DOCSLIB.ORG

The State of the European Union 2011

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The State of the European Union 2011 ISBN 978-84-948895-2-3 Fundación Alternativas Created in 1997 to serve as a channel for political, social and www.fundacionalternativas.org cultural research and advocacy in Spain and Europe, the Fundación Alternativas has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and policy development. The foundation addresses a The political situation facing Europe is one of the most difficult and complex it has expe- broad range of issues through its Laboratory, Observatory on rienced since the Treaty of Rome – and it is not for want of public support. The latest Culture and Communication, Progress Research programme and opinion polls conducted by the European Parliament report the greatest sense of proxim- Observatory on Foreign Policy (OPEX), which focuses on foreign ity to the European project since such surveys began. policy at both European and international arenas. The difficulties stem from the domestic policies of the member states and from their cen- THE STATE OF THE The core objective of this organisation, which works hand in hand tripetal attitude in the face of the global challenges of the 21st century – on security, on with the most innovative and forward-looking thinkers in Spanish society today, has always been, and continues to be, rigorous socioeconomic relations, or on the environment. www.fes.de EUROPEAN UNION analysis and the development of new ideas for today’s increas- It is necessary to rethink Europe and, above all, rethink it together. However, so far there ingly globalised world. Through its programmes that focus on pub- has been a lack of the necessary courage and vision for such an initiative. On what ar- lic policy issues from European and international viewpoints as eas should the reform focus? How can the EU recover its capacity for political design? well as a domestic perspective, the foundation offers ideas for How can we stop the shift to the right currently taking place in Europe? The European Parliament faces decision-makers in every sphere of society, from government lead- ers and political parties to a wide range of other economic and The Union has to respond to this complicated situation, and it must do so with a European social stakeholders. and consensual spirit. Yet above all it has to respond by making decisions, adopting its most important elections yet concrete measures, some of which are long-awaited. These decisions will come after the The professional policy analysts and academics who collaborate elections to the European Parliament in May and they will depend on how citizens vote through the Foundación Alternativas are commited to making a solid and lasting contribution to social, economic, cultural and in those continental elections. The political parties have the obvious duty to explain what • The State of the European Union 2011. political progress in Spain and Europe. The year of the great test they are proposing to the Union in the election campaign. We in this report offer an analysis of the situation and, as in every edition, we make • The State of the European Union 2013. political recommendations. In this context, the best way of taking the next step would be Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung The failure of austerity via a rapprochement of those that remain loyal to Europe, forming a European nucleus The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is an independent non-govern- of countries capable of taking action and ready to do so – a group that, at the same mental organisation, founded in 1925 and named after the first • The State of the European Union 2014. time, remains open to all those that wish to contribute to the task, particularly the countries president of democratic Germany. How European citizens deal with these times of crisis that share the single currency. Following in the footsteps of the early struggle for democracy in • The State of the European Union 2015. Germany, FES has continued its mission to fight social and politi- The new legislature: eleven challenges facing Europe Director: Diego López Garrido cal injustice in a spirit of pluralism and participatory democracy. Coordinator: María Pallares With offices and activities in more than 100 countries, FES is • The State of the European Union 2016. dedicated to promoting the values of social democracy. FES en- Europe at the political crossroads OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2019 THE STATE gages in education programmes to promote popular democratic engagement. FES coordinates a large research network and is a • The State of the European Union 2017. major publisher in the fields of politics, history and social affairs. Relaunching Europe In this connection, FES strives to contribute to the development of progressive ideas and scholarly analysis of central policy areas. • The State of the European Union 2018. The European states facing the reforms of the Union FES is part of a worldwide network of German non-profit, political foundations. In cooperation with an extensive network of partners, FES offers one of the biggest non-governmental global infrastruc- tures for democracy promotion and international dialogue on cen- tral topics of international politics. 2019 The State of the European Union The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet The State of the European Union The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet Director: Diego López Garrido Co-director: Gero Maass Coordinator: María Pallares Assistant coordinator: Tram Anh Nguyen FUNDACIÓN ALTERNATIVAS AND FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG © The authors © Fundación Alternativas and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Translation by Simon Berrill, Tim Gutteridge, Jenni Lukac, Richard Preston and Carmen Swanwick-Roa Thanks to Jaqueline Mota Tavares Designed and printed by Lúa Ediciones 3.0, S.L. Avenida de Burgos, 39, 1.