scholarly journals The Political/Civil Role of Religion: What Narrative is Appropiate for the EU?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-281
Author(s):  
Walter Rothholz
Keyword(s):  
Civil Religion ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Secular Society ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This article introduces an empirical comprehension of secularization – disavowing Max Weber’s grasp – which is based on the premise that a structural similarity of symbols leads to their transmogrification. The structure of society remains the same in a secular society as well, in that consciousness is still affected by the same experiences. Following a brief remark on liberalism as privatizer of all highest goods, one of the consequences of secularization is exemplified. The European Union is such a liberal foundation whose self-understanding has found itself at a loss of political approval. Based on a political economy, namely on the benefit of some is the detriment of the other, the EU has overlooked that a society always shares a civil religion to which it is not possible to give up: Renouncing the sacred always denotes a profound political crisis. And a political crisis will always generate a new civil religion, of fundamental reactionary nature, and, therefore, incurring the inevitable form of an ideology.

Neither here, not there: Bulgaria and Romania in current European politics☆

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Bojkov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
The Eu

The article analyses the process of EU enlargement with reference to the progress that Bulgaria and Romania have made within it. It is argued that leaving them out of the wave of accession finalised in May 2004 for ten of the candidate states, has placed them in a situation of double exclusion. Firstly, their geographical belonging to the region of Southeast Europe has been rendered non-essential by their advanced position within the EU enlargement process. Secondly, their achievement in economic and political transition has been removed from the progress of the ten states, which joined the EU in May 2004 by delaying the time of their accession. As a result, any efforts in regional cooperation and integration between Bulgaria and Romania on one hand, and other Southeast European states on the other, have been effectively cancelled. Moreover, in current European politics, the two countries have come to serve the unenviable role of exemplifying on the part of the European Union how progress is being awarded and hesitation punished.

A Permanent Constitutional Assembly

2020 ◽  
pp. 197-214
Author(s):  
Markus Patberg
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
Institutional Solution ◽  
The Eu

This chapter presents an institutional proposal for how citizens could be enabled—in the dual role of European and national citizens—to exercise constituent power in the EU. To explain in abstract terms what an institutional solution would have to involve, it draws on the notion of a sluice system, according to which the particular value of representative bodies consists in their capacity to provide both transmission and filter functions for democratic processes. On this basis, the chapter critically discusses the proposal that the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) should transform itself into an inter-parliamentary constitutional assembly. As this model allows constituted powers to continue to operate as the EU’s de facto constituent powers, it cannot be expected to deliver the functions of a sluice system. The chapter goes on to argue that a more convincing solution would be to turn the Convention of Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union into a permanent constitutional assembly composed of two chambers, one elected by EU citizens and the other by member state citizens. The chapter outlines the desirable features of such an assembly and defends the model against a number of possible objections.

Israel and the European Union

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Pardo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Integration Project ◽  
The Eu

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.

1. Context, Background, and Institutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Bernadette Rainey ◽  
Pamela McCormick ◽  
Clare Ovey
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the history and institutions associated with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It discusses the political context in which the European Convention was drafted and both the political developments and philosophies which shaped its content. It also examines the system of protection provided by the different organs of the Council of Europe; the relationship between those organs and other international courts and tribunals, including the European Union; and the role of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, the Commissioner for Human Rights, and the other human rights instruments of the Council of Europe in the enforcement of the human rights provisions.

Funding the eu–Morocco ‘Mobility Partnership’: Of Implementation and Competences

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-301
Author(s):  
Leonhard den Hertog
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Eu

This article explores the role of funding under the ‘Mobility Partnership’ (mp) concluded between the European Union (eu), various Member States and Morocco. As most academic literature and policy discourse assumes a link between funding and policy implementation, this article enquires into how funding can help us understand implementation and the priorities set therein, and what alternative understandings of funding we could develop. By presenting evidence from the eu-Morocco mp, it is argued that looking at eu funding obscures rather than clarifies the priorities pursued in the cooperation on borders, asylum and migration. Drawing from the political sociology of public finances and from legal literature, this article understands funding as embedded in institutional, legal and political struggles over competences, and highlights the symbolic nature of funding.

scholarly journals The Role of Political Leadership in Macedonia in Function of EU Integration

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Mirvan Xhemaili
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

