Equal Marriage, Unequal Civil Partnership: A Bizarre Case of Discrimination in Europe

The fact that heterosexual couples still cannot form civil partnerships after the introduction of gender-neutral marriage contravenes Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950. Albeit optional under the Convention (like adoption, parental leave or child benefits), civil partnership is an institution engaging the right to respect for family life and its domestic regulation demands conformity with Convention principles, including non-discrimination. This article contrasts states' wide margin of appreciation in matrimonial matters under Article 12 with the limited discretion under Article 8 and discusses the strict proportionality test applicable to differences in treatment exclusively based on sexual orientation. It dismisses the justifications espoused by executive and judicial authorities in recent litigation for the indefinite postponement of reform, namely the overestimated costs of legislative amendment, the subordination of the equality principle to the number of takers, and attempts to gauge social demand through post-2014 statistics on gay partnerships. Finally, it provides arguments for removing discrimination by opening civil partnership to opposite-sex couples rather than abolishing it: obviating hardship for family units lawfully constituted abroad, ensuring privacy for individuals whose disclosure of civil status reveals sexual orientation, and fostering a pluralist, tolerant society, accommodating ideological objections to marriage

Adult Children and Elderly Parents in Strasbourg Proceedings: A Misconstrued Approach to ‘Family Life’

This article criticizes the exclusion of the relationship between parents and adult children from the purview of Article 8 ECHR in Strasbourg judgments, save for exceptional cases of dependency, narrowly defined (in practice reduced to disability). The author notes that this restrictive approach has been developed in the politically sensitive area of immigration policy and might stem from judicial pragmatism. She supports a more inclusive interpretation of ‘family life’, on two grounds. Firstly, it would align the Court’s stance on adult relatives with its well-established purposive reading of the notion of ‘family life’. In fact, family arrangements between adult relatives usually continue to exhibit the ‘signposts’ of family life identified in landmark decisions: genetic filiation, emotional bonds and effective ties; moreover, in cases without a cross-border element, the Court has recognised the applicability of Article 8 to close bonds with near relatives, such as grandparents. Secondly, bringing adult relatives within the scope of Article 8 would avoid the gap between the legal interpretation of ‘family life’ and the sociological understanding of the family as a group defined by a shared identity, caring, economic cooperation (including financial support, domestic labour, childcare and elderly care), sometimes co-residence. Whilst the Court may accommodate legitimate State interests when assessing the merits of a complaint, the failure to acknowledge the relationship between parents and adult children as ‘family life’ at the admissibility stage does not reflect social reality and prevents any judicial scrutiny over measures interfering with the normal development of such relationships

Economic Security in the Black Sea Region

Berry Buzan and the Copenhagen School proposed three new dimensions of security in order to complete it’s the narrow political and military components. These are the economic, societal and environmental dimensions. The result is that economic factor came to be considered the building block of the other aspects of security. This idea is supported by NATO’s new strategic concept (defined in 1991) stating that security and stability have political, economic, societal and environmental elements; and also by the EU’s efforts of building the Common Foreign and Security Policy, were it applies economics, its strongest points, in the military security, one of its weakest points. Ensuring a country’s economic security considers the identification and management of dysfunctions, vulnerabilities, risks and threats to economic stability and strategic decisions independence concerning vital resources. The paper will attempt to analyze the implications of applying the concept of economic security in the Black Sea extend area and highlight the link between the development model and interdependencies in international cooperation.economic security; cooperation; Black Sea; energy

DEZVOLTAREA DURABILA, CARACTERISTICA DE RESPONSABILITATE A MANAGAMENTULUI COMUNITAR

The economic development of the community must not be viewed as an ordinary quantitative increase, measured in GDP parts. It must be viewed as a whole, considering all the factors that characterise this community. It will be understood as an effect of a performing management, which manifests maximal sensitivity and ability regarding the resources coordination in order to completely satisfy the interest of its members.sustainable development, European management, geography of organizations