º izq. 28036 Madrid 616 722 687 Cover designed by Lúa Ediciones 3.0, S.L. ISBN: 978-84-948895-2-3 Depósito legal: M-18919-2019 All rights reserved. According to the law, you may not copy, modify, reproduce, republish or circulate in any way the content from this publication. Any other uses require the prior written permission of the owners of the Copyright. The sale or commercial use of all media published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is prohibited without the written consent of the FES. Table of contents 9 Prologue. The future of Europe Josep Borrell Fontelles 13 Introduction Gero Maass and Diego López Garrido 17 Spain before a new European political cycle José Candela and Carlos Carnero 25 More just. More social. Less unequal. What Germans expect from Europe Frieder Schmid and Martha Posthofen 33 Emmanuel Macron: the end of an exception Thierry Pech 39 Portugal. Uncertainty and diversity Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins 45 Right-wing populism in the EU: a threat to the integration process Klaus Busch 57 The difficult road towards a necessary European Federal Union José Enrique de Ayala 69 The challenge of European citizenship: freedom, participation, welfare and culture Domènec Miquel Ruiz Devesa 73 2018: a year of slow progress in eurozone reform Víctor Echeverría 83 Social Europe – naming the myth, preserving the model and taking concrete action Gero Maass and María Pallares THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 93 Global agreements on migration and refugees: challenges and proposals Paloma Favieres 103 The United States: widening the breach with Europe Vicente Palacio and Juan Antonio Pavón Losada 109 Protecting its citizens is becoming an ever more central part of the European Union’s job, with the development of the Common Security and Defence Policy and the implementation of Permanent Structured Cooperation Francisco Aldecoa Luzarraga 117 The uncertainties of Brexit: quo vadis, Britannia? Mercedes Guinea Llorente 129 A Europe that protects Spaniards Pablo Arnaldos 135 Recommendations European Affairs Council of the Fundación Alternativas 143 Biographies 149 Acronyms and abbreviations Prologue. The future of Europe The European Union (EU) is a unique political project in the history of humankind. It is a process of supranational integration, of pooling of sov- ereignty to reach a series of goals, one which a state enters into voluntar- ily and which has put an end to the wars on our continent. The EU is not an international organisation in the usual sense of the term, governed by a principle of voluntary cooperation. Quite the oppo- site, Europe has equipped itself with representative institutions, such as the European Parliament and the Council, which pass a good part of European laws by majority vote. Furthermore, the EU has contributed to decades of prosperity thanks to the establishment of the internal market, the biggest in the world with 500 million consumers, but also as a result of regional and cohesion policy, or exchange programmes such as Erasmus or the European Voluntary Service, which have enriched our young people culturally and have helped to start to forge a sense of belonging to the common European home. However, the euro crisis as of 2010 highlighted the fact that our mon- etary union is incomplete. The policies of fiscal adjustment at any cost in- creased unemployment and have left a legacy of inequality. The countries of Europe split into creditors and debtors. Later, in 2015, came the refugee crisis, which split the continent into countries that showed solidarity and those that did not, just as the Commission made the Stability and Growth Pact more flexible so that fis- cal adjustment did not harm economic growth and the Investment Plan for Europe was launched, partly moving beyond the paradigm of the procycli- cal polices pursued as of spring 2010. In 2016 came the hammer blow of Brexit, though time has shown that the one that it plunged into an existential crisis is actually the United Kingdom, while the citizens, institutions and states have rallied round the Union. 9 THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION No Member State has wished to imitate Great Britain.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Transformation of Italian Democracy
    Bulletin of Italian Politics Vol. 1, No. 1, 2009, 29-47 The Transformation of Italian Democracy Sergio Fabbrini University of Trento Abstract: The history of post-Second World War Italy may be divided into two distinct periods corresponding to two different modes of democratic functioning. During the period from 1948 to 1993 (commonly referred to as the First Republic), Italy was a consensual democracy; whereas the system (commonly referred to as the Second Republic) that emerged from the dramatic changes brought about by the end of the Cold War functions according to the logic of competitive democracy. The transformation of Italy’s political system has thus been significant. However, there remain important hurdles on the road to a coherent institutionalisation of the competitive model. The article reconstructs the transformation of Italian democracy, highlighting the socio-economic and institutional barriers that continue to obstruct a competitive outcome. Keywords: Italian politics, Models of democracy, Parliamentary government, Party system, Interest groups, Political change. Introduction As a result of the parliamentary elections of 13-14 April 2008, the Italian party system now ranks amongst the least fragmented in Europe. Only four party groups are represented in the Senate and five in the Chamber of Deputies. In comparison, in Spain there are nine party groups in the Congreso de los Diputados and six in the Senado; in France, four in the Assemblée Nationale an d six in the Sénat; and in Germany, six in the Bundestag. Admittedly, as is the case for the United Kingdom, rather fewer parties matter in those democracies in terms of the formation of governments: generally not more than two or three.
