The (Reform) Treaty of Lisbon: What’s in it? How Significant. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 9 No. 1, January 2009

[From the Introduction]. The European Union is currently based on the treaty framework which emerged as the Treaty of Nice entered into force in 2003 (European Union, 2003). The Constitutional Treaty elaborated during the Convention on the Future of Europe, 2002-2003, and finally negotiated during the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), 2003-2004, proposed a number of changes in that framework, but the treaty was rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands in May and June 2005 (Laursen, 2008). After a reflection period it was decided to negotiate a so-called Reform Treaty. The German Presidency played an important role in securing agreement on a mandate for a new IGC in June 2007. During the Portuguese Presidency in the autumn of 2007 that IGC then produced a new treaty, the Lisbon Treaty (European Union 2007). In this paper we shall outline the most important provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. Will the Lisbon Treaty improve the efficiency, democratic legitimacy “as well as the coherence of its external action,” as the mandate from June 2007 claimed it should? (Council of the European Union, 2007)

The European integration at the crossroad

Este artículo plantea una serie de interrogantes sobre la actual situación de la integración europea. Estudia la ampliación de los miembros de la UE y su alcance funcional, y lo asocia con los esfuerzos por incrementar la capacidad institucional de la UE. Tras de la ampliación con los países del Este en 2004 y 2007, y la adopción del Tratado de Lisboa (2007) que entró en vigor en 2009, es hora de preguntarse dónde estamos y dónde deberíamos estar. Un tema crucial es la crisis de la zona euro. ¿Nos va a aportar la actual improvisación las suficientes medidas para sacarnos de la crisis? ¿hay suficiente pensamiento estratégico y liderazgo en la UE? El liderazgo alemán centrado en la austeridad parece algo desubicado. La propuesta para más Europa en forma de unión política, fiscal y bancaria parece ahora el camino a seguir. Pero ¿cuántos estados de la UE y de la zona euro serán capaces de moverse en esa dirección? En el futuro podríamos tener más integración diferenciada o geometría variable.This article asks a number of questions about the current stage of European integration. It traces past expansion of functional scope and membership of the EU and links these changes with efforts to increase the institutional capacity of the EU. After the big eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007 and the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 and its entry into force in 2009 it is time to ask: where are we and where may we be going? A central issue is the eurozone crisis. Will the current muddling through add up to enough measures to pull us out of the crisis? Is there enough strategic thinking and leadership in the EU? German leadership with focus on austerity seems somewhat misplaced. Proposals for ¿more Europe¿ in the form of banking, fiscal and political union, now appears to be the way forward. But how many member states of the EU ¿and eurozone¿ will be able to move in that direction? It looks as we may have more differentiated integration or ¿variable geometry¿ in the future

Genetic counselling for psychiatric disorders: accounts of psychiatric health professionals in the United Kingdom

Genetic counselling is not routinely offered for psychiatric disorders in the United Kingdom through NHS regional clinical genetics departments. However, recent genomic advances, confirming a genetic contribution to mental illness, are anticipated to increase demand for psychiatric genetic counselling. This is the first study of its kind to employ qualitative methods of research to explore accounts of psychiatric health professionals regarding the prospects for genetic counselling services within clinical psychiatry in the UK. Data were collected from 32 questionnaire participants, and 9 subsequent interviewees. Data analysis revealed that although participants had not encountered patients explicitly demanding psychiatric genetic counselling, psychiatric health professionals believe that such a service would be useful and desirable. Genomic advances may have significant implications for genetic counselling in clinical psychiatry even if these discoveries do not lead to genetic testing. Psychiatric health professionals describe clinical genetics as a skilled profession capable of combining complex risk communication with much needed psychosocial support. However, participants noted barriers to the implementation of psychiatric genetic counselling services including, but not limited to, the complexities of uncertainty in psychiatric diagnoses, patient engagement and ethical concerns regarding limited capacity

Analyzing European Union Politics

The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies over the last decades in different disciplines and countries. This approach permitted to achieve a better understanding of the direction these studies are now taking. Five disciplines were identified where EU studies have particularly evolved: law, politics, economics, history, and social and cultural studies. The mapping of EU studies thus includes a review of the most studied issues in EU studies today, the main academic schools, the most influential journals and books published, but it also shows how local realities and national identities affect the study and teaching of Europe around the world. In addition, an important work was done in mapping and discussing teaching methodologies in relation to European studies with the aim of introducing and diffusing the most up-to-date techniques

Impact of instrumentation in lumbar spinal fusion in elderly patients

Background and purpose An increasing number of lumbar fusions are performed using allograft to avoid donor-site pain. In elderly patients, fusion potential is reduced and the patient may need supplementary stability to achieve a solid fusion if allograft is used. We investigated the effect of instrumentation in lumbar spinal fusion performed with fresh frozen allograft in elderly patients