Calling It Mammon

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-137
Author(s):  
Liam D. Murphy

Competitive funding by the European Union for community projects in Northern Ireland operates according to a political logic in which some groups and projects (deemed progressive, modern and generally secular) are prioritised, while others (discursively positioned as anachronistic, traditional and religious) are precluded. In this process, EU processes of statecraft seek to instrumentalise grassroots organisations as means to the many ends of a disenchanted, modern EU federation. In turn, overtly religious groups (among them churches, parachurches, and confraternities of various kinds) adapt to these conditions by instrumentalising EU processes and goals to the general end of securing a future place for religiosity in the 'new' Northern Ireland. This paper discusses the intersection of religious objectives and ideologies with that of European modernism in the context of two organisations: the Orange Order and the Divine Fellowship Congregation (DFC). Speci fically, I argue that both associations have developed distinctive forms of practice (the 'Orangefest' and 'Utopia' projects, respectively) that re-conceive what is possible for modern EU-funded initiatives. This adaptation has implications for both sets of institutions, in that each is transformed through articulation with the other.

Author(s):  
Michael Keating

Public attitudes to the Union are complex. Citizens in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are aware of the choice between British and local identity. Most of them combine both but with different intensities. Citizens in England are now willing to make the same distinctions. There has not been a marked increase in non-British identities in recent years but their political significance has changed. Support for independence in Scotland has increased and is linked to identity. Support for reunification in Northern Ireland fell after the 1999 settlement but has fluctuated since. In Wales, a narrow majority for devolution in the referendum of 1997 shifted towards broad support as the National Assembly (now Senedd) matured. Brexit led to an increase in support for Scottish independence and Irish reunification but not to a decisive degree. There has not been a significant increase in English identity or support for an English Parliament. Citizens in England are not mostly opposed to devolution for the other territories and are, by international standards, often relaxed about the prospect of the secession of Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is a clear link between strong English identity and support for leaving the European Union.


Author(s):  
Hernan Tesler-Mabe

As recently as one year ago, the European Union was seemingly on a direct path toward its avowed goal of "ever closer union." In numerous publications, EU authorities asserted that they had the confidence of European peoples desirous only of further integration. In the wake of the failed referenda for a European Constitution, however, enthusiasts of European Union can no longer be certain that their enterprise will succeed. The European Union, once strong and united, seems now an entity teetering on the edge of collapse. The reasons for such a dramatic shift are, of course, wide-ranging. Yet I would suggest that a great part of the general European disillusionment with European Union has come about as a result of the actions of the Europeanists themselves. Over the last decades, European officials have exhibited a frightfully high incidence of revisionism in their literature. This practice, I argue, has caused many Europeans to question the integrity of the project of European Union. For my presentation, I intend to undertake a close study of a selection of documents published by the European Communities. In this endeavour, I will compare and contrast the messages imparted in different editions of these works and consider the semiotic significance of the textual and non-textual language appearing therein. In this manner, I hope to achieve two aims. First, I mean to add a corrective element to a literature that, guided by a teleological interpretation of integration, endows integration with”logic" to be found only in hindsight. Second, I intend to examine the many meanings that the EU has had over its history and assess how closely policy has adhered to the ideological goals of prominent Europeanists. In sum, I hope to shed light on the fundamental disconnect between advocates of Europe and the "man on the street" and help establish a dialogue which may contribute to resolving the current impasse within the European Union. Full text available: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v2i4.178


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devrimi Kaya ◽  
Robert J. Kirsch ◽  
Klaus Henselmann

This paper analyzes the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediaries in encouraging the European Union (EU) to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS). Our analysis begins with the 1973 founding of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), and ends with 2002 when the binding EU regulation was approved. We document the many pathways of interaction between European supranational, governmental bodies and the IASC/IASB, as well as important regional NGOs, such as the Union Européenne des Experts Comptables, Économiques et Financiers (UEC), the Groupe d'Etudes des Experts Comptables de la Communauté Économique Européenne (Groupe d'Etudes), and their successor, the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens (FEE). This study investigates, through personal interviews of key individuals involved in making the history of the organizations studied, and an extensive set of primary sources, how NGOs filled key roles in the process of harmonization of international accounting standards.


