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This book explores the many aspects of transition and its role in the change from authoritarian regimes to new democracies, while highlighting all of their difficulties and challenges.
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The current analysis depicts the major trends in and risks to the development of civil society in Bulgaria. Three groups of risks are identified related to the establishment of public-private partnerships, the capture of civil society by politicians at local and national level, and the nature of commercial activities performed by non-profit organizations. The suggested legislative changes and measures target state and municipal structures related to non-profit organizations. In addition, this paper outlines measures aimed at self-regulation and greater transparency in the "third sector".
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Wiktor Woroszylski followed a path characteristic for many Polish intellectuals in the second half of the 20th century: from entanglement in communism to active opposition to it. He was not only a witness but also a participant of many events of key significance for the post-war history who also influenced them.It is a chronicle of a non-conformist group, written down at a time when keeping such records required great courage, and, at the same time, an expressive portrait of that group, strengthened internally by friendship and mutual loyalty, which has finally become a timeless example of freedom.Crowds, people released from jail, the whole group, one can hardly work out, probably more than one hundred people, press, talks about what has happened, and euphoria again. I was not imaginative enough to realize what happened; I treated the whole work of the Workers’ Defence Committee, etc., in the past years more as a way to save our souls and perhaps create some islands of internal freedom but I did not take into account the prospects of social victory on such a scale.
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Three months which changed Ukraine written down through the testimonies of individuals: recordings, diaries, memoirs, blogs or Facebook entries. The multitude of experiences makes up a universal story of the phenomenon of Ukrainian breakthrough which started with a peaceful rally in defence of pro-European orientation of the country and ended with the revolution in Kiev and the overthrow of a criminal president. It was the time when the Ukrainians started speaking with a full voice about their right to free choice, about honesty, truth, and dignity, and finally took to the streets in their defence at any cost.
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In 2009, Analytica published the report Macedonia’s lagging behind in efficient usage of EU funds (IPA, Framework Programmes). In 2009 the country was still just getting to know all the complex procedures and labyrinths that the EU funding represents. The conclusion was that: “…the overall feeling is that compared to Croatia and Turkey, Macedonia is lagging behind in terms of IPA usage. Institutional capacity has been a persistent problem and there have not been sufficient trainings of the private sector in the past years either, which adds to the situation Macedonia is in.” It can be said that several important occurrences happened since the IPA funding was established in 2007. Even though Macedonia’s integration is in a limbo at the moment due to the Greek veto over the name dispute, the funds flow each year towards the capacity building of the county and the state, private and civil sectors. The process of the reforms does not stop and the better the country is prepared for the negotiation process the smoother it will run once it starts. Therefore the country should strive to full usage of the numerous EU funds that are open for the Macedonia’s institutions, private and civil sector.
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This paper critically examines the policy implications of the ongoing Canada-Czech Republic visa dispute for the founding principles of the EU’s immigration and asylum policies, notably those of reciprocity and solidarity. It addresses the main challenges posed by the unilateral reintroduction of visa requirements for nationals of the Czech Republic for the EU’s common visa policy, and for the fundamental rights of European citizens who belong to vulnerable and excluded groups, i.e. Roma, in search of international protection. The new Commission proposal on avisa safe guard clause for suspending visa liberalisation will be also critically examined in this context. The paper argues that the EU-Canada visa controversy reveals several pitfalls for the successful pursuit of EU foreign policy in Justice and Home Affairs, as well as for the legitimacy of Europe’s immigration and asylum policies. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations for improving EU-Canada cooperation in the fields of migration and asylum that aim to facilitate the legitimacy, solidarity and fundamental rights compliance of current and future cooperation frameworks.
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This paper deals with loss of citizenship of the European Union (EU) due to the loss of nationality of an EU member state. Only the nationals of a member state possess European citizenship; the loss of nationality of a member state thus also implies the loss of European citizenship. Member states are in principle autonomous in nationality matters, which means that their rules on loss of nationality, and loss of EU citizenship, differ considerably. But member states must respect international law and the general principles of European law when dealing with loss of nationality. This report aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic comparative analysis of existing regulations and procedures in EU member states with regard to the involuntary loss of nationality.
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‘Civic integration’ programmes and tests for third-country nationals (TCNs) have increasingly become part of member states’ legislation implementing EC immigration law and the EU Framework on Integration. The civic dimension of integration consists of various programmes and tests requiring TCNs to demonstrate that they know and respect the receiving society’s history, institutions and values. This paper assesses the tensions inherent in the relationship between civic integration programmes and the principles of legal certainty, proportionality and non-discrimination. This paper compares national immigration legislation in four member states – Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It studies the personal and material scope of civic integration provisions as well as the political justifications promulgated by their governments for introducing these kinds of policies. This comparison enables us to identify the common deficits of these member states’ policies. We argue that by providing a supranational venue for the transferring and legitimising certain national policies that use civic integration to restrict immigration, the legitimacy and coherency of the EU immigration policy is profoundly affected by the same deficits.
