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202. China-EU Relations and the Future of European Soft Power
- Author:
- Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- espite obvious differences, the EU’s most comprehensive partnership with an emerging power has been with China. This Strategic Update argues that this is partly due to China's identification with Europe's ancient culture and summarises current 'soft power' diplomacy.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Political Power Sharing
- Political Geography:
- China and European Union
203. Paving the Road to Paris? What the EU Can Do to Facilitate A Political Climate Deal
- Author:
- Olivia Gippner
- Publication Date:
- 10-2015
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- On the road to the Paris climate change conference in December 2015, what are the prospects for a deal among the key international players - the United States, China, and India? This Strategic Update asks what the EU can do to influence a higher level of ambition and continue to have a leadership role in the global climate community.
- Topic:
- Climate Change
- Political Geography:
- European Union
204. Common EU Policies on Authorised Immigration
- Author:
- Georgia Mavrodi
- Publication Date:
- 10-2015
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The idea of 'Fortress Europe' has dominated debates on EU immigration policies from the 1990s to current concerns in the Mediterranean. However, this focus on security and illegal migration has obscured important developments in EU policy on authorised migration. This strategic update analyses the construction of common EU policies that recognise the need for particular categories of international migrants.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- European Union
205. Alternative Dispute Resolution and Human Rights: Developing a Rights-Based Approach through the ECHR
- Author:
- Lorna McGregor
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- The presumption that courts are the principal forum for dispute resolution continues to be eroded. Alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR), including agreement-based ADR (such as mediation and conciliation) and adjudicative ADR (such as arbitration), continue to proliferate and are increasingly institutionalized, leading to their characterization as ‘appropriate’ or ‘proportionate’ dispute resolution. Interestingly, despite these developments, the position of international human rights law (IHRL) on two key questions regarding ADR and proportionate dispute resolution (PDR) is unclear. These questions are, first, the standards of justice expected of ADR/PDR (whether entered into voluntarily or mandatorily). Second, the permissible circumstances in which parties to a dispute can be required to use ADR/PDR instead of, or before, accessing courts. The attributes and challenges with ADR/PDR have been discussed extensively in socio-legal studies, feminist literature and the dedicated ADR/PDR literature. This article seeks to bring this vast theory on the diversification and institutionalization of dispute resolution into IHRL. Through the lens of the European Court of Human Rights, this article examines the types of tests that supranational bodies currently employ and advances a framework for assessing the choice, design and implementation of ADR/PDR in the future.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Legal Theory, and Courts
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, and European Union
206. International Investment Law and the European Union: Towards a New Generation of International Investment Agreements
- Author:
- Catharine Titi
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- For about half a century, the European investment treaty model has been associated with European Union (EU) member states’ bilateral investment treaty practice, often referred to as their ‘best practices’. Member state bilateral investment treaties, which are liberal instruments strongly protective of investor interests, have remained relatively unchanged over the years, in contrast with their North American counterparts, which have come to represent a new type of investment treaty, cognizant for the first time of the contracting parties’ right to regulate. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the exercise of the EU’s new competence over the conclusion of treaties covering foreign direct investment, Europe marks its distances with the old approach of the member states and appears eager to set its own ‘model’. While broadly in harmony with the new generation of North American investment treaties, the nascent EU policy aims to improve international investment law in innovative ways, targeting both substantive and procedural protections, and leading to a yet newer generation of international investment treaties. The present article explores this new EU standard, which is set to change the face of international investment law as we know it.
- Topic:
- International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Foreign Direct Investment, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe and European Union
207. International Investment Law and the European Union: A Reply to Catharine Titi
- Author:
- Martins Paparinskis
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Reasonable people might disagree whether the European Union (EU) is likely to make a significant and commendable contribution to international investment law. This article addresses two issues of relevance for this discussion. First, it considers the appropriateness of evaluating evelopments in international investment law in terms of balance between investor protection and the right to regulate. Second, the contribution of the recent EU practice is briefly examined, finding it less interesting and innovative than one might have expected.
