European Studies – Looking to the Future

Research and teaching on Europe and on the European Union (EU) have grown exponentially in recent years, both within Europe and throughout the world. There has been increased breadth and depth of conceptual development and theorising. This article considers some challenges related to teaching and researching about the EU. It attempts to elaborate some agendas for scholars, in examining possible future directions for the study of Europe, both internationally and within Australia. The article examines the development of study of the EU and discusses the development of European Studies in Australia. It argues that the study of the EU and of Europe is increasingly dynamic, drawing on a variety of disciplines and sub-disciplines, within Australia and throughout the world

Is Australia a model for the UK? A critical assessment of parallels of cruelty in refugee externalization policies

For several years, Australia has been regarded by some politicians and observers in Europe as a model for hard-line policies towards refugees. At the same time, Australia's implementation of refugee externalization measures has been subject to considerable scholarly attention and critique. Although the Australian approach has featured prominently in political debates in several European states, this article analyses the implications of a possible adoption of the Australian offshore detention approach for refugee policy-making in the UK, and the consequences this will have for the integrity of the international refugee protection regime. The article considers how states might influence each other's policies - both directly and indirectly - by focusing on a case study of offshore detention and processing with regard to Australia's influence on - and similarity to - the UK, to the extent that we observe policy parallels, as the article brings to light substantial policy convergence of detrimental practice of these two countries

What Australians think about the EU: elite perceptions and the current context

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The delivery of biodiversity benefits in the REDD+ climate mechanism

Habitat loss and climate change are two of the most important threats to biodiversity in the tropics. The climate mechanism to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) can therefore, in theory, address both of these threats by funding forest conservation and slowing climate change. However there are concerns that, if not properly planned, REDD+ could in practice negatively impact biodiversity. In this thesis I introduce the emergence of biodiversity concerns in REDD+ and the relevant safeguards developed at the international negotiations. I present a conceptual framework for understanding opportunities and risks for biodiversity in REDD+, bringing together the literature on biodiversity co-benefits and safeguards. In the last seven years, REDD+ went through a readiness phase and was piloted in over 300 subnational initiatives across the tropics in preparation and anticipation for inclusion in the future global climate regime. I assess 22 of these REDD+ initiatives located in six countries and explore how biodiversity considerations are incorporated into the project design and the challenges faced in delivering biodiversity co-benefits. Many project developers demonstrated strong intentions to safeguard biodiversity, only a handful had explicit goals and interventions targeting biodiversity conservation; often citing the lack of capacity and incentives to protect biodiversity as challenges. I then focus on Indonesia where I use spatially explicit methods to explore the relationship between carbon and biodiversity and the potential for 1st generation REDD+ initiatives to deliver biodiversity benefits. I show that carbon and biodiversity are not correlated in Indonesia; while REDD+ initiatives tend to be (perhaps surprisingly) located in forests important for biodiversity, these are not necessarily the most threatened by future deforestation, thus limiting the contribution of REDD+ to conservation. I then focus on two newly approved subnational REDD+ initiatives and explore how the challenges in implementing REDD+ (especially the slow approval process and reduction in the proposed project area) have impacted orangutan conservation. I show that the Indonesian government will have to re-assess the way in which REDD+ projects are currently being approved if it is serious about its commitments toward orangutan conservation and emission reduction. This study strengthens the notion that REDD+ has the potential to deliver huge benefits for tropical forest biodiversity, especially when located forests most threatened to deforestation. However, progress of REDD+ at the international negotiations have been slow and its inclusion as part of the future climate regime is still uncertain in spite of the urgency of climate change and the potential irreversible negative implications a failed global REDD+ mechanism will have on climate, people and biodiversity

Sustaining remote-area programs: retinal camera use by Aboriginal health workers and nurses in a Kimberley partnership

Objective: to describe how a novel program of diabetic retinopathy screening was conceived, refined and sustained in a remote region over 10 years, and to evaluate its activities and outcomes. Design: program description; analysis of regional screening database; audit of electronic client registers of Aboriginal community controlled health services (ACCHSs). Setting and participants: 1318 Aboriginal and 271 non-Aboriginal individuals who underwent retinal screening in the 5 years to September 2004 in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia; 11 758 regular local Aboriginal clients of Kimberley ACCHSs as at January 2005. Main outcome measures: characteristics of clients and camera operators, prevalence of retinopathy, photograph quality, screening intervals and coverage. Results: among Aboriginal clients, 21% had diabetic retinopathy: 19% with nonproliferative retinopathy, 1.2% with proliferative retinopathy, and 2.8% with maculopathy. Corresponding figures for non-Aboriginal clients were 11%, 11%, 0 and 0.4%, respectively. Photograph quality was generally high, and better for non-Aboriginal clients, younger Aboriginal clients and from 2002 (when mydriatic use became universal). Quality was not related to operator qualifications, certification or experience. Of 718 regular Aboriginal clients with diabetes on local ACCHS databases, 48% had a record of retinal screening within the previous 18 months, and 65% within the previous 30 months. Conclusions: Screening for diabetic retinopathy performed locally by Aboriginal health workers and nurses with fundus cameras can be successfully sustained with regional support. Formal certification appears unnecessary. Data sharing across services, client recall and point-of-care prompts generated by electronic information systems, together with policies making primary care providers responsible for care coordination, support appropriate timely screening

Conflict, consensus and representation : the party groups in the European Parliament

Defence date: 7 July 1989Examining Board: Prof. Rudolf Wildenmann, Universität Mannheim (supervisor) ; Prof. David Coombes, National Institute of Higher Education, Limerick (external supervisor) ; Dr. Roland Bieber, European Parliament, Luxembourg ; Prof. Birgitta Nedelmann, Universität Mainz ; Prof. Roger Morgan, European University InstituteFirst made available online on 8 February 2019The thesis presents an analysis of the transnational political groups of the European Parliament, relating this to theories of political parties, parliaments and representation, while emphasising that existing comparative studies applied, to Europe are of limited value in explaining the nature of political organisation at the European level. The thesis postulates that it is essential that the political groups be analysed in terms of the nature of the European Community itself as a fluid polity and illustrates the problems of understanding European Integration as a political process. An analysis of the functions and role of the political groups is carried out and the study concludes that the groups function effectively as organisers of the European Parliament, with integrative and representational functions, but that at this stage of their development they cannot be seen as European parties. The study is based on research and analysis carried out through interviews conducted by the author as an active member of the European University Institute Survey team for the Study of MEPs, and supplemented by interviews with EP and political group officials

Regionalism and community: Australia's options in the Asia-Pacific

Drawing upon the lessons of region-building efforts elsewhere, this paper calls for a greater emphasis in Australian foreign policy on community building in Asia. Authored by Philomena Murray, it explores the challenges of building a stronger ‘community’ in the Asia-Pacific, using a ‘comparative regionalism’ approach. The report outlines five strategies for policymakers: * that Australia should re-position itself as a ‘fore-runner state’ in Asia; * promote mediation and reconciliation in the region’s long-running conflicts; * develop its soft-power and educational exchanges across the region; * promote sound design principles for the future of regional architecture; * and build a consensus among regional states about the difficult issues of membership and mandate for future regional institutions.  Those strategies would be a longer-term recipe for better, more effective, regional institutions

Europe's legitimacy crisis: From causes to solutions

This short book examines the latest developments and scholarly debates surrounding the sources of the European Union's crisis of legitimacy and possible solutions. It examines not only the financial and economic dimensions of the current crisis, but also those crises at the heart of the EU integration project