Preparing for the New Minorities in Europe: The EU Influence on National Minority Protection in Romania and Slovakia. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 5 No. 25, August 2005

[From the introduction]. This paper examines the mechanisms and strategies of the EU in supporting the process of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe by concentrating on one particular area which seemed most significant in view of the escalation of ethnic conflict in the region. I focus on the influence of the EU’s representatives and institutions in inducing cooperation between states and ethnic groups within states for the purpose of minority rights expansion and implementation by means of the promise of integration. By definition, democratization includes "... the processes whereby the rules and procedures of citizenship are either applied to political institutions previously governed by other principles... or expanded to include persons not previously enjoying such rights and obligations (e.g. ethnic minorities, women, foreign residents, etc.) or extended to cover issues and institutions not previously subject to citizen participation (state agencies, military establishments, etc.)" (Schmitter and O'Donnell, 1986: 8). As early as 1993, the European Council had devised specific criteria for the evaluation of a country’s preparedness to gain membership in the Union, and on par with the economic requirements were political conditions which outlined the road towards integration. The political conditionality for the Central and Eastern European countries’ membership was spelled out in the concluding document of the Copenhagen summit on 21-22 June 1993, where the European Council put forward what came to be known as the “Copenhagen criteria” for EU admission: “Stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.” (1) While minority rights were never specifically listed or clearly outlined, I will demonstrate that through the statements of its representatives and the official reports European institutions have issued on the countries’ progress towards accession, the EU has continuously had an essential role in the expansion of minority rights

Challenges before victims' protection in Bulgaria in view of harmonising protection frameworks throughout the European Union

In conclusion, as witnessed by the overview of problematic areas of victim protection in Bulgaria, the situation of victims is a clear reflection of many of the general challenges before the country’s criminal justice system as a whole. The use of electronic tools, the co-ordination among institutions and their co-operation with the civic sector are indispensable components of every EU Member State’s modern criminal policy and have to be implemented by both normative and policy steps. In this sense, Bulgarian authorities and NGOs involved have to, like their counterparts throughout Europe, re-define the balance between the entitlements of the defendant and those of the victim and work on both in their correlation to achieve efficient and effective functioning of criminal justice and the higher trust of the general public

Ethnic groups and institutions: A study of institutional engineering in four Central and Eastern European countries

The issue of institutional engineering has gained a renewed interest with the democratic transitions of the Central and Eastern European countries, as for some states it has become a matter of state survival. The four countries examined in the study – Macedonia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria – exemplify the difficulty in establishing a stable democratic society in the context of the resurgence of national identity. The success of ethnonational minorities in achieving the desired policies affirming or expanding their rights as a group was conditioned upon the cohesion of the minority as well as the permissiveness of state institutions in terms of participation and representation of minority members. The Hungarian minorities in Slovakia and Romania, the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, and the Albanian minority in Macedonia, formed their political organizations to represent their interests. However, in some cases the divergence of strategies or goals between factions of the minority group seriously impeded its ability to obtain the desired concessions from the majority. The difficulty in the pursuit of policies favoring the expansion of minority rights was further exacerbated in some of the cases by the impermissiveness of political institutions. The political parties representing the interest of ethnonational minorities were allowed to participate in elections, although not without suspicions about their intent and even strong opposition from majority groups, but participation in elections and subsequent representation in legislative bodies did not translate into adoption of the desired policies. The ethnonational minorities\u27 inability to effectively influence the decision-making process was the result of the inadequacy of democratic institutions to process these demands and channel them through the normal political process in the absence of majority desire to accommodate them. Despite the promise of democratic institutions to bring about a major overhaul of the policies of forceful assimilation and disregard for minority rights, the four cases analyzed in the study demonstrate that in effect ethnonational minorities continued to be at the mercy of the majority, especially if the minority was unable to position itself as a balancing actor

Companies in the Face of Climate Change : obligations and Responsibilities

La réflexion juridique à propos de la place du droit dans la lutte contre le changement climatique est de plus en plus abondante. Face à l’urgence climatique, l’ensemble des outils et acteurs juridiques est mobilisé. L’entreprise est au premier rang des personnes concernées. Quel rôle le droit assigne-t-il à l’entreprise dans la lutte contre le changement climatique ? Quelles obligations et quelles responsabilités fait-il peser sur elle ? Sur quels fondements ? La présente étude analyse les rapports entre droit et changement climatique à travers le prisme de l’entreprise. En amont de tout dommage, on constate aujourd’hui la mise en œuvre d’un processus de responsabilisation des acteurs économiques face au changement climatique. Ces derniers sont appelés à jouer un rôle, d’une part, sur le terrain de l’adaptation, d’autre part, sur le terrain de l’atténuation du changement climatique. De nouvelles obligations, plus ou moins normatives, apparaissent dans le domaine climatique, et des outils classiques du droit, tel que le contrat, sont utilisés en tant qu’instruments de la lutte contre le changement climatique. Qu’en est-il lorsqu’un dommage en lien avec le changement climatique survient ? De lege lata, différents régimes de responsabilité paraissent mobilisables en matière climatique. Ils présentent tous des potentialités et des limites, si bien qu’il semble opportun aujourd’hui d’engager une réflexion sur la consécration d’une responsabilité spécifique en matière de climat. De lege ferenda, dépassant les obstacles liés aux conditions de la responsabilité, à l’imputation et à l’accès en justice, cette responsabilité climatique pourrait permettre de rendre juridiquement responsables les entreprises émettrices de gaz à effet de serre.Legal concern about the place of law in the fight against climate change is increasingly abundant. Faced with the climate emergency, all the legal tools and actors are mobilized. Companies are the ones primarily affected by this. What role does the law assign to compagnies in the fight against climate change? What obligations and responsibilities does it place on them? On what legal basis? This study examines the links between law and climate change through the prism of the companies. Before any damage occurs, economic players are now involved and empowered to act in the field of climate change adaptation and mitigation. New obligations, more or less normative, are appearing in the climate field, and classic legal tools, such as the contract itself, are used as instruments in the fight against climate change. But what about when a damage related to climate change occurs? De lege lata, different liability regimes can potentially be mobilized in climate matters. They all have potentials and limitations, so much so that it now seems opportune to initiate a reflection on the consecration of a specific liability regime in matters of climate change. De lege ferenda, overcoming the obstacles related to conditions, imputation of liability and access to justice, this climate change liability regime could make it possible to make companies that emit greenhouse gases legally responsible

