scholarly journals Governing by Enabling in Multilevel Systems: Capacity Building and Local Climate Action in the European Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Domorenok ◽  
Andrea Prontera
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Multilevel Systems ◽  
Climate Action

Preservative or Transformative? Theorizing the U.K. Constitution Using Comparative Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-440
Author(s):  
Jo Eric Khushal Murkens
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
The State ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Multilevel Systems ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Comparative Constitutional Law ◽  
The Stability

Abstract The complexities of the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the European Union while simultaneously honoring its prior commitments to its decentralized, autonomous, and constituent regions have put constitutional questions back on the map. The dominant approach analyzes these questions premised on the “preservative” view of the constitution. This view prioritizes the stability and continuity of the institutions in Westminster (Parliament) and Whitehall (central executive). However, the preservative view of the constitution is theoretically and practically deficient as it cannot give an account of the multipolar and decentralized developments of the past twenty years. Another interpretation regards the legal and political changes to the constitution as “transformative.” This view accentuates the fragility of the U.K. constitution due to a plurality of constitutional rules and the ongoing processes of devolution of powers within multilevel systems of government. This Article discusses that evolution of the U.K. constitution through the prism of comparative constitutional law and its appropriate methodology. The preservative model of the constitution favors a universalist method, whereas the transformative model requires a contextualist method. I argue that the experience of supranational (European Union) and infranational (devolution) power sharing has fundamentally altered the United Kingdom’s central constitutional concepts. To stabilize its fragmentary forces, the United Kingdom needs to adopt concepts that reflect the state as divided, the constitution as transitional, sovereignty as an attribute of the state rather than Parliament, and democracy as conflicted. Nothing less than the future of the United Kingdom as a state is at stake.

scholarly journals Systems to support health technology assessment (HTA) in Member States of the European Union with limited institutionalization of HTA

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (S2) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montse Moharra ◽  
Mireia Espallargues ◽  
Nadine Kubesch ◽  
Maria-Dolors Estrada ◽  
Antoni Parada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Information Management ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Work Processes

Objectives: The aim of this study was to support health technology assessment (HTA) capacity building in Member States of the European Union with limited experience or without institutionalized HTA. The main output is a Handbook on HTA Capacity Building.Methods: The methods used were worldwide surveys of (i) HTA organizations, (ii) information management units, and (iii) HTA educational programs. The results of two surveys (i & ii) were combined with expert opinion to produce the Handbook on HTA Capacity Building.Results:Survey of HTA organizations (n = 41, response rate 35 percent). Most of the organizations were established by the government (61 percent), and all were not-for-profit. Working on HTA (80.5 percent) and doing research (63.4 percent) were the main lines of activity. Survey on information management units (n = 23, response rate 23 percent). Most (74.2 percent) of the responding HTA agencies reported having personnel dedicated to HTA information services. Survey on HTA educational programs (n = 48, response rate 60 percent). In total, nine Master of Science (MSc) programs were identified (three MSc in HTA and six MSc in HTA-related areas). Handbook on HTA Capacity Building. A group of twenty experts from thirteen countries developed the handbook. It consists of nine chapters focusing on HTA institutional development (structural setup, work processes, and visibility).Conclusions: Setting up organizational structures and establishing effective HTA programs that guide key policy decisions is a challenging task. There are no standard models or pathways. “One size fits all” is not a useful principle because of the wide systemic and cultural differences between countries. The Handbook on HTA Capacity Building includes approaches for overall institutional development, especially in formulating objectives, setting up structures, and defining work processes.

scholarly journals Enlarging the Application of the Food Security Index at European Union Regions

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larisa Mihoreanu ◽  
Laura Mariana Cismas ◽  
Laura Maria Danila Jianu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Zero Hunger

