DOCSLIB.ORG

ASEAN and the EU: Time to Develop the Parliamentary Dimension of The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ASEAN and the EU: Time to Develop the Parliamentary Dimension of The STUDY ASEAN and the EU: Time to develop the parliamentary dimension of the relationship Directorate-General for External Policies Policy Department Author: Xavier NUTTIN June 2015 - PE 570.454 EN Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies This study was written in the framework of the EU Fellowship programme. The author was the EU Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), Singapore, from September 2014 to June 2015. DG EXPO/B/PolDep/Note/2016_27 English-language manuscript was completed on 30 June 2015. © European Union, 2016 Printed in Belgium. Editorial Assistant: Elena COLLADA de LARA Feedback of all kind is welcome. Please write to the author: [email protected] . To obtain copies, please send a request to: [email protected] European Parliament's online database, 'Think tank'. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of the author and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. It is addressed to the Members and staff of the EP for their parliamentary work. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. ASEAN and the EU: Time to develop the parliamentary dimension of the relationship ABSTRACT The EU is committed by Treaty to consolidate and support democracy worldwide. Parliamentary democracy is fundamental to achieve legitimacy and accountability. Moreover exchanges between parliaments enhance their role within each country and contribute to the spread of democratic values. The EU is also a staunch supporter of regional integration as a means of fostering regional stability, supporting economic growth and addressing global challenges. However, despite Asia being the world’s most dynamic region and a growing interdependence between Asia and Europe, the parliamentary dimension of the Asia-Europe relationship remains weak: Asia remains the only continent where the EP has yet to establish a region-to-region joint parliamentary assembly. The scale, complexity and diversity of Asia – which accounts for more than half of the world’s population – may explain this situation. This study first reviews the steps taken by the European Parliament to develop and strengthen relations and takes stock of the rare initiatives that were launched at the different regional levels. It then suggests that parliamentary diplomacy has not taken root yet in most Asian countries and explores the reasons for that situation, among which the respective roles of the executive and legislative branches of government. The current shortcomings in democratic governance in Asia and the lack of political support and commitment on the European side are also identified. In conclusion it argues that despite obvious difficulties there is room to advance representative democracy in Asia. As first step deeper engagement with ASEAN should be pursued and an EP-AIPA structured partnership that would support parliament’s democratic objectives established. Nothing is possible without men and women, but nothing is lasting without institutions. Jean Monnet 3 Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies Table of contents 1 Democratisation, globalisation and regionalisation 5 1.1 Advancing and consolidating democracy 5 1.2 Supporting democracy in a globalised world 6 1.3 Regional integration to foster stability and growth 6 2 The EP and the promotion of parliamentary democracy 7 3 Asia: the most dynamic region in the world 8 4 The Asian regional architecture 9 5 The European Union and Asia 12 6 Intra-Asian Parliamentary Democracy 14 7 Parliamentary dimension of the EU-ASIA relations 16 7.1 Bilateral relations 17 7.2 The Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) 19 8 The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) 20 8.1 ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC): the non-interference policy 22 8.2 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC): myth or reality? 24 8.3 ASEAN Socio-cultural Community (ASCC): a common regional identity? 25 9 EU-ASEAN cooperation 26 10 The ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly ( AIPA) 28 10.1 A little bit of history 29 10.2 Functioning of the AIPA 30 10.3 AIPA structure and bodies 32 11 Possible ways forward 33 11.1 Support the development of the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) 35 11.2 Establish a Euro-ASEAN Joint Parliamentary Assembly 36 11.3 Develop a regular and structured relation with AIPA 38 12 Conclusion 40 4 ASEAN and the EU: Time to develop the parliamentary dimension of the relationship 1 Democratisation, globalisation and regionalisation 1.1 Advancing and consolidating democracy While democracy has advanced in the previous decades, the number of democracies today is basically no greater than it was at the start of the Many democracies are century. Many of them are experiencing serious institutional difficulties and experiencing serious weak public confidence1. The Western model of representative democracy institutional difficulties and is being increasingly challenged by countries with more authoritarian types weak public confidence but of government. A disconnect is also developing between citizens and the at the same time voters feel mainstream political parties, as well as with government. Disillusionment, deeply concerned by their declining trust and public apathy are increasingly present in modern liberal future 2 democracies but also in other systems. The so-called EU democracy-deficit is a regular subject of debate. Questions are being raised about the legitimacy of the EU Institutions and the low participation rate in the last European elections appears to confirm that people are turning their back on politics. Political leaders face a lack of trust from citizens who