Network resilience and EU fisheries policy engagement in third countries: Lessons for post-Brexit governance

This article examines the ways in which third countries can engage with, and respond to, European Union policy-making processes. A novel analytical framework based on the concept of network resilience which consists of an institutional, political and policy dimension is operationalised to understand third country access to European Union policy-making. Empirically, the article examines the experiences of three non-European Union countries, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway in the context of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. The article concludes by presenting a research agenda based on an in-depth analysis of network resilience and reflects on what the findings mean for future research, particularly within the context of understanding the development of UK–EU post-Brexit relations.

The Balkan Migration Route

The purpose of the chapter is to assess and link the issues of migration flows with the accession process of the Balkan countries and the European Union enlargement policy. The chapter argues that despite the recent changes in the EU commission's policy towards the candidate countries there is more to be done to foster the process and encourage domestic reforms in the countries. The chapter examines the process of migration along the Balkan migration route from 2001 till 2021 and its influence on the European Union policy and the policy of Balkan countries. The author links the issue of migration flows with the accession process of the Balkan countries, traces the connection between the issue of migration flows with the European Union enlargement, and analyzes the legal steps taken by the EU and the countries of the region in order to control the process of migration.

Shiloh and Corinth

In the Civil War’s master narrative, the Shiloh and Corinth campaigns figure prominently because they represented more than just the Union’s large-scale military foray into the Confederacy’s vital western river region (specifically the region between the Cumberland and Mississippi rivers), the occupation of slave soil, and the Confederacy’s first major counteroffensive. They also exposed the complex interplay between armies and the places they operated, demonstrated how national objectives played out in local conditions, and revealed the war’s brutal nature. The Battle of Shiloh produced the bloodiest fighting on the North American continent up to that time, precipitated the subsequent Union capture of Corinth, Mississippi, disrupted slavery in the Trans-Mississippi, led to an enormous transfer of power in the western theater, and induced Union policy changes regarding occupation and repatriation of the Southern citizenry. In short, these developments established the foundation for the Union’s successful prosecution of the war.

When actions do not match aspirations - comparison of the European Union policy claims against what has been negotiated for health services, trade and investment

Background Obligations arising from trade and investment agreements can affect how governments can regulate and organise health systems. The European Union has made explicit statements of safeguarding policy space for health systems. We assessed to what extent health systems were safeguarded in trade negotiations using the European Union (EU) negotiation proposals for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the negotiated agreement for the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Methods We assessed if and to what extent the European Union policy assurances were upheld in trade negotiations. Our assessment was made using three process tracing informed tests. The tests examined: i) what was covered in negotiation proposals of services and investment chapters, ii) if treatment of health services differed from treatment of another category of services (audiovisual services) with similar EU Treaty considerations, and iii) if other means of general exceptions, declarations or emphases on right to regulate could have resulted in the same outcome. Results Our analysis shows that the European Union had sought to secure policy space for publicly funded health services for services chapter, but not for investment and investment protection chapters. In comparison to audiovisual services, exceptions for health services fall short from those on audiovisual services. There is little evidence that the same outcome could have been achieved using other avenues. Conclusions The European Union has not achieved its own assurances of protection of regulatory policy space for health services in trade negotiations. The European Union trade negotiation priorities need to change to ensure that its negotiation practices comply with its own assurances for health services and sustainable financing of health systems.

Where is the justice in EU anti-trafficking policy? Feminist reflections on European Union policy-making processes

In this article, we reflect on our personal experience of acting as ‘independent academic experts’ in an European Union (EU) policy forum, to reflect on how the EU utilises gender to legitimise certain policy discourses in combating sex trafficking. Starting from our personal experience, we draw on wider feminist research on gender expertise and on Fraser’s new reflexive theory of political injustice, to consider how the EU structures debates in this area to determine ‘who’ is entitled to speak and be heard on this issue. In a context in which sex trafficking policy intersects with a variety of competing agendas on – among other things – law and order, organised crime, immigration, asylum and border security policy, our argument will suggest that the exclusion of critical feminist voices and lack of alternative perspectives permits much scope for continuing inequality and injustice.

Women in Transport Research and Innovation: A European Perspective

Several gender differences exist in the transport sector. These include accessibility to transport modes, safety and security when travelling, and the participation of women in transport research and innovation (R&I). In order to achieve sustainable and inclusive transport, planners and policymakers should consider all impacts on gender equality. This paper sheds light on two main issues which interconnect through the decision-making process. The first relates to women’s behaviour in the transport system (i.e., studies the gender mobility gap). The second concerns the role of women in transport R&I, particularly the topics covered by research projects and relevant descriptive statistics of their participation in the sector. Based on a literature review, this paper identifies critical issues in the European transport sector and key European Union policy initiatives and regulations that address gender equality and transport. The European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS) is used to summarise the status and evolution of European research in addressing women’s issues in transport. It also analyses the participation of women in European transport research and innovation activities. The paper assesses progress to date and identifies challenges and opportunities for women, mobility, and transport. It concludes by providing policy recommendations to overcome the major barriers to gender equality in the European transport sector and to transport research and innovation.

18. Internal Policies

This chapter provides an overview of four internal Union policy areas that have come to significantly affect the lives of European citizens. It begins by introducing the Union's Economic and Monetary Policy. This policy is not only responsible for the creation of a common European currency—the euro—which has become a leading world currency; it recently provoked enormous controversy over the powers of the European Union to interfere with national economic choices. The chapter then moves to ‘Social Policy’; this is an important internal policy for a continent that prides itself on being the ‘social continent’. It also explores the Treaty title on ‘Consumer Protection’, which has had an enormous impact on national contract laws. Finally, the chapter looks at the Union's regional or cohesion policy.

Part III Regional Regimes, Ch.15 Regional Refugee Regimes: Africa

This chapter highlights the African approach to refugees, analysing the regional legal framework anchored by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention. The regional legal regime for refugees includes treaty and institutional components. The treaty framework is comprised of the Refugee and OAU conventions and international and regional human rights law, including but not limited to the two covenants, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and African instruments on the rights of women and children. The chapter then addresses regional organizations with relevant mandates: African Union (AU) bodies and judicial organs including the AU Commission, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It also looks at the role of civil society, as well as contemporary refugee protection achievements and challenges. These include the implementation, in terms of both refugee status determination and rights, of the regional legal framework in national jurisdictions; the rise of displacement in the context of climate change and disasters; and the relationship between European Union policy responses to the so-called migration crisis and refugee protection in Africa.