scholarly journals Back to the future, forward to the past: Croatian politics of memory in the European Parliament

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 893-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Milošević
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
War Narrative ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Elite Interviews ◽  
Political Differences ◽  
The Eu

This paper discusses the way in which a post-conflict European Union (EU) member immediately after accession both shapes and adapts to EU memory politics as a part of its Europeanization process. I will analyze how the country responds to the top-down pressures of Europeanization in the domestic politics of memory by making proactive attempts at exporting its own politics of memory (discourses, policies, and practices) to the EU level. Drawing evidence from Croatian EU accession, I will consider how Croatian members of the European Parliament “upload” domestic memory politics to the EU level, particularly to the European Parliament. Based on the analysis of elite interviews, discourses, parliamentary duties, agenda-setting, and decision-making of Croatian MEPs from 2013 to 2016, I argue that the parliament serves both as a locus for confirmation of European identity through promotion of countries’ EU memory credentials and as a new forum for affirmation of national identity. The preservation of the “Homeland War” narrative (1991–1995) and of the “sacredness” of Vukovar as a Europeanlieu de mémoireclearly influences the decision-making of Croatian MEPs, motivating inter-group support for policy building and remembrance practices that bridge domestic political differences.

scholarly journals The Perception of the Legitimacy of Citizens’ Assemblies in Deeply Divided Places? Evidence of Public and Elite Opinion from Consociational Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
John Garry ◽  
James Pow ◽  
John Coakley ◽  
David Farrell ◽  
Brendan O'Leary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Elite Interviews ◽  
Support Decision Making ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract How much public and elite support is there for the use of a citizens’ assembly – a random selection of citizens brought together to consider a policy issue – to tackle major, deadlock-inducing disagreements in deeply divided places with consociational political institutions? We focus on Northern Ireland and use evidence from a cross-sectional attitude survey, a survey-based experiment and elite interviews. We find that the general public support decision-making by a citizens’ assembly, even when the decision reached is one they personally disagree with. However, support is lower among those with strong ideological views. We also find that elected politicians oppose delegating decision-making power to an ‘undemocratic’ citizens’ assembly, but are more supportive of recommendation-making power. These findings highlight the potential for post-conflict consociations to be amended, with the consent of the parties, to include citizens’ assemblies that make recommendations but not binding policy.

scholarly journals Evolution of Decision Making in the European Union as a Parameter of the Depth of Integration

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
Nikolay Kaveshnikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Working Hypotheses ◽  
The Eu

The article explores the evolution of decision-making procedures and their use in the EU as one of the parameters of integration depth. The study used a database of secondary legislation covering 1990-2019. The final empirical data consists of 5,427 documents, including 1,272 directives and 4,155 regulations. The research empirically confirmed the increase in the frequency of procedures application that envisage a more active participation of the European Parliament in the legislative process. At the same time, the authorreveals that a significant part of secondary legislation is still adopted by the Council without the EPinvolvement. An important difference in the use of adaptation procedures of directives and regulations has been identified; working hypotheses about the reasons for such differences have been formulated.

6. The European Parliament: The power of democratic ideas

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Shackleton
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Direct Elections ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines how the power of the democratic idea drives change in the European Parliament’s (EP) powers. The EP, the only directly elected institution of the European Union, derives its authority from national electorates rather than national governments and is therefore a transnational institution. Since the first direct elections in 1979, the EP’s powers and status have grown dramatically, culminating in the changes agreed under the 2007 Lisbon Treaty. Nevertheless, the EU is perceived to be suffering from a ‘democratic deficit’. This chapter first traces the historical evolution of the EP before discussing its decision-making. It then considers how the EP aggregates interests, what influence it exercises, and what kind of body it is becoming. It concludes by assessing various perspectives about the EU’s democratic deficit. The chapter stresses the importance of consensus mechanisms within the EP as well as those that link it to other EU institutions.

3. How the EU is governed

2018 ◽  
pp. 34-55
Author(s):  
Simon Usherwood ◽  
John Pinder
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Satisfactory Relationship ◽  
The Eu

The EU has major economic and environmental powers, and is increasingly active in foreign policy, defence, and internal security. ‘How the EU is governed’ asks: how is this power used and controlled, and how is the EU governed? The system for governing the EU, with its complex mix of intergovernmental and federal elements, makes decision-making difficult and a satisfactory relationship between the institutions and the citizens hard to achieve. The EU has, however, been able to benefit from its growing democratic elements, such as the powers of the European Parliament, and that model is still likely to continue, along with the development of the EU as a whole.

Access to documents: Interaction and gaps in the REACH and Aarhus Convention systems

elni Review ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Vito Buonsante
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Official Journal ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Access To Documents ◽  
The Eu

Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) was published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2006 and came into force on 1 June 2007. Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community Institutions and Bodies entered into force on 28 September 2006 and became applicable on 28 June 2007. This article discusses the gaps in REACH in relation to the Aarhus Regulation, and the obligations for ECHA that derive from the application of REACH and from the fact that the EU is a party to the Aarhus Convention. The article also carries out a partial assessment of the work conducted by ECHA on access to and dissemination of environmental information.

scholarly journals The Lisbon Treaty and Changes in the Legal Rules on the Common Commercial Policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Martin Janků
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Commercial Policy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The EU Lisbon Treaty 2007 (LT) brings some changes for the common commercial policy (CCP) and the decision-making processes related to it. CCP is newly included in the one area with all the external activities of the EU, with foreign and security policy, international environmental policy, development aid and economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries. The fundamental areas of the CCP have been expanded to include foreign direct investment, services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The EU’s exclusive competence for external negotiation of agreements in areas of exclusive competence and internal CCP regarding their implementation were confirmed. The changes affect the role of the European Parliament and also the functioning of the European Council, the Council, and competences of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European External Action Service. Together with these changes, there will be also changes in procedures within the European Union. A number of aspects of the decision-making process are not yet entirely clarified, and only the practice of the participation of the EU Member States and the European Parliament in the formation of the common commercial policy will bring more meaningful conclusions. The changes brought by the LT will affect not only the extent of the influence of EU Member States on the common commercial policy, but they can also affect the position of the EU in the context of international trade, particularly in the area of negotiating commitments and rules of multilateral and bilateral trade and investment agreements.

The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hurst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Comprehensive Plan ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Issue ◽  
The Relationship

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.

Prawo obywateli Unii Europejskiej do czynnego i biernego udziału w wyborach parlamentarnych w kraju członkowskim miejsca pobytu

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4 (1)) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Marek Danikowski
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
The Right ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge ◽  
The Eu

The right of EU citizens residing in another Member State, to vote and stand in elections to the European Parliament is a major achievement of the European democracy. In the light of EU citizens’ still insufficient knowledge concerning the opportunities and benefits brought in by this right, it is worth making this institution more familiar to themin a straightforward way, at the same time balancing criticism towards the idea of the EU.

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