Participatory Instruments for Conflict Resolution in the Context of the Spanish Dam Building Policy: A Case Study on the Water Commission in Aragon

by Sergio Villamayor Tomas

        Natural resources conflict can be interpreted as an opportunity to promote policy and institutional arrangements that enlarge public participation in the governance system. However, the extent to which conflict can prompt policy and institutional change, and the effective implementation of "true" participatory management may depend on institutional and power constraints. This paper addresses the above puzzle through a case study on the Water Commission, a forum gathering a multiplicity of stakeholders of dam-building policy in the Spanish region of Aragon. The Water Commission had different goals. One of the most important objectives was to solve the conflict that existed between farmer associations and a movement of local and environmental groups over the implementation of some state dam-building projects in Aragon.

        This policy brief suggests that the creation of the Water Commission in 2001 was prompted by the convergence of three facts: the extension of the conflict over dam-building policy, the politicization of water issues, and the release of the European Water Directive Framework. The Water Commission's conflict-solving process was relatively successful. Collaboration and mutual accommodation of confronted parties resulted in the design of commonly accepted alternatives to the controversial dam building projects. This could be explained by the mediating role of an NGO in building up common understanding among confronted parties, the existence of an implicit veto power in the hands of local communities and environmental groups and the formal recognition by public authorities of the legitimacy of the Water Commission's decisions.

The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and New Member State: The Example of Reform and the Economics of Organic Agriculture in Poland

by Alison Behling and Dr. Matthew R. Auer

        Organic agriculture can be a key element in strengthening rural areas and increasing high-quality, environmentally sound agricultural production, two goals that the European Union’s revised Common Agricultural Policy now stresses. Polish officials in Warsaw and EU policymakers in Brussels must increase their collaboration in order to more strongly promote conversion to organic agriculture by Polish farmers, to get these organic products to large and eager Western markets (Germany, Poland’s immediate neighbor to the west, is the EU’s largest market for organic products), and to educate the Polish citizenry of the advantages of organic products.

European Family Policies and their Impact on Labor Force Inclusion: Comparing Pre- and Post-Unification Germany

by Dr. Lynn Duggan and Alice Luck

The Impact of EU Accession on Policies for Inclusion of Various Social groups: EU Gender Policy Implementation in Ukraine

by Edward Rakhimkulov, Olena Suslova, Dr. Charles R. Wise

        One of the major challenges emerging democracies in Eastern and Central Europe have faced is approximation of their domestic legislation to the legislation of the European Union. This specifically concerns issues related to policies for inclusion of various social groups as many of these new democracies have just only recently started to develop their own legislation  in these areas. The challenge is not only to approximate the national legislation to existing EU directives, but also to make a case in the respective  societies for the necessity of such legislation. With regard to the example of implementation of EU gender policy guidelines in Ukraine, we discuss the policy implementation implications for formulating policies for inclusion of various social groups in new European democracies.

Redefining Social Inclusion in the European University

by David B. Audretsch and Nancy S. Meyer

        The traditional European University model prided itself on embracing values consistent with a free and democratic society—a model that encouraged education and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, free from the constraints of religious or government bodies. In more recent times, the European University also sought equality and inclusion by ensuring students a similar educational experience through standardization of curriculum among various institutions.

        While this view of education worked when capital was the driving force of the economy, in the modern era of globalization the paradigm has shifted. Now knowledge-based capital has become the driving force of the economy. Universities can no longer shut themselves off from the outside world in their “ivory tower” of knowledge. Rather, universities must learn to play a more active role in the societies surrounding them.

In accepting this new paradigm and successfully operating within it, universities must redefine social inclusion: away from concentrating on the homogeneity of institutions, towards matching educational opportunities with the needs of local people, businesses and communities. Such a strategy will inevitably lead to a greater diversity in university goals and values, but universities will find their individual strengths from the particular societal demands surrounding them. While this evolution would seem to contradict the traditional notion of social inclusion, it ultimately allows for a transfer of knowledge that serves communities best.

EU Merger Review Policy: An Increasing Role for Third Parties? 

by Andy Satchwell

Subnational Interest in Supranational Governance: Evidence from the EU

by Milena Neshkova

        There is a broad consensus among scholars that the delegation of power to supranational organizations increases effectiveness, but diminishes democracy. Operating with delegated power, supranational institutions are bureaucratic in character and potentially unresponsive to citizen wants. The inclusion of different stakeholders in the policy making process has been used as a mechanism to increase democracy of supranational organizations. This brief addresses the effect of the inclusion of decentralized interest in supranational decision making. It draws on the experience of the European Union as the most advanced model of supranational governance. To ensure representation of subnational interest, the EU created in 1994 a new institution – the Committee of the Regions (COR), consisting of officials with electoral mandates at local or regional levels. The formal legislative procedure mandates that the Committee should be consulted on all legislation proposals affecting subnational governments. The brief addresses two linked questions: whether and how much the decentralized interest affected the final regulation of the European Union, and 2) under what conditions the effect is maximized?