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Europe's Border Crisis: Biopolitical Security and Beyond by Amazon UK — last modified 05 November 2015, 15:55 CET

Europe's Border Crisis investigates dynamics in EU border security and migration management and advances a path-breaking framework for thought, judgment, and action in this context. It argues that a crisis point has emerged whereby irregular migrants are treated as both a security threat to the EU and as a life that is threatened and in need of saving. This leads to paradoxical situations such that humanitarian policies and practices often expose irregular migrants to dehumanizing and lethal border security mechanisms. The dominant way of understanding these dynamics, one that blames a gap between policy and practice, fails to address the deeper political issues at stake and ends up perpetuating the terms of the crisis. Drawing on conceptual resources in biopolitical theory, particularly the work of Roberto Esposito, the book offers an alternative diagnosis of the problem in order to move beyond the present impasse. It argues that both negative and positive dimensions of EU border security are symptomatic of tensions within biopolitical techniques of government. While bordering practices are designed to play a defensive role they contain the potential for excessive security mechanisms that threaten the very values and lives they purport to protect. Each chapter draws on a different biopolitical key to both interrogate diverse technologies of power at a range of border sites and explore the insights and limits of the biopolitical paradigm. Must border security always result in dehumanization and death? Is a more affirmative approach to border politics possible? Europe's Border Crisis sets out a new horizon for addressing these and related questions.

New guidance on public procurement to help administrations and beneficiaries make the most out of EU investments by EUbusiness — last modified 29 October 2015, 22:56 CET

The European Commission published a guide to support public officials across the EU to avoid the most frequent errors and adopt best practices in public procurement of projects funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). Public procurement plays a key role in the implementation of those EU investments and is an essential element of the Single Market, representing no less than 19 per cent of the EU's GDP.

No time for 'business as usual' as Commission presents its second work programme by Nick Prag — last modified 29 October 2015, 18:36 CET

This is no time for business as usual, said the Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans as he presented the second work programme of the Juncker Commission to Euro-MPs this week.

Report on single market integration and competitiveness in the EU and its member states - 2015 by EUbusiness — last modified 29 October 2015, 13:50 CET

The economic performance of the EU has improved in 2014 relative to the two previous years. While growth rates remain low and it will take time to reduce unemployment in some Member States, the EU is steadily recovering despite political and international economic uncertainties. The fall in oil prices is providing an additional boost to the EU economy which has presented record trade surplus figures in the first half of 2015. This report has been written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission. It was published as Staff Working Document SWD(2015) 203 final on 28 October 2015 accompanying the Communication Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business, COM(2015) 550.

Report on EU customs enforcement of intellectual property rights - Results at the EU border 2014 by EUbusiness — last modified 29 October 2015, 14:38 CET

According to a report published by the European Commission on the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the EU, authorities detained 35.5 million individual items of fake or counterfeit goods in 2014 with an overall total value of over EUR 617 million. The statistics for 2014 show that the high number of detentions can be linked to the large amount of small parcels in express and postal traffic due to the rise in internet sales. Information is also included on the categories of goods detained, on their countries of origin and on the modes of transport used to ship such goods.

UK, EU and Global Administrative Law: Foundations and Challenges (The Hamlyn Lectures) by EUbusiness — last modified 22 October 2015, 23:22 CET

Paul Craig's analysis of UK, EU and global administrative law examines the challenges facing each system and reveals the commonalities in and differences between their foundational assumptions. The challenges which they face may be particular to that legal order, endemic to any legal system of administrative law or the result of interaction between the three systems. The inter-relationship between the three levels is important. The legal and practical reality is that developments at one level can have an impact on the other two. Legal doctrine fashioned at the national level may therefore inform developments in EU and global administrative law. The doctrine thus created may then function symbiotically, shaping developments within a domestic legal order. The inter-relationship is equally marked from the regulatory perspective, since many such provisions originate at the global or EU level.

Britain and the Crisis of the European Union - Kindle Edition by EUbusiness — last modified 22 October 2015, 23:18 CET

'The thirty year civil war in the Conservative Party over Britain's membership of the EU is reaching a climax. Baker and Schnapper provide a superb guide both to the bizarre British debate on Europe, and to the deepening crisis of the EU itself, showing how one feeds off the other. This book is essential reading for understanding the deep-seated problems which threaten to overwhelm the European project.'-Andrew Gamble, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, UK 'This outstanding book provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the UK's troubled relationship with the European Union. Baker and Schnapper's rich analysis chronicles the complex party political, political economy and diplomatic dimensions of the British politics of European integration, while also showing how the EU's own crisis has fed back into and shaped domestic discourses on Europe. It is difficult to think of a better companion volume as we approach the referendum on the UK's EU membership.' - Ben Rosamond, Professor of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Europe's farmers look for help by Nick Prag — last modified 22 October 2015, 22:09 CET

There was no great outpouring of support for European farmers last month, when around 5,000 of them spent a day in Brussels protesting about falling dairy and meat prices.

