bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EU Failures in Economic Relations: The Case of Israel and Palestine
Authors: Livingston Alastair
Published: April 2022

This article discusses why coordinated attempts by European institutions have failed to significantly influence the Israel-Palestine conflict. Having been effectively shutout of other realms of diplomacy, the Europeans were forced to use the economic sphere as a means for promoting peace. In spite of its laudable ambitions, the EU proved ineffective in these efforts. These failures take on one of two characteristics: failures to properly implement policies the EU believes in or the omission entirely of policy in areas where the EU could have made a difference. To reinforce why these mistakes were so severe, a series of plausible, alternative policies that the EU could have pursued will be presented. If different policies had been followed, the EU could have made a far greater contribution to peace in the region. Given the potential that existed to make a difference, the EU policy has to be consigned as a failure.
Minding the Gap between Words and Deeds: Towards a New EU Strategy on Security
Authors: Gyllensporre Dennis , Edström Håkan
Published: April 2022

This article revisits the twenty-three Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)-missions launched before the economic crisis hit the EU and its Member States to generate conclusions that could assist in the strategy process in Brussels. Six questions anchored in the field of Strategic Studies are operationalized in an analytical framework. Extant EU policies are utilized to identify plausible answers. The analysis suggests that the EU must close the gap between words and deeds to become a more credible actor. It would help the EU to operationalize its ambitions by exploiting its broad portfolio of policy options and to vanguard the post-modern society in crisis management.
Studying Resistance to EU Norms in Foreign and Security Policy
Authors: Saurugger Sabine
Published: April 2022

The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is usually seen as a sui generis policy, due to its intergovernmental nature. Challenging this view, we argue that CFSP is a policy like any other and therefore can be analysed by approaches used to study EU public policy more generally. We consider CFSP as a policy producing norms just as any other EU public policy does. Some of these norms enter the category of soft law, and are supposed to be complied with even if the European Court of Justice has no – or not much – competence in the field. Drawing on two strands of literature, the literature on soft law and the one on non-compliance with EU law, we focus on compliance with CFSP norms at the domestic level. Our aim is to develop a coherent approach, which allows us to explain why national administrations do – or do not – comply with CFSP soft law. Our model is based on four hypotheses pertaining to the presence or absence of (legal and non-legal) sanctions, the number of veto players, the financial stakes and the normative distance between the European rule and the norm hitherto defended by the national administrations. We apply this model to four Member States (Germany, Greece, Poland and the UK), using secondary literature to find examples of national resistance and suggest possible explanations for this resistance. Other examples will be given by the other articles in this special issue, which we refer to at the end of this introductory article.
The Social Dimension of the EU-China Relationship: A Normative and Pragmatic European Approach?
Authors: Yuan Hang
Published: April 2022

Recent decades have seen an expansion in EU-China relations. While this phenomenon has been examined extensively in the existing literature, bilateral interactions in the social field remain largely unexplained. This article investigates the evolution of the social dimension in EU-China relations and finds that social issues receive little attention until the mid-1990s, but increase in importance thereafter. To explore this phenomenon, we found both explanatory power and limits in the ‘normative power Europe’ versus the ‘pragmatic power Europe’ perspectives. Pragmatic concerns help to explain why social issues have become more closely linked to economic than to political ties. Yet they fail to account for the EU’s relatively successful export of social security norms to China. The European Union’s (EU’s) normative power could be enhanced rather than inevitably threatened by China’s rapid development. Analysing the social dimension also throws light on the complexity of the EU-China relationship; a complexity that is largely ignored by existing observations.
The European Union-Caribbean Relation: On the Apparent Deterioration of the EU-Caribbean Relationship
Authors: Broberg Morten P.
Published: April 2022

EU diplomats consider the Caribbean countries to be allies and therefore expect these countries to support the EU in international affairs – but they find that this support has been waning in recent years. Caribbean diplomats and politicians do not share the European viewpoint. Rather, they take the view that the EU has forgotten its Caribbean allies and instead channels its attention and funding towards Sub-Saharan Africa. This article examines to what extent this asserted ‘rift’ really signals a profound change in the EU-Caribbean relations.
The European Unions Raw Materials Diplomacy: Market Access and Development?
Authors: Biedermann Reinhard
Published: April 2022

