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The Euro – protective shield or trap?
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| Martin Seidel: Der Euro – Schutzschild oder Falle?
ZEI Working Paper B01-2010
In light of higher than average inflation rates observed among some EU member states, ZEI-Senior Fellow Professor Martin Seidel deals in the current ZEI working paper with the question: "Can the EMU membership of a country be lifted due to indebtedness and permanent account deficits?” In the paper, Seidel warns against destabilization of the Euro. In this context, he comes to the conclusion that termination of EU membership is legally permitted, if it has been agreed upon in a consensual way. According to Seidel, such a measure would not weaken the European integration process, but rather, consolidate it by acting as a selective correction.
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| Scholar of ZEI supports economic competition in Morocco |
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| "First of all I am glad to see that we Europeans can open up new perspectives for people outside Europe." mentioned ZEI Research Fellow Dr. Kristian Kampfer after numerous missions for ZEI/GTZ to Rabat (Morocco).
In an interview for the newspaper "Bonner Generalanzeiger" Kampfer pointed out the benefits of technical development cooperation for European countries, which include an increase in overall safety and economic prosperity. Both Europe and Africa would benefit from economic convergence in manifold ways (read more in German).
Since his return to ZEI in January 2010, Dr. Kampfer has concentrated the context of his postdoctoral research on the political, economic and legal factors that facilitate integration in the European Union. Furthermore his scientific research project focuses on the transferability of these supranational federal governmental structures to other state communities in Africa. His research topic is part of the ZEI-Research-Project "Comparative Regional Integration ".
Concerning "global challenges, like the fight against international crime and the consequences of climate change" Kampfer nevertheless pointed out, that it is "crucial for the world community at large to build up stronger institutional ties, as it was the case on the European continent during the laying of the founding stone in 1957." In the long run, regional integration systems could solve "numerous", but "not all problems society has to face".
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| Klaus Hänsch: Europäische Integration aus historischer Erfahrung. Ein Zeitzeugengespräch mit Michael Gehler
ZEI Discussion Paper C 197/2010
Klaus Hänsch, former president of the European Parliament (1994 till 1997), has witnessed during his long career as Member of the European Parliament from 1979 till 2009, in an exceptional way, the history of European integration until the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Professor of history from Hildesheim and ZEI-Senior Fellow, Michael Gehler, conducted a time witness dialogue with the social democrat Klaus Hänsch.
The European unification movement under Altiero Spinelli, Gerhard Schröder's point of view of the European unification process, Helmut Kohl's opinions about the European Parliament and Giscard d’Estaing's appearance in the Convention on the Future of Europe are being covered from this first ZEI discussion paper in 2010. The dialogue highlights European policy on various levels, with numerous interesting details and statements of Klaus Hänsch, as it also includes the discussion of EU-accession of Turkey.
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| Workshop: The European Union in the Mediterranean |
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ZEI Cooperation with the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies Malta (MEDAC)
ZEI Director Prof. Ludger Kühnhardt welcomes the
Minister of State
in the German Foreign Office,
Dr. Werner Hoyer
Jointly with the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC) at the University of Malta, the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) organized a workshop on February 2-3, 2010 on the role of the European Union in the Mediterranean. At the beginning of the workshop, the Minister of State in the German Foreign Office, Dr. Werner Hoyer, addressed the participants. Minister of State Hoyer made it clear that the institutional debate in the EU has come to an end and needs to be replaced b y strong strategic thinking and concrete actions. In essence, the EU needs to strengthen its position in the age of globalization. As far as the Middle East conflict is concerned, Hoyer called upon all parties involved to move from procedural efforts to reactivate the peace process to a comprehensive approach that tackles the central status matters related to a two-state solution. MEDAC-Director Prof. Dr.Stephen Calleya appealed to the European Union – and especially to Germany – to actively take up a lead role in reactivating the Middle East peace process. ZEI Director Prof. Dr. Ludger Kühnhardt underlined the long-standing commitment of ZEI to deal with the Mediterranean dimension in EU integration. ZEI will continue with this focus of its work that has accompanied the agenda of ZEI since its beginning in 1995.
The workshop was attended by more than a dozen students of MEDAC, mostly young diplomats from Arab countries. Jointly with ZEI Fellows of the Master of European Studies Program and ZEI scholars they discussed the breadth and depth of the Mediterranean agenda. A simulation was aimed at finding an early solution to the Middle East conflict. In cooperation with Deutsche Welle, the participants looked into the future of the Euro-Arab dialogue. A discussion group to this effect was attended by Maltas Ambassador to Germany, John Paul Grech, Ibrahim Hussein of the United Nations Volunteer Program and ZEI scholar Dr. Andreas Marchetti. Ambassador Grech warned of a “clash of ignorance” between Europeans and their Arab neighbors.
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ZEI and MEDAC participants at the workshop "The European Union in the Mediterranean"
with Malta’s Ambassador to Germany,
Dr. John Paul Grech (center left).
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| ZEI EU-Turkey-Monitor: EU-Turkey relations and the Lisbon Treaty |
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The Lisbon Treaty has entered into force on 1 December 2009. The authors of the ZEI EU-Turkey-Monitor look into the new treaty, reflecting particularly on the treaty’s implications for the future of enlargement and of EU-Turkey relations. In the interview, Egemen Bağış, Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, reflects on the treaty’s implications for Turkey, the newly created posts at the helm of the Union and Turkey’s foreign policy approaches in its neighbourhood.
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| ZEI Regional Integration Observer |
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The seventh edition of the “ZEI Regional Integration Observer” is dedicated to the role of law in regional integration processes. Articles deal with the ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the compatibility of the Treaty of Lisbon with the German Basic Law. Other contributions cover the growing significance of regional courts in other regional integration systems like ECOWAS, CARICOM, SICA or MERCOSUR.
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| ZEI Academy in Comparative Regional Integration 2010 |
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ZEI is pleased to announce that in 2010 the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will again support the ZEI Academy in Comparative Regional Integration with funds of the German Federal Foreign Office. The “ZEI Academy in Comparative Regional Integration” will take place from 5 to 16 July 2010 at ZEI. The unique program, under the supervision of ZEI-Director Prof. Dr. Ludger Kühnhardt, will gather highly qualified graduate and postgraduate students from regional groupings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The application deadline is 28 February 2010. For further information on the program structure and the application process please click here.
Information on the” ZEI Academies in Comparative Regional Integration.
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| Treaty of Lisbon enters into force: Analysis of ZEI in cooperation with Ifri |
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Andreas Marchetti/Claire Demesmay (eds.): Der Vertrag von Lissabon: Analyse und Bewertung, Schriften des Zentrum für Europäische Integrationsforschung (ZEI), Vol. 71, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 289 pages, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8329-3676-1.
Claire Demesmay/Andreas Marchetti (eds.): Le Traité de Lisbonne en discussion: quels fondements pour l’Europe?, Note de l’Ifri 60, Paris: Ifri, 141 pages, 2009, ISBN 978-86592-374-8.
The Treaty of Lisbon concludes the European Union’s long process of internal reforms. Coordinated by ZEI Fellow Dr. Andreas Marchetti, an interdisciplinary ZEI group of authors analyzes the Treaty along the structure of the new EU-Treaty. The publications, edited in cooperation with the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) in Paris, combine views from political science, law and economics. In addition to the interpretation of the Treaty provisions with regard to the evolution of the European Union and its policies, the authors evaluate the Treaty in comparison to the Treaty of Nice as legal reference point and the failed European Constitution as political orientation. From an integrationist perspective it can be concluded in many cases that the Treaty of Lisbon offers more than the Treaty of Nice but less than the constitutional Treaty. However, in a considerable number of cases, the situation is quite different. All in all, the authors design a differentiated picture of the new Treaty, albeit ambivalent at times.
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