scholarly journals Europe - a project worthy of being built

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Valentina Maglietta
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Fundamental Factor ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
European Citizen ◽  
The Eu

Sixty years after the emergence of the EU, it is still a challenge to educate citizens about European themes and to really involve them in the integration process. This requires the pursuit for solutions and adequate responses from institutions, among others. But, what does it mean to be a European citizen? Does it make sense to use the concept of “citizenship” beyond the national borders? With the purpose of addressing these questions, this paper is divided into three parts. The first part addresses the definition of citizenship within the borders of a Nation State and, looks at the relationship between nationality and identity emphasized by the philosopher Thomas H. Marshall. The second turns to the European citizenship, looking at the political developments under which this concept has been given greater prominence, becoming both a source of legitimation of the European integration process and a fundamental factor in the creation among citizens of a European identity. Citizenship of the Union treasures the indisputable virtue of being the first political and legal materialisation of a citizenship at a transnational level. Nevertheless, at the time like the present, when nationalist and xenophobic feelings against the EU are on the rise and national egoism is becoming an attractive alternative to integration, the European identity struggles to attain a legitimate status in the eyes of the citizenry. The challenge ahead is that we need to find a new way to narrate European integration to all those who do not feel part of this project and that do not understand the pressing need for being “united in diversity”. In this achievement, the EU stakes its future. With this in mind, in the third section of the article, I propose some areas where progress should be made to encourage a greater sense of integration among European citizens.

The Concept of Europeanization and Possibilities of its Application to the Analysis of Ukraine-EU Relations

2017 ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Natalia Popova
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Member States ◽  
External Governance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Eu Studies ◽  
The Eu

The concept of Europeanization has become quite fashionable in EU studies in recent years. It is often used for the analysis of the relations between the EU and non-member states. The aim of the article is to examine the possibilities of its application in explaining the relationship between the EU and Ukraine. The structure of the article is as follows: firstly, the concept of Europeanization is defined considering such two disputable issues as distinguishing among concepts of Europeanization and European integration as well as Europeanization and EU-ization. Next, the evolution of the theoretical research of Europeanization and definition of this concept are analyzed. Two main mechanisms of Europeanization (conditionality and socialization) are examined. The author considers main approaches to the analysis of the "external" Europeanization emphasizing the concept of "external governance". Three groups of factors which influence the effectiveness of Europeanization are briefly analyzed. And finally, the peculiarities of application of the Europeanization concept to the Ukraine-EU relations are outlined. Keywords: EU, Ukraine, Europeanization, EU-ization, ‘external’ Europeanization, conditionality, socialization, concept of ‘external governance’

scholarly journals Good administration “around the track” of the Portuguese and the EU constitutional discourses – “Winds, to entertain our minds”…?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Sophie Perez Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Dynamic Factor ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

To mark 40 years of the Portuguese constitutional project and the 30 years of its interaction with the European (also constitutional) project, the text seeks, through the theme of good administration, to give practicality to the theory of inter-constitutionality – as it is a proposal construed by Portuguese doctrine, which seeks to explain the relationship between the EU legal order and the constitutional legal orders of the Member States. The hermeneutic exercise undertaken aims to extract from the Portuguese constitutional text, through the cross-interpretation of Article 268 CRP with Article 41 CFREU, elements for the construction of a concept of good administration relevant in the Portuguese constitutional legal order that, without prejudice to other dimensions/ projections, is also open to the subjective/protective dimension of good administration highlighted in the EU constitutional legal order. Assuming the European integration process is a dynamic factor of constitutional development, the present analysis regards the systemic differences in the field of good administration as inviting discursive conciliation with an aim to articulate a unity of meaning in the matter of good administration.

Fundamental Rights Protection for Third Country Nationals and Citizens of the Union: Principles for Enhancing Coherence

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Iglesias Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
European Immigration ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Third Country Nationals

Abstract The definition of the legal contours of a citizenship status is intrinsically bound to the determination of a differentiated status for non-citizens. Nonetheless, European citizenship has been designed in a non-exclusionary fashion. This is not so much the result of a conscious exercise of inclusiveness, as the result of the indeterminacy of the EU Treaties. The progressive construction of a common European immigration policy is happening within a constitutional scenario deprived of principles suitable to guide the relationship between the citizenship status and the several newly created status for third-country nationals, who now derive their EU rights not only from their relationships with EU citizens nor from agreements mirroring the fundamental freedoms. For this reason, there is a growing need to make explicit the principles that should govern this relationship. The main purpose of this paper is to discern and analyse the emerging lines of this relationship, which are being unveiled by EU immigration norms, particularly as they are being interpreted in recent judgements of the ECJ. It will be argued that the new EU rules on immigration are helping to uncover the shortcomings and incoherencies of the EU citizenship status since, paradoxically, the structure of EU competences allows for a deeper involvement of EU law in the determination of the rights of third country nationals than of the rights of citizens.

scholarly journals Current Challenges of European Integration - 12th Network Europe Conference, 9 – 10 November 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
André S. Berne ◽  
Jelena Ceranic Perisic ◽  
Viorel Cibotaru ◽  
Alex de Ruyter ◽  
Ivana Kunda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Majority Vote ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Massive Influx ◽  
The Common ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Eu

