The EU's dialogue on migration, mobility, and security with the Southern Mediterranean: filling the gaps in the global approach to migration. CEPS Liberty and Security in Europe, June 2011

Recent events in North Africa and the Mediterranean have had consequences in terms of human mobility, and are putting the foundations and components of EU’s migration policy under strain. The forthcoming European Council summit of 23-24 June 2011 is expected to determine ‘the orientations for further work’ under the Polish Presidency and the next JHA Trio Presidency Programme for the EU’s policies on crossborder migration in the Mediterranean and internal mobility within the scope of the Schengen regime. This paper constitutes a contribution to current and future EU policy discussions and responses on migration, mobility and security. It provides a synthesised selection of recommendations in these domains resulting from the research conducted by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Section of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) during the last nine years of work. This Policy Brief argues that for the EU’s Global Approach to Migration to be able to satisfactorily address its unfinished elements and policy incoherencies, the Union needs to devise and develop common policy strategies focused on: first, new enforcement and independent evaluation mechanisms on the implementation of the European law on free movement, borders and migration, and the compatibility of EU member states and EU agencies’ actions with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. And second, the development of a kind of cooperation (dialogue) with third states that goes beyond security-centred priorities and that is solidly based on facilitating human mobility, consolidating fundamental rights and the general principles of the rule of law upon which the EU legal system is founded

The Industry and Policy Context for Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion:Market Analysis, Future Prospects and Key Challenges in Videogames, Serious Games and Gamification

The effective use of digital games for empowerment and social inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the 'videogames' industry, and an emerging 'serious games' industry. The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The 'serious games' industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors. This emerging industry is are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games, and products inspired by digital games, for a range of non-leisure applications. This report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution they could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion. Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

The genesis and development of mobile learning in Europe

In the past two decades, European researchers have conducted many significant mobile learning projects. The chapter explores how these projects have arisen and what each one has contributed, so as to show the driving forces and outcomes of European innovation in mobile learning. The authors identify context as a central construct in European researchers’ conceptualizations of mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. The authors also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Finally, they suggest future challenges for researchers, developers and policy makers in shaping the future of mobile learning

Central Bank’s Role and Involvement in Bank Regulation: Lender of Last Resort Arrangements and the Special Resolution Regime (SRR)

This paper considers developments which have necessitated greater involvement and a greater role for the central bank in financial regulation and supervision. The aftermath of the 2007/08 Financial Crisis has witnessed the enactment of legislation such as the Banking Act of 2009 which has not only introduced greater statutory powers for the central bank, but also the Special Resolution Regime. As well as a consideration of arguments which are in favour of the central bank’s role as supervisor and lender of last resort, the importance of central bank independence and safeguards which exist to ensure that sufficient accountability is fostered, will be considered. Safeguards and accountability mechanisms which are adequate, such that, whilst ensuring that the regulator is not susceptible to regulatory capture, do not impede the ability of such a regulator to obtain vital and necessary information from systemically important individual financial institutions. In its support of the view that central banks should assume a greater role in supervision, this paper not only seeks to justify why such a degree of involvement is vital to ensuring and maintaining stability in the financial system, but also those factors which are considered to be necessary if such a role is to be effectiv

Still the century of ‘new’ environmental policy instruments? Exploring patterns of innovation and continuity

This article re-examines the political interest in and use of ‘new' environmental policy instruments (NEPIs) and other non-regulatory modes of governance. It starts by taking stock of the dynamic debate that has emerged around this topic since the turn of the century. It then contextualizes that debate by examining subsequent challenges to, and transformations in state-led governing and the widely acknowledged rise of 'new governance' more generally. It highlights the mismatch between: (a) the animated discussion of new instruments amongst policy makers and academics; and (b), the less active adoption and performance of them in practice. It makes an overall assessment of the role of instruments - both ‘old' and ‘new' - in the wider debate about governance, and suggests some steps that could be taken by both practitioners and scholars better to understand and possibly even utilise more NEPIs in the future

The Need for Revised Resolution Regimes and Supervisory Arrangements

In October 2010, having drawn crucial lessons fom the Financial Crisis which was triggered in 2007, and whose impact was still evident at the time, the Financial Stability Board Recommendations on systemically important financial institutions „called for an assessment, on the basis of the BCBS Recommendations and the draft FSB Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes (FSB Key Attributes), of national authorities’ capacity to resolve SIFIs under existing resolution regimes and of the legislative and other changes to national resolution regimes and policies needed to accomplish effective resolution.“ As well as attempting to highlight why much greater initiatives and efforts are required in relation to exit mechanisms for failing banks – that is, greater initiatives and efforts than prudential aspects of regulation which embrace capital adequacy procedures, this paper also draws attention to vital steps that could be taken at international level to make cross-border resolutions more effective

Structure, tools, discourse and practices: a multidimensional comparative approach to EU territorial governance

The concept of "EU territorial governance" has been recently adopted by planners and decision-makers to indicate the occurrence of a complex, multifaceted and largely undefined process of spatial planning and development activities guided, at various levels, in the European Union's institutional context. Building on a EU territorial governance conceptual framework elaborated by the authors in previous work, which individuates the specific „channels‟ of interaction that convey change in European countries, on the one hand, and institutional progress at the EU level, on the other hand, the contribution aims to shed some light on the differential impact exerted by such channels as they manifests in relation to different Member States domestic contexts. It does so by adopting three different national contexts as case studies, representative of as many „ideal types‟ of planning system traditions existing in Europe - namely , „comprehensive integrated‟ (Germany), „urbanism‟ (Italy), plus a supposed „Central and Eastern European socialist transition‟ type (Poland) - and providing a comparative analysis of the elements that, in relation to each of them, influence the evolution of European spatial planning and spatial planning domestic contexts within the complex framework of EU territorial governanc