scholarly journals It’s a small, small, small world: The Icesave dispute and global orders of difference

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1291-1307
Author(s):  
Jess Bier

Drawing on Roy and Ong’s work on worlding, this article introduces the concept of orders of difference to analyze the selective incorporation of the nation-state into supranational political and economic systems. I argue that attending to orders of difference is necessary to better understand the ways that imagined equality is mobilized to reproduce global injustice. I do so through a combined examination of the liberal globalism of the iconic “It’s a Small World” ride at Disney theme parks and Iceland's role in the Icesave dispute—a key struggle of the 2007–8 financial crisis. The design of the Small World 1 ride effects a form of worlding by ordering differences into those that are similar enough to be permitted and those that are too different to be incorporated. In the process, the ride invokes a small world 2 that precisely encapsulates the more complex globalisms that inform the organizational structure of supranational bodies like the European Union and European Economic Area. Global finance is said to be one of the world’s most seamless supranational systems, but one of its many seams was made visible during the Icesave dispute as two orders of difference came into conflict: European Economic Area membership and Icelandic politics. Representatives of the Netherlands and the UK argued that Iceland’s membership in the European Economic Area meant that Iceland was fully the same as other member nations, while those from Iceland successfully argued that its domestic and international economies were irreducibly different. The dispute thus hinged upon a debate over how differences are ordered within and between nations, including the number of permissible orders and the precise extent to which member nations are or should be made commensurable through supranational geopolitics.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter ◽  
Heinrich Nemeczek

Until recently, the on-going legal discussions about ‘Brexit’, the United Kingdom’s upcoming withdrawal from the European Union (EU), have predominantly focused on the requirements and consequences of the withdrawal procedure set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). A hitherto neglected, though arguably no less important question concerns the effect, if any, that a withdrawal from the EU will have on the UK’s membership in the European Economic Area (EEA): Given that the EEA extends many aspects of EU membership beyond the EU’s borders, resulting in a Common Market ‘light’, a future UK membership in the EEA could – at least from a European business law point of view – effectively result in ‘business as usual’, as a significant share of EU law would continue to apply to UK companies, albeit in form of EEA law.Against this background, it is interesting to note that legal analyses of Brexit generally assume that the UK’s EEA membership will be terminated ipso iure, should the UK decide to withdraw from the EU. According to this view, the UK subsequently could (re-)apply for EEA membership should its government so choose, with such an application having to be accepted by all remaining EEA Contracting Parties – an option commonly referred to as the ‘Norway option’ in reference to Norway’s status within the EEA. The present article challenges the underlying (and often merely implicit) assumption that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will automatically result in its withdrawal from the EEA, given that the EEA Agreement is a separate international treaty subject to separate legal rules governing withdrawals and effects of possible changes in EU membership. It argues that a withdrawal from the EU will in fact not affect the UK’s continuing EEA membership, as long as the UK does not voluntarily choose to also withdraw from the EEA. It then analyses the post-Brexit situation under the EEA Agreement by addressing its practical application to a number of different areas, as inter alia the free movement of UK companies within the EEA, the future of the ‘European passport’ for UK credit institutions and investment firms, as well as the free (but possibly restrictable) movement of workers in the EEA.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (48) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Likatavicius ◽  
M Van de Laar

In 2011, a total of 28,038 new HIV diagnoses were reported by European Union and European Economic Area countries. The annual rate of HIV diagnoses does not show clear signs of decrease and HIV continues to be concentrated in selected populations such as men who have sex with men and injecting drug users, and a high proportion reported as late presenters. Despite effective and available antiretroviral treatment, the number of AIDS cases increased in a few countries.


Author(s):  
Morris Simon

In this chapter the concept of ‘authorisation’, in the context of the general prohibition, is explored. The process of obtaining authorisation through a Part 4A permission is explained. Next, the threshold conditions that a firm must meet, both on authorisation and subsequently, are given. The key concept of passporting within the European Economic Area (EEA) is explained for firms based in the EEA and the UK. The four principal categories of persons who are exempted from authorisation requirements are discussed. Finally, this chapter examines how a firm’s permission can be varied or cancelled, and how the regulator can impose requirements upon the firm to take or not to take some specified action.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-133
Author(s):  
G. Sotgiu ◽  
S. Rosales-Klintz ◽  
R. Centis ◽  
L. D'Ambrosio ◽  
R. Verduin ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Essential TB care in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) comprises 21 standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB that constitute the European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC).METHODS: In 2017, we conducted an audit on TB management and infection control measures against the ESTC standards. TB reference centres in five EU/EEA countries were purposely selected to represent the heterogeneous European TB burden and examine geographic variability.RESULTS: Data from 122 patients, diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 with multidrug-resistant TB (n = 49), extensively drug‐resistant TB (XDR‐TB) (n = 11), pre‐XDR‐TB (n = 29) and drug‐susceptible TB (n = 33), showed that TB diagnosis and treatment practices were in general in agreement with the ESTC.CONCLUSION: Overall, TB management and infection control practices were in agreement with the ESTC in the selected EU/EEA reference centres. Areas for improvement include strengthening of integrated care services and further implementation of patient‐centred approaches.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-146
Author(s):  
Nikola Mandić

Generally speaking, public transport is the transport of persons and cargo available for use to the general public, performed on the basis of a transport contract. Public transport costal liner shipping is the transport of passengers, cargo and vehicles in the internal marine waters and territorial sea ofthe Republic of Croatia performed on pre-established lines in compliance with the published terms and conditions of the sailing schedule and services pricelist. The Act on Transport in Liner Shipping and Occasional Costal Maritime Transport established the public transport system in the Republic of Croatia, ensuring regular connection of inhabited islands with the mainland and other inhabited islands, as well as between coastal towns, with an appropriate number of daily two-way connections, to improve the conditions of island life and stimulate their development. Prior to the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, the maritime liner shipping market in the Republic of Croatia was reserved primarily for Croatian shipping companies. Now, following the expiry of the transitional period negotiated in pre-accession negotiations with the European Union and the expiry of previously concluded concession contracts, the market is opening up to shipping companies from the European Economic Area. Hence, over the last couple of years, the Republic of Croatia was required to modify its legal framework regulating this subject matter. This paper presents novelties in the legal framework introduced in 2016 and 2017, which directly affect the opening of the maritime liner shipping market in the Republic of Croatia to shipping companies from the European Economic Area, with the critical analysis of the new solutions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (49) ◽  
Author(s):  
Basel Karo ◽  
Barbara Hauer ◽  
Vahur Hollo ◽  
Marieke J. van der Werf ◽  
Lena Fiebig ◽  
...  

Monitoring the treatment outcome (TO) of tuberculosis (TB) is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention and to identify potential barriers for TB control. The global target is to reach a treatment success rate (TSR) of at least 85%. We aimed to assess the TB TO in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) between 2002 and 2011, and to identify factors associated with unsuccessful treatment. Only 18 countries reported information on TO for the whole observation period accounting for 250,854 new culture-confirmed pulmonary TB cases. The 85% target of TSR was not reached in any year between 2002 and 2011 and was on average 78%. The TSR for multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB cases at 24-month follow-up was 49%. In the multivariable regression model, unsuccessful treatment was significantly associated with increasing age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.02 per a one-year increase, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.02), MDR-TB (OR = 8.7, 95% CI: 5.09–14.97), male sex (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.28–1.52), and foreign origin (OR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.03–1.70). The data highlight that special efforts are required for patients with MDR-TB and the elderly aged ≥65 years, who have particularly low TSR. To allow for valid monitoring at EU level all countries should aim to report TO for all TB cases.


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