Should Turkey be Admitted into the European Union? The Debate

CESAA 17TH ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2009 - Honours winner: Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot, Monash UniversityOver the past decades, the European Union has witnessed an increasing apathy among European citizens’ vis-à-vis EU institutions. In 1993, EU elites formally introduced the idea of a ‘European citizenship’ in an attempt on the one hand, to reactivate the European integration project, and, on the other hand, to foster greater consciousness of the European identity which the EU is supposed to represent. What opportunities and challenges would Turkey’s accession to EU membership have on our idea of ‘European citizenship’ and ‘identity’? An analysis on the current debate regarding Turkey’s possible accession in the EU raises significant questions on the EU’s identity and on the role of the EU in the international community

'Stretching the Imagination': Geographical Indications in the EU-Australia FTA Negotiations

The launch of negotiations for an EU-Australia 'free trade agreement' (FTA) on 18 June 2018 was a confirmation of a 'like-minded' strong partnership, in which both parties had high hopes for an ambitious agreement which would test the new wave of protectionism promoted by Donald Trump.Nonetheless, the initial rounds of negotiations revealed several issues which illustrate the scale of the challenge to be addressed. One such example was the issue of Geographical Indications (GI). The EU and its member states adopt an approach which is highly regulated and prescriptive to safeguard the authenticity of its produce and encourage rural development. Australia approaches this kind of intellectual property issue via a trademark system as well as a sui generis system to better capture the benefits of innovation. This paper analyses the challenges and opportunities an accord on GI's could have for both regions, as revealed in the context of the EU-Australia negotiations. The paper claims that while an agreement on GI's was a significant outcome for the overall FTA, the process adopted by the EU and Australia was in itself a reflection of the ambition for an amicable, dynamic and innovative negotiating process

Borders and Catastrophe: lessons from COVID-19 for the European Green Deal

This article considers how the European Union and Member States’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the first half of 2020 could inform climate action in Europe, and particularly the resumption of actions on the EGD. It first outlines the EU’s public health and economic responses to COVID-19 and Europe’s role in the global response to the pandemic. We find that, based on the challenges and successes of all these responses, a strong argument can be made for ‘more Europe’ – greater integration, and stronger EU-level institutions – to lead and govern the COVID-19 response. This has direct lessons for the governance and scope of future climate action

The crisis of the French Socialist Party in contemporary France

© 2014 Dr. Sophie Di Francesco-MayotThis thesis argues that, over the past three decades, the French Socialist Party (PS) has been experiencing a crisis. This crisis is a result of deep internal divisions among Socialist elites, which is affecting the internal cohesion and effectiveness of the Party, particularly with regard to policy-making. Subsequently, it is argued that these internal disputes among elites is impeding on the Party’s ability to develop a compelling alternative political narrative for France within an increasingly interconnected European Union (EU). The aim of the thesis is to examine the malaise of the Socialist Party since François Mitterrand’s notorious 1983 socio-economic ‘U-turn’ and to analyse how this crisis has been manifested within the Party as well as at the national and EU levels. The thesis advances two main hypotheses: first, the French Socialist Party is experiencing a crisis, which has developed over the past three decades. Although the crisis of the PS is to an extent comparable to the crisis experienced by other social democratic parties in Western Europe, the way in which the French Socialist Party is dealing with its crisis is distinct. This is due to two factors: the first is France’s political culture. The second is the nature of the French party system within which the Party is placed. The malaise of the PS in France is evident in a number of ways. Firstly, there are deep divisions among Socialist elites with regard to party policies and the implementation of those policies. Secondly, these internal disagreements have, over time, resulted in a crisis of representation and a disjuncture between Socialist elites and Socialist constituents rendering it difficult for Socialist leaders to devise a credible alternative political stance for France. Thirdly, the Party’s lack of a clear political message is evident in the Party’s inability to effectively deal with socio-economic and socio-cultural challenges which French society has been experiencing for some time. The second hypothesis is that the presence of competing ideological factions within the Party, especially between the ‘working class’ constituents and the ‘professional class’ constituents, is negatively affecting the Socialist elites’ ability to find a compromise between upholding the Party’s values and ideologies and ensuring that the Party is adapting to necessary socio-economic, political and cultural changes both in France and in the EU

'Stretching the imagination': geographical indications in the EU-Australia FTA negotiations

The launch of negotiations for an EU-Australia 'free trade agreement' (FTA) on 18 June 2018 was a confirmation of a 'like-minded' strong partnership, in which both parties had high hopes for an ambitious agreement which would test the new wave of protectionism promoted by Donald Trump. Nonetheless, the initial rounds of negotiations revealed several issues which illustrate the scale of the challenge to be addressed. One such example was the issue of Geographical Indications (GI). The EU and its member states adopt an approach which is highly regulated and prescriptive to safeguard the authenticity of its produce and encourage rural development. Australia approaches this kind of intellectual property issue via a trademark system as well as a sui generis system to better capture the benefits of innovation. This paper analyses the challenges and opportunities an accord on GI's could have for both regions, as revealed in the context of the EU-Australia negotiations. The paper claims that while an agreement on GI's was a significant outcome for the overall FTA, the process adopted by the EU and Australia was in itself a reflection of the ambition for an amicable, dynamic and innovative negotiating process

European studies in Australia: origins, development and current standing

European Studies in Australia really emerged in the 1990s Australian universities initially through the medium of university curriculums. European Union integration studies were rare within the curriculum and appeared mostly through the portal of multidisciplinary curriculum. Much of the studies of Europe became associated with the appreciation, or lack thereof, of what was happening and what was understood with the European project. Given the British origins of Australia and difficulties experienced by Australia with British entry in the European Community in 1973, the perception of Europe was not an especially positive one. The furious response from political circles, agriculture and other impacted entities had a lasting impact on Australia’s vision of the European project. Amidst this background European Studies emerged and timidly proceeded to establish itself. In this background the Australian association for European Studies emerged when in 1991 in an Australian Political Science conference, voices were raised for a specific perspective towards Europe. Thus emerged the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA) which joined the EU Studies Asia Pacific at its foundation and provided an Australian voice. The culmination of this evolution was the grand step to merge with its New Zealand counterparts in May 2020 bringing greater reach, breadth and depth to European Union outreach in this part of the world

Discourse and political culture: the language of the Third Way in Germany and the UK

Even if political actors try to align their political efforts because they think they share a common goal, they will adapt a global ideology to local political circumstances in order to convince the local electorate. Local contexts are reflected in political discourse on the level of genre, lexis, argumentation, and metaphor. In order to understand the relation between the political contexts and political language use, this book presents a new approach to comparative politico-linguistic discourse analysis. The developed methodology stands in the tradition of transdisciplinarity and combines analytical tools from linguistic discourse analysis (catch term analysis, metaphor analysis, argumentation analysis, genre analysis) and political science (political culture, comparative politics, morphology of ideologies, identity of party-political ideologies). It is comprehensive in its introduction of approaches from the German tradition of politico-linguistics that have so far not been accessible to a non-German speaking readership and that add valuable insights into the mechanics of political discourse.Using the example of the modernisation discourses in social democratic parties in Britain and Germany, a project that was named ‘Third Way’, this study demonstrates how political language and political culture are related. At the same time, it presents new insights into the German political culture and the version of Third Way discourses in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) under the leadership of Gerhard Schröder which have played a key role in shaping current political discourse in Germany.<br/