The food security remains a major priority and a typical issue that requires immediate international solutions. Recent studies reveal the increasing complexity of food security issues focusing on the necessity to address formal actions and solve the dramatic situations. New tools are always welcome to facilitate solutions’ implementation.In September 2015, the United Nations Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development among the goals of which the followings are fundamental: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, clean water and climate action. The European Union joined the Program, expressing the full commitment to its implementation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the number of undernourished people reached in 2017 about 821 million peoples, representing an increase from about 804 million peoples in 2016. The 2018 statistics of FAO state that 22% of children under-five are affected by malnutrition, while over 38 million children in the same age group are overweight.Beyond the premises, as a novelty, we contribute at the food security knowledge by calculating a regional index at European and Romanian levels to better outline the realities and provide the decision-makers with a new tool to find better solutions.

scholarly journals Financing climate justice in the European Union and China: common mechanisms, different perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Minas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Transnational Activism ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Climate Politics ◽  
First Case ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Eu

AbstractClimate justice is a concept with many different and competing interpretations. It has salience at intra-country, inter-country and intergenerational levels of climate politics. While inter-country climate justice has long been on the agenda of United Nations climate negotiations, the intra-country and intergenerational aspects of climate justice have assumed new prominence in many countries in recent years, as the economic consequences of mitigation became felt and transnational activism highlighted youth concerns. The diverse elements of and approaches to climate justice have this in common: realising them requires massive financial interventions and reforms. This article examines the still emerging frameworks to finance climate justice in two of the jurisdictions most important to the global response to climate change: the European Union and the People’s Republic of China. The EU and China have in common that they are both on the front line of financial innovation to respond to climate change. They are utilising similar tools of systemic financial intervention in order to transition financing to climate-friendly investment, in the first case domestically, but with clear implications for global financial markets. However, the EU and China are utilising climate financing mechanisms in the context of very different prevailing perspectives on climate justice. This article interrogates the relationship between these different perspectives on climate justice and the distribution, scale and pace of climate finance. The article also observes that while the EU incorporated climate justice considerations in its economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic with a recovery package prioritising climate action, China did not take the opportunity to foster a ‘green recovery’.

scholarly journals Protection of Geographical Indications in Vietnam: towards Raising the Participation of Producers

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1087-1099
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh ◽  
Trinh Thi Ngoc Anh ◽  
Le Thi Yen ◽  
Vu Van Tuan ◽  
Nguyen Thanh Hai
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Geographical Indications ◽  
Geographical Indication ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Current Stage

This paper aims to review the current situation of the Vietnamese geographical indication (GI) system from both the legal and practical perspectives. It examines how the top-down approach influences the effectiveness and sustainability of the whole system. Further, the paper refers to the European Union (EU)’s experiences, particularly those of France - a representative of the bottom-up approach - to examine whether a shift to the producer-driven approach in GIs is workable in Vietnam. The paper argues that more active roles should be vested on producers represented by their associations during the course of establishment and management of GIs. Taking into account the capacity of producers and their associations in this current stage, the paper suggests a transition period before the producers assume the leading role in the whole system. During that period, it is recommended to endorse the producers’ role through legal recognition of the producers’ representative organizations, capacity building, and awareness-raising for producers and their associations to achieve desirable outcomes for GI development.

Non-hierarchical policy coordination in multilevel systems

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bolleyer ◽  
Tanja A. Börzel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Multilevel Systems ◽  
Absence Of Power ◽  
Policy Emulation

In theory, lower-level governments (provinces, regional governments, or member states) operating in multilevel systems within and beyond the nation-state can choose from a wide repertoire of modes of policy coordination to solve collective problems non-hierarchically. These modes range from unilateral policy emulation over informal intergovernmental agreements to binding interstate law. The modes that governments are willing and capable to use, however, vary considerably across multilevel systems which affects governments’ collective problem-solving capacity. This paper argues that the nature of executive–legislative relations in lower-level governments is crucial to account for this variation. The presence (or absence) of power sharing shapes the willingness of lower-level governments to enter agreements that greatly constrain individual government autonomy. Power-concentrating governments, as opposed to power-sharing ones, tend to avoid such agreements. The type of power sharing affects the capacity to enter agreements that require legislative approval. Compulsory power-sharing governments, as opposed to voluntary power-sharing governments, should find it difficult to enter such agreements, since this type of power sharing invites inter-branch divides. To substantiate these arguments, we apply them to Canada, Switzerland, the United States, and the European Union.

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