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212. The Draft Constitutional Treaty's Voting Reform Dilemma
- Author:
- Richard Baldwin and Mika Widgren
- Publication Date:
- 11-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The ongoing Intergovernmental Conference (IGC 2003) must re-shape Giscard d'Estaing's draft into a Constitutional Treaty that can be signed and subsequently ratified by all 25 members of the enlarged European Union.
- Topic:
- Government and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
213. Maintaining Security with Borders: Towards a Permanent State of Emergency in the EU?
- Author:
- Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
- Publication Date:
- 11-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This report carries out an assessment of the European measures and practices implemented within the scope of the Schengen borders regime after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States. In particular we look at: the re-introduction of border checks on the basis of Art. 2.2 of the Schengen Convention, along with the plan to put protestors under surveillance and deny entry to suspected troublemakers; and the policies on intrusive surveillance through the use of biometric technologies and databases , as well as the controv ersial EU/US bilateral relations on the transfer of Passenger Name Record information (PNR).
- Topic:
- Security and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
214. Institutionalising the Wider Europe
- Author:
- Michael Emerson
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The Wider Europe has become a prominent feature in European foreign policy discourse. The EU's first policy documents on this subject, however, have been thin in substance, mainly seeking to develop more active bilateral relations with countries such as Ukraine and Moldova. At the same time, however, the EU is discussing bilaterally just with Russia a set of common European policy spaces that should be at the heart of a Wider Europe policy. This paper argues that the EU should adopt a systematic approach to defining a complete set of seven common European policy spaces, with multilateral institutional developments to match, thus bringing together the bilateral and multilateral approaches. The overarching institutional mechanism should be through transforming the present very weak 'European Conference' into a seriously structured 'Pan-European Conference', led by a Coordinating Group consisting of the EU, Russia and a few other rotating places for non-EU states, with institutionalised linkages to the Council of Europe and other European multilateral organisations for the specific common policy spaces.
- Topic:
- International Organization and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
215. Reform of Corporate Governance in the EU
- Author:
- Karel Lannoo and Arman Khachaturyan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This Policy Brief criticis es the European Commission's proposal to mandate compliance with a local corporate governance code and to set minimum criteria for these codes. It argues that the European Commission missed an opportunity to set a European corporate governance code in the mid -1990s, and that much of the proposals are simply reactive to events and new legislation in the US. Europe should have highlighted the strength of its diversity, and emphasised that the basic elements of corporate governance are better controlled in the EU than t hey are in the US, rather than embarking on a complex harmonisation exercise.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
216. Decision-Making and the Constitutional Treaty: Will the IGC discard Giscard?
- Author:
- Richard Baldwin and Mika Widgren
- Publication Date:
- 08-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU's draft Constitutional Treaty proposes the most radical reform of EU institutions ever put forward - more radical than those in the Single European Act, the Maastricht and Nice Treaties combined. Many of the changes have been debated, but little notice has been paid to what is perhaps the most critical reform: the change in the EU's decision-making procedures.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
217. Where is the transatlantic divide in public opinion on climate change issues? Evidence for 1989-2002
- Author:
- Thomas L. Brewer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper is based on an analysis of the results of more than 40 public opinion surveys taken during the period from 1989 through 2002; special attention is given to surveys taken during 2000-02. The analysis concludes that approximately two-fifths of the public are seriously concerned about global warming. Another two-fifths are moderately concerned; shifts in the opinions of this moderately concerned group would likely alter the future course of government policies. The other one-fifth of the public does not consider global warming much of a problem, does not worry about it very much or not at all, and does not believe that carbon dioxide emissions are a cause of it. A substantial majority of the US public wants the government to do something about the problem of global warming, and they would like the US to participate in the Kyoto Protocol. Most respondents prefer mandatory rather than voluntary emission reductions by industry. A majority of the public supports US economic assistance to fund mitigation projects in developing countries. Gaps between the US public and US leaders are evident, with the public exhibiting more concern and more support for new policies. The level of US public concern is nearly as high as it is among European publics, where there is also opposition to current US policy.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
218. The Deployment of Multinational Military Formations: Taking Political Institutions into Account
- Author:
- Marc Houben and Dirk Peters
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Multinational military formations exist in many forms, shapes and colours. Their size varies; their raison d'être varies; the type of military units involved varies; and the countries involved vary. In most cases governments take into consideration the economic, militarytechnical and operational arguments for participation in a multinational formation. They participate because it will save them money for example, or it enables them to maintain a critical capability, such as F-16 fighter planes. States thus usually take care to shape the units in a way that contributions complement each in technical terms and that the whole unit pays off in economic terms. Not often, however, is the compatibility of the political systems of the participating countries taken into account when a multinational unit is formed. Our contention is that more attention should be paid to the political/institutional compatibility of participating states when creating multinational units. Some political systems are more compatible than others and this fact has consequences for the effectiveness of jointly owned multinational units.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
219. Caucasus Revisited
- Author:
- Michael Emerson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Three years ago, after the Kosovo war and the launch of the Stability Pact for South East Europe, there was a spasm of interest in the idea of a stability pact for the Caucasus. However nothing came of this, since neither the region's leaders nor the international community were willing or able to do anything of substance, although a comprehensive proposal had been published by CEPS as a 'track 2' initiative. As a result, the de facto secessions of Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabakh have become more deeply entrenched, but only with the protection of Russia and Armenia, respectively, with which these entities have become increasingly integrated de facto. Since conventional diplomacy in the Caucasus under UN or OSCE auspices has failed to deliver solutions over a whole decade, we take a wider look here at the kind of solutions that may emerge for these so-called frozen conflicts of the European periphery. New developments external to the region are coming from the EU and the US: the widening of the Europeanisation process on the one hand, and the 'democratic imperialism' or Pax Americana coming out of Washington since 11 September 2001 and now the Iraq war. We explore below how these developments may affect the prospects for the Caucasus.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
220. Optimizing the Mechanism for 'Enhanced Cooperation' within the EU: Recomendations for the Constitutional Treaty
- Author:
- Eric Philippart
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Policy development in the EU is often impeded by member states being either unwilling or unable to participate. One way to overcome that problem is to resort to flexible approaches accommodating diversity. Convinced that an enlarged Union would require more flexibility, the current member states agreed in 1997 to introduce a new safety valve in the treaties, named 'enhanced cooperation'. Thanks to that mechanism, a group of member states may be authorised to use the EU framework to further their cooperation or integration in policy areas under EU competence whenever it appears impossible to do so with all of the member states.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe