From six to ten and beyond: The European Community at the crossroads
The purpose of this paper is to assess the main factors causing the impasse which the EC has reached. The next section examines the lack of consensus of the member states on the aims of the EC and on the means to achieve them. Subsequently, this is related to the EC enlargement. Finally, recommendations will be made on major policy issues in order to provide a new stimulus to the integration process in Western Europe.
Discriminatory European Union Membership and the Redistribution of Enlargement Gains
Conflicts between European Union (EU) members about enlargement result from its redistributive effects. EU members are more likely to suffer from enlargement if they profit from EU transfers and if they are relatively close to applicant countries in which unemployment is significantly higher than in member countries. Phasing in membership rights serves to compensate the relative losers of enlargement to accomplish EU widening. Using data from all previous enlargement rounds until 2004, we demonstrate that EU members are more likely to demand a discrimination of new members if distributional conflicts arise. The existence of these distributional conflicts in turn increases the odds of EU members and the accession candidates actually agreeing on a phase-in period.
Voting Procedures in United Nations Conferences for the Codification of International Law
The question of voting procedure in international conferences convoked to codify international law has been discussed for more than a hundred years, starting with the first Geneva Red Cross Conference in 1864. At the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 important departures were made from the unanimity rule in favor of near-unanimity or quasi-unanimity. Further steps toward a two-thirds rule were taken by the League of Nations in connection with the Hague Codification Conference of 1930. The question arose anew when the first United Nations conferences were held, and in particular as soon as the United Nations started its ambitious program for the progressive development of international law and its codification, pursuant to Article 13(1) (a) of the UN Charter.