Raw materials diplomacy is the new flagship of the European Union’s (EU) international economic presence located between industry, trade, and development. Being part of the EU’s economic diplomacy, its policies are mainly derived from the EU’s new trade strategy from 2006. Set up in 2008, its main goal has been to secure undistorted and free market access for resources. It was initiated as a response to the resource boom of the last decade with rising raw materials prices and growing competition on resources by state actors and multinational state-controlled enterprises from resource-rich countries. This article explores the factors shaping this new policy and aims to answer several questions: What are its main drivers? How coherent is the EU’s raw materials diplomacy with regard to the Lisbon Treaty’s objectives on development policy? Finally, how effective is the EU’s raw materials diplomacy? The article concludes that the EU mainly wants to protect the liberal trading regime of the post-cold war order, although goals of sustainability and development are receiving more attention due to societal pressure.
EU Foreign Policy and the Role of NGOs: The Arab-Israeli Conflict as a Case Study
Authors: Steinberg Gerald M.
Published: April 2022

The European Union’s structural weakness in foreign policy making, and the emphasis on soft power in promoting norms, contribute significantly to its close cooperation with civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).The EU provides core funding to hundreds of NGOs and receives legitimacy, information, and analysis from them. In return, this interdependence allows NGOs to expand their impact in many areas, including foreign policy.

This study analyses the relationship between NGOs and EU decision-making in the foreign policy realm, particularly in the context of the Arab-Israel conflict. By examining EU documents on key issues, such as Jerusalem, settlements, Israeli-Arab citizens, and guidelines for cooperation with Israeli institutions, the article highlights the direct impact of selected NGOs. We argue that the close and mutual NGO-EU dependency has significant political and theoretical ramifications.
Choosing Europe or Choosing TTIP?: The European Union and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Authors: Peterson John
Published: April 2022

This analysis presents a European view on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It argues that the European Union (EU) needs agreement on TTIP more than the United States (US) both for economic and political reasons. Yet, a European anti-TTIP movement has coalesced that argues that the EU must ‘choose Europe or choose TTIP’: the latter threatens to ‘Americanize’ Europe and lead to lower standards of consumer and environmental protection. The choice is a false one but the EU has been late to refute it and it continues to negotiate internally on TTIP even as it negotiates with the US. The TTIP negotiations have also exposed the Union’s ‘strategic partnerships’ as ill-organized and ineffective. Nevertheless, TTIP offers the US and EU a chance to write rules on international economic exchange that could be exported to the global level at a time when a more multipolar international order is emerging.
Transatlantic Leadership in a Multipolar World: The EU Perspective
Authors: Fröhlich Stefan
Published: April 2022

The following article suggests that the weakening of the transatlantic bond was, and still is, inevitable, as the end of the Cold War reduced Europe’s reliance on the United States (US) for security. As a result the relationship has become more pragmatic and politics more selective at a time when the EU and the US need each other (not least because of the strong economic interdependence) maybe more than ever. Both sides differ more often than in the past (on issues such as the rise of China and a re-assertive Russia, the threat from Europe’s southern periphery or the systemic challenges posed by autocratic regimes regarding the future global governance structures) and for this reason have to forge strategic partnerships with many others as well. Against this background Europe’s unwillingness to allocate funds and unfold leadership is the most valuable indicator (and not the successful completion of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) of how seriously it is taking the underlying strategic issues. It is this unwillingness that has hampered Europe’s geostrategic influence in its neighbourhood, the US value of security guarantees, and the future of the liberal order.
Need Disputes Turn into Armed Conflicts? East Asias Maritime Conflicts in a New Environment: Consequences for the European Union
Authors: Stanzel Volker
Published: April 2022

Generally, discussions about today’s maritime security challenges are placed in a context of the present controversy between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea, and between China and four Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries over islands and maritime territory in the South China Sea. However, the international community today is confronted with a reality that is different from simple territorial conflict. This reality is governed by the Chinese-US relationship and the impact of globalization on maritime security. In both respects, concerns over developments in East Asia are even more salient than if they were a reflection of traditional regional disputes. Considering the EU’s dependence on East Asian developments, it should examine the possibility of a stronger security policy engagement and concern itself more urgently with questions of maritime security in the region.
Between Autonomy and Effectiveness: Reassessing the European Unions Foreign Policy Towards the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Authors: Cladi Lorenzo , Webber Mark
Published: April 2022

Through a consideration of policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this article examines the autonomy and effectiveness of the European Union (EU) as an actor. We discuss first the criteria by which autonomy and effectiveness can be judged and then consider these by reference to EU policy since the formation of the Quartet in 2002. We argue that the EU has been effective in articulating a consistent and clear set of policies on Israel-Palestine. While this has placed it on-side with US-led initiatives to foster a solution to the conflict, we regard such an alignment as consistent with EU autonomy. These findings allow us to make qualified but still positive comments on the emerging EU Global Strategy. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict certainly demonstrates the limitations of EU external action but in affirming its credentials as an autonomous partner of the United States, the EU is less ineffectual than some commentators claim.
Youth as a New Foreign Policy Challenge in Middle East and North Africa: A Critical Interrogation of European Union and US Youth Policies in Morocco and Tunisia
Authors: Huber Daniela
Published: April 2022

