European Union

Serbia achieved a long proclaimed foreign policy goal earlier this week when it signed a pre-membership pact with the European Union in Luxembourg.But though this was declared a priority when the isolationist rule of Slobodan Milosevic ended in 2000, both the content and the timing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has brought deep controversy.

Some leaders have seen the agreement as triumph. "This is a historic moment for Serbia," foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said after deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed the SAA with the EU's enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and foreign ministers of all 27 EU nations. Jeremic and Djelic belong to the Democratic Party (DS) of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who also attended the ceremony. The DS was part of the coalition government led by conservative outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). The DSS wants all ties with nations that recognised Kosovo to be cut. Besides the 17 EU countries, that would mean also the United States and other countries.

Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, DSS, says the first move for the new parliament and government will be to annul "the Tadić-Đelić SAA signature".

"This agreement has only one goal, to be interpreted as Serbia's signature to Kosovo's independence," Koštunica said. "Nothing will come out of this trick, because after the elections, the new government and parliament will annul the Tadić-Đelić signature," the leader of the DSS-NS coalition, running in the May 11 ballot, continued.

The 21st Century media landscape looks nothing like its incarnation of just 15 years ago, let alone thirty years ago. Advances in technology together with the liberalisation of legislation governing the media since the 1980s have radically changed the structures of the media in Europe. While there has been a proliferation of new commercial outlets – particularly within broadcasting and on the internet - ongoing mergers and acquisitions have sharply narrowed the number of companies in the media business to the point where the majority of outlets are owned by just a few major conglomerates, such as Bertelsmann, Vivendi, News Corp, Viacom and Time Warner.

Many members of the European Parliament, however, believe that the media, and journalism in particular, due to its role in the maintenance of democracy, is not a business just like any other business, and as such needs special protection.

In the report, she wrote: "[While] the primary concern of media businesses may be financial profit, media remains an ideological and political tool of considerable influence, which should not be treated solely on economic terms."

Proud European though I am I would be sorely tempted to vote for Mr Kostunica's alliance of anti-EU radicals and nationalists were I Serbian and eligible to vote in their Parliamentary elections on 11 May.

For with indelicate haste earlier this week the European Council agreed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement for Serbia which the pro-European Serbian President, Boris Tadic, was summoned to Luxembourg by telephone to receive. For him, of course, and his pro-European Parliamentary party that is facing Mr Kostunica in the 11 May elections, the SAA - the first step to joining the EU - is good news; something in fact that Mr Tadic has been long expecting, but of which he has been baulked by the International Criminal Tribunal, who judge that the Serbs have been lax about rounding up their indicted war criminals and delivering them to justice.

Abstract The debate about the legitimacy of the EU and the possibilities for its democratization has addressed so far only rarely the question of the role of the media. An instrumental approach prevails towards the media, acknowledging that the so-called gap between the EU and its citizens is grounded in a communication deficit and that the EU should therefore strive towards a higher legitimacy in terms of public accountability, openness and participation, in other words of democracy. The article discusses these technical aspects of 'public-sphere building from above' in relation to the systematic constraints on mediatization that result from the inertia of the existing (national) media spheres. On the basis of this, an alternative understanding of mediatization and its ambivalent effects on the legitimacy of the EU will be developed. The proposal is that European public sphere research should focus on the more active role of the media as an independent variable that affects institutional choices and processes. Empirical results from comparative content analyses are discussed, which illustrate to what extent media have become an enabling and/or constraining factor on European integration.

30 April 2008 Brussels_ Bosnia and Herzegovina will sign a key EU pre-membership deal on 26 May.

To secure the signing of the deal, Bosnia had to pass a series of highly-contested police reforms which was a precondition for the country to advance in the EU integration process. The police reform laws were designed to bring a measure of harmony to the law-enforcement systems in Bosnia, whose functions and powers since the 1995 Dayton peace agreement have been split between the country’s two virtually independent entities, the Republika Srpska and the BiH Federation. The reforms were approved earlier this month following much deliberation by Bosnian politicians. The EU’s failure to sign the deal with Bosnia on Tuesday raised eyebrows among journalists since a deal was hastily signed with Serbia. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9742/

The decision was taken on Tuesday morning after Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to sign the SAA.

They yielded to the pressure of other EU states – who have been prepared to sign the agreement for weeks - on condition that Serbia will not get any concrete benefits from the agreement until Belgrade is judged as fully cooperating with the ICTY. Normally, ratification of such documents is launched immediately after they are signed.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has issued a stark warning on the consequences of rejecting the EU treaty as the latest poll shows a narrowing gap between the yes and no side. A no vote would have "repercussions that would do immense damage to Ireland," and would be a "disaster for the country," he said on Sunday (27 April), according to the Irish Times.

The government is increasingly concerned that farmers may exercise their anger about current world trade negotiations during the treaty vote. The leader of the Irish Farmers Association, Padraig Walshe, has repeatedly connected the two issues.

