4 Institutions and Institutional Performance 3 Role of Intermediaries 3.1 Elites 3.2 Parties, Partisanship, and Ideology 3.3 Mass Media 4 Central and Eastern Europe 5 Conclusion References Footnotes
  • Since its inception, the European Union has stimulated many vigorous debates. This Living Review provides a state of the field perspective on the academic work that has been done to address the question of the perceptions of the European Union as a system of governance. It takes a broad scope in assessing the efforts of scholars and highlights significant theoretical and empirical contributions as well as identifying potential avenues for research. In order to understand perceptions of the EU, scholars have employed national-level frameworks of popular support, particularly partisanship and instrumental self-interest. As the number of members has increased, further research has taken a broader scope to include national identity, institutions, and attitudes regarding the normative and empirical function of both national and EU institutions. Additional works address political intermediaries such as parties, media, and elites. Finally, all of the works are fundamentally concerned with the supportive popular sentiment that underpins the EU’s legitimacy as a political institution. While there are far more works that can be practically included in this Living Review, we have attempted to construct an overview based on the dimensions that define this research as set out by significant contributions at the core of this literature.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

03.05.09: Anxious EU awaits Czech verdict on Lisbon Treaty - 0 views

www.eubusiness.com/...1241317022.53

constitution lisbon-treaty eu-policy_memberstates czechia ratification enlargement enlargementpolicymemberstates

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 03 May 09 - Cached
  • European leaders are anxiously awaiting a Czech Senate vote on the Lisbon treaty this week, amid French and Germans warnings that EU enlargement can't continue unless the reforms are ratified.The latest signals out of Prague are fairly upbeat that the Czech upper house of parliament will approve the treaty designed to streamline the working of a union which has expanded from 15 to 27 nations since 2004.
  • European leaders are anxiously awaiting a Czech Senate vote on the Lisbon treaty this week, amid French and Germans warnings that EU enlargement can't continue unless the reforms are ratified.The latest signals out of Prague are fairly upbeat that the Czech upper house of parliament will approve the treaty designed to streamline the working of a union which has expanded from 15 to 27 nations since 2004.
  • European leaders are anxiously awaiting a Czech Senate vote on the Lisbon treaty this week, amid French and Germans warnings that EU enlargement can't continue unless the reforms are ratified.The latest signals out of Prague are fairly upbeat that the Czech upper house of parliament will approve the treaty designed to streamline the working of a union which has expanded from 15 to 27 nations since 2004.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • European leaders are anxiously awaiting a Czech Senate vote on the Lisbon treaty this week, amid French and Germans warnings that EU enlargement can't continue unless the reforms are ratified.The latest signals out of Prague are fairly upbeat that the Czech upper house of parliament will approve the treaty designed to streamline the working of a union which has expanded from 15 to 27 nations since 2004.
  • European leaders are anxiously awaiting a Czech Senate vote on the Lisbon treaty this week, amid French and Germans warnings that EU enlargement can't continue unless the reforms are ratified.The latest signals out of Prague are fairly upbeat that the Czech upper house of parliament will approve the treaty designed to streamline the working of a union which has expanded from 15 to 27 nations since 2004.
  • Even if there is a "yes" vote in the Senate, Klaus as head of state would have to formally sign and ratify the text.The Czech president has never stated openly whether he would block the passage of the treaty if it is approved by parliament.However comments he made in February are typical of his stated stance."I fear that attempts to speed up and deepen integration and to move decisions about the lives of the citizens of the member countries up the European level can have effects that will endanger all the positive things achieved in Europe in the last half a century," he told the European parliament in Brussels back then.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Lacroix et al. (2011): European Stories: Intellectual Debates on Europe in National Con... - 0 views