    [Show full text]
  • Remaking Italy? Place Configurations and Italian Electoral Politics Under the ‘Second Republic’
    Modern Italy Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 17–38 Remaking Italy? Place Configurations and Italian Electoral Politics under the ‘Second Republic’ John Agnew The Italian Second Republic was meant to have led to a bipolar polity with alternation in national government between conservative and progressive blocs. Such a system it has been claimed would undermine the geographical structure of electoral politics that contributed to party system immobilism in the past. However, in this article I argue that dynamic place configurations are central to how the ‘new’ Italian politics is being constructed. The dominant emphasis on either television or the emergence of ‘politics without territory’ has obscured the importance of this geographical restructuring. New dynamic place configurations are apparent particularly in the South which has emerged as a zone of competition between the main party coalitions and a nationally more fragmented geographical pattern of electoral outcomes. These patterns in turn reflect differential trends in support for party positions on governmental centralization and devolution, geographical patterns of local economic development, and the re-emergence of the North–South divide as a focus for ideological and policy differences between parties and social groups across Italy. Introduction One of the high hopes of the early 1990s in Italy was that following the cleansing of the corruption associated with the party regime of the Cold War period, Italy could become a ‘normal country’ in which bipolar politics of electoral competition between clearly defined coalitions formed before elections, rather than perpetual domination by the political centre, would lead to potential alternation of progressive and conservative forces in national political office and would check the systematic corruption of partitocrazia based on the jockeying for government offices (and associated powers) after elections (Gundle & Parker 1996).
    [Show full text]
  • A Comprehensive Plan to Innovate Democracy in Europe
    A comprehensive plan to innovate democracy in Europe Civil society vision for the European Democracy Action Plan A comprehensive plan to innovate democracy in Europe Civil society vision for the European Democracy Action Plan CIVIL SOCIETY VISION FOR 04 THE EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY ACTION PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary 07 Introduction 09 1. Civic space and active citizenship 12 1.1 Policy framework with guidelines on civic space 14 1.2 Anti-SLAPP directive 16 1.3 Whistleblowers protection 16 1.4 Space for youth 17 1.5 Financial support to CSOs 18 1.6 Conditionality related to the EU funds 20 1.7 Expanding the Rule of Law Mechanism 21 1.8 Stakeholder participation in strengthening democracy and the rule of law 22 1.9 Structured dialogue with Civil Society at EU and Member State level 22 1.10 Active citizenship fit for the 21st Century 24 1.11 European public sphere 26 1.12 Participation of underrepresented groups 27 1.13 Conference on the Future of Europe 28 2. Elections 31 2.1 European electoral reform 32 2.2 Inclusiveness & equal suffrage rights 33 2.3 Accessibility of elections 34 2.4 European political parties’ conduct, transparency & resilience 35 2.5 Online political advertising 37 2.6 Elections during a pandemic 41 2.7 Citizen election observation 43 2.8 Data Protection and elections 44 2.9 Election Infrastructure 45 CIVIL SOCIETY VISION FOR THE EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY ACTION PLAN 05 3. Disinformation and online public sphere 46 3.1 Governing internet platforms 48 3.2 Transparency of dominant platforms 50 3.3 Addressing the online manipulation business model by enforcing data protection rules 52 3.4 Upholding fundamental rights in the EU approach to disinformation 53 3.5 Central coordination and decentralised cooperation on disinformation 54 3.6 Decentralised framework fund 55 3.7 Sustainable and transnational journalism and media to counter disinformation 56 3.8 Global coordination and knowledge-sharing around hybrid threats 57 3.9 Data access for public interest scrutiny 58 3.10 Elections and disinformation 59 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Presidential Documents
    Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Monday, November 15, 2004 Volume 40—Number 46 Pages 2807–2825 VerDate Aug 04 2004 09:30 Nov 16, 2004 Jkt 205250 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 1249 Sfmt 1249 E:\PRESDOCS\P46NOF4.012 P46NOF4 Contents Addresses and Remarks Meetings With Foreign Leaders See also Appointments and Nominations; North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Secretary Meetings With Foreign Leaders General de Hoop Scheffer—2811 Iftaar dinner—2813 United Kingdom, Prime Minister Blair—2816, Radio address—2807 2823 Virginia, Veterans Day ceremony in Notices Arlington—2815 Walter Reed Army Medical Center, remarks Continuation of the National Emergency With to reporters following visit with wounded Respect to Iran—2810 troops—2807 Proclamations Appointments and Nominations Veterans Day—2809 Justice Department, Attorney General, World Freedom Day—2809 remarks—2812 Resignations and Retirements Communications to Congress Commerce Department, Secretary, statement—2808 Iran, letter on continuation of national Justice Department, Attorney General, emergency—2810 statement—2808 Interviews With the News Media Statements by the President Exchange with reporters in the Oval Office— See also Resignations and Retirements 2811 Death of Yasser Arafat—2814 News conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, November Supplementary Materials 12—2816, 2823 Acts approved by the President—2825 Checklist of White House press releases— Joint Statements 2824 United States of America and the United Digest of other White House Kingdom concerning the Middle East Peace announcements—2823 Process—2823 Nominations submitted to the Senate—2824 WEEKLY COMPILATION OF Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu- PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
    [Show full text]
  • IRELAND JANUARY-JUNE 1990 Meetings and Press Releases 7-22
    COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES PRESS RELEASES PRESIDENCY: IRELAND JANUARY-JUNE 1990 Meetings and press releases 7-22 May 1990 Meeting number Subject Date 1400th General Affairs 7 May 1990 1401st Internal Market 14 May 1990 1402nd Health 17 May 1990 1403rd Culture 18 May 1990 1404th Energy 21 May 1990 1405th Agriculture 21-22 May 1990 - 1 - COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES GENERAL SECRETARIAT PRESS RELEASE 6025/90 (Presse 55) 1400th Council meeting - General Affairs - Brussels, 7 May 1990 President: Mr Gerard COLLINS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland 6025/90 (Presse 55 - Gl EN - 2 - 7.V.90 dey/BS/ep The Governments of the Member States and the Commission of the European Communities were represented as follows: Belgium: Mr Mark EYSKENS Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Paul DE KEERSMAEKER State Secretary, European Affairs Denmark: Mr Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr J0rgen 0RSTR0M M0LLER State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Germany: Mr Hans-Dietrich GENSCHER Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Irmgard ADAM-SCHWAETZER Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Greece: Mr Antonis SAMARAS Minister for Foreign Affairs Spain: Mr Pedro SOLBES MIRA State Secretary for relations with the European Communities France: Mr Roland DUMAS Ministre d'Etat, Minister for Foreign Affairs 6025/90 (Presse 55 - G) EN - 3 - 7.V.90 dey/BS/ep Ireland: Mr Gerard COLLINS Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms Maire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN Minister of State with responsibility for EEC matters ~: Mr Gianni DE MICHELIS Minister for Foreign Affairs Luxembourg: Mr Jacques F. POOS Minister for Foreign Affairs Netherlands: Mr H.
    [Show full text]
  • ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
    APPENDIX A3 POLITICAL PARTIES, ESS9 - 2018 ed. 3.0 Austria 2 Belgium 4 Bulgaria 7 Croatia 8 Cyprus 10 Czechia 12 Denmark 14 Estonia 15 Finland 17 France 19 Germany 20 Hungary 21 Iceland 23 Ireland 25 Italy 26 Latvia 28 Lithuania 31 Montenegro 34 Netherlands 36 Norway 38 Poland 40 Portugal 44 Serbia 47 Slovakia 52 Slovenia 53 Spain 54 Sweden 57 Switzerland 58 United Kingdom 61 Version Notes, ESS9 Appendix A3 POLITICAL PARTIES ESS9 edition 3.0 (published 10.12.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Denmark, Iceland. ESS9 edition 2.0 (published 15.06.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden. Austria 1. Political parties Language used in data file: German Year of last election: 2017 Official party names, English 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) - Social Democratic Party of Austria - 26.9 % names/translation, and size in last 2. Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) - Austrian People's Party - 31.5 % election: 3. Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) - Freedom Party of Austria - 26.0 % 4. Liste Peter Pilz (PILZ) - PILZ - 4.4 % 5. Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) - The Greens – The Green Alternative - 3.8 % 6. Kommunistische Partei Österreichs (KPÖ) - Communist Party of Austria - 0.8 % 7. NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) - NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum - 5.3 % 8. G!LT - Verein zur Förderung der Offenen Demokratie (GILT) - My Vote Counts! - 1.0 % Description of political parties listed 1. The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ) is a social above democratic/center-left political party that was founded in 1888 as the Social Democratic Worker's Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, or SDAP), when Victor Adler managed to unite the various opposing factions.
