100 research outputs found
Transatlantic Trade Policy: US Market Opening Strategies. European Policy Paper #1
No full text[Introduction.] Since the 1950s, the European Community (EC) has been trying to build up a new independent legal and economic order. This exercise has been difficult and gradual. Indeed, each step forward in the build-up of the community's legal and economic order requires a new compromise formula between the member states--for example, between the free traders and the economic interventionists; between the more service-oriented, the more industrial-oriented, and the more agricultural economies; and between the richer and the poorer regions. Obviously, the Community is not developing in a vacuum. Since the Community is a major player in international trade relations, its development has an effect, not only within the EC, but also on third countries. Naturally, since Community measures also affect third countries, those third countries, including the United States (US), have been trying to influence or even control the final shape of the EC's legal and economic order. As Jeffrey Garten, the US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, has recently explained, the US is determined to try and shape its trading partners' economic system in view of the US market opening objective. According to Garten, Washington would use its power to try to pry open markets even if it meant challenging "the very industrial organization of countries"(cited in Friedman, 1995). As a result, tension has developed between, on the one hand, the EC's sovereign right to set up its own legal order and, on the other, the outside world's interest in monitoring and influencing the EC's development. This paper examines this tension as it arises in the relationship between the Community and the United States. More specifically, the paper deals with the institutional strategies (multilateral, bilateral, and unilateral) used by the United States to monitor the EC's development and to keep the Common Market open for US exports. The main question is how far each of the institutional strategies was able to help resolve, or better, help prevent, "market opening" conflicts between the US and the EC. At the end of the paper, the current US market opening options toward the EC will be analyzed, including the recent suggestion to create a Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
"Trouble Brewing? EU and Member State Public Health Policy and the European Beer Industry". European Policy Paper #10, November 2005
No full text[Summary]. During the past decade, the European Union (EU) has increased its competence in consumer safety and public health. Under Article 152 of the Amsterdam Treaty, for example, the EU is committed to ensure "a high level of health protection." This increased competence has allowed the EU to extend its regulatory reach. In the summer of 2005, the European Commission began to enforce a ban on advertising and sponsorship of cross border events by tobacco companies within the EU. This includes a ban on sponsorships of Formula One race car drivers by tobacco companies. The new Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, Markos Kyprianou, warned the alcoholic beverage industry earlier this year that it must stop marketing its products to young drinkers or the EU will take action in this area. Such Europewide regulations have been advocated by non-producer groups, which have increasingly mobilized in Brussels. The focus on public health issues poses new challenges to European business and has increased the incentives for firms and trade associations to mobilize more effectively in Brussels in order to influence the EU’s regulatory policies. This paper explores the political response of one sector of the economy – European beer brewing – to these new challenges. Beer brewing is an important industry in Europe. Europe is home to five of the six largest global beer producers. European beer brewers account for 60% of the world’s beer exports and 30% of global beer production. The European brewers are represented in Brussels by the Brewers of Europe (BoE), which is a confederation of 21 national associations and represents approximately 90% of beer producers in the EU-25. During the past few years, the brewers have restructured their trade association in Brussels and engaged in more aggressive lobbying in order to influence the EU’s policy-making process. In this paper, I seek to explain these changes by examining the increased concentration of the sector and the increased attention to public health by non-producer groups such as Eurocare7, the World Health Organization (WHO), some national governments, and the European Commission. I then analyze the extent to which the political activities of the brewers have shaped the debate over alcohol control in the EU. This case study on the European brewing sector and alcohol control policy allows me to explore several broader questions. These include: - What is the impact of industrial consolidation on collective mobilization? - How have market liberalization and the increased competence of the EU affected the debate over public health? - What is the relative effectiveness of industry and non-producer groups in the policy-making process? The paper draws on interviews with Commission officials, European and national trade association officials, and individual brewers, which I conducted in 1989-91 and in 2003-04. By conducting interviews over time, I can compare the changes in the political activities of the brewers before and after the major consolidation of the industry and before and after the emergence of major alcohol control groups and the accession of the Scandinavian countries to the EU. The paper is divided into six sections. The first section outlines the economic characteristics and political organization of European beer brewers prior to the 1990s. The second section explores the impact of increasing competitive pressures on the brewers during the 1990s and early 2000s, which led to the increased concentration of the industry and the emergence of five multinational firms - InBev, SABMiller, Heineken, Carlsberg, and Scottish & Newcastle. The third section analyzes the activities of Eurocare, WHO’s Regional Office for Europe, the member states, and the European Commission to reduce alcohol-related harm. The fourth section examines the political response of the brewers to those activities, focusing in particular on the political reorganization of their European trade association and its lobbying activities in Brussels. In the fifth section, I discuss the impact of the brewers’ political reorganization and lobbying on the debate over alcohol control policy in the EU. Finally, I draw some conclusions about the changes in the brewers’ association and the EU’s policy-making
EU Decision-making after the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. European Policy Papers #9, July 2004
