From a European to a common security and defence policy. IES WORKING PAPER 5/2010
The Lisbon Treaty has introduced significant changes in the field of EU security and 
defence. On the one hand, important institutional reforms, such as the creation of a 
renewed High Representative, have of course a great impact on this policy field. On the 
other hand, the Lisbon Treaty has also introduced specific innovations in the security and 
defence of the European Union. The mutual defence clause and the new mechanisms for 
flexible cooperation such as the permanent structured cooperation, are only some of the 
key innovations. Generally, the European Security and Defence Policy receives its own 
section in the Treaty on European Union and is rebranded as Common Security and Defence 
Policy. Thus, the Lisbon Treaty sets the objective for a common policy in this field. 
However, does this reform really provide for the means for the realization of such a 
common policy? Furthermore, does the Lisbon Treaty increase the importance of CSDP or is 
the increasing importance of this policy field just reflected in the Treaty text? These are 
the main questions that the present paper attempts to address through the analysis of the 
new institutional setting of the post-Lisbon security and defence policy, as well as through 
the examination of the specific innovations in this area.
Assessing the Implications of Turkish EU-membership for Council of Ministers' Decision-making
This research forecasts the implications of Turkish membership for decision-making effectiveness and dynamics within the Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU). Effectiveness is determined in this research by 'passage probability': the chance that a random proposal as put forth by the European Commission (EC) is accepted by the Council of Ministers. Dynamics are determined by means of the Shapley-Shubik Index (SSI), which plots power values of individual member states by forecasting a number of possible EU enlargement scenarios. This study falsifies earlier research by Baldwin and Widgren. It finds that the implications of Turkish EU-membership for EU decision-making efficiency are ambiguous and depend on the number of other candidate states entering the EU alongside Turkey, as well as the timeslot 2014 or 2020 at which the accession would take place. Moreover, this study asserts that Turkish EU-accession would result in unequalbut generally negative power changes among other EU member states, although member states with similar demographic weight will experience comparable changes. Finally, it appears that the larger a EU member state is, the more power it loses if Turkey would join the EU.
Keeping Farmers on the Land: Adding Value in Agriculture in the Veneto Region of Italy
Italy's relatively small area, high population density, and high land and labor costs have created the challenges of ensuring profitably for agricultural producers, slowing urban encroachment onto arable land, and keeping farm families on land that has been handed down within the families for generations. As part of the solution to these issues, the European Union is enacting policies to reduce producer dependence on direct subsidies while increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products and returns to producers, reinvigorating rural communities, and encouraging environmentally sound production methods. These regulations provide incentives for producers to add value to their products by obtaining legal recognition of typical products, participating in agritourism, and helping to promote traditional products for regional food systems. This paper examines how E.U. and national policies are encouraging farmers in the Veneto region of Italy to adopt an agricultural production model that encourages limited production of high-quality, high-value products and more diversified land use.