It is not only since January 2011 and the so-called ‘youth revolutions’ that youth has become a key concept through which Europeans and Americans are viewing the Arab world. Since the 2000s, youth has increasingly entered European Union (EU) foreign policies in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the revised neighbourhood policy has in fact devoted an entire section to youth unemployment. But are EU policies contributing to the inclusion of youth? Based on discourse analysis and a comparative approach with US policies, this article argues that the EU and the United States have framed youth exclusively in relation to their ideal vision of a liberal order in the region as an asset, challenge or threat. This has in turn justified foreign policies which are pushing for a further liberalization of the labour market in these countries and which reproduce gendered images of young Muslim men as terror threats and threats to women, young Muslim women as victims and non-productive. While the Arab uprisings have resisted this discourse and practice of Western actors, they have not succeeded to change them; Western policies remain resilient.
CETA as a Potential Model for (Post-Brexit) UK-EU Relations
Authors: Neuwahl Nanette
Published: April 2022

CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada, is a useful model for post-Brexit trade relations between the UK and the EU. In this article it is argued that what could tentatively be called a CC-CETA (Comprehensive Cross-Channel Economic and Trade Agreement), would bring distinct benefits to the UK (and the EU) in partial replacement of the Single Market relationship. After considering other options, recommendations for the conclusion of such a CC-CETA are made. The question of how CETA itself could be affected by the conclusion of such an agreement, and the pre-emptive effect of a CC-CETA on the relations between Canada and the UK are equally considered.
What Place for Gender Mainstreaming in the EUs Framework on Support to Transitional Justice?
Authors: Ketelaars Elise
Published: April 2022

In 2015 the European Union (EU) Commission published the EU’s Framework on Support to Transitional Justice, its long-anticipated first policy document which exclusively discusses the EU’s conceptualization of and approach towards transitional justice. This article examines this document from a gender perspective situating the analysis within the emerging body of critical feminist literature on involvement of the international community in support for gendered transitional justice and peacebuilding within the framework of the UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda. It concludes that the EU’s explicit commitment to gender mainstreaming in its approach towards transitional justice without the subsequent development of a clear strategy to achieve the stated goals fits within a broader international tendency and that in order to advance feminist research in the field of EU, gender and transitional justice scholars should build on the emerging body of research regarding the instrumentalization of feminism for international security goals by infusing it with insights from critical (feminist) global political economy research, which inquires the relations between international interventions and the economic interests of dominant international actors.
Chinese College Students Perceptions of the EU and Its Relations with China
Authors: Li Zhuyu , Shi Jian , Langjia Zeren
Published: April 2022

According to previous research on the Chinese perception of the European Union (EU),(H. Zhou & L. Dong, The Investigation and Preliminary Analysis of the Chinese Public Perceptions of the EU and China-EU Relations, 2 Eur. Stud. (2008); H. Tang, Under the Adjustment of EU-China Relations the Chinese People’s Concept of the EU, 4 Foreign Aff. Rev. (2012).) Chinese primarily acquire their knowledge of the EU from the media, which renders it difficult for them to comprehensively understand its operational mechanisms or take a sanguine view of the EU. However, their perception of the EU recently has undergone a noticeable transformation due to the ‘perception imbalance’ and ‘perception deficit’ which can sometimes lead to negative impressions, especially during the period of trading disputes. Impressions that Europeans are arrogant and discriminate against China lead to a diminution in Chinese public’s confidence and enthusiasm in the EU. This article analyses findings of two surveys conducted in 2013 and 2016 among university students from five main universities in Chengdu of their perception of the EU. It comes to the conclusion that, although holding optimistic views on the EU-China relations at large, respondents concurrently express a concern for the in-depth strategic partnership between the EU and China, for the EU’s competence to tackle its internal challenges, and for the EU’s legitimacy to persuade other international agents into following its model of regional integration.
A Symbiotic Relationship? Examining the Convergence of Views Between Practitioners and Scholars on Sanctions Effectiveness
Authors: Boogaerts Andreas
Published: April 2022

In recent years, sanctions – or restrictive measures within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy – have become one of the European Union (EU)’s instruments of choice for dealing with external crises. Given EU foreign policymakers so often resort to sanctions, they should be aware of the limits, pitfalls, and benefits associated with this instrument. After all, a well-designed and well-managed sanctions policy requires a profound knowledge of the contextual conditions under which sanctions work – or fail to work. This policy-focused article, therefore, compares dominant views held by EU policy practitioners with the sanctions effectiveness literature. Building on thirty-six expert interviews conducted with members of the EU sanctions community, it examines whether there is a basis for evidence-based policy making inside the EU’s sanctions machinery. The article finds that while such basis exists, there is also room for mutual learning between academic experts and EU policy practitioners.
Reimagining Taiwan? The EUs Foreign Policy and Strategy in Asia
Authors: Biedermann Reinhard
Published: April 2022

The European Union’s (EU’s) Taiwan policies have been dominated by trade and economic concerns due to the absence of a security profile and China’s insistence on Taiwan belonging to China. This neglect of a political role of the EU in East Asia is often regarded as a central strategic weakness of the EU. With a new government in office in Taiwan since 2016, Cross-Strait relations have worsened; this challenges EU’s ambitions to become a strategic actor in the region.

