139 research outputs found
Bounded Rationality and Policy Learning in EU Negotiations: the Liberalization of the Electricity Supply Industry
No full textEuropeanization; liberalization; electricity; national interest; regulation
Developing a European Polity: the case for governance on the Internet at the European Level
No full textIssues of European governance are currently at the fore of the debate on Europe’sfuture. Deliberations on the White Paper, which has recently been released (July 25,2001), have been encouraging and have reaffirmed the status of governance at theEuropean level to be a worthwhile subject of discussion. European politicaldevelopments, in the widest and deepest senses, have both necessitated andaccelerated this debate. However, the fact remains that Europe’s citizens still considera well-defined European polity to be a distant, and sometimes undesirable, aim.What is evidently missing from the Governance White Paper is a clearly definedpolicy regarding the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Itis not enough to say that eGovernment is a priority issue for eEurope. Europeangovernance in this context is about a more democratic and accountable set ofEuropean institutions, and one way of encouraging this is to bring the citizen closer tothe multiple levels of decision-making institutions. ICT can have a key role to play inthis instance, and this paper will discuss the possible future of electronicdemocratization processes in the European institutions, as opposed to theestablishment of ‘electronic democracy’.Three roles for ICT will be extracted from the current debates upon electronicdemocratisation:•Networks (of people and institutions),•Responsiveness (to participation), and•Dissemination (of information).Whilst the technology can be seen as supportive, there is also the tendency to relyupon the technology to solve problems of inefficient government – and thus provide ageneral response to the increasingly perceived ‘democratic deficit’. The paper willstart to describe the link between technologically-mediated innovations in politicalpractice and the impact these have on the process of democracy in the EuropeanUnion.The paper will state that attempts to improve efficiency in current administrations donot go far enough in helping with the development of governance at the Europeanlevel. If development of the European political space is seen as desirable, then the roleof ICT is one that should be carefully considered as an potential enabler and not apanacea.Fora such as those facilitated by new ICT provide an attractive way to unite Europeanactors. These fora have the likely effect of not only reducing the democratic deficitthrough more defined information channels, but also have the potential to encouragegreater involvement. This in turn, may lead to legitimation of the European polity.How this is to be done in the context of a unique European framework is still notclearly defined, and whilst the democratic deficit is clearly a problem for Europeaninstitutions, the broader question of the nature of the European Union (super-state orintergovernmental organization) is still not entirely answered.research and development ;
Wenn die Lichtreaktion im Dunkeln bleibt:Zur Behandlung der photosynthetischen Primärprozesse im Unterricht der Sekundarstufe II (Teil 2)
No full textDer in Teil 1 dieses Beitrags (EISING et al., 1998) vorgestellte molekular-strukturelle Ansatz zur Behandlung der photosynthetischen Primärreaktionen in der Sekundarstufe II wird mit einer schrittweisen Bilanzierung der Energieausbeuten vervollständigt. Dazu werden die Primärreaktionen so unterteilt, dass die Effektivität aller Arten von Energieumformungen deutlich wird. Die Zwischenstufen der Bilanz sind konkreten Strukturen und Funktionszuständen der Thylakoidmembran zugeordnet, wodurch die Bilanzierung zwanglos in den molekular- strukturellen Ansatz integriert und die Effektivität der Molekular-Strukturen für ihre Funktion deutlich wird. Als Übergang von der molekular-zellulären auf die organismische Betrachtungsebene werden die Energieträger der Photosynthese nach ihrer Verfügbarkeit für den Organismus klassifiziert. Hieraus ergibt sich ein geeigneter Ansatzpunkt für die Behandlung der Frage nach dem „Sinn“ der zahlreichen Energieumformungen in der Photosynthese
Continuity and change in party positions towards Europe in Italian parties: an examination of parties' manifestos
No full textThis paper analyses Italian parties' manifestos for national and European elections from 1979 to 1999 with the 'Wordscore' programme in order to gauge whether party positions with regard to the European Union have changed and whether the salience of the European Union has increased. Results indicate that, although there is no sign of increased salience, the leading Italian political parties have repositioned themselves in their attitudes towards the European Union, indicating that the European political space matters for national parties
Wenn die Lichtreaktion im Dunkeln bleibt:Zur Behandlung der photosynthetischen Primärprozesse im Unterricht der Sekundarstufe II (Teil 2)
No full textDer in Teil 1 dieses Beitrags (EISING et al., 1998) vorgestellte molekular-strukturelle Ansatz zur Behandlung der photosynthetischen Primärreaktionen in der Sekundarstufe II wird mit einer schrittweisen Bilanzierung der Energieausbeuten vervollständigt. Dazu werden die Primärreaktionen so unterteilt, dass die Effektivität aller Arten von Energieumformungen deutlich wird. Die Zwischenstufen der Bilanz sind konkreten Strukturen und Funktionszuständen der Thylakoidmembran zugeordnet, wodurch die Bilanzierung zwanglos in den molekular- strukturellen Ansatz integriert und die Effektivität der Molekular-Strukturen für ihre Funktion deutlich wird. Als Übergang von der molekular-zellulären auf die organismische Betrachtungsebene werden die Energieträger der Photosynthese nach ihrer Verfügbarkeit für den Organismus klassifiziert. Hieraus ergibt sich ein geeigneter Ansatzpunkt für die Behandlung der Frage nach dem „Sinn“ der zahlreichen Energieumformungen in der Photosynthese
"It fires back! The Impact of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy(CFSP) on the Evolution of a European identity"
No full textEver since the conclusions of the European Councils of Cologne and Helsinki – in other words: ever since the watershed event of the war in Kosovo in spring 1999 – the issue of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and even a Common European Policy on Security and Defence (CEPSD) are on the top of the European agenda. The European Union is finding itself in the midst of a discussion about the means it should dispose of in order to cohesively act abroad, diplomatically and militarily. This recent and breath-taking development marks a major shift in the general discourse on the European Union. The European Union, long conceived of as a "mere" civilian power is now arriving at a language of the past, a language which may provocatively called the language of "war and peace". This discourse entails central political questions. Europe is discussing its role in the international diplomatic and security environment. It defines the kind of international order it envisages. By the same token, foreign policy is not only about a state’s relationship with the outside world. The content of foreign policy equally reveals which values and principles constitute a state’s political community internally. Thus, the evolution of a European system of foreign policy governance allows for an alternative view on one of the most contested and most opaque puzzles of European integration: The configuration of the European citizenry’s identity. What impact has the institutional development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) exerted on the shape of the European polity and its identity? Does European foreign policy in fact "fire back" on identity as the title of this paper so confidently claims? Under which conditions does it shape which kind of (substantive) idea of a European citizenry? In answering this question, I will first, embark on a conceptual discussion. How do we need to conceive of foreign policy in order to allow for the linkage between foreign policy and citizenship? The decisive step consists of using an extended definition of the state as the base-line of inquiry. Conceptually, the state may not be based merely upon the presence of centralised government and territorial sovereignty, but it equally requires the inclusion of the concept of identity as an important benchmark. Accordingly, in the first part of this paper, I will elaborate on a constructivist definition of the state as an analytical blue-print for examining the texture of the European Union. In the second part, I will devise tentative hypothesis on the impact of the evolution of the European foreign policy governance system on the definition of a European identity. This section is split in two periods: A pre-Kosovo period and a post-Kosovo period. The pre-Kosovo period, I find, is not likely to have contributed to the development of a common identity conception. The post-Kosovo period, on the other hand, has opened up considerable opportunities to do so. It has created leeway for a discourse which is central for the emergence of a European identity: The de-coupling of the United States
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