books.google.com/books

eu-constitution eu-policy_memberstates eu-research literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 29 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • European Stories takes a new look at debates about European Integration by examining the role of "public intellectuals"-- i.e. political philosophers, scholars, editorialists or writers -- who contribute to framing the attitude of European publics to Europe and the EU. While there is an enormous literature on the role of intellectuals considered generally or in their distinct national contexts, there is precious little on their take on European integration in the post-war period. This book is ambitious: it aims to provide an overview of how thinking about Europe is expressed within distinct epistemological contexts and how different ideological configurations are shaped across time and space. Twelve national cases have been selected -- including founding and newer member EU members as well as non-member states -- in order to offer a wide range of contrasting intellectual contexts. Contributors are all themselves fully immersed in the respective national public spheres although the editors have been careful to choose colleagues who are not strongly identified with a very specific and contested position on the national spectrum. The expected readership is broad and interdisciplinary, ranging from political philosophy, to political science, history, sociology, and international relations. Hence, the volume should become a reference book for courses on European integration and European identity considered generally, as well as European history, history of ideas, and contemporary political theory. Beyond academia, it should be of interest to journalists as well as a more general readership interested either in European issues or the intellectual debates of our time. This is the first book published in English on this topic and will hopefully encourage the development of further research.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Borrás/Ejrnaes (2011): The legitimacy of new modes of governance in the EU: S... - 2 views

eup.sagepub.com/...107.abstract

eu-policies governance OMC eu-research literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 24 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • The literature on new modes of governance suffers from a gap between the normative and the positive approaches to legitimacy. This article addresses this gap by studying the patterns of national stakeholders’ support for the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). The results of our survey demonstrate that the OMC receives greater support than previously assumed and that the support of national stakeholders is largely associated with their involvement in national procedures. These findings corroborate the assumptions of normative theories of participatory democracy about the importance of involvement. Furthermore, the study’s findings underline the pivotal role that national stakeholders play regarding matters of legitimacy in the EU’s multi-level system of governance.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Carbone (2010): National Politics and European Integration: From the Constitution to th... - 0 views

books.google.com/books

eu eu-constitution lisbon-treaty eu-policy_memberstates ratification eu-research literature

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 06 Aug 10 - Cached
  • National Politics and European Integration: From the Constitution to the Lisbon TreatyMaurizio Carbone 0 ReviewsEdward Elgar Publishing, 2010 - Law - 243 pagesThis book discusses the domestic politics of treaty reform in the European Union, from the failed referendums on the Constitutional Treaty held in France and the Netherlands in May-June 2005 to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2009. The chapters, written by some of the finest scholars in the field of EU/European politics, show how European integration has increasingly become a contested issue in a majority of Member States. Going beyond the view that national governments are the main, if not the sole, driving force in the process of European integration, this book shows that other actors and factors have played a central role in preference formation and inter-state bargaining. These include: political parties, public opinion, the media, presidents, constitutional courts and, more broadly, political systems, ratification hurdles and the general negotiation context. National Politics and European Integration combines empirical analysis and theoretical explanations for one of the most controversial periods in the history of the European Union. This important book will be of great interest for advanced students in EU studies, comparative politics and public policy.« Less
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Turkey losing patience with EU - 0 views

news.ninemsn.com.au/...turkey-losing-patience-with-eu

enlargement enlargementpolicy_eu enlargementpolicymemberstates enlargementpolicy_candidates turkey cfsp

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 12 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Exasperated Turkey slammed its fist on the table this weekend saying Europe is dragging its feet on EU entry talks, while the 27-nation bloc sought to boost ties with a nation whose worldwide weight is on the rise.After sitting down for talks on Saturday with the 27-nation bloc's foreign affairs chiefs, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: "I expressed our dissatisfaction with the speed of the negotiations, I expressed it clearly."
  • Since the kickoff of entry talks in 2005, movement has been sluggish, due to the deadlock over Cyprus, the slow pace of reforms in Turkey and, more fundamentally, because France and Germany are wary of seeing the Muslim-majority nation of 75 million join the bloc.
  • But Ankara can bank on the support of other EU states in its bid to join.Britain, which in July publicly expressed its opposition to France and Germany on the question, this weekend reiterated its willingness to see progress on the entry talks."It would be good to see those talks speed up," said Foreign Secretary William Hague, as with Turkey inside the EU "there is a very powerful combination to have.""It's very important to show some momentum on this and the UK will be trying to make sure that that happens before the end of the year," he said.Sweden's Carl Bildt took an even stronger tack.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

