scholarly journals HUNGARY AND POLAND: CONFRONTATION WITH BRUSSELS

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Lyubov Shishelina ◽  

The article examines the anatomy of the current conflict between Hungary and Poland with the European Commission over the mechanism of budget allocation, which created another big "headache" for Brussels against the background of other problems as Brexit and Covid. The relations between the objects of our study had been developing in different ways at certain stages of integration and convergence. In practice, they turned out to be more complicated than the parties initially imagined when deciding on the accession of the Central European countries to the European Union. On the one hand, as the CE countries "get used" to the European system, they feel more confident and, seeing its imperfections, more and more often either deviate from the norms previously adopted in the EU, or offer their own vision. On the other hand, the European Union still refuses to perceive these countries as absolutely equal members, does not see their regional and historical specifics, and tries to adapt them to itself. This increases the latent conflict within the European Union and forms within it a coalition of States that support freer political integration.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Eva Eckert ◽  
Oleksandra Kovalevska

In the European Union, the concern for sustainability has been legitimized by its politically and ecologically motivated discourse disseminated through recent policies of the European Commission and the local as well as international media. In the article, we question the very meaning of sustainability and examine the European Green Deal, the major political document issued by the EC in 2019. The main question pursued in the study is whether expectations verbalized in the Green Deal’s plans, programs, strategies, and developments hold up to the scrutiny of critical discourse analysis. We compare the Green Deal’s treatment of sustainability to how sustainability is presented in environmental and social science scholarship and point out that research, on the one hand, and the politically motivated discourse, on the other, do not correlate and often actually contradict each other. We conclude that sustainability discourse and its keywords, lexicon, and phraseology have become a channel through which political institutions in the EU such as the European Commission sideline crucial environmental issues and endorse their own presence. The Green Deal discourse shapes political and institutional power of the Commission and the EU.


Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini

This chapter focuses on the European Union after Brexit and articulates the case for constitutional reforms. Reforms are necessary to address the substantive and institutional shortcomings that patently emerged in the context of Europe’s old and new crises. Moreover, reforms will be compelled by the exigencies of the post-Covid-19 EU recovery, which pushes the EU towards new horizons in terms of fiscal federalism and democratic governance. As a result, the chapter considers both obstacles and opportunities to reform the EU and make it more effective and legitimate. On the one hand, it underlines the difficulties connected to the EU treaty amendment procedure, owing to the requirement of unanimous approval of any treaty change, and the consequential problem of the veto. On the other hand, it emphasizes the increasing practice by Member States to use intergovernmental agreements outside the EU legal order and stresses that these have set new rules on their entry into force which overcome state veto, suggesting that this is now a precedent to consider.


Author(s):  
Sharon Pardo

Israeli-European Union (EU) relations have consisted of a number of conflicting trends that have resulted in the emergence of a highly problematic and volatile relationship: one characterized by a strong and ever-increasing network of economic, cultural, and personal ties, yet marked, at the political level, by disappointment, bitterness, and anger. On the one hand, Israel has displayed a genuine desire to strengthen its ties with the EU and to be included as part of the European integration project. On the other hand, Israelis are deeply suspicious of the Union’s policies and are untrusting of the Union’s intentions toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the Middle East as a whole. As a result, Israel has been determined to minimize the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process (MEPP), and to deny it any direct involvement in the negotiations with the Palestinians. The article summarizes some key developments in Israeli-European Community (EC)/EU relations since 1957: the Israeli (re)turn to Europe in the late 1950s; EC-Israeli economic and trade relations; the 1980 Venice Declaration and the EC/EU involvement in the MEPP; EU-Israeli relations in a regional/Mediterranean context; the question of Israeli settlements’ products entering free of duty to the European Common Market; EU-Israeli relations in the age of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP); the failed attempt to upgrade EU-Israeli relations between the years 2007 and 2014; and the Union’s prohibition on EU funding to Israeli entities beyond the 1967 borders. By discussing the history of this uneasy relationship, the article further offers insights into how the EU is actually judged as a global-normative actor by Israelis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1187-1220
Author(s):  
Francisco de Abreu Duarte

Abstract This article develops the concept of the monopoly of jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) through the analysis of the case study of the Investment Court System (ICS). By providing a general framework over the criteria that have been developed by the Court, the work sheds light on the controversial principle of autonomy of the European Union (EU) and its implications to the EU’s external action. The work intends to be both pragmatic and analytical. On the one hand, the criteria are extracted as operative tools from the jurisprudence of the CJEU and then used in the context of the validity of the ICS. This provides the reader with some definitive standards that can then be applied to future cases whenever a question concerning autonomy arises. On the other hand, the article questions the reasons behind the idea of the monopoly of jurisdiction of the CJEU, advancing a concept of autonomy of the EU as a claim for power and critiquing the legitimacy and coherence of its foundations. Both dimensions will hopefully help to provide some clarity over the meaning of autonomy and the monopoly of jurisdiction, while, at the same time, promoting a larger discussion on its impact on the external action of the EU.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 63-80
Author(s):  
Alice Leal

The tension between unity versus multiplicity seems to be at the heart of the European Union (EU) and of translation studies (TS). Indeed, a significant parallel between the two is the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). The EU appears to be torn between a notion of language as a crucial element of one’s identity on the one hand, and a predominantly instrumental, Lockean view of language, on the other. A similar dynamic appears to take place in TS, an area that is par excellence heterogeneous and in which the notion of difference plays a paramount role. Indeed, at times TS appears to be afflicted by a sense of self-consciousness regarding its lack of unity and homogeneity. According to some, the solution is to foster the standardisation of its methods and terminology. But would proposing standardised terminology in a standardised language for the area not inevitably entail repressing different approaches in different languages? The paper explores this question in the context of the use of English as a lingua franca, and proposes various ways out of the dilemma both for the EU and TS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (54) ◽  
pp. 71-106
Author(s):  
Vladimír Naxera ◽  
◽  
Viktor Glied ◽  
Ondřej Filipec ◽  
Małgorzata Kaczorowska ◽  
...  