Apart from security and economy, other political aspects of bilateral relations have remained almost unnoticed in the literature. This article addresses EU’s Taiwan policies from a different perspective. Instead of a hierarchic foreign policy exploration with security issues predominating, here, a multidimensional mosaic of EU’s Taiwan relations is analysed breadthways. From this standpoint, one can see that EU’s profile in Taiwan has increased considerably in recent years. These broadened bilateral relations may also support the EU’s wider political and strategic interests in the region altogether. The EU could help Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy align with EU’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations strategy, and thus support a rule-based strategy in the Far East.
Future Partnership in EUUK Cross-Border Civil Judicial Cooperation
Authors: Tang Zheng Sophia
Published: April 2022

In the past forty years, the EU has established a very successful and effective civil judicial cooperation scheme that applies to reduce barriers caused by coexistence of different legal systems to smooth cross-border activities and transactions in the single market. This scheme would cease being effective between the UK and other EU Member States after Brexit. The UK government has proposed that the optimal option is to establish a special partnership with the EU to maintain the existing cooperation after Brexit, which is not ecoed by the EU. This article aims to explore the feasibility of establishing such a future partnership in civil judicial cooperation and to examine the existing models that may be followed by the UK. It suggests that neither the Denmark model nor the Lugano II model would work effectively and recommends a unique ‘UK model’ to establish the future UK–EU civil judicial cooperation partnership.
The Serbia Kosovo Dispute and the European Integration Perspective
Authors: Hajrullahu Arben
Published: April 2022

This article examines the causes and consequences of the limited progress achieved to overcome the lasting conflict between Serbia and Kosovo. This dispute shows that international and local politics in the Western Balkans are characterized by myopia-like symptoms. Whereas the USA remains focused on other areas of the globe, the EU continues to be divided over the issue of Kosovo statehood, while also exhibiting, for years now, a de facto enlargement fatigue. Fundamental differences among the two parties to the conflict and their diametrically opposed positions undermine the real perspective for lasting peace and EU integration, despite the fact that Serbia and Kosovo prepare to engage in new phases of dialogue. The article concludes that the vision of Europeanization and the EU membership for Serbia and Kosovo, as equal partners in a wider community of states, continues to remain the desire and aim of those whom exclude violence and fighting among neighbours.
Introduction: Trends, Patterns and Challenges for International Cooperation in Cyberspace
Authors: Missiroli Antonio , Pawlak Patryk
Published: April 2022

The article introduces the main topics that this thematic issue covers. It highlights the emerging patterns of cooperation in cyberspace that have been identified by individual contributors, including at the national levels and in the working of the regional organizations. While various contributions in this thematic issue deal with different dimensions of international cooperation (e.g. legal, normative, political), this article demonstrates that they are all representative of major trends in cyberspace development, provide a valuable illustration of the patterns that we observe in the rapidly evolving digital environment, and highlight very similar challenges when it comes to finding sustainable and workable solutions that contribute to peace and stability in cyberspace.
Higher Education Diplomacy in Transatlantic Relations: A US Perspective
Authors: Helms Robin Matross , Rumbley Laura E. , Brajkovic Lucia
Published: April 2022

From the US perspective, transatlantic relations in higher education have long been characterized by both strong affinities and substantial differences. The affinities turn on a series of perceived shared values between US and European higher education institutions. Diverging perspectives in relation to higher education in the United States and in Europe can be seen in relation to such matters as the degree to which higher education may be considered a public or private good, and with respect to questions of who should shoulder the costs of education. In the contemporary context, the forces of globalization serve to both foster and complicate transatlantic diplomatic engagement via higher education, as both competition and collaboration are elevated by globalization’s dynamics. Meanwhile, recent nationalistic and xenophobic political and social developments in both the US and across Europe represent major challenges to international and national dynamics and to diplomatic engagement via higher education. Ultimately, however, common support for democratic principles and practices seems to position the transatlantic relationship on privileged ground. We argue that there is an urgent need today for a dynamic ‘knowledge diplomacy’ movement by the higher education sectors on both sides of the Atlantic, as a means to ensure the sustainability of longstanding partnerships and to provide the framework for rational, mutually enriching debates to deal constructively with national and cultural differences across the Atlantic.
The European Union and the Responsibility to Protect
Authors: Schmidt Julia
Published: April 2022