The dissolution of the former Yugoslavia was associated by destructive interethnic conflicts, by local and regional wars. Macedonia is also closely related to Europe politically and economically. The paper analyzes the role of political leadership on the road to EU integration. The research is one of many efforts that have been undertaken lately on the European Union development, its enlargement policy and the integration of Macedonia in EU. Specifically, this type of research is very important for the Macedonia, having in mind that the country has experienced the worst and the longest transition after the Cold War. The aim of the paper is to identify the main difficulties and challenges that make this process less successful. Macedonia started this journey in 2001 by signing the PSA/MSA. Right after its independence the country has faced many internal and external challenges. The country id undergoing a 25 years’ transition period of democratization and consolidation. The road to EU Integration has made the country undergo many reforms in many fields. The country views the process of integration as a strategic objective. The EU union has shown its interest to include the aspiring countries from the Western Balkans in its family. There is a high percentage of citizens for this process. The political leadership has not been responsible for the reforms in the country that have been addressed by EU. The political leadership uses the EU membership as a rhetoric in political campaign rather than doing more for the process, the paper analyzes the rhetoric and the reality by different methodologies. Political leaders should do more for the EU Integration and consider themselves as the only responsible party.

Paths into Irregularity: The Legal and Political Construction of Irregular Migration

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Düvell
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Irregular Migration ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis article empirically analyses the political and legal construction of irregular migration across selected member states of the European Union. First, it considers how policies lay the preconditions for irregular migration. Second, it explores the role of politics and law in generating irregular migration. Thus, it carves out diverse and divergent practices across the EU and argues that these are related to divergent legal and political cultures among the member states. This reveals that regulations that are meant to prevent unwanted migration often have unintended side-effects and instead encourage irregular migration which is conceptualised as a policy gap and policy failure. The conclusion drawn from this is that some irregular migration can be avoided and that there is scope for accordingly reforming national laws.

scholarly journals The Role and Importance of Economic Cooperation of the Visegrad Group Countries in the European Union Since 2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-205
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Jasiecki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Potential ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
Distinguishing Features ◽  
The Eu

The aim of the article is to describe the genesis, role, significance, conditions and effects of economic cooperation of the Visegrad Group countries in the European Union, with particular emphasis on their development after 2015. It presents the distinguishing features and specifi city of the Group’s cooperation before accession to NATO and the EU in the context of the situation of Central Europe and other European post-communist countries, as well as the most important aspects of the political and economic potential of the V4 countries against the background of the EU and selected member states. Various aspects of their economic cooperation in the region are discussed, as well as the structural limitations of the role of the Visegrad Group countries in the EU and related controversy. The final part contains conclusions relating to the Group’s activities with regard to the main axes of political and economic divisions in the EU, with particular emphasis placed on economic dimensions.

The WTO – a driving force for the liberalisation of public services in the EU?

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Raza
Keyword(s):  
Public Services ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Level ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
Legislative Action ◽  
Lock In ◽  
The Eu

Liberalisation of public services can be implemented not only through autonomous legislative action by individual countries, but also as a consequence of obligations arising from membership of supranational or international organisations. This article analyses how the process of the commodification of services at the level of the WTO, i.e. via the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), interacts with the politics of trade and services liberalisation in the European Union. Thus, we highlight the specific role of services negotiations in the WTO for the political dynamics of liberalising public services in the EU. Our conclusions highlight three specific functions of the GATS agreement: first, it serves as an institutional mechanism to ‘lock-in’ liberalisations achieved at a national or European level, secondly, it exercises a disciplinary effect on national regulation, and, thirdly, it provides an additional platform for the application of forum-shifting in the politics of international trade.

Geschenkte Freiheit. Von welchen Voraussetzungen lebt der demokratische Staat?

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-265
Author(s):  
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Civil Religion ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Discourse Model ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Secular State

Abstract What are the sources from which the liberal secular state regenerates itself? The article describes four answers: the model of civil religion (1), the »Christian occident« model (2), the discourse model (3) and the model of critical integration (4). Drawing on Habermas' and Rawls' late acknowledgment of the important role of religion for public life, the article shows how the model of critical integration of discursive reason and religion is a vital basis for the regeneration of a democratic state. The idea of freedom as a gift is shown to be one example of the contributions public theology can make to the debate on the sources of regeneration of the democratic state. Honoring the dignity of the human person as something given not earned, means building the moral infrastructure of society not on merit but on gratuitousness and the free engagement for the other.

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