This article analyses the 2019 European Parliament (EP) election manifestos of populist parties in V4 countries as a contribution to the contemporary discussion on political populism. The aim of the study is to analyze the election campaign programs which populist parties operating in individual V4 countries presented for EP elections in 2019, using a qualitative content analysis of the official election programs of relevant populist parties and other sources of their communication. It tries to identify topics that have been framed as a problem or risk by Central European populists and how these topics have been interpreted in their programs. The so-called “immigration crisis” and the contemporary state of the European Union are seen as the most problematic topics by a majority of the populists. On the other hand, the majority of these parties do not want some Central European version of Brexit. Their rhetorical goal is rather the reform the Union.


1999 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Franzmeyer ◽  
Paul J.J. Welfens ◽  
Jürgen Stehn

AbstractThis economic policy forum is assigned to the reform requirements within the European Union along the enlargement of the EU concerning the eastern European countries. In his article, Fritz Franzmeyer identifies to European policy areas that are due to reform in the course of the enlargement concerning the Eastern European countries. First, institutional arrangements, especially voting procedures in the European Council as well as the organisation of the EU-Commission and the European Parliament have to be reformed. He argues that without a reform the European institutions nearly become unable to work properly. Second, the financial perspective of the EU is subject to scrutiny. Both CAP and structural funds will be unsustainable with 20 European Union members, given that the new members will be the poorest and, therefore, will become recipients of a large sum. As a consequence, Franzmeyer advocates reforms of CAP and structural policy that go beyond the small reform steps taken with the Agenda 2000.Paul Welfens analyses problems and chances connected to an enlargement of the European Union for the EU-15 countries as well as for the aspirant countries. Welfens focuses on four steps of the EU-enlargement: the institutional integration, the economic integration, the integration of the economic policy, and additional strategies towards the EU-outsiders. On the one hand, he shows that the enlargement of the European Union is probably connected with the advantages for the present EU-countries but also for the new members of the European Union. Especially, it can be expected that the position of the European Union in the competitive world market will improve. On the other hand, Welfens stresses that the second round of the enlargement will create the voting majority of small and poor countries. Welfens warns that the consequence will probably be a shift of the economic policy towards increased distributional activities of the European Union. The latter will have negative consequences for the employment and the economic growth. The enlargement brings the European Union closer to Russia. Consequently, the European Union should develop a greater self-interest in the stability of Russia. In addition, Welfens points out that a reform of the EU-constitution and a new EU-budget policy as well as a new EU-growth policy is indispensable in the medium run. Yet, a far-sighted treatment of the problems connected to the agricultural sector of the East European countries is equally important.Jiirgen Stehn stresses that an enlargement of the EU is inevitably connected to reforms concerning the CAP, the structural and cohesion policy as well as reforms of the decision mechanisms. On the one hand, Stehn points out that the reduction of subsidies in form of guaranteed prices as well as the reduction of compensation payments is required. On the other hand, he remarks that the agenda 2000 gives at hand instruments for income redistribution and structure preserving ones. Stehn identifies the principal problem of the structure and cohesion fonds as the capital allocation within the EU. In fact, the fonds initially aiming at developing the economic power of regions are used as the redistributional instrument. For this reason, he suggests that the structure and cohesion fonds should be reorganised so that they form a system of financial compensation between the European Union members. Finally, Stehn emphasises that the reform of the decision mechanisms is indispensable as the EU becomes larger.


Author(s):  
Barbara Guastaferro

Article 4 of the Treaty on the European Union is a core provision to understand the ‘federal’ nature of the European Union. It is composed of three paragraphs, any of which tries to strike a balance between the constitutive units of the composite legal order, namely the EU, on the one hand, and the Member States, on the other. The first paragraph enshrines the so-called ‘principle of presumed Member States competences’, according to which competences not conferred upon the EU remain to the Member States. The second paragraph requires the EU to respect Member States’ national identities, inherent in their fundamental political and constitutional structures. The third paragraph enshrines the principle of sincere cooperation. In this respect, all the paragraphs express a sort of ‘federal concern’. Article 4(1) TEU is devoted to the vertical division of competences and strengthens the respect of the principle of conferral, Article 4(2) TEU is devoted to the identities of the Member States of the EU thus protecting diversities in the composite legal order, and Article 4(3) TEU is devoted to loyalty, which, like in many federal or compound legal orders, should inform the cooperation among levels of government.


Author(s):  
Eleonora Rosati

Compared to other areas of intervention at the European Union (EU) level, copyright harmonization is a relatively recent phenomenon. Compared to other areas of intellectual property law, copyright harmonization has not been as complete as with other rights. Yet, two phenomena may be observed: one the one hand, copyright policy and legislative initiatives have intensified over the past few years; on the other hand, the large number of references to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has substantially shaped the EU copyright framework and, with it, also the copyright framework of individual EU Member States....


2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Marcin Feltynowski

This article presents information about regional products registered by those Central European countries which joined the European Union structures in May 2004. Their membership facilitated the registration of regional products and their participation in the EU’s registration procedures. Regional and local products registered in the area of a country can become a base for the promotion of regional tourism in the regions of origin of these products. The brand recognition of these regional products also becomes a basis to improve the quality of the agricultural products and foodstuffs. This article presents the activities of the Central European countries which are members of the EU since 2004 in their registration of regional products. The presented data shows how many products were registered within each group of products, protected by the marks: Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication, and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. Verification of the statistical data allows for analysis concerning the product class, as defined in the EU directives.


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