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The Stockholm Programme and the European Commission’s Action Plan implementing it have positioned the freedom, security and justice of ‘European citizens’ at the heart of the EU’s political agenda for the next five years. Yet, who are the ‘citizens’ about whom the Council and the European Commission are so interested? At first sight it would appear as if only those individuals holding the nationality of a member state would fall within this category. This paper challenges this assumption,however, and argues that as a consequence of litigation by individuals before EU courts and of the growing importance given to the act of mobility in citizenship and immigration law, the personal scope of the freedoms accorded to European citizenship already covers certain categories of third country nationals (TCNs). Through an examination of selected landmark rulings of the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the paper demonstrates how the requirement of being a national of an EU member state is progressively becoming less important when defining the boundaries of the European citizenry.
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Biometrics are a feature of communication technologies (ICTs). Their disproportionate use andthe lax and arbitrary way in which they are defined and implemented endangers values, norms and practices central to accepted conceptions in the EU27 of transparency, data protection and data privacy. Concern over the indiscriminate and growing use of biometrics for increasingly mundane and imprecise purposes results in a breach of the earlier intention to ensure their proportionate deployment based on the principle of necessity. Deviation from this is now justified by reference to loose arguments about the alleged ‘certainty’ that biometric identifiers bring to cutting risk, and so enhancing ‘security’, however that is defined.
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In February 2011, the European Commission published a proposal for a new Directive on theuse of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crimes. This proposal replaces an earlier draft of 2007 for a Framework Decision on the use of PNR data for law enforcement purposes. The new proposal does not seem to allay the earlier concerns of important stake holders with regard to the 2007 proposal. Its content contradicts not only important principles of data protection as described by the Commission in November 2010, but also the principle of proportionality underlying EU law.
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This working paper analyses the flow of Roma migrants, in particular asylum-seekers, from the Czech Republic and Hungary to Canada in 1996–2010. Although the fate of the Roma is at the centre of events, statistics on asylum applications along with an interpretation of the history of migration issues, from the perspectives of both international relations and EU policy, illustrate the classical debate on state sovereignty versus universal or at least European solidarity. They reflect the debate on the binding human rights of fragile groups versus security preconditions and prejudices. This amalgam of migration, visa and asylum policies has affected the lives of Roma and their efforts to achieve equal treatment, integration and citizenship in their country of residence as well as their homeland.
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Special investigative measures (SIM) are measures covertly applied by state institutions (foremost security institutions), which inherently constrict the degree to which citizens enjoy their constitutionally guaranteed rights. These fundamental traits of SIM mean that uncontrolled implementation may lead to undue violation of human rights, abuse of power, and it may unnecessarily cost taxpayers significant amounts of money. These risks are not purely “theoretical”. In recent years, there were several scandals in Serbia involving the use of SIM. In 2012 and 2013 the public was shaken by media reports of phone tapping of high state officials. In early 2014, former deputy head of the Police unit responsible for SIM implementation was arrested for having leaked information to an organised criminal group on measures implemented against its members. Apart from these scandals, there are also indications that SIM are amply implemented by institutions. For instance, one mobile operator reported that public institutions made 270,000 accesses to retained electronic data of its customers within one year.1 All of this suggests there is a need for strengthening external oversight, which is essential for increasing the accountability of state actors implementing SIM. Strengthening external oversight is also in the best interest of security institutions, as it helps demystify their work and enhance public trust towards these institutions.
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A question of police integrity in BiH is quite difficult to consider due to the complexity of the police system. The police sector in BiH consists of 16 police agencies at all levels of government and 6 institutions which provide them support or carry out similar activities. This fact makes any research difficult because each police agency could be considered as an individual entity and particular research could be committed for each of them. Generally, findings of the report indicate that neither the legal framework, nor the practice is satisfying to ensure police integrity. In addition to that, the citizens assess police work as very weak and its efforts insufficient in fighting corruption. A very high influence of politicians on the police work still exists; police transparency is not satisfying when it comes to investigation of serious cases of corruption; human resources management and financing require serious reforms to be more functional in the fight against corruption; while both internal and external controls need serious changes to be more independent and functional. This report could help to consider police integrity from important points of view, including legal framework and citizens’ perspective. The report can help make a comprehensive study and a deeper analysis of each chapter.
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On top of all respect for previously concluded and future talks and agreements, the agreement on freedom of movement of people is one of the fundamental agreements, and evaluation of overall relations between Belgrade and Pristina shall depend on its implementation. Can normalization be discussed if people cannot move and communicate freely? Are obstacles to free movement of people still present and what can be done to remove those obstacles? Freedom of movement is one of the fundamental freedoms upon which EU stands and substantial progress of Belgrade and Pristina on the way toward the EU depends on readiness to respect and guarantee that freedom. Agreement on freedom of movement was concluded in July 2011 and implementation of the agreement began on December 26th 2011. This agreement provided free movement for citizens of Kosovo and Serbia within territories of Kosovo and Serbia. This was made possible with identification documents (personal ID cards). Freedom of movement also includes traveling by vehicles, on condition of paying mandatory border (administrative) insurance. Agreement on integrated management of border/administrative line was concluded by teams of negotiators during the technical dialog in December 2011, but the implementation did not begin until December 2012, one year after the dialog, immediately upon the beginning of political negotiations between the Premiers of Serbia and Kosovo.
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