National interests creating tension in EU commission - 0 views

euobserver.com/30973

eu-institutions eu-commission nationalism intergovernmentalism

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 06 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • A group of EU commissioners from smaller member states is growing increasingly angry with a number of their larger-state colleagues, perceiving their actions as being driven by national interests rather than the greater European good. "We have sworn in front of the European Court not to work for our national governments back home and I am taking it seriously," a frustrated commissioner from a smaller EU country said in an off-the-record conversation with EUobserver last week.
  • "The bigger the EU becomes the more it becomes intergovernmental and the more the commission is regarded as an executive secretariat for the council," says Belgian MEP Derk Jan Eppink, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in parliament. Author of Life of a European Mandarin – Inside the Commission, Mr Eppink previously worked in the cabinets of former commissioner Frits Bolkestein and subsequently that of Siim Kallas. "Commissioners from larger member states frequently feel they have to produce the goods for their governments back home, while those from smaller countries realise they don't have the capacity to do this," he said, pointing to former commissioner Gunter Verheugen's willingness to stand up for German industry.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

19.11.08: 'Balkan wars' move to UN court - 0 views

www.euractiv.com/...article-177314

westernbalkans serbia kosovo croatia enlargementpolicy_candidates UN enlargementpolicy_eu

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 20 Nov 08 - Cached
  • Battlefields are no longer the place to solve conflicts in the Balkans. In recent days and weeks, several bilateral conflicts involving countries in the region, which are also hindering their EU accession prospects, are moving to more dignified surroundings: the International Court of Justice at the UN.
  • Background: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.  The seat of the court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York .  The court's role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorised United Nations organs and specialised agencies.  Although the UN International Court of Justice's opinion is advisory, without binding effect, it nevertheless remains that the authority and prestige attached to the court's advisory opinions, especially when the organ or agency concerned endorses that opinion, means that its decisions are often sanctioned as such by international law. 
  • In a very short timeframe, several conflicts between Balkan countries have been referred to the UN's highest court.  In the first of a recent string of lawsuits, Serbia tested the legality of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence before the Hague Tribunal in October (EurActiv 09/10/08), while on Monday (17 November), Macedonia instituted proceedings against Greece after its neighbour long-time foe had blocked its NATO bid over a name dispute (EurActiv 02/04/08).  Yesterday (18 November), Croatia won the right to sue Serbia for genocide after the court ruled that it had the legal power to decide on the case. In return, Serbia indicated that it would sue Croatia for war crimes. 
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Olli Rehn, the EU enlargement commissioner, recently expressed regret over this practice, adding that he would prefer to see bilateral issues solved in a bilateral framework (EurActiv 06/11/08). 
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Benz (2008): The EU's competences: The 'vertical' perspective on the multilevel system - 0 views

europeangovernance.livingreviews.org/...lreg-2008-3

competences eu-research governance literature multilevel-system

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 02 Jul 08 - Cached
  • This Living Review deals with the division of competences between the EU and its member states in a multilevel political system. The article summarises research on the relations between the EU and the national and sub-national levels of the member states. It provides an overview on normative and theoretical concepts and empirical research. From the outset, European integration was about the transfer of powers from the national to the European level, which evolved as explicit bargaining among governments or as an incremental drift. This process was reframed with the competence issue entering the agenda of constitutional policy. It now concerns the shape of the European multilevel polity as a whole, in particular the way in which powers are allocated, delimited and linked between the different levels. The article is structured as follows: First of all, normative theories of a European federation are discussed. Section 2 deals with different concepts of federalism and presents approaches of the economic theory of federalism in the context of the European polity. The normative considerations conclude with a discussion of the subsidiarity principle and the constitutional allocation of competences in the European Treaties. Section 3 covers the empirical issue of how to explain the actual allocation of competences (scope and type) between levels. Integration theories are presented here only in so far as they explain the transfer of competence from the national to the European level or the limits of this centralistic dynamics.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