The European Union (EU) has committed itself to the promotion and the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in political statements, most recently in the EU Global Strategy. When taking a closer look at the activities of the EU in the context of humanitarian crises that can be brought within the R2P framework, the strength and effectiveness of the EU’s support might be questioned. This article examines the EU’s interest in the R2P by addressing the factors that inspired the EU’s openness towards the concept and by examining whether the EU’s commitment to the R2P falls within its general ambitions to contribute to international security or whether the EU is placing human suffering at the core of its considerations. In addition, this article questions to what extent the EU is capable of pursuing its own interest in the R2P and to what extent the EU is held back in implementing its commitment to the R2P by differing EU Member State approaches. It will be shown that the EU is strongly committed to fulfilling its collective responsibilities in partnership with the United Nations and that the focus of the EU’s activities has been put on atrocity prevention.
Brexit and the Effects of the Proposed EU–UK Partnership Agreement on the Audiovisual Sector
Authors: Biggam Ross
Published: April 2022

The audiovisual media industry has undergone and is undergoing a phase of global consolidation. While the sector is a significant component of the European economy, it is a special sector from a cultural perspective. Governments have reacted to this by trying to accommodate a tension between commercial objectives and what is perceived as ‘cultural’ objectives. Also the European Union has sought to reconcile these tensions. Now, Brexit poses further challenges for the global media sector, much of whose business activity was based in the UK.While the exact details of what Brexit would mean were unclear in June 2016, they have been partially clarified since then. The aim is to base the future EU/UK relationship on a free trade agreement, not on the Single Market. However, the audiovisual sector will be excluded from this agreement in line with the long-established precedent of a cultural exception in EU trade deals. The sector has widely understood these following extensive debates since 2013, ahead of adopting the EU mandate for the now-abandoned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the US. Many international broadcasting groups have anticipated the end of UK Single Market access after Brexit by relicensing channels and relocating staff into the EU27. While the UK will retain and maybe grow some core strengths, notably around content production, its role as the leading European centre for global media companies is likely to be eroded by new hubs in the EU27, while UK-based media companies will continue to be affected by EU regulation in relation to market access as well as free movement. There are particular issues around data transfers and state aids. This article seeks to evaluate if the current negotiations cater to the interest of the audiovisual sector and if not, why not.

Brexit, EU–UK Partnership, Audiovisual, Post-Brexit settlement, Personal Data, State Aid
EU-UK POST-BREXIT Trade Relations: Prosperity Versus Sovereignty?
Authors: Holmes Peter , Rollo Jim
Published: April 2022

Politicians on all sides failed to engage in serious debate about trade policy in the referendum. The ensuing debates on the implementation of Brexit lacked clarity on trade policy, processes, and the implications of these for business, consumers and the ability to negotiate new deals. The UK Government has only been consistent in its ability to frequently change its trade policy demands. The meaning of Single Market, Free Trade Agreement, Customs Union etc were widely misunderstood. Mrs May tried to preserve ‘Frictionless trade’ . More recently the ability to ‘strike new trade deals’ has become the most advertised ‘gain’ from Brexit. But the argument has focussed entirely on the ability to exercise sovereignty. Economic costs, including the impact of Coronavirus Disease (COVID) and its implications for trade rules, are hardly discussed on the UK side but the EU has also taken a fairly principled stand. We are not in a position to predict the final outcome but would argue that if there were to be no deal it would not be an accident but rather a logical consequence of the British view emphasizing sovereignty above all else.

Trade- Trade policy-Regulation, Sovereignty, Brexit- European Union , Negotiations
The Evolution of EU-GCC Relations Between Brexit and the Active Gulf
Authors: Cristiani Dario
Published: April 2022

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union (EU). Brexit will reduce the EU global outreach in specific areas in which the role of the UK was essential. The Gulf is one of them. Brexit is also happening as the era of the Anglosaxon hegemony in the Gulf is coming to an end. What here is defined as the active Gulf has replaced the passive Gulf, a process that has been in the making for a while. This means that a geopolitical vacuum that needs to be filled – either by regional or external actors – is emerging. As no external actor can play in the Gulf the role played by the UK and the US in the past; mounting security dilemmas are affecting more and more the views and perceptions of regional actors. This article aims at analysing these dynamics in the light of Brexit and how these two dynamics can impact the EU-GCC historically dysfunctional liaison. In order to do so, the paper will use the lens and language of geopolitics. The post-Brexit EU, thus, will have to interact with the Active Gulf. The EU will fail to provide an alternative to the US as a potential external security provider, and the absence of the UK from the EU ranks will also preclude the EU from having a crucial driver to deepen these relations further.