No full text[From the Executive Summary]. This paper offers an institutional analysis of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. It identifies the Treaty-Constitution’s main implications for the decision-making process in the European Union (EU). While the aim was to streamline EU decision-making in light of the expansion from 15 to 25 Member States, the Treaty-Constitution is characterised by numerous safeguard mechanisms. These are designed to preserve a high degree of Member State control over what is decided in terms of new constitutional, legislative or budgetary commitments in the EU. Veto-rights and blocking options have been retained, notably in procedures for the adoption and revision of the Treaty-Constitution as well as in a number of crucial policy fields. This is unlikely to foster a dynamic decision-making process in an expanded European Union of 25 Member States
Telecommunications policy in Turkey: restructuring for economic growth. European Policy Paper #11, November 2006
No full textIntroduction. Modern telecommunications technology is now widely seen as a critical driver in economic development. However, the issues involved in the rapid deployment of this technology are complex and frequently highly controversial. While some of these issues are technical, the most difficult ones involve changing a legal and regulatory framework which was originally designed for different times and different technologies. The process of changing this framework necessarily involves disruptive change for existing service providers as well as substantial benefits for the economy at large. This paper seeks to discuss these issues in light of Turkey’s progress to date in taking advantage of advanced available telecommunications technology and the myriad productivity-enhancing services that are associated with it.(1) An important element in developing a more competitive and dynamic sector in Turkey has been the desire of the country to become a member of the European Union. This has encouraged changes in the telecommunications regulatory regime following the guidelines set out in Chapter 19 of the EU “acquis” for candidate members. Nonetheless, substantial further efforts are needed to complete and implement the desired regulatory framework, particularly as it affects the former government monopoly carrier, Turk Telekom, and the cable companies. A further limiting factor has been an overall investment climate in Turkey which has been characterized by a high level of uncertainty for most investors, regardless of size or nationality. Policy recommendations to help accelerate the deployment of telecommunications technology include a clear reaffirmation of the government’s priorities for the sector, a reduction in the level of ownership and regulatory uncertainty, strengthening the Board and Staff of the Telecommunications Authority, and reviewing policies which reduce the scope and increase the cost of telecommunication licenses
Youri Boutsko’s “Second Great Organ notebook” (2010): a “Swan Song”
No full textThe article is devoted to analysis of the “Second Great Organ notebook” written in 2010 by the great
Russian composer Youri Boutsko (1938–2015). The author, who has a double role of musicologist and
concert organist to whom this “Second Great Organ notebook” was dedicated, presents its complete
analysis (conception and images, harmony and musical form), completed by her personal impressions
and recollections. Refs 6. Figs 7
Youri, gardien de la sagesse et des traditions du peuple des Vents : Le dernier chamane aléoute ?
No full textAu cours de son terrain de recherche en Alaska, l’auteure a fait la rencontre d’un chef spirituel aléoute, personnage surprenant qui l’amène à penser qu’il est peut-être un chamane caché. Après avoir fait une incursion dans le domaine du chamanisme traditionnel aux îles Aléoutiennes et retracé l’implantation très particulière de la religion russe orthodoxe en Alaska, notamment par l’intermédiaire du moine Veniaminov, devenu plus tard saint Innocent II, elle décrypte et analyse le discours de son interlocuteur en fonction du concept revu et transformé du chamanisme contemporain. Youri est-il un survivant du chamanisme, ou seulement un messager de la sagesse de ce peuple plusieurs fois millénaire qui règne sur la mer de Béring ? La réponse ne se trouve pas dans cet article, mais elle sera donnée deux ans plus tard dans un ouvrage que l’auteure a publié avec le dénommé Youri, avec qui elle a mené, après cette rencontre, un long et minutieux travail d’écriture.During fieldwork in Alaska, the author met an Aleut spiritual leader, a surprising man who led her to think he is possibly concealing his shamanism. After an overview of traditional shamanism in the Aleutian Island, and of the very particular establishment of the Russian Orthodox faith in Alaska, especially by the Monk Veniaminov, later Saint Innocent II, the author deciphers and analyzes the discourse of the Aleut spiritual leader according to the revised and transformed notions of contemporary shamanism. Is Youri a survivor of shamanism or only a messenger of the wisdom of his people who reigned for several thousand years over the Bering Sea ? The answer to that question is not in this article but will be given two years hence in a book that the author published in collaboration with Youri. As a result of that providential meeting she is producing a long and thorough written work
The European Union at the crossroads : the EU's institutional evolution from the Schuman Plan to the European Convention /
No full textEuropean Union Law and Practice in the Negotiation and Conclusion of International Trade Agreements
No full textAs the world\u27s largest trading block, the European Union (EU) has committed itself to an ambitious strategy of enhancing trade with its strategic partners through the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The launching of negotiations between the EU and the United States for the conclusion of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement is part of this strategy. Understanding the EU\u27s law and practice in the negotiation and conclusion of such agreements is essential for the Union\u27s negotiating partners, who have often been puzzled by its decision-making complexity. Following a systematic presentation of the EU\u27s institutions and their legal functions in the making of trade agreements, this Article provides an in-depth and step-by-step analysis of the EU\u27s inter-institutional and legal practice in the negotiation and conclusion of international trade agreements. As such, this Article also constitutes a thorough assessment of the changes brought by the Treaty of Lisbon in the trade policy field. After almost three years of practice, it can be concluded that the enhanced role of the European Parliament in the making of trade agreements is the Lisbon Treaty\u27s most important change in this area. Far from being the disruptive element that a number of prominent legal scholars had predicted. Parliament has not only brought a much needed element of democratization and open political debate in EU trade policy making, it has also delivered proof of its added value, notably by reinforcing the preservation of fundamental rights. The next step should be for Parliament to gain a formal role in the determination of the EU\u27s negotiating directives
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