consider them as part of a distant world detached from realities: few people trust them to be open, transparent and accountable and few people trust them to deliver on their promises. There is a gap between decision-makers and voters. Moreover Governments have lost economic power to the market and their role in delivering public services is diminishing through outsourcing to private companies which are not held accountable. On the other hand recent elections in some EU Member States have shown that voters feel deeply concerned by their future and demand radically different approaches through protest votes. Elsewhere in the world Government policies and choices are put under greater scrutiny and challenged by opposition parties, civil society groups and ordinary citizens. A freer and better educated electorate, making full use of social media tools, has access to information, express opinions and tries to influence decision-making. The 2015 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, which rejected Beijing’s proposal for the election of the leader of the special administrative region as amounting to fake democracy, speaks volumes about people’s desire to have their voices heard. Popular opposition to an Representative institutions October 2014 vote by Indonesia’s parliament to curtail democracy at the must respond to citizens' grassroots level was strong enough to reverse the decision. demands and needs Advancing or consolidating democracy is about establishing credible representative institutions that can respond to citizens' demands and needs. If those institutions don’t, increasing public empowerment can instead contribute to growing disillusionment with democracy. Strong 1 Thomas CAROTHERS, Why technology hasn’t delivered more democracy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 2015 2 Peter BAJTAY, Democratic and efficient foreign policy?, European University institute, Florence, 2014 5 Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies political will and a constant commitment to explain and convince are required. Political parties, when they fail to address the pressing needs of citizens such as employment, welfare or security, become more and more distrusted by citizens who then turn to new alternatives. The need to oppose the populist and inward-looking political parties who are rising in the political landscape becomes more urgent by the day. 1.2 Supporting democracy in a globalised world The EU is committed to promoting democracy worldwide. Art.21 of the One of the objectives of the Treaty on the EU states that one of the objectives of the Common Foreign EU Common Foreign and and Security Policy (CFSP) is to consolidate and support democracy, the rule of Security Policy (CFSP) is to law, human rights and the principles of international law. Representative consolidate and support democracy is a thus cornerstone and the role of parliamentarians a crucial democracy, the rule of law, one: parliamentary oversight, political support and guidance, budgetary human rights and the principles of international control, are essential elements of a democratic environment. law With globalisation the boundaries between what is considered national policies and international relations are blundered. Indeed what is decided in Beijing or Washington, by Governments or global markets, will impact the well-being of populations in Brazil or Spain. This has led to greater insecurity, with many people feeling uncertain about their future, leading to mounting resistance to immigration and economic liberalisation. The automatic positive impact of globalisation is being increasingly questioned. Europe needs strong alliances with, and commitment from, its partners to tackle global
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Bi-Regional Partnership Between European Union and Andean Community
    artículo de investigación ASSOCIATION / FREE TRADE AGREEMENT – BI-REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND ANDEAN COMMUNITY Ildikó Szegedy-Maszák * Este artículo es resultado del proyecto de investigación “Políticas Públicas del Desarrollo Sostenible en Colombia” de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. ** LLM (Magíster) en Derecho de Negocios Internacionales, London School of Economics and Political Science. Abogada ELTE ÁJK Budapest. Profesora investigadora Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotá. Calle 40 N° 6-23 piso 6, Bogotá (Colombia). [email protected] REVISTA DE DERECHO N.º 32, Barranquilla, 2009 ISSN: 0121-8697 218 Abstract This article discusses current European Union foreign policy develop- ments and their application in Latin America including the possibility of negotiating a bi-regional partnership agreement between the Euro- pean Union and the Andean Community. The way from an Association Agreement to a Free Trade Agreement is also analysed presenting the different viewpoints of the negotiating parties and possible ideological differences. The Eurolatinamerican interregional space theory and its application in the bi-regional integration process are also presented. In the conclusions concerns are expressed regarding the future of bi- regional partnership negotiations especially between integrations with asymmetries. Keywords: European Union foreign policy, Andean Community, bi-regional partnership agreement, Eurolatinamerican interre- gional space, asymmetries. Resumen En el presente artículo se discutirán los desarrollos actuales en las po- líticas exteriores de la Unión Europea y sus aplicaciones en Latino- américa incluyendo las posibilidades de negociar una asociación estra- tégica birregional entre la Unión Europea y la Comunidad Andina de Naciones. Se analizará el camino desde un Acuerdo Asociativo hacía un Tratado de Libre Comercio presentando los diferentes puntos de vis- ta de las partes negociadores y las posibles diferencias ideológicas.