European Union External Governance - Journal of European Public Policy, Volume 16 Issue... - 0 views

www.informaworld.com/...itle~content=g913925143~db=all

eu eu-research literature enlargement enlargement_theory

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 15 Aug 09 - Cached
  • EU rules beyond EU borders: theorizing external governance in European politics Sandra Lavenex; Frank Schimmelfennig Pages 791 – 812 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now Modes of external governance: a cross-national and cross-sectoral comparison Sandra Lavenex;  Dirk Lehmkuhl; Nicole Wichmann Pages 813 – 833 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now Which rules shape EU external governance? Patterns of rule selection in foreign and security policies Esther Barbé;  Oriol Costa;  Anna Herranz Surrallés; Michal Natorski Pages 834 – 852 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now ./content%7Edb=all%7Econtent=a
  • EU rules beyond EU borders: theorizing external governance in European politics Sandra Lavenex; Frank Schimmelfennig Pages 791 – 812 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now Modes of external governance: a cross-national and cross-sectoral comparison Sandra Lavenex;  Dirk Lehmkuhl; Nicole Wichmann Pages 813 – 833 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now Which rules shape EU external governance? Patterns of rule selection in foreign and security policies Esther Barbé;  Oriol Costa;  Anna Herranz Surrallés; Michal Natorski Pages 834 – 852 Abstract | References | Full Text PDF | Full Text HTML | Request Permissions Related Articles  buy now bo
  • Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 15 Aug 09
     
    Articles - EU rules beyond EU borders: theorizing external governance in European politics - Modes of external governance: a cross-national and cross-sectoral comparison - Which rules shape EU external governance? Patterns of rule selection in foreign and security policies - Constraining external governance: interdependence with Russia and the CIS as limits to the EU's rule transfer in the Ukraine - Hierarchy, networks, or markets: how does the EU shape environmental policy adoptions within and beyond its borders? - Democracy promotion as external governance? - EU promotion of democratic governance in the neighbourhood
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

02.04.10: Germany Hijacks Iceland's EU Bid - 0 views

www.thetrumpet.com/index.php

enlargement enlargementpolicymemberstates germany lisbon-treaty constitutional_court

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 03 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Less than one year after the watershed ruling from Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court that empowered Germany’s parliament to trump EU law, Germany is using the ruling to force the EU to conform to its will. The issue Germany has chosen to test this extraordinary power not given to any other EU member nation is Iceland’s bid to join the EU. The EU’s decision to consider Iceland as an official candidate was expected to be made in a late March summit, following a favorable recommendation from the EU commission. It was delayed, however, to give the German parliament time to examine the commission’s opinion. For Iceland to be considered as an official candidate for EU membership, several German parliamentary committees must consent to the move.
  • It is interesting that the first time Germany has forced the EU to consult the Bundestag in an expansion of EU power is in the matter of enlargement—not even if a nation will become an actual member, but in such a trivial matter as whether it will be considered an official candidate. Just look at Turkey’s bid for membership to see how meaningful being an official candidate is. This area of EU power typically doesn’t have a direct impact on any of the current EU members, and so Germany chose to try out its new power in an uncontroversial way. This is apparent by the lack of headlines devoted to Germany’s first use of its national “supremacy clause.” The other heavyweights of the EU, France and Britain, are not calling foul, and none of the other member nations seem concerned that the EU’s enlargement policy was just hijacked by Germany.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

17.12.10: European Parliament condems the outcome of the European Council - 0 views

euobserver.com/31540

eu-policies currency-policy economic-policy interinstitutional_conflicts europeancouncil europeanparliament

