Sincere Cooperation between EU and Member States in the Field of Readmission: The More the Merrier?

Cooperation with third countries on readmission has occupied an increasingly prominent place in the EU's migration management strategy. The EU and its Member States have progressively concluded an extensive set of bilateral and multilateral, binding and non-binding, cooperation instruments on readmission. This proliferation questions the field's coherence with the principle of sincere cooperation, governing the interplay between the Union's and Member States’ action. By taking this principle as a benchmark, the article highlights the ineffective nature of the current ‘unprincipled’ pursuit of readmission goals. It also demonstrates that sincere cooperation—if read together with subsidiarity—does not necessarily favour the Union's international action, to the detriment of the Member States’. Rather, it requires a good faith effort to identify, and stand by, the most effective level of action.

The Hypocrisy of Dutch Actions in Indonesia

At the end of World War 2 the Netherlands, through its own military tribunals, tried and convicted several members of the Japanese and German militaries for their participation in the war crime of extra judicial executions in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Several of the convicted men were executed by the Netherlands while others sentenced to lengthy prison terms. From 1946-1949 the Netherlands, primarily through commando Raymond Westerling, engaged in the same actions they accused the Japanese of having committed. While no specific order was ever revealed showing that Westerling’s actions were ordered by the military, the Netherlands tacitly approved his actions by failing to control him and his men and by their unwillingness to take responsibility for his actions before or after the Netherlands withdrew its forces from Indonesia in 1949. This research paper explores the extrajudicial executions conducted by Westerling, his men, other Dutch military and the Dutch government in order to provide a better and more thorough understanding of these events and the lack of national or international action against war crimes committed after World War 2. It concludes that the Netherlands has failed to try or even accuse Westerling and others of war crimes or take actions to discipline them, and in fact has covered up his actions and failed to make public those war crimes. Further that the reason for this continued hypocritical refusal is a concern for the reputation of the Netherlands in the world and a belief that high levels of government would be found complicit.

In the eyes of all mankind: Interests and independence in Vattelian statehood

Emer de Vattel’s argument that states should be understood as free and independent bodies operating as moral persons in the international sphere is credited with launching a doctrine of sovereignty that hardened national borders against external interference or obligation. It also helped launch one of the world’s first modern states through its influence on the American founding. Vattel’s theory rests upon the critical role of judgment, specifically, the judgment of interests. That doctrine requires that states must always think for themselves, but not only about themselves. Offering some justification for international action, even in the midst of disagreement or war, is what separates civilized from villainous nations for Vattel, and this grounds interests in the communicative habits of an international community. Because the judgment of interests incorporates a communicative element, Vattelian internationalism cannot become exclusively self-regarding, and state interests cannot be entirely contained within national borders. Instead, Vattel’s distinctive combination of independence and interests is set within a global community that makes the fate of outsiders the business of every state.

Sustainable Development Goals in Early COVID-19 Prevention and Control

Recent failures in COVID-19 prevention and control in some of the richest countries raise questions about the relevance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the fight against pandemics. To examine this issue, we adopted the measure of countries’ progress for the SDGs in the SDG Index Scores (SDGS) and employed two analytical devices. The first was regression-aided adjustment of the number of deaths and confirmed cases. The second was the use of robust regressions to control the undue influence of outliers. The results are mixed. Between the SDGS and the adjusted infection rates, we found no significant correlation; however, between the SDGS and the adjusted death rates, the correlation was negative and statistically significant. These results provide a nuanced contrast to the hasty conclusions some of us might be tempted to draw from apparent positive correlations between SDGS and the cases and the deaths. The SDGs represent the fruit of painstaking global efforts to encourage and coordinate international action to enhance sustainability. We find the results reassuring, in that they suggest that the countries with higher SDGS have been able to control the devastation of deaths from COVID-19 more effectively, despite being unable to control the propagation of infections.

Aproceros leucopoda (elm zigzag sawfly).

Elm zigzag sawfly is considered a minor pest within its native range in East Asia, but since first arriving in Hungary and Poland in 2003 the sawfly has spread rapidly through Europe and is continuing to expand its range. Severe localized defoliation has been recorded by the species throughout Europe on elms in a variety of situations. Most elm species are utilised as host plants, which combined with it being both parthenogenic and multivoltine means populations can build up rapidly in suitable areas. No specific predators are known, and whilst parasitoids have been described on the species in Europe no studies have investigated their efficacy at controlling elm zigzag sawfly. This species was removed from the EPPO Alert List in 2015 following no international action on the species being requested by the EPPO member countries.

Looking Through Palme’s Vision for the Global Environment

Olof Palme, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, underlined the importance of a firm global response to the growing environmental crisis in his 06 June 1972 address to the first UN Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm. He prophetically observed: “it is absolutely necessary that concerted, international action is undertaken … solutions will require far-reaching changes in attitudes and social structures”. Almost 50 years later, it is painfully clear that the necessary changes have not taken place and that time is now even more limited to make the necessary, far-reaching changes. How can the conclusions from the Stockholm Conference and ideas envisioned by Olof Palme can guide us into a better common greener future?