    [Show full text]
  • Strengthening Democracy in Europe and Its Resilience Against Autocracy: Daring More Democracy and a European Democracy Charter Paul Nemitz and Frithjof Ehm
    Strengthening Democracy in Europe and its Resilience against Autocracy: Daring more Democracy and a European Democracy Charter Paul Nemitz and Frithjof Ehm DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN LEGAL STUDIES Research Paper in Law 01 / 2019 European Legal Studies Etudes Juridiques Européennes RESEARCH PAPERS IN LAW 1/2019 Paul Nemitz and Frithjof Ehm Strengthening Democracy in Europe and its Resilience against Autocracy: Daring more Democracy and a European Democracy Charter © Paul Nemitz and Frithjof Ehm, 2019 European Legal Studies/Etudes Juridiques Européennes Dijver 11 | BE-8000 Brugge, Belgium | Tel. +32 (0)50 47 72 61 www.coleurope.eu 1 Strengthening Democracy in Europe and its Resilience against Autocracy: Daring more Democracy and a European Democracy Charter* Paul Nemitz and Frithjof Ehm** INTRODUCTION: THE CRISIS OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY Representative Democracy is in crisis and this not only in Europe, considering developments in the US in particular.1 EU Member States like Poland,2 Hungary3 and Austria4 are governed by populists, some of them with autocratic tendencies.5 France is facing a crisis of political violence with “Gilets Jaunes” rampaging on its streets. Romania is riddled by corruption.6 Ever lower participation in elections and declining membership in political parties on both sides of the Atlantic document the steady decline of engagement of people in representative * To be published in S. Garben, I. Govaere and P. Nemitz (eds), Critical Reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2019) (forthcoming). ** Paul F. Nemitz is Principal Adviser at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers. He is teaching EU Law as a visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.
    [Show full text]
  • The Democratic Party and the Transformation of American Conservatism, 1847-1860
    PRESERVING THE WHITE MAN’S REPUBLIC: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN CONSERVATISM, 1847-1860 Joshua A. Lynn A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Harry L. Watson William L. Barney Laura F. Edwards Joseph T. Glatthaar Michael Lienesch © 2015 Joshua A. Lynn ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Joshua A. Lynn: Preserving the White Man’s Republic: The Democratic Party and the Transformation of American Conservatism, 1847-1860 (Under the direction of Harry L. Watson) In the late 1840s and 1850s, the American Democratic party redefined itself as “conservative.” Yet Democrats’ preexisting dedication to majoritarian democracy, liberal individualism, and white supremacy had not changed. Democrats believed that “fanatical” reformers, who opposed slavery and advanced the rights of African Americans and women, imperiled the white man’s republic they had crafted in the early 1800s. There were no more abstract notions of freedom to boundlessly unfold; there was only the existing liberty of white men to conserve. Democrats therefore recast democracy, previously a progressive means to expand rights, as a way for local majorities to police racial and gender boundaries. In the process, they reinvigorated American conservatism by placing it on a foundation of majoritarian democracy. Empowering white men to democratically govern all other Americans, Democrats contended, would preserve their prerogatives. With the policy of “popular sovereignty,” for instance, Democrats left slavery’s expansion to territorial settlers’ democratic decision-making.
    [Show full text]
  • GIPE-011462.Pdf
    <C~A\§§ <C®NF~n<CT lIN IITA\~Y o KARL WALTER. APPENDIX (FIIr on int.rpr.tatilJll ".! the present validity and significantt of the LolHrur Charter, Set page 38.) THE LABOUR CHARTER (1927) THE CORPORATIVE STATE AND ITS ORGANISATION I The Italian nation i. an organism whose life, aims and means are greater in power and duration than those of the individuals and groups of which it is composed. It is a moral, political and econo­ mic unity, which is integrally realised in the Fascist State. H Labour, in all its forms of organisation and enterprise, intel­ lectual, technical, manual, is a social duty. By that tide alone it comes under the guardianship of the State. From the national point of view the complex of production is unitarian; its objectives are unitarian and are summarised in the welfare of the individual and the development of national strength. III Trade union or professional organisation is voluntary. But only the trade union or association which is legally recognised and regulated by the State has the right legally to represent that category of workers or employers for which it is constituted, to safeguard their interests in respect of the state and other profes­ sional institutions, to enter into collective labour contracts obli­ gatory for the whole of that category, to exact contributions from them, and on their behalf to exercise the delegated powers of a public body. IV The collective labour contract is the expression of solidarity between the various factors of production, through conciliation of 129 13° AppmdiJt the conHicting interests of employers and employees, subordinated to the higher interests of production.
