Exploring the Energy Security and Climate Policy Nexus with the POLES Energy Model in the SECURE Project.

The three pillars of EU energy policies, competitiveness through a unified market, sustainability and environmental protection and finally energy security are sometimes presented as conflicting and sometimes as complementary. In this paper, these dimensions of EU policies are explored through a set of scenarios simulated with the POLES model. In order to analyse the impacts of the trade-offs among these three goals on the EU 27 energy sector, five scenarios have been developed.POLES MODEL ; CLIMATE CHANGE ; SCENARIO ; ENERGY POLICY

(Re)discovering the social responsibility of business in Germany

Die gesellschaftliche Verantwortung von Unternehmen war in Deutschland lange Zeit kein öffentliches Thema; gleichwohl haben gesellschaftliche Normen, gesetzliche Regelungen und sozialpartnerschaftliche Konfliktregulierung auf eben diese Verantwortung Bezug genommen. In den letzten Jahren haben Unternehmen, auch in Deutschland, begonnen, in Auseinandersetzung mit verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen ihre gesellschaftliche Verantwortung - oft angestoßen durch ihre multinationale Geschäftstätigkeit - neu zu interpretieren. Dieser Artikel zeigt Möglichkeiten auf, wie in Deutschland, auf den eigenen Traditionen sozialer Verantwortlichkeit aufbauend, institutionelle Arrangements im Hinblick auf sich wandelnde Aufgaben- und Verantwortungsverteilungen gefunden werden können, um eine bessere Balance von sozialen, ökonomischen und umweltbezogenen Bedürfnissen zu erzielen. -- The concept of CSR is a relatively recent addition to the agenda in Germany, although the country has a long history of practicing corporate social responsibility. The expectations of society had remained stable for many years, encapsulated in laws, societal norms, and industrial relations agreements. But over the past decade, German companies, often triggered by their multinational activities, have had to engage with diverse stakeholders to redefine the nature of their social responsibilities. This contribution reviews and illustrates the development of corporate social responsibility in Germany and analyses how the actors in business and society can build on traditional strengths to find new institutional arrangements for sharing tasks and responsibilities in the interests of achieving a better balance between societal, economic, and environmental needs.

Economic growth and patterns of sustainability

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NO ESCAPE FROM POLITICS FOUR TESTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL FISCAL INSTRUMENT IN THE EURO AREA. Bertelsmann Stiftung Policy Paper No. 220 26 March 2018

With his proposal for a euro area budget, Emmanuel Macron has put a common fiscal instrument back at the center of the euro area reform debate. The discussion about whether or not the euro area needs more fiscal integration may be older than the currency union itself, but there is good reason to believe that the coming months will be a critical juncture for European fiscal policy. This policy paper makes two contributions to the debate. We start out by arguing that a common fiscal instrument is desirable. We suggest that proponents and opponents of fiscal integration alike should take heed of the unprecedented role the European Central Bank (ECB) played in safeguarding the stability of the euro area and facilitating its recovery. In our view, the more ill-at-ease one feels with the scale of the ECB measures, the stronger the case for joint fiscal policy becomes. From this perspective, alleviating the excessive dependence on monetary policy is a key rationale for developing a common fiscal instrumen

Grand, Bland or Somewhat Planned? Toward a Canadian Strategy for the Indo-Pacific Region

Canada may be a Pacific nation, but one would hardly know it, given its history of merely sporadic and inconsistent engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. The idea of a proud legacy of special relations with Asian nations is clearly overblown. Canada’s relations with the Indo-Pacific region are in need of serious attention and forethought. There is cause for concern: With the spectacular economic rise, and growing influence, of certain Asian nations, Canada’s pattern of Indo-Pacific neglect is proving increasingly unaffordable. Canada may not have squandered any significant legacy from the past, but it might easily squander the potential for crucial relations in the future. Understandably, that has led some observers to call for a sort of “grand strategy” for Canada to deal with the Indo-Pacific region: an overarching framework that would co-ordinate all the various facets — economic, institutional and security — where Canadian interests do and will touch the Indo-Pacific region. Yet, again, these calls are misplaced: Canada must be more engaged in the region, but there are instances where it should address issues on a seriatim basis (that is, confronting and responding to issues on their own, as they emerge). In some cases, a strategic framework may be prudent, but not in all cases. The appropriate approach is neither a grand strategy, nor a “muddling through” approach, but rather, something in between: partly strategically planned, partly not. In particular, it would be inadvisable for Canada to fully commit to any standing security strategy to deal with the rise of China’s military power. Canada is not a global military power, whereas its closest ally, the United States, is the world’s largest military power. The American strategy toward China will influence Canada’s approach more than any other factor, however the U.S. strategy is currently largely unclear. For Canada to be proactive in independently developing a security strategy with regard to China could result in waste and even conflict with our allies. Indeed, in evaluating Canada’s security position vis-à-vis the entire Indo-Pacific region, the factors largely seem to favour Canada taking a seriatim approach: Canada’s natural and optimal position, given its military status, is to take a reactive, second-mover approach, rather than a first-mover approach. Somewhat ironically, Canada’s history of inattentiveness towards the Indo-Pacific region may actually provide Canada with increased flexibility and advantage in the new era of rising Asian power: Put simply, save for a few examples, there is a distinct lack of baggage between Canada and the Indo-Pacific nations, leaving something close to a clean start for future relations. It is, however, critical that Canada not allow that past irresponsible practice to persist. Notions of some “grand strategy” for the Indo-Pacific region may be misguided. But given the ascendant role of Indo-Pacific nations in the 21st century, it would be even more unwise for Canada to maintain its longstanding pattern of indifference toward the region

‘Muddling through’ in the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention

The paper looks at power in the origins and evolution of the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). It begins by looking at the origins of what some have termed a taboo surrounding poison weapons, before turning to look at the role of different forms of power in the genesis of the BWC in the late 1960s. The article proceeds to look at the role of institutional power in the evolution of the convention before turning to the limitations generated by the diffused nature of power. The chapter concludes by exploring the literature on public administration, particularly Lindblom’s notion of ‘incrementalism’ to outline how the BWC is essentially ‘muddling through’ and to some extent is largely limited to muddling through because of the consensus rule and the limits of productive power within the BWC