Towards the completion of Europe. Analysis and perspectives of the new European Union enlargement.

This volume aims to contribute to the analysis of the EU in general and the background and consequences of its 2004 enlargement in particular. This enlargement is by far one of the greatest tests for the European Union and its institutions because the process of Europeanization is taking place in a variety of countries with diverse political cultures and dissimilar perceptions about the meaning and commitment to European integration. Given their differences in political and economic power, incumbent and new members are inevitably altering the functioning and character of the EU, a unique polity in the international system. Derived from this theoretical challenge, the chapters of this book suggest some explanations on six areas related to the 2004 enlargement: analytical approaches, citizens and identities, debates and regional transformations, external impacts, and the potential Turkey’s membership. The articles included in this publication are the result of the academic initiative of the Miami European Union Center, partnership formed by the University of Miami and Florida International University since 2000, which was also selected by the European Commission as one of the ten European Union Centers of Excellence in the United States for the period 2005|2008

Private Sector and Disaster Risk Reduction: The Cases of Bogota, Miami, Kingston, San Jose, Santiago, and Vancouver

A study on the private sector and disaster risk reduction (DRR) was conducted in six cities of the Americas: Bogotá (Colombia), Miami, Florida (United States), San José (Costa Rica), Santiago (Chile), Kingston (Jamaica), and Vancouver (Canada). The study was led by FIU and supported by USAID/OFDA and the UNISDR, with collaboration from researchers of INCAE Business School (Costa Rica), the University of Chile, Ohio University, and York University (Canada). Based on responses to nearly 1200 surveys, the key findings indicated that (1) 56% of respondents do not have a business continuity plan (BCP) in place; (2) 36.5% of businesses considered a BCP desirable, but stated that other priorities take precedence; (3) the lack of protection in the private sector is caused by not only financial constraints, but also the still not well-understood problems of avoidance, the competing priorities excuse, narrow decision making, and concerns about accountability; (4) small businesses show the least progress in establishing BCPs (14%) compared to larger businesses (44.9%); (5) there are insufficient incentives for DRR strategies to have practical impacts on business vulnerabilities and lack of resilience; (6) the implementation of regulations and enforcement mechanisms are weak to non-existent; and (7) little progress has been made in social responsibility and a sustained commitment to reducing the vulnerabilities of populations at risk. The current study offers recommendations to deepen the analysis, better understand the factors that intervene in the observed “risk indifference,” and identify possible interventions in order to move away from the status quo

A System for Resilience Learning: Developing a Community-Driven, Multi-Sector Research Approach for Greater Preparedness and Resilience to Long-Term Climate Stressors and Extreme Events in the Miami Metropolitan Region

There is a growing need for integrated approaches that align community priorities with strategies that build resilience to climate hazards, societal shocks, and economic crises to ensure more equitable and sustainable outcomes. We anticipate that adaptive management and resilience learning are central elements for these approaches. In this paper, we describe an approach to build and test a Resilience Learning System to support research and implementation of a resilience strategy developed for the Greater Miami and the Beaches or the Resilient305 Strategy. Elements foundational to the design of this integrated research strategy and replicable Resilience Learning System are: (1) strong partnerships among community members, government and non-government organization leaders, and researchers from multiple academic institutions; (2) contributions of subject matter expertise and local knowledge to identify information and translational gaps, formulate metrics and evaluate outcomes of Resilient305 Strategy actions from the community perspective; and (3) a comprehensive understanding of civic engagement activities, technological tools, and resilience-building capacities, including policy and financial innovations, from which to advance socio-technological, smart and connected regional-to-hyperlocal community translation through co-design/co-production. Initial results on co-produced metrics are provided. This work produces a new, replicable framework for resilience research that includes a comprehensive set of metrics, translation to communities through structured dialogues, a collaborative process involving all stakeholders and researchers, and evaluation of resilience actions to inform new investments and improve understanding and effectiveness over time