- Topic:
- International Law, European Union, Regulation, and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and European Union
208. Entre européanisation et fragmentation, quel modèle de développement pour le territoire ukrainien? (Between Europeanization and fragmentation, what model of development for the Ukrainian territory?)
- Author:
- Gilles Lepesant
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI)
- Abstract:
- One week before the third Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013, Ukraine suspended the preparation of an association agreement with the European Union, which had been under negotiation since 2007. When the agreement was finally signed in June 2014, President Yanukovych had fled the country under people’s pressure, and the integrity of Ukraine was challenged in the East by separatists and their Russian allies. These events came paradoxically at a time when the country's cohesion seemed stronger than in the 1990s. Far from being divided into two parts, Ukraine consists of the pieces of broken empires that all have good reasons to join in the state, as recent as this one may be. Indeed, its geography, electoral or economic, does not show a split between two blocks, but various lines of division that do not necessarily herald the breaking up of the state. Since the independence, this diversity had never been translated into new institutions: for several reasons, the reshaping of the centralized regime inherited from the Soviet era was deemed untimely by the country’s political forces. Presented as a priority by the members of the Parliament elected in 2014, the reform of territorial government is being implemented while Ukraine’s driving regions are either paralyzed or threatened by war.
- Topic:
- Nationalism, Sovereignty, War, Territorial Disputes, Europeanization, Memory, Borders, and State
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and European Union
209. La pérennité du supranationalisme intergouvernemental, paradoxe de l’élargissement (The “Enlargement paradox”: Intergovernmental Supranationalism Survives despite the Winds of Change)
- Author:
- Tanja Mayrgündter
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI)
- Abstract:
- In the last decade, the EU has been challenged by major phenomena, such as the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the economic and financial crisis. Unlike other policy areas, where the logic of action and institutional interplays have consequently changed, enlargement constitutes a “paradox”, having largely been resistant to such impact factors. That is, “intergovernmental supranationalism” has remained the dominant feature of the enlargement polity, politics and policy. Even though the overall result has not changed, there has been change in the configuration among the intergovernmental and the supranational elements. That is, while on the one hand intergovernmental forces have increased, on the other hand, all three dimensions have primarily been hit by the “technicality turn”, consequently fostering the supranational momentum. Finally, an overall new balance has been reached under the “old” intergovernmental supranational umbrella.
- Topic:
- Politics, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Political Science
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Global Focus, and European Union
210. Future scenarios for the development of the European labour force
- Author:
- Anna Ruzik-Sierdzińska
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
- Abstract:
- The future size and quality of the European labour force are important production factors for future economic growth in the region. The performance of many systems such as social security and health depends on the population of future potential tax payers. Older workers are an important and increasing share of the employment in Europe. Due to lower fertility and longer life expectancy, today, a larger than ever share of the population is over 50. Eurostat projections show that the share of people between the ages of 50 and 74 in the population aged 20-74 will increase in the EU27 countries from the current 40 per cent to 47 per cent in 2050. However, countries differ in terms of elderly activity. Existing studies show that this is related to various factors, including labour market institutions. As demographic ageing is expected to continue in the future, it is important to know more about these factors in order to recommend policies that could be efficient for the development of future labour markets and the economy as a whole. The aim of the described part of the project was to assess the impact of ageing on the labour market, especially on the structure of the labour force and labour productivity. We looked at this from various angles. First, we examined it via the determinants of the transition from work to retirement (see: Riedel and Hofer, 2013) with a broader analysis of non-labour market activities at older ages (Styczyńska et al., 2013). Then, we tried to answer the question about how individual productivity changes with age in different countries and if lifelong learning can contribute to higher labour productivity in the future (Ruzik-Sierdzińska et al., 2013). Finally, we looked at the demand for labour in the perspective of ageing societies, i.e. at employers' policies, attitudes and behaviours towards older workers and retirement (van Dalen et al., 2013).
- Topic:
- Demographics, Markets, Labor Issues, Social Policy, Public Policy, and Aging
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and European Union