The scrutiny of the principle of subsidiarity by autonomous regional parliaments with particular reference to the participation of the Parliament of Catalonia in the early warning system

The purpose of this article is to offer a practical approach to the new European dimension for regional parliaments signified by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The parliamentary scrutiny of subsidiarity by way of the early warning system has assigned a new mission to legislative assemblies with the aim of reinforcing the intervention of regions in the drafting of policies by Union institutions. In the Spanish case, the institutionalisation of this mechanism came about with Act nº 24/2009, which attributes to the Joint Committee for the European Union, in the name of the Cortes Generales [the Spanish Parliament], the function of receiving the proposals for legislative acts by the EU and transferring them to the regional parliaments in order for the latter to issue, in a brief period of four weeks, a report on compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. The majority of regional parliaments have also carried out normative reforms to regulate the procedure of participation in the early warning system.

Armonización del Derecho penal europeo para la lucha contra el cybercrimen

Projecte de recerca elaborat a partir d’una estada al Centro di Documentazione Europea della Facoltà di Giurisprudenza dell’Università di Verona,Itàlia , entre setembre del 2007 i l’agost del 2008. Tot i que, generalment, la doctrina penalista encara no és gaire inclinada a reconèixer que les comunitats europees ostentin cap tipus de competència penal, el cert és que a través de certes vies indirectes s’ha anat creant la base d’un Dret penal europeu. Més encara, i fixant-los en les darreres sentències del Tribunal de Justícia de les Comunitats Europees i en el procés de ratificació del Tractat de Lisboa, sembla poder afirmar-se la creació d’un Dret penal europeu creat directament per les institucions comunitàries, si bé amb la deguda atenció al principi de subsidiarietat per part dels parlaments nacionals que, al seu torn, permeten assegurar el respecte al principi de legalitat penal i a les garanties i llibertats individuals, patrimoni de la Ciència penal europea.

The Franco-German motor before the eastern enlargement: the causes of its decline

The Franco-German axis has been a transcendent force behind the European integration ever since the early years of the EEC. Nevertheless, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the perception of a progressive distancing between France and Germany as far as the EU politics is concerned, has increased. There has not been a definitive break in Franco-German relations. However, the influence of the Franco-German axis in the EU has been reduced in the 90s. Finally, in the Nice IGC (December 2000), the misunderstandings of these two “big” states about their weight in the Council, almost caused the failure to conclude the Treaty of Nice, clearing the way for the Eastern enlargement. The traditional balance between France and Germany has been eroded. Germany has consolidated its role of leadership in the EU, and above all towards the candidate countries. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the fifth enlargement as one of the causes of the decline of the Franco-German axis as the motor of the process of European integration.

On-line teaching and Copyright : Any Hopes for an EU Harmonized Playground?

Education never fails to be mentioned ¿ and, often, mentioned first ¿ as a public interest that justifies an exception to copyright. Educational purposes were already present in the first version of the Berne Convention of 18862 and have remained there (although in revised language) ever since. The WIPO Copyright Treaty of 19963 expressly referred to education in its Preamble, when ¿Recognizing the need to maintain a balance between the rights of authors andthe larger public interest, particularly education, research and access to information, as reflected in the Berne Convention¿ (emphasis added). And morerecently, the EU Directive on Copyright in the Information Society4 stressed its goal ¿to promote learning and culture by protecting works and other subjectmatter while permitting exceptions or limitations in the public interest for the purpose of education and teaching¿ (Recital 14, emphasis added).

Espacio público: universidad, censura y política. Un ensayo visual

Lisbon, October 27, 2014, Dr. Jose Luis Cardoso director of the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) at the University of Lisbon, has suspended the publication of the number 212 of the prestigious journal Análise Social. The reason: the number contains a visual essay produced by Ricardo Campos that is qualified to use a 'strong language'. While the online edition of the magazine was available (not try to find it at the site of the ICS) the printed edition was in printing machines. Now, the hard copies will be destroyed.

