Was kommt nach Cotonou?: Die Zukunft der Zusammenarbeit zwischen der EU und den Afrika-, Karibik- und Pazifikstaaten

Das Cotonou-Abkommen, das die Beziehungen zwischen der Europäischen Union (EU) und den afrikanischen, karibischen und pazifischen Staaten (AKP) regelt, wird Ende 2020 seine Gültigkeit verlieren. Ob, wie im Abkommen vorgesehen, diese historische Weiterentwicklung von Yaoundé und Lomé eine Fortsetzung finden wird, ist offen. Einerseits mehren sich die Zeichen, die ein Auslaufen von Cotonou und einen Ersatz durch andere Strukturen andeuten. So begründet die EU strategische Partnerschaften mit Afrika, der Karibik und dem Pazifik und bemüht sich um den Abschluss von Wirtschaftspartnerschaftsabkommen mit allen AKP-Staaten. Im Zuge dessen könnte ein zweistufiges Vertragssystem mit allen Teilen des gegenwärtigen AKP-Verbundes entstehen, das einen Abschied von einer historisch gewachsenen Struktur darstellen würde. Dieses System könnte unter gewissen Bedingungen die bestehende Struktur adäquat ersetzen und die außenpolitischen Beziehungen der EU mit der Welt neu ordnen. Andererseits würde die EU eine sich abzeichnende globale Zusammenarbeit mit einer AKP verpassen, die sich mit frischem Selbstverständnis neu erfindet. Das Potential einer solchen weltumspannenden Zusammenarbeit und die geeignete Form seiner Nutzung müssen in den kommenden Jahren von den zuständigen Akteuren Europäische Kommission und Europäischer Auswärtiger Dienst gemeinsam mit der AKP erkundet werden. Der politische Anstoß hierzu könnte auch vom Europäischen Parlament kommen. (Autorenreferat

Ridge Gap Waveguide Based Liquid Crystal Phase Shifter

In this paper, the gap waveguide technology is examined for packaging liquid crystal (LC) in tunable microwave devices. For this purpose, a line based passive phase shifter is designed and implemented in a ridge gap waveguide (RGW) topology and filled with LC serving as functional material. The inherent direct current (DC) decoupling property of gap waveguides is used to utilize the waveguide surroundings as biasing electrodes for tuning the LC. The bed of nails structure of the RGW exhibits an E-field suppression of 76 dB in simulation, forming a completely shielded device. The phase shifter shows a maximum figure of merit (FoM) of 70 °/dB from 20 GHz to 30 GHz with a differential phase shift of 387° at 25 GHz. The insertion loss ranges from 3.5 dB to 5.5 dB depending on the applied biasing voltage of 0 V to 60 V. © 2013 IEEE

History of the European Parliament : research projects, sources and historical memory 1979-2019

This publication is the result of the work and discussion by participants in the 2019 conference History of the European Parliament: research projects, sources and historical memory 1979-2019, organised by the Association of Friends of the Historical Archives of the European Union together with the Historical Archives of the European Union and the House of History of Europe. The conference was organised to mark the fortieth anniversary of the election of the European Parliament by universal suffrage. It brought together archivists, academics, former senior officials and well-known European parliamentarians to focus in particular on tracing the evolution of Parliament's historiography since the ECSC Consultative Assembly, and its acceleration following the Single Act and the Maastricht Treaty. This publication presents an inventory of the sources, written and oral, historical and memorial, as well as a revisitation of various research projects bearing on or relating to the history of a European institution whose role and legislative and budgetary powers have steadily increased since its first term of office

Functional Energetics of CD4+-Cellular Immunity in Monoclonal Antibody-Associated Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in Autoimmune Disorders

BACKGROUND: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is an opportunistic central nervous system- (CNS-) infection that typically occurs in a subset of immunocompromised individuals. An increasing incidence of PML has recently been reported in patients receiving monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, particularly those treated with natalizumab, efalizumab and rituximab. Intracellular CD4(+)-ATP-concentration (iATP) functionally reflects cellular immunocompetence and inversely correlates with risk of infections during immunosuppressive therapy. We investigated whether iATP may assist in individualized risk stratification for opportunistic infections during mAb-treatment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: iATP in PHA-stimulated, immunoselected CD4(+)-cells was analyzed using an FDA-approved assay. iATP of mAb-associated PML (natalizumab (n = 8), rituximab (n = 2), efalizumab (n = 1)), or other cases of opportunistic CNS-infections (HIV-associated PML (n = 2), spontaneous PML, PML in a psoriasis patient under fumaric acids, natalizumab-associated herpes simplex encephalitis (n = 1 each)) was reduced by 59% (194.5±29 ng/ml, mean±SEM) in comparison to healthy controls (HC, 479.9±19.8 ng/ml, p<0.0001). iATP in 14 of these 16 patients was at or below 3(rd) percentile of healthy controls, similar to HIV-patients (n = 18). In contrast, CD4(+)-cell numbers were reduced in only 7 of 15 patients, for whom cell counts were available. iATP correlated with mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨ(m)) (iATP/ΔΨ(m)-correlation:tau = 0.49, p = 0.03). Whereas mean iATP of cross-sectionally analysed natalizumab-treated patients was unaltered (448.7±12 ng/ml, n = 150), iATP was moderately decreased (316.2±26.1 ng/ml, p = 0.04) in patients (n = 7) who had been treated already during the pivotal phase III trials and had received natalizumab for more than 6 years. 2/92 (2%) patients with less than 24 months natalizumab treatment revealed very low iATP at or below the 3(rd) percentile of HC, whereas 10/58 (17%) of the patients treated for more than 24 months had such low iATP-concentrations. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that bioenergetic parameters such as iATP may assist in risk stratification under mAb-immunotherapy of autoimmune disorders