    [Show full text]
  • Global, Social and Political Europe
    GLOBAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EUROPE by Loukas Tsoukalis July 2007 Copyright © 2007 HELLENIC FOUNDATION FOR EUROPEAN AND FOREIGN POLICY (ELIAMEP) All rights reserved ISBN 978-960-8356-23-8 GLOBAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EUROPE by Loukas Tsoukalis OP07.04 ELIAMEP offers a forum for debate on international and European issues. Its non-partisan character supports the right to free and well- documented discourse. ELIAMEP publications aim to contribute to scholarly knowledge and to provide policy relevant analyses. As such, they solely represent the views of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Foundation. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AFTER THE TURN OF THE CENTURY European integration after the turn of the century So much has already happened in Europe in this new century, providing enough material for both optimists and pessimists to develop their preferred scenarios. It all started with the introduction of the new single currency, surely the most important act of integration since the very beginning. It has worked remarkably smoothly and has also served as a laboratory for economists to test their theories. True, the economic performance of many eurozone countries left much to be desired during most of the period, while those that had willingly stayed out saw few reasons to change their minds. But these are still early years and there is much learning by doing for new European institutions and also for national players who gradually need to adjust to a very different economic and political environment. The governance of the eurozone is a big and still open question. Regional integration has continued to expand in new areas following a trend established some decades back.
    [Show full text]
  • NAACL HLT 2019 Natural Legal Language Processing (NLLP)
    NAACL HLT 2019 Natural Legal Language Processing (NLLP) Proceedings of the 2019 Workshop June 7, 2019 Minneapolis, MN c 2019 The Association for Computational Linguistics Order copies of this and other ACL proceedings from: Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) 209 N. Eighth Street Stroudsburg, PA 18360 USA Tel: +1-570-476-8006 Fax: +1-570-476-0860 [email protected] ISBN 978-1-950737-03-1 ii Introduction Welcome to the first edition of the NLLP (Natural Legal Language Processing) Workshop, co-located with the 2019 Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics. Many industries have embraced natural language processing (NLP) approaches, which have altered healthcare, finance, education and other fields. The legal domain however remains largely underrepresented in the NLP literature despite its enormous potential for generating interesting research problems. Electronic tools are increasingly used for all types of legal tasks and that use is predicted to grow sharply. By its very nature, the practice of law necessarily involves the analysis and interpretation of language. The potential for NLP applications to provide benefit to practitioners of law and consumers of legal services around the world is enormous. We organized this workshop to bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world who develop NLP techniques for legal documents. This is an exciting opportunity to expand the boundaries of our field by identifying new problems and exploring new data as it interacts with the full inventory of NLP and machine learning approaches. In this spirit, the Organizing and Program Committee was assembled to include researchers from both academia and industry, from natural language processing and legal backgrounds.
    [Show full text]
  • (Inter-) Regionalism Working Paper
    Working Paper Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism The EU as a Model of Regional Integration Tanja A. Börzel and Thomas Risse No. 7 | September 2009 2 | KFG Working Paper No. 7 | September 2009 KFG Working Paper Series Edited by the Kolleg-Forschergruppe „The Transformative Power of Europe“ The KFG Working Paper Series serves to disseminate the research results of the Kolleg-Forschergruppe by making them available to a broader public. It means to enhance academic exchange as well as to strenghen and broaden existing basic research on internal and external diffusion processes in Europe and the European Union. All KFG Working Papers are available on the KFG website at www.transformeurope.eu or can be ordered in print via email to [email protected]. Copyright for this issue: Tanja A. Börzel and Thomas Risse Editorial assistance and production: Farina Ahäuser Börzel, Tanja A./Risse, Thomas 2009: Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism: The EU as a Model of Regional Integration , KFG Working Paper Series, No. 7, September 2009, Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG) „The Transformative Power of Europe“, Free University Berlin. ISSN 1868-6834 (Print) ISSN 1868-7601 (Internet) This publication has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Freie Universität Berlin Kolleg-Forschergruppe „The Transformative Power of Europe: The European Union and the Diffusion of Ideas“ Ihnestr. 26 14195 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0)30- 838 57033 Fax: +49 (0)30- 838 57096 [email protected] www.transformeurope.eu Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism | 3 Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism The EU as a Model of Regional Integration Tanja A. Börzel and Thomas Risse Freie Universität Berlin Abstract The European Union (EU) perceives itself as a model for regional integration, which it seeks to diffuse by actively promoting the development of genuine (intra-) regional economic and political cooperation, the building of issue-related regimes, and the creation of joint institutions for consultation and decision- making in its neighbourhood and beyond as well as between the world regions and the EU.