EU, GCC, Gulf, UK, Brexit, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Geopolitics
The EU and the Temptation to Become a Civilizational State
Authors: Glencross Andrew
Published: April 2022

This article argues that the desire to promote a ‘European way of life’ constitutes a defining feature of contemporary European integration. What might be misinterpreted as an inward turn is in fact part of the temptation for the EU to become a ‘civilizational state’, one promoting a distinct identity against rival value systems. The analysis highlights the significance of the EU’s ideological shift towards a civilizational narrative and explores the domestic and international factors pushing Brussels in this direction. The article also considers the practical consequences of the EU’s attempt to act as a civilizational state in its foreign relations. Here the argument proceeds on the understanding that a civilization is not an essence but a set of practices associated with political decision-making, notably over boundaries. The EU response to Russian and Chinese attempts to extend their influence in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined as a case study of how more assertive boundary-making, to solidify the EU’s civilizational claims, is likely to fuel geopolitical competition. Ultimately, the universal idea of Europe as a template for global governance was far less threatening for its systemic challengers. Hence the EU’s pandemic response is a sign of heightened civilizational rivalry.

Civilizational state, EU foreign policy, COVID-19, Narratives, Pandemic
Inclusion in EU-Georgia Trade Relations: A Critical Institutionalist Analysis of the Georgian Domestic Advisory Group
Authors: Potjomkina Diana
Published: April 2022

This article advances a context-sensitive, critical approach to (1) conceptualizing, (2) assessing and (3) explaining participatory inclusiveness of multistakeholder mechanisms, and applies it to the empirical case of the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) established in Georgia in the framework of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the European Union (EU). Such multistakeholder mechanisms, promoted by the EU, are expected to democratize trade policymaking and refute criticism concerning the negative impact of trade on sustainable development. Our conceptual perspective highlights the importance of not only formal rules, but also micro-level power relations among stakeholders and their ties to macro-level power relations existing in a society, as well as the linkage between social and material sides of power. In our typology, ‘genuine’ multistakeholderism enables just consideration of diverse perspectives through high de jure and de facto horizontal and vertical inclusiveness. Yet our empirical analysis, based on extensive interviews and secondary sources, exemplifies difficulties in reaching ‘genuine’ inclusiveness. Situating the Georgian DAG in the broader societal context helps explain the low degree of inclusiveness we observe, and lack of significant progress in advancing a genuine multistakeholder debate as well as the trade and sustainable agenda in Georgia.

Trade, Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, sustainable development, multistakeholderism, civil society, participation, inclusiveness, Georgia, European Union, critical institutionalism
The new Dutch Civil Code in a comparative perspective – a French view-point
Authors: Tallon Denis
Published: April 2022

Résumé. Le nouveau Code civil néerlandais dans une perspective comparative: le point de we français. La réforme du droit civil a ‘emprunté’ en France et aux Pays-Bas des chemins différents. Certes, le point de départ est le même: une refont globale. Mais alors que Meijers et ses successeurs, avec tenacité, ont poursuivi et (presque) achevé leur travail aprés 45 années d’effort, en France, il a été décidé en 1958 de conserver la structure d’ensemble du Code de 1804 et d’en rénover les parties qui avaient le plus vieilli – une tâche qui se continue encore de nos jours.

Si I’on compare les deux codes, tels qu’ils se présentent actuellement, on constate tout d’abord une évidente différence de style (au sens large). Le NBW a délibéremment abandonné le style de Portalis (s’en tenir aux principes généraux) pour une rédaction plus minutieuse, plus détaillée, sur le modèle du BGB. En ce qui conceme le fond, il n’y a plus de modèle prédominant (comme pouvait l’être, en 1838, le Code civil français, le principal code moderne de 1’époque) mais il cherche son inspiration dans tous les systèmes juridiques des pays de civilisation équivalente – y compris le droit franpis (droit érit et jurisprudence). On y relève aussi le large recours aux notions-cadres (déjà présents dam le Code civil français, et développés par la jurisprudence récente).

La réussite du NBW tiendra essentiellement à son adaptation jurisprudentielle, grâce précisément à l’utilisation des notion-cadres et aussi – comme le montre l’exemple français – à sa capacité d’absorber les réformes législatives ultérieures.
Die Berufshaftung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Authors: Hübner U.
Published: April 2022

Abstract. This paper gives details of the most important problem areas in the field of professional liability in the Federal Rupublic of Germany and sets out also the influence which the EC directive on the liability of suppliers of services is expected to have.