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 17 Dec 10 - Cached
  • The centre and left of the European Parliament have robustly condemned the outcome of the European Council, complaining that the interest of the bloc as a whole has been sidelined in favour of national interests. It is common for the groups in the parliament to criticise the results of European summits, but the missives issued the afternoon following the meeting were abnormally trenchant.
  • The Party of European Socialists "condemned" the result, attacking the "conservative leaders" who hold a majority in the Council. "The Conservative leaders are fundamentally mistaken. Yet again they have failed to take control of the crisis," said Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the former Danish prime minister and leader of the PES. "The reaction of the Markets illustrates this clearly." Mr Rasmussen pointed to the overnight downgrading of Irish bonds by the Moody's credit agency as signifying that the investors were unconvinced by the council's plan. He warned that the EU Council had put itself in "direct conflict" with the parliament over its refusal to countenance any move towards debt issuance at the EU level. "The German, British, Swedish and Dutch Governments formed a roadblock to progress on the eurobonds issue. So blatantly putting national interest before European recovery is short-termist and lacking in leadership," he said.
  • The European Parliament must be consulted on the treaty change, but it has no co-decision power under the 'simplified revision procedure' - the new method the EU leaders are using to deliver the limited treaty change while avoiding any national referendums. But, depending on the fine print of how the permanent bail-out fund is constructed, it may have approval powers. The EU prime ministers and presidents at the summit did not take any decisions on the details of the fund. According to a parliamentary legal expert, if the European Council itself develops the mechanism on an 'intergovernmental' basis, and the fund is similar to the existing €440 billion rescue mechanism, which involves a series of loan guarantees by member states, then the chamber will only be consulted, as with the treaty change. But if the EU is asked to develop and present a proposal, or if it involves any direct EU funds as well as national loan guarantees, then "this is part of the community method, and the parliament has co-decision powers". The Greens also said that the permanent crisis mechanism "will not be enough to get Europe out of the crisis."
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

20.06.07: Contentious issues before June summit - 0 views

euobserver.com/24315

constitution eu-policy_memberstates germanpresidency

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 20 Jun 07 - Cached
  • The meeting of the 27 teams of sherpas - EU member state negotiators – showed there are still divisions in six areas - the Charter of Fundamental Rights, primacy of EU law over national law, the transfer of power between the EU and member states, common foreign and security policy, the role of the national parliaments and the voting system. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, listing citizens' social and civil rights, prompted the hottest debate last night, with strong arguments flying from both camps. The German Presidency has suggested there should be only a reference to the charter in the new reform package, but the UK continues to oppose it becoming a legally binding document. Similarly, Berlin has suggested dropping from the treaty the controversial line stating that EU law has primacy over national laws, and instead putting it in a separate declaration, which would accompany the treaty. But some EU capitals are not yet ready to accept the watered-down compromise.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Copenhagen criteria - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Copenhagen_criteria

enlargement eu-documents

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 11 May 07 - Cached
  • The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a nation is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that a state have the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, a functioning market economy, and that the state accept the obligations and intent of the EU. These membership criteria were laid down at the June 1993 European Council in Copenhagen, Denmark, from which they take their name.
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

Journal of Common Market Studies - Volume 49,Special Issue 1 - Security Cooperation be... - 0 views

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/...issuetoc

literature eu-research eu-policies cfsp eu-theories

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 27 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 27 Feb 11
     
    Special Issue: Security Cooperation beyond the Nation State: The EU's Common Security and Defence Policy
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

16.06.10: Macedonia to add 'Vardar' to its name | EurActiv - 0 views

www.euractiv.com/...dd-vardar-its-name-news-495266

enlargement enlargementpolicy_candidates macedonia enlargementpolicymemberstates greece name_dispute

shared by Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann on 17 Jun 10 - Cached
  • According to reports, Macedonia is close to finding a formula to defuse its long-standing name dispute with Greece, which has prevented the former Yugoslav republic from starting EU accession talks and has kept it outside the NATO alliance.
  • However, it remains to be seen whether Skopje will agree to use its new name erga omnes – meaning in the country's "relations with everyone". So far, Skopje has insisted that the name Macedonia could be kept "for internal use" and that countries which have recognised Macedonia with its constitutional name would continue to use it.It also remains unclear whether Macedonian citizens could continue to be referred to as 'Macedonians' or 'Macedonians of Vardar' instead. A 'dual use' would help Skopje avoid having to amend its constitution and change all its national documents, including passports. Greece does not recognise Macedonian passports and until recently issued visas to their nationals on a separate sheet of paper.
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