In the shadow of the Constitution: adapting to a changing external environment

[From the introduction]. This paper is not a textual analysis of opinion polls, but an interesting question comes forward: do such opinions show support for the original EU approach to CFSP ie speaking softly and carrying a big wallet, or are they also endorsing the developments since 1999 of the more muscular ESDP? The authors of this paper do not need to be convinced of the added-value ESDP is playing today and will undoubtedly play in the future. Nor do they need to be convinced that ESDP is an important new "instrument" in the foreign policy "toolbox" to respond to the demands of the contemporary security environment or to avoid the inaction and hesitancy of the past. However, the authors put forward a number of issues in this paper that should be discussed more widely if the development of ESDP is to be a real added value for the pursuit of the Union's CFSP and sustainable in the face of future external crises and internal political debate. In this respect the authors argue for the need to address the so-called double-democratic deficit where there is a need for improved transparency, debate and democratic scrutiny of ESDP, which will otherwise remain in the shadow of the constitution

"Beyond treaty revision: shifts in the institutional balance?"

Almost exactly one year ago I surprised the participants of a seminar at the Harvard Law School with the following thesis: the intergovernmental conferences do not change the institutional-balance. Looking back at the budget treaties of the seventies, the Single European Act, the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties, this seems to be an almost frivolous statement. And yet, looking at the mandate for the last IGC formulated by the Turin European Council, you find the phrase: "... respecting the balance between the institutions ...". And at the end of the Amsterdam conference, there is the satisfied conclusion that the institutional balance has been maintained. Going back to the previous ICCs, one finds the same kind of affirmations

"The European Parliament’s impact on the IGC process"

Measuring the European Parliament’s concrete impact at this stage encounters two main problems: first, the European Parliament’s own position with regard to its definitive requirements, its bottom line, is not easy to describe. Its resolutions to this end are numerous and--quite normally--evolving throughout a large period accompanying preparation in the Reflection Group and the actual work in the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). Still, one can distill a certain number of priorities: with regard to social policy issues they are the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice, an enhanced Union citizenship with an extended non-discrimination clause, fundamental rights protection, general equality, an employment title, the inclusion and improvement of the social protocol including measures against social exclusion, improved protection of the environment, and the objective of sustainable development. With regard to institutional issues, the priorities are threefold: first, efficiency, especially in view of future enlargements and mainly concerning qualified majority voting in Council; second, transparency and openness, concerning the reduction of decision-making procedures to three (assent, co-decision and consultation), the simplification and codification of the Treaties, openness of the Council in its legislative capacity and public access to documents; and third, democracy, meaning Parliament’s own role. Second, it is virtually impossible to describe the results of the IGC a few weeks before its possible conclusion in the Amsterdam European Council on 16/17 June 1997. In such a negotiation procedure nothing is achieved until everything is achieved. Therefore, I will initially concentrate on what is on the table at this stage and then proceed to the issues which are most disputed where there is not even a formal presidency proposal, each time relating to Parliament’s position in the various areas. Finally, I shall dare to stick my neck out with some predictions as to the result

In the Shadow of the Constitution: Common Foreign and Security Policy/European Security and Defence Policy Adapting to a Changing External Environment

Abstract: The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is understood as an important new "instrument" in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) "toolbox", designed to respond to the contemporary security environment as well as to overcome the inaction and hesitancy of the past. The new dynamic created by ESDP is raising the profile and effectiveness of the EU internationally although it remains embedded in an unreformed institutional framework that struggles to capture the imagination of a broader public opinion. This paper discusses important issues, particularly from a parliamentary perspective, that should be discussed more widely if ESDP is to provide real added value in the pursuit of CFSP and be sustainable in the face of future external crises and internal political debate. This paper puts forward arguments on addressing the so-called double-democratic deficit where there is a need for improved transparency, debate and democratic scrutiny of ESDP, which will otherwise remain in the shadow of the constitution .civil society; constitution building; constitutional change; democracy; European elections; European identity; European public space; Europeanization; governance; identity; institutionalisation; intergovernmentalism; internationalisation; legitimacy; national interest; neo-institutionalism; pluralism; policy coordination; political culture; political parties; political representation; public administration; public opinion; referendum; acquis communautaire; closer cooperation; competences; European law; legal personality; transparency; budget; globalization; civil-military relations; cross-border crime; development policy; economic policy; police cooperation; security/internal; CFSP/ESDP; CFSP/ESDP; CFSP/ESDP; CFSP/ESDP; international relations; security/external; Constitution for Europe; enlargement; European Convention; founding Treaties; IGC 1996; IGC 2000; intergovernmental conferences; Maastricht Treaty; Nice Treaty; Treaty on European Union; access to documents; accountability; agenda-setting; co-decision procedure; institutions; joint decision making; legislative procedure; majority voting; MEPs; national parliaments; NGOs; qualified majority; unanimity; COREPER; Council of Ministers; European Commission; European Council; European Court of Justice; European Court of Justice; European Parliament; European Parliament; NATO; OECD; economics; history; law; sociology