It distinguishes first between the professional liability of self-employed persons and employees. In the case of employees, they will be liable if they cause damage under tort or contract, but where the work is classed as ‘dangerous’ their responsability may be restricted, thus in many cases avoiding an inequitable imposition of liability upon the employee in respect of loss which he or she has caused.

In the case of the liberal professions, in contrast, the standard of care may be so high that this group of professionals cannot in practice come up to the requisite standards. Against this background, it is proposed in the paper that it would be appropriate to introduce certain limitations (e.g. with regard to the specific job-related knowledge of individual areas of law and with regard to supreme court case law in the case of the legal profession).

On to these problem issues within national law is grafted an assessment of the draft EC Directive on the liability of suppliers of services. This assessment and the consequences which will result from the implementation of the Directive represent the conclusion of this paper, which ends with a brief plea for ‘less liability’ in spite of the opportunities for insurance against liability risks.
Product liability law in the Netherlands
Authors: Dommering-van Rongen Loes
Published: April 2022

Abstract. This article summarizes product liability law in the Netherlands before and after the implementation of the European Directive on product liability. The Hoge Raad developed Dutch product liability law within the tort liability system. Some of those decisions will keep their importance. In the hot-water bottle case the Hoge Raad decided that proof of effective control does not relieve the manufacturer from liability, and that a manufacturer has to take into account that a certain part of the users will neglect to take appropriate precautions. The decision in the Halcion (a sleeping drug) case is of interest on three points, the influence of registration on liability, the notion of defect, and the duty to warn. Registration of a drug does not relieve the producer from liability. The Hoge Raad anticipated on the notion of defect in the Directive although the Directive did not apply directly. The producer has a duty to warn against side effects of drugs if the use does not have to expect those side effects. The product liability Directive was implemented with the Netherlands Product Liability Act of November 1, 1990. None of the options in the Directive were used. There is no published case law yet.

Résumé. Cet article donne un aperçu du droit de la responsabilité du fait des produits avant et après la mise en ceuvre de la Directive communautaire intervenue en la matière. Le Hoge Raad a en effet développé des règles relatives à la responsabilité du fait des produits au sein du système général du droit de la responsabilité, et ses décisions conserveront tout leur intérêt. Dans I’affaire dite de ‘la bouteille d’eau chaude’, le Hoge Raad a ainsi jugé que la preuve d’un contrôle effectif du produit n’exonérait pas le fabricant de sa responsabilité, et que ce demier devait prendre en compte le fait qu’une certaine fraction des utilisateurs du produit négligeraient de prendre des précautions appropriées. Quant à la décision rendue dans l’affaire dite du Halcion (un somnifère), elle a eu un triple intérêt: sur l’influence de l’enregistrement sur la responsabilité, sur la notion de défaut, et sur l’obligation d’information. L’enregistrement d’un drogue n’exonère d’abord pas le fabricant de sa responsabilité. Le Hoge Raad a en outre envisagé la notion de défaut au sens de la Directive, bien que celle-ci ne s’appliquait pas directement. Il a enfin précisé le devoir d’information qui pèse sur le fabricant concernant les effets secondaires des produits auxquels les utilisateurs peuvent ne pas s’attendre.

La loi néerlandaise du ler novembre 1990 a mis en oeuvre la Directive communautaire sur la responsabilité du fait des produits. Le texte ne fait usage d’aucune des options qu’elle autorise. Et aucune décision publiée n’est encore intervenue en la matière.
International arbitration – A comparative essay
Authors: Storme Marcel
Published: April 2022

Abstract. An analysis of international arbitration indicates that, prima facie, certain crucial differences between the continental approach and common law practice exist. The main differences relate to the general hearing (written/verbal), the position of the parties in relation to the arbitrator, the proof-taking procedure, the duty to give reasons for the decision, and the division of competences between the judiciary and the arbitrator. On the other hand it must be pointed out that the main trends in international arbitration lead to a blurring of these differences. In particular mention may be made of the lex mercatoria, reduction in judicial control, and the evolution towards transnational arbitration.

Résumé. Quand on étudie l’arbitrage international, on s’aperçoit au premier abord qu’il existe des différences essentielles entre l’approche continentale et la pratique de common law. Ces différences se manifestent spécialement en ce qui concerne les règles générales relatives aux auditions (écrites/orales), la situation des parties à 1’égard de l’arbitre, le droit de la preuve, la force obligatoire de la décision et la division des compétences entre le judiciaire et l’arbitre. D’un autre côté, on doit constater que les tendances fondamentales en matière d’arbitrage international contribuent à l’effacement de ces différences. On peut spécialement se référer à la lex mercatoria, aux restrictions misus au contrôle judiciaire et à l’évalution vers un arbitrage transnational.