Global Jurist ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martino Reviglio

Abstract The externalization of migration management to third countries is becoming a recurrent phenomenon in international migration management. Soft law instruments emerged as an important strategy to externalize migration management to third countries through international migration agreements. In particular, in the last years the European Union and some member states have adopted bilateral and multilateral migration agreements in order to diminish the arrival of migrants in Europe. These agreements in the form of soft law instruments are problematic because do not follow the ordinary process of law making and thus it is difficult to assess their legal effectivity. The memorandum of understanding signed in February 2017 between Libya and Italy represents an illustrative case of the process of externalizing migration management through soft law. From a critical discussion of the memorandum, many problems in relation to its legal and material validity follow. In particular, the protection of migrants’ human rights in Libya is not guaranteed as the many international organization and NGOs reports indicate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-149
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly

This special issue of International Studies focuses on ‘how the British-exit is impacting the European Union’. This introduction is a review of the context, costs and institutional repercussions, as well as the very recent the UK/European Union trade deal and implications for customs borders. Eight articles then detail consequences for European Union policies and important trading relationships: Immigration, Citizenship, Gender, Northern Ireland, Trade and impacts on India, Canada and Japan.


English Today ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Modiano

This survey considers the emergence of English as a language shared across the European Union in particular and the European continent at large, and together with its distinctive ‘lingua franca’ dimension among the mainland European nations. It considers in particular the situation of ‘non-native speakers’ who regularly use the language as well as the concept of a ‘Euro-English’ in general and the Swedish, ‘Swenglish’ and English relationship on the other. It concludes by considering the liberation of non-native users from ‘the beginning of native-speaker norms’.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Flett

This article reviews the way in which the concept of precaution, as commonly referenced in EU law, is received in the WTO. It argues that precaution is not a principle, but one facet of a principle of making rational judgments based on available information, the other facet of which is “that risk is worth taking”. Systematically pursuing high cost measures in response to low risks is not a balanced approach, and has probably contributed to the scepticism with which the concept is viewed in the WTO. However, this article goes on to argue that, without needing to be a principle, precaution is the determining legal feature in the SPS Agreement, because, unlike in the European Union, there is no legislative harmonisation of SPS measures at international level, WTO Members being free to set their own appropriate level of protection. In fact, the concept of precaution is relevant in the context of many other WTO provisions and is in some respects quite close to the concept of subsidiarity. Notwithstanding this, the first WTO SPS cases, driven by regulatory exporters and an interventionist WTO, have excessively emphasised scientific issues, masking policy judgments that the WTO has neither the legal nor the political authority to sustain. The article concludes that the proper way forward necessitates closer political, legal and administrative links between the WTO and other relevant international organisations, and a move away from consensus in the latter.


2002 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 784-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMIE KREPPEL

This article examines the influence of the European Parliament (EP) within the legislative process of the European Union. Although debate over the impact of the cooperation and co-decision I procedures continues, this article argues that, in part, the current theoretical debate is a false one that has caused many of the other important variables that affect EP legislative influence to be ignored. This article briefly revisits the current debate, then proceeds to an analysis of the success of more than 1,000 EP amendments under the cooperation and co-decision procedures. This evidence suggests that numerous other variables, such as internal EP unity and type of amendment made, have a significant impact on EP success, even controlling for procedure. In addition, this comparison points out some empirical differences between the two procedures that have been largely ignored in the theoretical debate but that nonetheless have a significant impact of EP success and merit further study.


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Annicchino

The implementation of Article 17(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has always been one of the central topics of discussion for legal scholars analysing the relationships between religious groups and European institutions. According to Article 17, the European Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with churches, religious associations or communities, philosophical organisations and non-confessional organisations. In the case in hand, the complainant, the European Humanist Federation (EHF) decided to lodge a complaint before the European Ombudsman when the European Commission rejected the proposal for a dialogue seminar.


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