Europe on the Strand

By Jean-Pierre Gauci On Tuesday 18th October, the European Union marks its fifth anti-trafficking day. On this occasion, I propose to discuss some of the salient features of the recent EU Directive on Trafficking in Human Beings (THB Directive or the Directive). In brief, trafficking is the deceitful or forceful acquisition of a person for […]

By Pablo Calderon Martinez Adjectives such as ‘paradigmatic’, ‘inspiring’, ‘impressive’ and ‘remarkable’ have been widely used in academic circles to describe Spanish democracy and the process that successfully established it; referring to a “Spanish model” of democratisation was common practice when analysing what Huntington referred to as the Third Wave of transitions to democracy. The […]

By Simon McMahon The Arab Spring has defined contemporary world politics, and has been interpreted by many as a new beginning for societies in North Africa and the Middle East. It has also in many ways challenged the common perceptions of policy makers in Europe. But in Libya, Colonel Gaddafi continues to try and hold […]

By Pablo Calderon Martinez The international community was, once again, caught by surprise and overwhelmed by the speed and intensity of the events unfolding in one of the most volatile regions of the world. The much-maligned Bush “doctrine” claimed that, after a short war, Iraq would become a functional Western-like democracy, whose prosperity, freedom and […]

By Simon McMahon The English Defence League (EDL) has over the last year been building an increasing amount of support across the UK, particularly in England. Formed in the town of Luton in 2009 as a response to Muslim protest groups’ criticism of British soldiers, the EDL is an organisation boasting thousands of members and […]

By Simon McMahon The Euro is going through its greatest challenge, a fight for survival. The financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn have put the single currency under pressure as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and possibly Spain or Italy struggle to keep markets happy, confidence up and debt off their backs. However, despite the ease with […]

By Scott James The Economist’s front cover this week set me thinking about the prospects for the euro’s survival. There has been much coverage in the press over recent weeks about the impending collapse (or at least the shrinkage) of the eurozone as a consequence of the sovereign debt crises afflicting several member states, the […]

By Egle Dagilyte Some Comments on C-515/08 Santos Palhota and Others On 7 October 2010 the ECJ delivered a judgment that was built around the issues discussed in the very well-known posting of workers cases of Laval and Rüffert and Commission v Luxembourg. The facts of the case tell the story of a Portuguese company Termiso […]

By Pablo Calderon Martinez The French public’s uproar and subsequent social mobilization that followed Sarkozy’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and last September’s general strike in Spain are evidence of far more than the deep-rooted French tradition of influencing governments by taking to the streets, or the Spanish dissatisfaction with […]

By Claudia Hillebrand Since March 2010, the first meetings of the somewhat mysterious Standing Committee on operational cooperation on internal security (COSI) have taken place. This body, set up within the Council by a Council decision of 25 February 2010, is a crucial product of the changing EU working structures concerning matters of Justice and […]