Syngenta granted patent on pepper for use as food by Testbiotech — last modified 22 October 2015, 22:57 CET

The European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich has granted the Swiss seed giant, Syngenta, a patent on pepper and its use "as fresh produce, as fresh cut produce, or for processing such as, for example, canning" (EP 2 166 833 B1). The patent also covers the plants, their cultivation, harvesting and seeds. The plants have been developed to produce pepper without seeds and are derived from conventional breeding using existing biodiversity. There was no genetic engineering involved in the process.

ECB October euro area bank lending survey by EUbusiness — last modified 20 October 2015, 11:20 CET

The October euro area bank lending survey shows that it has become easier for businesses to borrow while banks have tightened lending criteria for house purchases. The ECB’s asset purchase programme continues to support bank lending to the real economy, according to the survey.

Against the Troika: Crisis and Austerity in the Eurozone by EUbusiness — last modified 15 October 2015, 23:00 CET

On the 25th January 2015 the Greek people voted in an election of historic importance - not just for Greece but potentially all of Europe. The radical party Syriza was elected and austerity and the neoliberal agenda is being challenged. Suddenly it seems as if there is an alternative. But what? The Eurozone is in a deep and prolonged crisis. It is now clear that monetary union is a historic failure, beyond repair and certainly not in the interests of Europe's working people. Building on the economic analysis of two of Europe's leading thinkers, Heiner Flassbeck and Costas Lapavitsas (just elected to parliament as a member of Syriza), Against the Troika is the first book to propose a strategic left-wing plan for how peripheral countries could exit the euro. With a change in government in Greece and looming political transformations in countries such as Spain, this major intervention lays out a radical, anti-capitalist program at a critical juncture for Europe. The final three chapters offer a detailed postmortem of the Greek catastrophe, explain what can be learned from it and provide a possible alternative. Against the Troika is a practical blueprint for real change in a continent wracked by crisis and austerity.

European Union Foreign Policy: From Effectiveness to Functionality (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics) by EUbusiness — last modified 15 October 2015, 22:55 CET

This book aims to change the way we think about the European Union's foreign policy. Rather than ask whether the EU's foreign policy is effective or not, this book argues that we should inquire instead into the internal functions EU foreign policy plays for the European integration process as a whole.

New, safe 'Safe Harbour' agreement needed urgently by Nick Prag — last modified 15 October 2015, 16:57 CET

MEPs from the Civil Liberties Committee have called on the European Commission to come up with safe alternatives to the EU-US Safe Harbour agreement, in the wake of the European Court of Justice ruling that the arrangement - used by companies like Facebook to send citizens' personal data to the US - was invalid.

Update for Payment Services Directive opens way for safer and more innovative European payments by Nick Prag — last modified 08 October 2015, 17:06 CET

The final hurdle to an upgraded EU payment services law was cleared on Thursday, when MEPs voted in the revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). This aims to make payment transactions safer and terminate card surcharges.

Why Do Tech Shares Thrive In Q4? by EUbusiness — last modified 08 October 2015, 21:52 CET

 

EU Treaties and Legislation by EUbusiness — last modified 01 October 2015, 23:18 CET

This collection of the essential primary and secondary law of the European Union quickly and effectively guides students to the material they need during exams and lectures. Colour-coded content facilitates easy navigation, and Lisbon numbering is used throughout. Two forewords include guidance on finding, reading and understanding EU law.

EU looks to reduce VAT burden for online trade by Nick Prag — last modified 01 October 2015, 16:54 CET

A new system for VAT for digital products - the EU's response to distortions of the market and loss of revenue through the online economy - has attracted much criticism about the extra burdens it imposes on small businesses.

Consumers sidelined in Capital Markets Union by European Consumers’ Organisation — last modified 30 September 2015, 16:42 CET

Today, the European Commission has kicked off an action plan to reduce companies’ reliance on banks and diversify their funding sources across the EU’s 28 member states. Part of the package is to stimulate consumers to invest increasingly on financial markets.

CMU Action Plan tackles right challenges, but much work still lies ahead by European craft and SME employers’ organisation — last modified 30 September 2015, 15:32 CET

Today, the European Commission published its Action Plan for creating a real Capital Market Union for Europe. As a first reaction, UEAPME Secretary General Peter Faross, underlined the importance of a Capital Market Union as an essential pillar for a real Single Market.

VW scandal exposes need for reform by Nick Prag — last modified 24 September 2015, 22:33 CET

The European Commission this week urged Member States to look into whether vehicles comply with European pollution rules, following the shock revelations that Volkswagen cheated in emission tests on its diesel cars in America.