Perspectives for the Spanish Intervention in Macao in the 19th Century

The purpose of this paper is to analyse some essential events concerning the relationship between Spain and Macao in the middle of the 19th century. Macao remained as a privileged spot for the commercial activities of Spain in China after the opening of the international ports agreed upon in the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. This encouraged Spanish diplomatic representatives to render special attention to the Portuguese enclave. This became the origin of a shocking proposal for the military conquest of Macao and its surrounding territories by one of these representatives, Sinibaldo de Mas. Although this proposal was never taken under consideration, it helps us to better understand the role Macao played in Spanish strategies in China. Years later, Mas participated as a mediator when the Chinese government attempted to regain sovereignty over Macao by paying an economic compensation to Portugal. The involvement of Sinibaldo de Mas in this project has a strong symbolic meaning, making him a key agent in the relations between Spain and Macao in the 19th century.

Framing the Europeanization footprint: a follow-up of the EU renewable electricity directive and its impact in Spai

És àmpliament conegut que l'europeïtzació ha guanyat molt terreny en els estudis europeus. Des de finals de la dècada de 1990, ha gaudit d'una important expansió per tal d'avaluar l'eficàcia de les polítiques a escala europea en l'àmbit intern. En aquest procés la política energètica ha jugat un paper molt paradoxal, sent persistentment exclosos de l'agenda de recerca de la europeïtzació, encara que la seva creixent importància en l'elaboració de polítiques comunitàries. No obstant això, la realitat és que, tot i haver estat reconegut recentment com una àrea de la UE amb l'aplicació del Tractat de Lisboa, també ha estat influenciat, directament o indirectament, pels efectes de l'europeïtzació. Com a resultat d'això, la política energètica ha estat considerat com un "cas especial" de l'europeïtzació, portant fins al moment per a la construcció d'un sector caracteritzat la política energètica europea. En aquest context, el present treball pretén explicar l'europeïtzació de les polítiques energètiques nacionals en l'elaboració de l'actuació de la UE per mitjà de la seva competència ambiental. Més explícitament, aquesta investigació tracta de la naturalesa de la reglamentació comunitària en matèria d'energia renovable com un mecanisme d'europeïtzació amb especial èmfasi en el seu impacte a Espanya. Aquest treball sosté que (1) la lluita europea contra el canvi climàtic s'ha obert un camí per a la participació de la UE en matèria de política energètica, i que (2) encara que limitat aquest procés està produint alguns canvis en les polítiques energètiques nacionals. Universitat

The EU ‘2020 Energy Initiative’: The post-Lisbon pattern of change in EU energy policy

El novembre de 2010, la Comissió Europea ha finalment donat a conèixer la seva "Energia 2020 Comunicació", un document estratègic en el marc més ampli del programa "Europa 2020". Una estratègia per al desenvolupament sostenible intel · ligent, i creixement inclusiu posa les bases d'un nou enfocament a la política d'energia a la UE. En el marc d'Europa 2020, la Iniciativa d'Energia recopila els resultats que ja s'han obtingut a través de la Estratègia de Lisboa 2000-2010, s'identifiquen les deficiències del passat i i introdueix nous objectius ambiciosos per a la UE en matèria de política energètica.

Mixed Blessing? EP Oversight of the ESDP and the Constitutional Treaty

As commonly held, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) suffers from a “double democratic deficit”: the EP has a marginal role in the ESDP-making process and the national parliaments remain unable to account for their own government. Therefore pressure coming from these two institutions had been exercised during the Convention on the Future of Europe to improve the democratic oversight on this rapidly evolving policy. This paper investigates the innovations included in the Constitutional Treaty, focusing specifically on the new role granted to the EP. It shows that even though this text does not substantially modify the inter-institutional balance of powers in the ESDP area, the EP may take advantage of some of its articles to become an actor in the ESDP-control process in the ‘living constitution.

“Of Spitzenkandidaten and European Leaders”: Is the new 2014 "politicized” Presidency of the Commission going to be a real step forward in the EU legitimization process?

Thanks to ART.17.7 of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council now has to “take into account” the results of EP Elections when selecting a candidate for the role of Commission President. The European Parliament has grabbed the opportunity to launch the first electoral race for spitzenkandidaten to the Presidency. Is this the start of a new democratizing (and thus, politicizing) process for the European Union? This dissertation will try to give a possible answer to the dilemma by constructing a comprehensive framework around EP Elections 2014 that will involve both the Commission and the Parliament and an analysis of the debate beyond legal provisions and the possibility of a politicized presidency of the Commission.