Textbook

World politics has been surprised recently by two sudden developments. The first took place around the beginning of 2007, when the question of global warming rose abruptly to the top of the agenda, after having been a factor in the background. The second occurred in the autumn of 2008, when the rules for a global economy started inspiring great anxiety, after having been regarded as a source of stability. These two shifts took place independently, but their consequences will require common management. The regulatory structure underlying the world’s economic, legal, and political systems needs to be revised. This presents the EU with the greatest challenge it has ever faced. The point is that this global challenge comes on top of the pr- lems already posed by markets, welfare states, security, energy, and movements of population. The additional challenge is furthermore of such a kind that a deeper discussion of the very structure of the Union is difficult to avoid.

The enlargement of the European Union towards the East from May 2004 has generated an increase of about 100 million inhabitants in the EU population, and has especially brought along major challenges and important opportunities both for the "new" countries and for the "old" member states. That is the main focus of this volume, which is divided into three sections. The first analyses the effects of the enlargement on the functioning of Community institutions, on the relations with the other Eastern European countries, and finally on regional and global economic dynamics; the second section analyses in detail the role of the monetary politics of the European Central Bank and the activities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and the third deals with the importance of the entrepreneurial class in ensuring the success of the transition process of the Eastern European economies.

Should Turkey become a part of the European Union? This heated debate has been going on for many years now, always under the assumption that it is the membership candidate alone who needs to adjust to the EU’s influence. The book’s main argument is precisely that the Turkish accession needs to be analyzed not only by looking at the EU’s impact on Turkish transformation but also from an angle that captures the Turkish role in recasting Europe.

This is a study of the legal framework on criminal measures on trafficking and/or smuggling and facilitating illegal entry in six Member States: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, and the European Union. This issue is at the nexus of migration and criminal law. The system of criminal law in the Member States is a central part of the balance of the powers of the authorities and the rights of the citizen. The way in which civil liberties of the individual are weighed in comparison with public protection duties by the authorities is in essence a constitutional issue. The treatment of foreigners, in particular as regards their entry onto the territory and residence is not part of the constitutional settlements, but a field governed by state discretion and exceptionalism. The rules and administrative measures regarding entry, residence and expulsion of foreigners is not subject to the same civil liberties guarantees of due process as apply in criminal law. This comparative study examines how, in each Member State, the insertion of immigration into criminal law takes place. Do the rules of criminal law in respect of due process take precedence over the lower evidential and procedural requirements which are applied in the field of immigration? How does the criminal justice system deal with this new field where central constitutional issues are not present? There are two levels on which the insertion of immigration into criminal law takes place – the legal and the social. This book deals with both. On the one hand it looks at the laws and the court decisions on criminal trials in respect of immigrants for immigration related offences, on the other hand it looks at how the society (political actors, media, interest groups etc) discuss and develop this issue. This book is designed for policymakers, academics, students and activists concerned about the European Union.

The concept of a European Constitutional Area has been used in legal scholarship to describe a common space of constitutionalism where national and international constitutional guarantees interact to maintain the common constitutional values of Europe. This concept has not yet been tested in a case where the constitutional order of a Member State of the European Union seems to develop systemic deficiencies. The present volume aims to assess recent constitutional developments in Hungary and Romania, as well as the interplay of national, international and European constitutionalism which react to the loopholes in national constitutions. Accordingly, a core part of the volume is an in-depth analysis of the situation in Hungary and Romania. Based on that, the volume offers an account of the different reaction mechanisms of the European Union and of the Council of Europe. Beyond a detailed stock-taking of these mechanisms, their legal and political frameworks are explored, as well as different ways to extend their reach. In this way, the volume contributes to a little-studied aspect of European constitutionalism.

Negotiations are underway to agree the details of the European Union budget for the period of 2007 to 2013 (known as the Financial Perspective), covering the newly enlarged EU of 25 member states. Further enlargement is likely, with Bulgaria and Romania due to join in 2007 and the possible accession of Croatia and Turkey being considered. The Committee's report considers a range of issues in relation to the current budget debate, including the merits of the Commission's proposals within the framework of recent and future EU enlargement; the Common Agricultural Policy; Structural and Cohesion Funds; the Lisbon Agenda; other spending categories; the functioning of the 'Own Resources' and a EU tax; UK abatement and the Commission's proposal for a Generalised Corrective Mechanism. Conclusions reached include support for the UK Government's insistence that the UK rebate is non-negotiable, given the inadequate reforms of the CAP; however, if real reform of the budget was offered, then the UK Government should be prepared to negotiate. Structural funds should be focused on the 10 new member states, as well as the two applicant countries of Romania and Bulgaria, with the phasing out of EU regional development funds for all 'old' member states with the exception of Greece and Portugal.

The European Union and Global Governance: A Handbook aims to analyse contemporary debates in European Studies in order to provide lessons for the development, design and normative evaluation of global governance. It brings together scholars of European studies and international relations, where much of the literature on regional and global governance is located, thereby providing interdisciplinary lessons from the study of European Union and its governance that can be used to re-evaluate processes of global governance. Each chapter examines methodological, theoretical or empirical discussions within European studies in order to draw insights for current developments in global governance.