Amsterdam Treaty (amsterdam + treaty)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


International Migration and State Sovereignty in an Integrating Europe

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 6 2001
Andrew Geddes
This article examines the development of migration policy competencies of the European Union (EU) since the 1990s. It pays particular attention to policy framework that developed after the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties entered into effect in 1993 and 1999 respectively. In order to chart these developments, the article focuses on five analytical themes that illustrate key trends in EU migration policy. Reasons for and implications of shift from "pillarization" in the Maastricht Treaty to "communitarization" in the Amsterdam Treaty. , Blurring of the distinction between external and internal security. , The role that supranational institutions such as the European Commission are playing (or trying to play) in policy development. , Debates about migrants' rights in an integrating Europe. , Links between migration and EU enlargement. It is argued that far from weakening EU member states or symbolizing some "loss of control", EU cooperation and integration have thus far helped member states consolidate and reassert their ability to regulate international migration through the use of new EU-level institutional venues. This raises legitimacy issues as the EU moves into politically sensitive policy areas. Although talk of "fortress Europe" is overblown, the EU is likely to face legitimacy challenges on both the "input" (democracy, openness and accountability of decision-making) and "output" (implementation and compliance) elements of decision-making. [source]


Five Danish referendums on the European Community and European Union: A critical assessment of the Franklin thesis

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2002
Palle Svensson
Denmark had five referendums in the period from 1972 to 1998 dealing with Danish membership in the European Community, the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty, the Edinburgh Agreement and the Amsterdam Treaty. Did the Danes really address these issues and involve themselves actively in the policy,making process on a vital issue or did they merely vote for or against the current government? The latter option represents the ,second order' elections argument advanced by Mark Franklin and others (see Franklin's article in this issue). If correct in this instance, it may have important and negative consequences for the potential of referendums to involve citizens more directly in the way they are governed. In this article, the Franklin thesis is assessed on the basis of data on voting behaviour in five Danish referendums on Europe and the democratic implications of these findings are discussed. [source]


The Institutionalised Participation of Management and Labour in the Legislative Activities of the European Community: A Challenge to the Principle of Democracy under Community Law

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000
Gabriele Britz
The legislative procedure established by Articles 138-139 of the Amsterdam Treaty is sensitive with regard to democratic prerequisites, but does not, in the final analysis, breach the formal principle of democracy established under Community law. Although the establishment of a parliamentary right of consultation is desirable, sufficient democratic legitimation is nonetheless supplied by virtue of Council and Commission participation within the legislative procedure and by their unlimited right to examine and reject substantive provisions designed by management and labour. By the same measure, the participation of management and labour in the Articles 138-139 legislative process is not of itself sufficient to create democratic legitimation. However, although management and labour organisations might never claim to represent the public of Europe as a whole, they can contribute to the ,substantive' legitimacy of European social law-making where they are adequately representative of persons and groups affected by EC legislative acts and take positive steps to ensure that the interests of such persons are reflected in secondary EC law. Accordingly, the Commission and the Council should review the representative nature of organisations engaged in European social law-making, paying particular attention to under-represented interests and, if necessary, should also make use of their right of rejection where privately negotiated agreements neglect these interests. [source]


International Migration and State Sovereignty in an Integrating Europe

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 6 2001
Andrew Geddes
This article examines the development of migration policy competencies of the European Union (EU) since the 1990s. It pays particular attention to policy framework that developed after the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties entered into effect in 1993 and 1999 respectively. In order to chart these developments, the article focuses on five analytical themes that illustrate key trends in EU migration policy. Reasons for and implications of shift from "pillarization" in the Maastricht Treaty to "communitarization" in the Amsterdam Treaty. , Blurring of the distinction between external and internal security. , The role that supranational institutions such as the European Commission are playing (or trying to play) in policy development. , Debates about migrants' rights in an integrating Europe. , Links between migration and EU enlargement. It is argued that far from weakening EU member states or symbolizing some "loss of control", EU cooperation and integration have thus far helped member states consolidate and reassert their ability to regulate international migration through the use of new EU-level institutional venues. This raises legitimacy issues as the EU moves into politically sensitive policy areas. Although talk of "fortress Europe" is overblown, the EU is likely to face legitimacy challenges on both the "input" (democracy, openness and accountability of decision-making) and "output" (implementation and compliance) elements of decision-making. [source]