Where in the world are we today? And tomorrow?
“When, if at all, can a federal political order expel a member state against its will?” This is my response to Can federations expel member states? On the political theory of expulsion by Eva Marlene Hausteiner. I agree that the absence of legal frameworks for expulsion/secession carries potential risks for any given federal system. It... Continue Reading →
This is my response to J. H. H. Weiler’s Towards a Common Law of International Trade. In the EU, Art. 34 TFEU prohibits quantitative restrictions and measures with equivalent effect on intra trade. The ECJ played a crucial role in defining the scope and meaning of non-tariff barriers through landmark cases such as the Dassonville... Continue Reading →
Originally published on 30 Oct 2017 by Suraj Shah at the ASEAN Studies Center (Universitas Gadjah Mada) website. As the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) seeks to deepen regional economic integration, the Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism must avoid politicisation to optimise successful integration and economic development in the region. Dispute Settlement Mechanisms (DSM) are fundamental features... Continue Reading →
Various European integration models attempt to explain how each Member State’s national interests are represented at the EU level. The EU is foremost an international organisation that has been established as a result of intergovernmental agreements. Naturally, each member state (MS) is a key actor in the scene; each MS’s interests influence what decisions are... Continue Reading →
The EU is a mixture of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism. The Future of Europe White Paper aptly states, "the EU is a unique project in which domestic priorities have been combined and sovereignty voluntarily pooled to better serve national and collective interests." In this regard, Levy (2015) makes an interesting comparison between the EU and the... Continue Reading →
Competitiveness is a somewhat ambiguous term, in the absence of a universal definition of competition's essence and how such competition should be carried out. Competitiveness can be measured and analysed in many different ways and different fields. For many decades, people have used economic growth and GDP per capita as key indicators of a country's... Continue Reading →
Given the complex and evolving nature of the EU as a sui generis organisation, the EU does not quite fit into a traditional IR model. Thus, we are often forced to use one or more models to simplify and explain certain aspects of the EU’s organisational mechanism. However, one model does not fully explain every... Continue Reading →
In 2018, the EU, together with its Member States, was the third-largest development assistance donors for Vietnam, with a total amount of €425 million (18.1% of all ODA disbursements). Among many things, the EU budget has particularly been instrumental in: installing/upgrading 395 health centres,immunising at least 97% of children under 1 year of age,expanding health... Continue Reading →
The Netherlands is the most competitive country in Europe, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019. The country shows consistently high levels of performance in macroeconomic stability, health and infrastructure quality. The Dutch people benefit from a highly developed innovation ecosystem, supported by a highly skilled workforce, vibrant business dynamism and advanced innovation capability. The... Continue Reading →
Thanks to the EU-Korea FTA, the EU is now Korea’s third-largest trade partner and its third-largest export market (after China and the US); the EU is Korea’s second-largest import market (after China). As for FDI, the EU is the largest investor in Korea, with over 7.1 billion USD in 2019. As of 2019, EU companies... Continue Reading →
The Pragmatic Globalist 