In theory the European Union is horrified at the prospect of the Radical Party of Serbia (Srpska radikalna stranka, SRS) becoming not only the strongest party in the country’s parliament — which it already is — but also the majority partner in a new ruling coalition after the general election on May 11. In practice, the EU officials in Brussels and in Kosovo are acting as if this is the outcome they earnestly desire.

This cutting edge handbook presents the main theoretical and empirical issues involved in current Europeanization research. As a critical review of the state of the art it evaluates the achievements and shortcomings of the growing Europeanization literature. As a reference book at advanced level it sets the parameters for Europeanization research in the coming years. All twenty-five chapters are written by the foremost authoritative scholars in the field. Contents AcknowledgmentsList of ContributorsPART ONE: INTRODUCTIONChallenges of a New Research Agenda; M.Vink & P.GrazianoPART TWO: THEORY AND METHODSThe Three Worlds of Regional Integration Theory; J.CaporasoConceptual Issues; C.M.Radaelli & R.PasquierTheorizing Europeanization; S.BulmerMethodology; M.HaverlandPART THREE: POLITICS & POLITYTerritory; K.H.GoetzCandidate Countries and Conditionality; F.Schimmelfennig & U.SedelmeierRegulatory Governance; D.Levi-FaurState Structures; P.BursensCore Executives; B.LaffanParliamentary Scrutiny; R.HolzhackerPolitical Parties and Party Systems; P.MairInterest Groups and Social Movements; R.EisingCourts; S.NyikosPART FOUR: POLICIESPolicy Implementation; U.SverdrupAgricultural Policy; C.Roederer-RynningEnvironmental Policy; T.A.BörzelCohesion Policy; I.BacheSocial Policy; G.FalknerTelecommunications Policy; V.Schneider & R.WerleEconomic Policy; K.DysonAnti-Discrimination Policy; V.GuiraudonAsylum Policy; S.LavenexForeign Policy; R.WongPART FIVE: CONCLUSIONSome Promises and Pitfalls of Europeanization Research; D.LehmkuhlBibliography

The key issues that the senators asked the court to check include the transfer of certain powers to EU institutions, the shift of decision-making among member states from unanimous to majority voting, as well as the legal implications of adopting the Charter of Fundamental Rights - with the charter causing the most concern among Czech lawmakers.

Germany Meanwhile, Germany's court is also set to examine the treaty. After the lower house of parliament strongly endorsed the charter on Thursday, conservative MP Peter Gauweiler repeated his intention to bring the treaty before the country's constitutional court.

The ratification process for the new Treaty gained momentum yesterday (24 April) as the Danish and Austrian parliaments approved the text, which also easily passed Germany's lower House. The votes in Vienna and Copenhagen mean the Treaty has now been adopted in 11 out of 27 countries.

For the Treaty to enter into force, all 27 member states have to ratify it. Ahead of Austria and Denmark, nine countries had already given their approval to the next, namely Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Portugal. Ireland is set to be the only country to hold a referendum on the Treaty, which is scheduled for 12 June. 

The European Parliament has urged Macedonia to solve the 'name dispute' with Greece, warning the small country against a resurgence of "hate speech" in its media with respect to neighbouring countries.

The European Parliament report, adopted on April 23 with 601 votes in favour and 52 against (30 abstentions), represents a victory for Greece. Indeed, the text calls on "both sides to seize the opportunity to resume negotiations immediately […] so that the issue does not continue to represent an obstacle to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's membership of international organisations". 

Following the setback at the NATO summit in Bucharest in early April, when Macedonia did not obtain an invitation to join the Alliance due to the unresolved "name dispute" with Greece, the Macedonian press depicted its neighbour in a style reminiscent of the Cold War (EurActiv 04/04/08). Moreover, the Macedonian press traditionally projects a very negative image of Bulgaria - again reminiscent of Tito's Yugoslavia, when Belgrade had a hostile policy towards Bulgaria. The amendment warning against "hate speech" was introduced by Bulgarian MEP Nickolay Mladenov (EPP-ED) and supported by his compatriot Evgeni Kirilov (PES). 

Kosovo is set to seek "clear signals" on its eventual membership prospects as early as next week's meeting EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg (28-29 April) - something that could cause a political headache, given that a number of EU member states refuse to recognise the infant country. Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain and Slovakia are seen as most reluctant to approve Kosovo's unilateral move towards independence.

EU foreign ministers are next week also due to discuss Serbia's EU bid, currently hanging by a thread.

The French government on Wednesday (23 April) approved plans for constitutional reform that would scrap the obligation for France to hold a referendum on any further enlargement of the EU after Croatia.

The 2005 referendum clause was seen as particularly targeted at Turkey and a bid to reassure public opinion and increase the chances of a yes vote in the upcoming referendum on the EU constitutional treaty. However, it would also have affected all western Balkan countries – apart from Croatia - which are hoping to join the EU in the near future. Under the proposal adopted by the ministers yesterday, the decision on whether or not to approve a country's accession to the EU can be taken either by referendum, or by the French Congress – a body comprising the country's National Assembly and the Senate – which would have to approve it by a three-fifths majority.