Crises are not a new phenomenon in the context of European integration. Additional integration steps could often only be achieved under the pressure of crises.  At present, however, the EU is characterised by multiple crises, so that the integration process as a whole is sometimes being questioned. In 2015, the crisis in the eurozone had escalated to such an extent that for the first time a member state was threatened to leave the eurozone. Furthermore, the massive influx of refugees into the EU has revealed the shortcomings of the Schengen area and the common asylum policy. Finally, with the majority vote of the British in the referendum of 23 June 2016 in favour of the Brexit, the withdrawal of a member state became a reality for the first time. Even in the words of the European Commission, the EU has reached a crossroads. Against this background, the twelfth Network Europe conference included talks on the numerous challenges and future integration scenarios in Europe. 

scholarly journals EU Law’s Half-Hearted Protection of Religious Minorities Minority Specific Rights and Freedom of Religion for All

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
Kristin Henrard
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Special Rights ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This article begins with some reflections on the definition of religious minorities, their needs and rights and how this relates to the discussion about the need for minority specific rights in addition to general fundamental rights as rights for all human beings irrespective of particular identity features. Secondly, an overall account of the ambiguous relationship between religious minorities and fundamental rights is presented. The third and most extensive section zooms in on the EU and religious minorities, starting with an account of the EU’s general approach towards minorities and then turning to the protection of fundamental rights of religious minorities in/through the EU legal order. First, the EU’s engagement with minority specific rights and the extent to which these norms have been attentive to religious themes will be discussed. Second, the CJEU’s case law concerning freedom of religion and the prohibition of dis-crimination as general human rights is analysed. The conclusion then turns to the overall perspective and discusses whether the EU’s protection of religious minorities’ fundamental rights can be considered ‘half-hearted’ and, if so, to what extent. This in turn allows us to return to the overall focus of the Special Issue, namely the relationship between the freedom of religion for all and special rights for religious minorities.

‘Britain's Irish Question: Britain's European Question?’ British-Irish relations in the context of European Union and The Belfast Agreement

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH MEEHAN
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Irish Question ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

If students of world politics can be reasonably accused of ignoring the Troubles in Northern Ireland—in part because they seemed to have little to do with the larger East-West confrontation and partly because they were so obviously about something distinctly national in character—then by the same token specialists on Northern Ireland can justly be accused of a certain intellectual parochialism and of failing to situate the long war within a broader global perspective. The quite unexpected outbreak of peace however only emphasizes the need for a wider understanding of the rise and fall of the Northern Irish conflict. This article explores the relationship between the partial resolution of the Irish Question—as expressed in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998—and the changing character of the European landscape. Its central thesis is that while there were many reasons for the outbreak of peace in the 1990s, including war weariness, it is difficult to understand what happened without situating it in a larger European framework and the new definition of sovereignty to which the EU has given birth.

The Party System: Structure, Policy, and Europeanization

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oskar Niedermayer
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Party System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
System Properties ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Eu

The German party system has changed since the 1980s. The relatively stable ‘two-and-a-half party’ system of the 1960s and 1970s has become a fluid five-party system. This development can generally be attributed to changes on the demand and supply sides of party competition and to the changing institutional framework. The European integration process is part of this institutional framework and this chapter deals with the question of whether it has influenced the development of the party system at the national level. To systematically analyse the possible impact, eight party-system properties are distinguished: format, fragmentation, asymmetry, volatility, polarization, legitimacy, segmentation, and coalition stability. The analysis shows that one cannot speak of a Europeanization of the German party system in the sense of a considerable impact of the European integration process on its development. Up to now, the inclusion of Germany in the systemic context of the EU has not led to noticeable changes of party-system properties. On the demand side of party competition, this is due to the fact that the EU issue does not influence the citizens' electoral decisions. On the supply side, the lack of Europeanization can be explained mainly by the traditional, interest-based pro-European élite consensus, the low potential for political mobilization around European integration, and the marginal role of ethnocentrist–authoritarian parties.

5. Democracy and the EU

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Tapio Raunio
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
European Level ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Input Legitimacy ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the relationship between European integration and democracy. The continuous transfer of policy-making powers from European Union (EU) member states to the European level has raised serious concerns about democratic legitimacy. The chapter assesses the claims that European integration undermines national democracy, and that decision-making at the EU level is not sufficiently democratic. It argues that while significant challenges remain, European integration has definitely become more democratic over the years. But there is perhaps a trade-off, with stronger input legitimacy potentially an obstacle to efficient European-level decision-making. It also underlines the multilevel nature of the EU polity and the importance of public debates about European integration.

Show the money first! Recent public attitudes towards the EU in Italy

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolò Conti ◽  
Vincenzo Memoli
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
The Eu

In the recent past, attitudes towards the EU have become problematic in many member states. Even those countries that traditionally were more optimistic have actually experienced important declines in their popular backing of the European integration process. We examine the public attitudes towards the EU that have recently emerged in Italy, a country where support for EU membership has declined substantially. Making use of recent data and novel research techniques, the article sheds light on the explanatory power of different theoretical perspectives to explain these attitudes. Utilitarianism has emerged as the key explanatory factor, whereas other theories appear much less relevant in the Italian context.

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