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161. The Underachiever: Ukraine's Economy Since 1991

Author:
Pekka Sutela
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
When Ukraine became independent in 1991, there were expectations that it would in the near future become a wealthy free market democracy and a full member of the European and Euro-Atlantic communities. The largest country geographically wholly European, and the fifth-biggest European nation by size of population, it was hoped, would become a member of the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, and Atlantic Ocean

162. National minority groups in post-Lisbon Europe: the presence of Europeanisation and transnational human rights in one policy field

Author:
Tamara Jovanovic
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
This working paper explores the role of some recent components under the European Union legal and political aegis and its coexistence with the CoE, here approached as a potential advancement of the protection, promotion and preservation of national minority groups in European Union member states. Although the European Union has been slow in the development of clear competences on minority rights, several considerations pertinent to national minorities can be depicted across the European Union frameworks. The European Union treaty is committed to the safe guard of human rights and the respect for minorities in its 'values article' which are applicable under Community Action. This basis is further accompanied by other policy functions which stimulate action on the promotion and preservation of minority identities, in particular in the fields of language and culture. Such policies are prescribed in different degrees of European Union competences and modes of implementation, ranging between formal legal effects and informal political consequences, generating varied forms of Europeanization. At the same time, nearly all European Union member states are bound by additional transnational regulations on human and minority rights, such as those developed by the Council of Europe. This level of transnational human rights is gradually also becoming embodied into European Union structures, while already embodied by most European states' constitutions. By taking account of some developments under each process, their interaction, but also coexistence, this paper aims to identify how Europeanization and transnational forces can help to construct and sustain a policy field, namely a national minority policy.
Topic:
Human Rights, Governance, Law, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe

163. Georgia's Muslim Community: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

Author:
Conor Prasad
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
In early May 2011, an Administration of Georgian Muslims (AGM) was established. Although founded with government help and by government officials, it is officially a non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose aim is to manage and address problems and issues affecting Georgia's diverse Muslim population. The new administration replaces the semi-independent, Baku-based Caucasus Board of Muslims (CBM) which until recently was the governing body for Georgia's Muslims.
Topic:
Islam, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe and Georgia

164. European Minority Rights Law: Unilateral Legislation in Favour of Kin-Minorities

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
The international approach to unilateral legislation with extraterritorial reach is quite clear. General principles of customary international law entrust the state where national minorities reside with the task of securing the rights of all persons within its jurisdiction. Preferential treatment of national minorities by their kin-state is considered the exception unless it is established through bilateral treaties, or as a minimum agreed among the parties involved. The League of Nations system was the first European multilateral attempt to provide protection for minorities outside the mother state through bilateral treaties. After the collapse of the League of Nations system and the transfer of international protection of minorities to the United Nations system, bilateralism was not specifically promoted but nonetheless carried over as the main approach to kin-minority protection. This approach came under pressure after 1989 and the collapse of Communism when a number of countries adopted unilateral laws on kin-state minorities and compatriots living abroad. The bilateral approach received renewed attention, therefore, as part of the multilateral approach promoted by the international community after 1989.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Governance, Sanctions, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

165. Policy-to-Outcome Indicators and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Author:
Federica Prina
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Indicators to measure the performance of international human rights treaties are increasingly a requirement in the assessment of the impact of legal standards. In the case of national minority standards, the Council of Europe's Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) began its work on indicators in 2008. A study to theorize and conceptualize political indicators describing the performance of the FCNM was produced in the areas of legal and political adaptation of provisions in the states parties to the instrument. The study concluded that further efforts should be made to encompass performance indicators assessing the direct impact of the FCNM on the lives of persons belonging to national minorities. Meanwhile, there has been no parallel process by the Council of Europe to compile indicators of impact for its other legally binding instrument that is of special relevance to national minorities: the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (the Charter). This paper provides a preliminary conceptual framework for the development of indicators to measure the impact of the Charter in the states parties to the instrument, using a policy-to-outcome approach.
Topic:
International Law, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe

166. France: Back to the Future

Author:
Nicholas Dungan
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Vive la différence! or Plus ça change, plus c'est la môme chose? Which French expression best describes François Hollande and his socialist majority, elected in May and June to govern France for the next five years? The correct answer is: both.
Topic:
Economics, Bilateral Relations, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe and France

167. Breaking Free from Europe: Why Africa Needs Another Model of Regional Integration

Author:
Peter Draper
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Support for regional economic integration in Africa runs high amongst the continent's international development partners and African elites. However, its expression in European forms of economic integration is not appropriate to regional capacities and in some cases may do more harm than good. This lacuna is exacerbated by technical and theoretical analyses rooted either in economics or international relations literature. This article sets out to reconceptualise the foundations of African economic integration by reviewing key debates within each literature and comparing the results across disciplinary boundaries. Overall, it is concluded that a much more limited approach is required, one that prioritises trade facilitation and regulatory cooperation in areas related primarily to the conduct of business; underpinned by a security regime emphasizing the good governance agenda at the domestic level. Care should be taken to design the ensuing schemes in such a way as to avoid contributing to major implementation and capacity challenges in establishing viable and legitimate states. In doing so, the presence of regional leaders with relatively deep pockets - South Africa in the Southern African case - points to the imperative of building such limited regional economic arrangements around key states.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and South Africa

168. The European Commission in the 21st Century. Core Beliefs on EU Governance

Author:
Liesbet Hooghe
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
What lives in the European Commission at the beginning of the 21st Century? This paper charts Commission officials' views on the governance, ideological direction, and policy scope of the European Union, employing data from a large survey conducted in Autumn 2008. First, the Commission is not a hothouse for supranationalism. True, supporters of a supranational Union with the College of Commissioners as the government of Europe and member states in the back seat are the largest minority, but they are outnumbered two-to-one by state-centric, pragmatist, and ambivalent officials. There are striking differences in distribution by nationality, gender, and department. Second, where do Commission officials stand on ideology? The answer is that the Commission is broadly representative of European societies, at least on traditional economic left/right issues, though decidedly more socio-liberal. Ideological views are not randomly distributed across services, with social DGs significantly more social-democratic than DGs handling market integration. Officials from new member states are more market-liberal than their 'western' colleagues. Finally, are Commission officials indeed bureau-maximizers? We find that, on the whole, Commission officials want more EU authority in the eleven policy areas that we asked them to evaluate, but their desire to centralize is selective and measured. It seems driven by functional imperatives – centralization where scale economies can be reaped – and by values and ideology rather than by a generalized preference for maximal Commission power. In short, the bureaucratic politics argument has been overstated.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

169. The Quest for Political Reform in Azerbaijan: What Role for the Transatlantic Community?

Author:
Anar Valiyev
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
As Azerbaijan celebrates its 20th anniversary of independence, democratic development remains a key challenge facing the country. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan successfully coped with immediate problems such as poverty reduction and economic and political stability, the need to reform the public administration and decentralize governance has become particularly urgent. The main problems, however, remain the same: low public trust in institutions, the absence of a democratic political culture and the lack of bridging social capital. In this regard, the assistance of the Transatlantic Community is necessary. The European Union and the United States should pursue a developmental approach to democracy promotion in Azerbaijan, which has higher chances to succeed than a more explicitly political approach, considering the weak institutional capacity in the country.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Economics, Poverty, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Azerbaijan

170. How to Negotiate under Co-decision in the EU: Reforming Trilogues and First-Reading Agreements

Author:
Lukas Obholzer and Christine Reh
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The Constitutional Affairs Committee is currently reviewing the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure to increase the effectiveness, transparency and inclusiveness of first-reading agreements under co-decision. This CEPS Policy Brief takes a stand as to which rules should be adopted to achieve these objectives. Given the steep rise of early agreements and Parliament's role as a guarantor of EU legitimacy, we place a premium on inclusiveness and transparency. The rules suggested are designed to maintain efficiency for technical proposals, facilitate effective decision-making on urgent files and increase the overall legitimacy of legislative decision-making in the EU.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe