Does the Stockholm Programme Matter? The Struggles Over Ownership of AFSJ Multiannual Programming
Does the 2009 Stockholm Programme matter? This paper addresses the controversies experienced at EU institutional levels as to ‘who’ should have ownership of the contours of the EU’s policy and legislative multiannual programming in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) in a post-Lisbon Treaty landscape. It examines the struggles around the third multiannual programme on the AFSJ, i.e. the Stockholm Programme, and the dilemmas affecting its implementation. The latest affair to emerge relates to the lack of fulfilment by the European Commission of the commitment to provide a mid-term evaluation of the Stockholm Programme’s implementation by mid-2012, as requested by both the Council and the European Parliament. This paper shifts the focus to a broader perspective and raises the following questions: Is the Stockholm Programme actually relevant? What do the discussions behind its implementation tell us about the new institutional dynamics affecting European integration on the AFSJ? Does the EU actually need a new (post-Stockholm) multiannual programme for the period 2015-20? And last, what role should the EP play in legislative and policy programming in order to further strengthen the democratic accountability and legitimacy of the EU’s AFSJ?
Introduction: Migration And Law In Europe
In the introduction to the first issue of European Journal of Migration and Law this chapter summarizes the relationship between migration and law in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century by pointing to three major developments: from discretion to law, from national to European law, and from integration to exclusion. Can the developments during the first decade of the twenty-first century be characterized by the same developments or is there a major difference with the previous decades? And what are the dilemmas that will have to be tackled in the years ahead? Those questions are answered with the assistance of the sixteen contributions in this book. The editors have made a selection of the most relevant articles published in the Journal during its first decade with the aim of covering the major fields of European migration law. Keywords: European Journal; European migration law
Human Rights Obligations and Transnational Corporations: The Limits of Direct Corporate Responsibility
To date, multinational corporations have had no direct human rights obligations under international law. Nonetheless, international lawyers can no longer ignore the increasing role of non-state actors in international society. This article suggests analysing existing mechanisms and new proposals for enhancing the accountability of transnational corporations, grouped into those focusing on the responsibility of the home and host states and those centred on the imposition of direct obligations on corporations. This article will specifically draw attention to the limits of some of the suggested normative changes, from a legal-theoretical perspective and in terms of their capacity to address effectively the challenges of the lack of respect for human rights laws.