    [Show full text]
  • Future Options of the Kurds. Part I: the Current Situation
    Advances in Anthropology, 2018, 8, 175-234 http://www.scirp.org/journal/aa ISSN Online: 2163-9361 ISSN Print: 2163-9353 Future Options of the Kurds.1 Part I: The Current Situation Ferdinand Hennerbichler Department of History, College of Humanities, University of Sulaimani (UoS), Sulaymaniyah, Iraq How to cite this paper: Hennerbichler, F. Abstract (2018). Future Options of the Kurds. Part I: The Current Situation. Advances in Anth- The Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum on September, 25, 2017, in- ropology, 8, 175-234. itiated by Masoud Barzani, former elected President of the Kurdistan Region https://doi.org/10.4236/aa.2018.83009 Iraq (KRI) (in office: June 13, 2005 to August 19, 2015) was not intended as Received: July 30, 2018 the basis for a declaration of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq Accepted: August 27, 2018 in the foreseeable future. It was, rather, aimed at strengthening his own do- Published: August 30, 2018 mestic political position as well as that of other leading politicians of the Bar- zani family and of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Iraq, currently leading the Copyright © 2018 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The referendum aggravated the per- This work is licensed under the Creative sisting constitutional crisis in Iraq since 2005 over as-yet unresolved crucial Commons Attribution International questions, above all regarding the status of Kirkuk and other “disputed terri- License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ tories”. The Iraqi Kurds lost to a great extent their influence over Kirkuk and Open Access about 40% of other “disputed territories” they were controlling before.
    [Show full text]
  • Prevention of Armed Conflict in Europe: Comparing the Role of the EU and the US/NATO
    Prevention of Armed Conflict in Europe: Comparing the Role of the EU and the US/NATO Noah Carl1 28 August 2018 1 Independent researcher, UK: [email protected] 2 Abstract The period of relative peace in Europe since the end of the Second World War has been variously described as the ‘Pax Europaea’ and the ‘Pax Americana’. These descriptions reflect two major theories purporting to account for the relative absence of armed conflict during this period: one emphasising the pacifying impact of the EU, and the other emphasising the pacifying impact of the US/NATO. The present paper attempts to evaluate these theories by comparing the role of the EU and the US/NATO in several domains of armed conflict in Europe. It focuses on the mechanisms through which the two organisations have affected the risk and scale of armed conflict within each domain. Although both the EU and the US/NATO have contributed to the relative peace in Europe since the end of the Second World War, there is at least one domain in which each of the organisations has either exacerbated or failed to prevent armed conflict. Understanding the limitations of the two organisations, as well as their strengths, will be important for bolstering European security as the continent faces new geopolitical challenges. Key words: peace, war, armed conflicts, EU, US, NATO 3 1. Pax Europaea and Pax Americana It is a fact that, since the end of the Second World War, no two countries in Central or Western Europe have gone to war with one another, despite numerous armed conflicts in the preceding centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Diffusing (Inter-) Regionalism: the EU As a Model of Regional Integration Börzel, Tanja A.; Risse, Thomas
    www.ssoar.info Diffusing (inter-) regionalism: the EU as a model of regional integration Börzel, Tanja A.; Risse, Thomas Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Arbeitspapier / working paper Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Börzel, T. A., & Risse, T. (2009). Diffusing (inter-) regionalism: the EU as a model of regional integration. (KFG Working Paper Series, 7). Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, FB Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften, Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft Kolleg-Forschergruppe "The Transformative Power of Europe". https://nbn-resolving.org/ urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-368027 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparative Regionalism: a New Research Agenda Börzel, Tanja A
    www.ssoar.info Comparative Regionalism: A New Research Agenda Börzel, Tanja A. Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Arbeitspapier / working paper Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Börzel, T. A. (2011). Comparative Regionalism: A New Research Agenda. (KFG Working Paper Series, 28). Freie Universität Berlin, FB Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften, Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft Kolleg- Forschergruppe "The Transformative Power of Europe". https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-374751 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use. anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an.
