The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union

The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union
Author: Richard C. M. Mole
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 041539497X

This book provides an informative and interesting overview of developments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as they made the transition from Soviet domination to membership of the EU. It focuses in particular on the concepts of identity, sovereignty and power in the domestic and international politics of the Baltic states.

Strategic Frames

Strategic Frames
Author: Jennie L. Schulze
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2018-03-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0822983095

Joseph Rothschild Book Prize Honorable Mention Strategic Frames analyzes minority policies in Estonia and Latvia following their independence from the Soviet Union. It weighs the powerful influence of both Europe and Russia on their policy choices, and how this intersected with the costs and benefits of policy changes for the politicians in each state. Prior to EU accession, policymakers were slow to adopt minority-friendly policies for ethnic Russians despite mandates from the European Union. These initiatives faced majority opposition, and politicians sought to maintain the status quo and their positions. As Jennie L. Schulze reveals, despite the credit given to the democratizing influence of European institutions, they have rarely produced significant policy changes alone, and then only when domestic constraints were low. Whenever domestic opposition was high, Russian frames were crucial for the passage of reforms. In these cases, Russia’s activism on behalf of Russian speakers reinforced European frames, providing powerful justifications for reform. Schulze’s attention to both the strategic framing and counter framing of external actors explains the controversies, delays, and suboptimal outcomes surrounding the passage of “conditional” amendments in both cases, as well as the local political climate postaccession. Strategic Frames offers a significant reference on recent developments in two former Soviet states and the rapidly evolving spheres of political influence in the postindependence era that will serve students, scholars, and policymakers alike.

National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law

National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law
Author: Anneli Albi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 1522
Release: 2019-05-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9462652732

This two-volume book, published open access, brings together leading scholars of constitutional law from twenty-nine European countries to revisit the role of national constitutions at a time when decision-making has increasingly shifted to the European and transnational level. It offers important insights into three areas. First, it explores how constitutions reflect the transfer of powers from domestic to European and global institutions. Secondly, it revisits substantive constitutional values, such as the protection of constitutional rights, the rule of law, democratic participation and constitutional review, along with constitutional court judgments that tackle the protection of these rights and values in the transnational context, e.g. with regard to the Data Retention Directive, the European Arrest Warrant, the ESM Treaty, and EU and IMF austerity measures. The responsiveness of the ECJ regarding the above rights and values, along with the standard of protection, is also assessed. Thirdly, challenges in the context of global governance in relation to judicial review, democratic control and accountability are examined. On a broader level, the contributors were also invited to reflect on what has increasingly been described as the erosion or ‘twilight’ of constitutionalism, or a shift to a thin version of the rule of law, democracy and judicial review in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation processes. The national reports are complemented by a separately published comparative study, which identifies a number of broader trends and challenges that are shared across several Member States and warrant wider discussion. The research for this publication and the comparative study were carried out within the framework of the ERC-funded project ‘The Role and Future of National Constitutions in European and Global Governance’. The book is aimed at scholars, researchers, judges and legal advisors working on the interface between national constitutional law and EU and transnational law. The extradition cases are also of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of criminal law. Anneli Albi is Professor of European Law at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. Samo Bardutzky is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Law of the Baltic States

The Law of the Baltic States
Author: Tanel Kerikmäe
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2017-04-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3319544780

This is the first book to present the law of the Baltic States in one comprehensive and coherent volume in English. The Baltic States region, which was incorporated by the Soviet Union for 50 years and now is the only such territory in the EU, continues to be characterized by a number of unique traits, problems and developmental trends. This book addresses these facets of law – the status quo, problems and trends – by adopting a comparative perspective structure for all three Baltic States (divided into three main parts – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Each of these parts examines similar core aspects: General Frameworks, Public Law, and Private Law. Taking into account the peculiarities of each country, the individual chapters provide analyses of principles, problems and developments in specific legal branches. The authors of the book are recognized academics and professionals in the field of law. Taken together, their contributions offer a valuable tool and resource for anyone interested in the law of the Baltic States: students, legal practitioners, scholars, administrators, etc.

Let's Explore Europe!

Let's Explore Europe!
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2010
Genre: Europe
ISBN:

This book for children (roughly 9 to 12 years old) gives an overview of Europe and explains briefly what the European Union is and how it works.--Publisher's description.

Remains of the Soviet Past in Estonia

Remains of the Soviet Past in Estonia
Author: Francisco Martinez
Publisher: UCL Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2018-07-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1787353532

What happens to legacies that do not find any continuation? In Estonia, a new generation that does not remember the socialist era and is open to global influences has grown up. As a result, the impact of the Soviet memory in people’s conventional values is losing its effective power, opening new opportunities for repair and revaluation of the past. Francisco Martinez brings together a number of sites of interest to explore the vanquishing of the Soviet legacy in Estonia: the railway bazaar in Tallinn where concepts such as ‘market’ and ‘employment’ take on distinctly different meanings from their Western use; Linnahall, a grandiose venue, whose Soviet heritage now poses diffi cult questions of how to present the building’s history; Tallinn’s cityscape, where the social, spatial and temporal co-evolution of the city can be viewed and debated; Narva, a city that marks the border between the Russian Federation, NATO and the European Union, and represents a place of continual negotiation of belonging; and the new Estonian National Museum in Raadi, an area on the outskirts of Tartu, that has been turned into a memory field. The anthropological study of all these places shows that national identity and historical representations can be constructed in relation to waste and disrepair too, also demonstrating how we can understand generational change in a material sense. Praise for Remains of the Soviet Past in Estonia 'By adopting the tropes of ‘repair’ and ‘waste’, this book innovatively manages to link various material registers from architecture, intergenerational relations, affect and museums with ways of making the past present. Through a rigorous yet transdisciplinary method, Martínez brings together different scales and contexts that would often be segregated out. In this respect, the ethnography unfolds a deep and nuanced analysis, providing a useful comparative and insightful account of the processes of repair and waste making in all their material, social and ontological dimensions.' Victor Buchli, Professor of Material Culture at UCL 'This book comprises an endearingly transdisciplinary ethnography of postsocialist material culture and social change in Estonia. Martínez creatively draws on a number of critical and cultural theorists, together with additional research on memory and political studies scholarship and the classics of anthropology. Grappling concurrently with time and space, the book offers a delightfully thick description of the material effects generated by the accelerated post-Soviet transformation in Estonia, inquiring into the generational specificities in experiencing and relating to the postsocialist condition through the conceptual anchors of wasted legacies and repair. This book defies disciplinary boundaries and shows how an attention to material relations and affective infrastructures might reinvigorate political theory.' Maria Mälksoo, Senior Lecturer, Brussels School of International Studies at the University of Kent

Article 177 EEC

Article 177 EEC
Author: Henry G. Schermers
Publisher: North Holland
Total Pages: 488
Release: 1987
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Expert representatives of all member states of the EEC met in The Hague in 1985 to discuss ''Experiences and problems in applying the preliminary proceedings of Article 177 EEC''. All categories of practitioners were present; at the national level (judges, counsel, government agents) and at the European level (Commission, Council, European Parliament and the Court of Justice). The importance of the preliminary procedure of article 177 EEC for the development of the legal order of the European Communities is undisputed. It is the most effective means available to individuals and companies of ensuring the respect of the national authorities of the rights which they enjoy under Community law (freedom of movement of goods, persons, services and capital, common policies, etc.). Without detracting from the success of the preliminary procedure, certain deficiencies do exist. To a large extent these may be attributed to the workload of the Court of Justice, which has led to a considerable increase in the delay for obtaining a preliminary ruling. It is felt that there is a growing need to streamline the procedure before the court. This volume is a comprehensive and authoritative survey of experiences with the preliminary procedure, and should be of great academic and practical value.

Shadowlands

Shadowlands
Author: Meike Wulf
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785330748

Located within the forgotten half of Europe, historically trapped between Germany and Russia, Estonia has been profoundly shaped by the violent conflicts and shifting political fortunes of the last century. This innovative study traces the tangled interaction of Estonian historical memory and national identity in a sweeping analysis extending from the Great War to the present day. At its heart is the enduring anguish of World War Two and the subsequent half-century of Soviet rule. Shadowlands tells this story by foregrounding the experiences of the country’s intellectuals, who were instrumental in sustaining Estonian historical memory, but who until fairly recently could not openly grapple with their nation’s complex, difficult past.

From Soviet Republics to EU Member States (2 vols)

From Soviet Republics to EU Member States (2 vols)
Author: Peter van Elsuwege
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 621
Release: 2008-08-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 904744499X

From Soviet Republics to EU Member States addresses the legal and political challenges surrounding the EU accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Based upon a profound analysis of the Baltic States’ historic development and international legal status, this book examines the gradual development of bilateral relations between the EU and each of the Baltic countries. It discusses the strategic policy choices made in the EU’s fifth enlargement wave and the consequences of its pre-accession strategies. Specific attention is devoted to the impact of enlargement on the triangular relationship between the EU, the Baltic States and Russia. Finally, the constitutional changes within the Baltic States and within the European Union itself are taken into account.