Zusammenfassung. Analysiert man das internationale Schiedsgerichtsverfahren, bemerkt man auf den ersten Blick wesentliche Unterschiede zwischen der Methode des continentalen Rechtskreises und der Praxis im Bereich des common law. Diese Unterschiede treten besonders in Hinblick auf die allgemeine Anhörung (schriftlich/mündlich), die Stellung der Parteien im Verhältnis zum Schiedrichter, das Beweisverfahren, die Pflicht, die Entscheidung zu begründen, und in Bezug auf die Aufteilung der Kompetenzen zwischen der Gerichtsbikeit und dem Schiedrichter auf. Auf der anderen Seite muß man feststellen, daß grundlegende Tendenzen in internationalen Schiedsgerichtsverfahren dazu beitragen, die Unterschiede zu verwischen. Diesbezüglich kann man inbesondere auf die lex mercatoria, die Einschränkung gerichtlicher Kontrolle und die Entwicklung zu transnationalen Schiedsgerichtsverfahren hinweisen.
Cross-Border banking in the EC: Host Country powers under the Second Banking Directive
Authors: Rossini Christine
Published: April 2022

Abstract. The Second Banking Directive revolutionised the banking industry of Europe by setting new standards under which banks of all Member States could branch into any other Member State. By requiring that the host State recognise home country licensing and supervision of the bank, it enables banks to branch across borders bringing their legal environment with them. However, the Directive reserved certain powers for the host State, the most unsettling of which is the power to apply its own law to the branch when it considers this to be in the “general good” – unsettling because it is not clear how the provision will be interpreted. This article examines four national laws to consider whether their application to a branch bankin that territory should be permitted under the general good clause of the Directive, and it develops a concept by which this consideration may be made. Various preliminary issues are treated, in particular, which country is the home country of a bank, and when is a bank a branch deserving of mutual recognition under the Directive.
The Commission Action Plan on European Contract Law
Authors: Staudenmayer Dirk
Published: April 2022

Abstract: The recent Commission’s Action Plan on a more coherent European Contract Law is another important step in the discussion about perspectives for the future of European Contract Law. To start with, this document suggests, as a first measure, improving the existing and future acquis communitaire in the field of contract law. This is to be achieved by means of a so-called Common Frame of Reference, which will be developed in order to help both in revising the existing acquis communitaire and in preparing new proposals. In addition, the Action Plan envisages the development of general business conditions valid throughout Europe via the exchange of information, and it embarks upon further reflections about having an optional instrument of European Contract Law. Parties can then make a choice of law for the latter next to their national laws.
Konturen des Kaufrechtskonzeptes der Study Group on a European Civil Code – Ein Werkstattbericht
Authors: Heutger Viola
Published: April 2022

Abstract: Within the framework of the Study Group on a European Civil Code, a Dutch team based in Utrecht is preparing a draft on a European Sales Law. These efforts, being of importance for arriving at a possible future European Sales Law, are based on the acquis communautaire, the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), the Vienna Sales Convention (CISG), and national legislation. The Utrecht draft covers all kinds of cross-border sales transactions in goods within the European Union. The final result will be published as Principles of European Sales Law. In order to abide by the standards of consumer protection set by various Directives, the provisions dealing with consumer sales are mandatory.
Trees or Forest? – Colloque international et Session internationale d’études doctorales sur la réception du droit communautaire en droit privé des États Membres
Authors: Wurmnest Wolfgang
Published: April 2022

The impact of European Law on national private law and the idea to harmonise larger fields of private law seemed to be less discussed in France than elsewhere in Europe. Few conferences touched upon this field and French doctrine was rather quiet on this subject. This has changed fundamentally. The Commission’s Communication on European Contract Law triggered a discussion on the desirability and necessity of a European unification of private law. Many academics voiced their concerns and Ives Lequette rejected the idea fiercely. Against this background more than 160 academics from all over France and other EU Member States participated actively in the “Colloque international sur la réception du droit communautaire en droit privé des États Membres”. The conference was organised by Jean-Sylvestre Bergé and Marie Laure Niboyet and hosted by the University Paris X-Nanterre. The discussions during this congress made clear that the severe criticism expressed by some French legal writers towards the Europeanization of private law must be seen as the exception and not the rule. The conference focused on the reception of European Law in the fields of contract and tort law, family law, labour law, international private law and law of procedure. Each field was presented by a French and a foreign speaker. The Colloque was accompanied by a “Session internationale d’études doctorales” where young researchers from many EU-Member States formed six working groups on the aforementioned topics. The intention of the Session was twofold: each group followed a work program to analyse selected problems in a comparative perspective. The second and even more important aim was to enhance the exchange between the different legal cultures in Europe.