3,455 research outputs found
The post-Lisbon role of the European Parliament in the EU's Common Commercial Policy: Implications for bilateral trade negotiations. EU Diplomacy Paper 05/2012, July 2012
This paper sets out to conduct an empirical analysis of the post-Lisbon role of the European Parliament (EP) in the EUâs Common Commercial Policy through an examination of the âdeep and comprehensiveâ bilateral Free Trade Agreements
(FTAs) currently negotiated as part of the EUâs Global Europe strategy. The EU-Korea and EU-India FTAs are used as case studies in order to determine the implications of
the EPâs enhanced trade powers on the processes, actors and outcomes of EU bilateral trade policy. The EP is now endowed with the âhard powerâ of consent in the
ratification phase of FTAs, acting as a threat to strengthen its âsoft powerâ to influence negotiations. The EP is developing strategies to influence the mandate and now plays an important role in the implementation of FTAs. The entry of this new player on the Brussels trade policy field has brought about a shift in the institutional balance of power and opened up the EP as a new point of access for trade policy lobbyists. Finally, increased EP involvement in EU trade policy has brought about a
politicisation of EU trade policy and greater normative outcomes of FTAs
Using play to help families learn: evaluation of Trafford Hallâs Playing 2 Learn programme 2008-11
The report describes the results of a three-year evaluation by LSE Housing and Communities of a family learning programme called Playing 2 Learn. The Playing 2 Learn programme was open to vulnerable families from low income communities across England. It was delivered by a charity, Trafford Hall, home of the National Communities Resource Centre between 2008 and 2011. It consisted of 26 residential weekend events with 795 adult and child family members from a total of 205 families attending. The weekends used creative, low cost play activities to promote play-based learning. The evaluation used baseline data collected by the programme, self-reported short-, medium- and longer-term outcomes based on written feedback from 62% of participating families, in-depth interviews with the purposive sample of 20 families, assessments from referral agencies, interviews with delivery staff, and observations of the residential events. It finds that the families participating in the programme experienced a series of pressures that undermined their ability to engage positively and spend time with their children at home, including family breakdown and formation, pressures of lowincomes, health and behavioural issues. Outcomes for families from the programme were assessed under four themes. First, there was improved family interaction over the short-, medium- and longer-terms, for example reading together and doing messy play. Second, parentsâ and carersâ attitudes towards and input into childrenâs opportunities for play were also improved, including getting new ideas for affordable play activities and continuing to use them up to two years after attending the weekends. To the extent that the evaluation was able to measure, the impacts on younger childrenâs ability to learn were much more limited. Fourthly, there were positive impacts on parentsâ and carersâ participation in the community for around a quarter of respondents, and wider impacts on parentsâ and carersâ self-esteem and confidence, primarily through the support of meeting other families in similar situations. The report concludes that the value of the residential setting was to help families to experience new challenges. The experiential hands-on approach helped to generate long-lasting impacts. Many of the families on the programme were going through tough times that play alone could not resolve. The Programme succeeded in its goals to be a âsnapshot removed from the everydayâ, on which families could draw for inspiration when they return to their often challenging daily lives
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