    [Show full text]
  • It Is Time for Eu! – Media Monitoring
    NGO INFO-CENTRE IT IS TIME FOR EU! – MEDIA MONITORING REPORT No. 1 (February - April 2009) SKOPJE, MAY 2009 PROJECT: IT IS TIME FOR EU! MEDIA MONITORING NGO Infocentre: Nikola Trimpare 18-1/5, 1000 Skopje; Phone/Fax: (02) 3233 560, 3216 690; [email protected], www.nvoinfocentar.org.mk FIRST REPORT, FEBRUARY - APRIL 2009 FINANCIAL SUPPORT: This publication is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID’s) Civil Society Strengthening Project, implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC). The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) or United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Furthermore, the mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 1. QUANTITATIVE OVERVIEW 5 2. QUALITY ANALYSIS 5 2.1. PRESIDENTIAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS 5 2.1.1. LOCAL EXPERTS OVERSHADOWED BY MEMBERS OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS 6 2.1.2. WARNINGS NEVER CEASED 6 2.1.3. ABSENCE OF DEBATE 7 2.1.4. (AB)USES OF EU IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN 8 2.2. THE NAME DISPUTE 8 2.2.1. VIEWS PRESENTED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF EU, GREECE AND THE GOVERNMENT 8 2.2.2. THE NAME IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN 10 2.2.3. ANTIQUITY CAMPAIGN VS. GOOD RELATIONS WITH GREECE 10 2.3. VISA LIBERALISATION 12 2.3.1. SPECULATING ON DATES 12 2.3.2 WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE? 13 2.4. EU ENLARGEMENT 13 2.4.1.
    [Show full text]
  • KDE Civics Test Manual
    Civics Test and Administration Manual 1 Table of Contents Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Statutory Requirements ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Civics Test ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 Test Administration ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Which Grade Takes the Test? .............................................................................................................................. 3 Accommodations ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Implementation Options ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Scoring the Test ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Recording Results .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Suggested
    [Show full text]
  • Shining Examples of Cost-Effective Energy and Carbon
    International Energy Agency Shining Examples of Cost-Effective Energy and Carbon Emissions Optimization in Building Renovation (Annex 56) Energy in Buildings and Communities Programme October 2015 EBC is a programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA) International Energy Agency Shining Examples of Cost-Effective Energy and Carbon Emissions Optimization in Building Renovation (Annex 56) Energy in Buildings and Communities Programme October 2015 Authors Austria Italy Spain Karl Höfler Federica Zagarella Jon Terés Zubiaga Julia Maydl Simone Ferrari David Venus Tiziano dalla Mora Sweden Piercarlo Romagnoni Åke Blomsterberg Czech Republic Jiří Sedlák Netherlands Switzerland Karel Struhala Henk Kaan Stéphane Citherlet Blaise Périsset Denmark Portugal Manuela Almeida Ove Christen Mørck Marco Ferreira Iben Østergaard Nelson Brito Kirsten Engelund Thomsen Nuno Baptista Jørgen Rose Rui Fragoso Søren Østergaard Jensen 4 © Copyright University of Minho 2014 All property rights, including copyright, are vested in University of Minho, Operating Agent for EBC Annex 56, on behalf of the Contracting Parties of the International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement for a Programme of Research and Development on Energy in Buildings and Communities. In particular, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of University of Minho. Published by University of Minho, Portugal Disclaimer Notice: This publication has been compiled with reasonable skill and care. However, neither University of Minho nor the EBC Contracting Parties (of the International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement for a Programme of Research and Development on Energy in Buildings and Communities) make any representation as to the adequacy or accuracy of the information contained herein, or as to its suitability for any particular application, and accept no responsibility or liability arising out of the use of this publication.
    [Show full text]