    [Show full text]
  • THE EUROFILE Liberal Democrat Essays on Europe
    THE EUROFILE Liberal Democrat essays on Europe Published and promoted by Tim Gordon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE. Contents Tim Farron: This is why I’m IN 1 Nick Clegg: Europe makes Britain great 2 Shirley Williams: We built the EU for our children 3 Paddy Ashdown: Pax Europaea 4 Catherine Bearder: The EU is vital to face global challenges 5 Bob Maclennan: Past, present and future, the EU is a 6 constructive force in the World Susan Kramer: The EU means jobs for the next generation 7 “We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different Julie Smith: The European Peace Project 8 cultures will be able to develop freely.” John Alderdice: The EU was a model for the Irish Peace Process 9 Jim Wallace: Scotland has a European heritage 10 Preamble to the Liberal Democrat Constitution Mark Williams: Europe works wonders for Wales 11 Navnit Dholakia: There is strength in numbers 12 Anthony Lester: Europe protects our rights 13 Brian Paddick: 21st Century crime requires 21st 14 Century cooperation Dick Newby: The EU gives tangible benefits to all of our lives 15 Dick Taverne: …it’s not rocket science 16 Jane Bonham Carter: Leaving Europe would be a culture shock 17 John Lee: Let’s not pass up millions of holidays 18 Robin Teverson: The environment pays no heed to our borders 19 Sharon Bowles: Working together for a stronger economy 20 THE EUROFILE 1 European neighbours, rather than risking a return to the mutual hostility This is why I’m IN of a century ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Austria Between Felt Permanent Neutrality and Practised European Engagement
    PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FRANKFURT Berthold Meyer Austria between Felt Permanent Neutrality and Practised European Engagement Austrian Case PRIF- Research Paper No. I/10-2007 © PRIF & Berthold Meyer 2007 Research Project „The Image of the Democratic Soldier: Tensions Between the Organisation of Armed Forces and the Principles of Democracy in European Comparison“ Funded by the Volkswagen Foundation 2006-2009 Contents 1. Austria in Europe until World War II 2 2. The Time of Active Neutrality 2 3. Neutrality and the Europeanization of Austria after 1990 5 4. The Europeanization of the Bundesheer after 2000 6 5. The Political Parties and their Positions to Security and Defence Questions since 2000 9 References 20 Meyer: Austrian Case I/10-2007 2 This contribution covers the development of the foreign and security policy of the Second Austrian Republic since 1945 on the way from permanent neutrality to a strong European Engagement. It reflects in which way political parties have steered and how public opinion has accompanied this process and what it meant for the development of the Austrian army, the Bundesheer. 1. Austria in Europe until World War II After the Austrian Emperor Franz II had laid down the crown as German Emperor under the pressure of Napoleon in 1806, the Austrian Empire (K.u.K.-monarchy) was one of the five important players in the European Concert for a whole century. The territory, which was ruled from Vienna, extended from today’s Czech Republic in the North to Milan (Italy) and today’s Croatia in the South, from the Swiss border in the West to parts of today’s Ukraine in the East.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unhappy State of the Union. Europe Needs a New Grand Bargain
    THE UNHAPPY STATE OF THE UNION EUROPE NEEDS A NEW GRAND BARGAIN LOUKAS TSOUKALIS The crisis has fundamentally transformed Europe’s economic and political landscape. The continent has been divided between creditors and debtors, and between euro countries and the rest. Divisions run deep within countries as well, as inequalities grow faster. Trust is low, the economics is flawed and the politics toxic. Economic recovery is modest at best; it is also fragile and uneven. Courting with deflation, with high unemployment and anti-systemic parties on the rise, and with precariously high levels of public and private debt, Europe seems to be facing the future on a wing and a prayer. What is to be done to arrest Europe’s habit of dangerously muddling through the crisis? This Policy Network pamphlet presents the case for a new grand bargain to rescue the European project from the perspective of an author who uniquely bridges the gap between academic analysis, policy and politics. It is published in partnership with major European thinktanks in France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain. Translated versions will be disseminated in all six languages. 3 Published in 2014 by Policy Network Policy Network Third floor 11 Tufton Street London SW1P 3QB United Kingdom www.policy-network.net Copyright © 2014 Loukas Tsoukalis The right of Loukas Tsoukalis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, 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 permission of the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Not Frozen! the Unresolved Conflicts Over Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Light of the Crisis Over Ukraine
    SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Sabine Fischer (ed.) Not Frozen! The Unresolved Conflicts over Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Light of the Crisis over Ukraine RP 9 September 2016 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2016 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They reflect the views of the author(s). SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 3­4 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Meredith Dale (Revised and updated English version of SWP-Studie 13/2016) Table of Contents 5 Issues and Recommendations 9 Russian Policy in the Unresolved Conflicts Sabine Fischer 25 The Transnistria Conflict in Light of the Crisis over Ukraine Klemens Büscher 43 The Conflicts over Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Light of the Crisis over Ukraine Sabine Fischer 61 The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in Light of the Crisis over Ukraine Franziska Smolnik and Uwe Halbach 81 Conclusions and Recommendations: European Peace Policy in the Unresolved Conflicts Sabine Fischer 95 Appendix 95 Abbreviations 97 The Authors Issues and Recommendations Not Frozen! The Unresolved Conflicts over Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Light of the Crisis over Ukraine In spring and summer 2014, Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas supplied the international community with a sudden reminder of the unresolved conflicts festering in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood.
    [Show full text]