EC Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements: Implementing a New EU Security Approach in the Neighbourhood

With the Eastern Enlargement successfully completed, the EU is searching for a proper balance between internal security and external stabilisation that is acceptable to all sides. This paper focuses on an EU foreign policy instrument that is a case in point for this struggle: EC visa facilitation and readmission agreements. By looking at the EU's strategy on visa facilitation and readmission, this paper aims to offer a first systematic analysis of the objectives, substance and political implications of these agreements as a means to implement a new EU security approach in the neighbourhood. In offering more relaxed travel conditions in exchange for the signing of an EC readmission agreement and reforming domestic justice and home affairs, the EU has found a new way to press for reforms in neighbouring countries while addressing a major source of discontent in these countries. The analysis concludes with the broader implications of these agreements and argues that even if the facilitated travel opportunities are beneficial for the citizens of the target countries, the positive achievements are undermined by the Schengen enlargement, which makes the new member states tie up their borders to those of their neighbours.EU, EC visa facilitation, readmission agreements, European Neighbourhood Policy, Stabilisation and Association Process, Justice and Home Affairs

What if? The implications of a Brexit-scenario on different EU policies. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/4-10• April 2016

By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus

10,000 border guards for Frontex: Why the EU risks conflated expectations. EPC Policy Brief, 21 September 2018

“Between now and 2027 we want to produce an additional 10,000 border guards. We are now going to bring that forward to 2020,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, told Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the start of Austria’s sixth-months presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) on 1 July 2018.1 In his State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech on 12 September, the Commission President confirmed this number and provided a blueprint for the future of Frontex.2 For the EU, the proposed increase in Frontex’s resources will likely become a key argument to counter criticism from populist parties and demonstrate its determination to manage migration effectively

Undrained shear strength in dependence on the quantity of free water and firmly adsorbed water in fully saturated clays

The article describes the dependence between the undrained shear strength of fully saturated cohesive soils, the quantity of intergrain water and mineralogical properties of soils on the basis of theoretical analysis and practical tests on monomineral clay samples, it was determined that the total quantity of intergrain water is composed of free pore water and the firmly adsorbed water on the external surface of clay grains. The undrained shear strength of saturated soils is precisely dependent on the quantity of free water. The amount of free water and likewise the thickness of the water film around the clay grains are the same for different soils at the same undrained shear strength. The total quantity of firmly adsorbed water and the total quantity of integration water depends on the specific surface of soils

Editorial: The negotiation and contestation of EU migration policy instruments: A research framework

This article develops a research framework for the analysis of the politics of migration policy instruments. Policy instruments are seen as living instruments; they evolve and develop similar to moving targets. A scholar interested in this field of research may focus either on the establishment of a given instrument or on its use. The question of an instrument's design relates to the policy transfer literature focusing on how certain policies move from one setting to another. In the context of a policy transfer, actors from the other-'receiving'-institutional setting negotiate and, potentially, contest or reinterpret a policy instrument. The evolution of policy instruments once adopted in a specific institutional context is a second area of interest. The original goals can be diluted throughout the implementation process notably due to tensions between intergovernmental and supranational actors, or sticky institutionalization, which is characterized by path-dependencies. Often the choice of new instruments derives from an inefficiency or loss of credibility of past instruments. This editorial therefore seeks to make a twofold contribution: first it investigates the added-value of a policy instrument approach to the study of migration; second it furthers research on the external dimension of EU migration policy. © 2014 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden

Synthetic approaches toward sesterterpenoids

Sesterterpenoids account for many bioactive natural products, often with unusual and complex structural features, which makes them attractive targets for synthetic chemists. This review surveys efforts undertaken toward the synthesis of sesterterpenoids, focusing on completed total syntheses and covering ca. 50 natural products in tota

Introducing the IES Brexit-Project. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/4• April 2016

By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy

European studies: Taking stock and looking ahead

This essay is an attempt to generalize experiences of Central and Eastern European universities in the field of European Studies over the past 20 years. The paper follows the logic of business analysis in order to come up with proposals for future action

The UK in Justice and Home Affairs: the engaged outsider. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/6• April 2016

By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy

6sterreichische Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft / Grundlegende Erkenntnisse im Rahmen des Pilotprojekt Bad Deutsch-Altenburg : Die Bedeutung der Stromsohle und Uferzonen f\ufcr \uf6kologische Prozesse und Artengemeinschaften an einem stark regulierten Fluss, der Donau

Fl\ufcsse ben\uf6tigen f\ufcr eine langfristige \uf6kologische Stabilit\ue4t \u2013 Bereiche, die bei verschiedenen Abflusssituationen als hoch produktive Lebensr\ue4ume verf\ufcgbar sind und entsprechend mit dem Fluss in Austausch stehen. Diese Retentionsbereiche oder bioaktive Zonen sind wichtig f\ufcr die flusseigene Tierwelt als Refugialr\ue4ume (z. B. Makrozoobenthos und Fische) oder bestimmte Entwicklungsstadien (z. B. Jungfische), dienen benthischen Algengemeinschaften zum Aufbau von Biomasse und sind damit Grundlage f\ufcr das Nahrungsnetz des Flusses sowie den Stoffr\ufcckhalt und Umbau (z. B. N\ue4hrstoffaufnahme). Vor allem w\ue4hrend Niederwasser sind die Uferbereiche und die Stromsohle selbst von wesentlicher Bedeutung, aber in ihrer Auspr\ue4gung durch Regulierungsma fnahmen deutlich eingeschr\ue4nkt. Ein grundlegendes Verst\ue4ndnis der Abl\ue4ufe und funktionalen Zusammenh\ue4nge ist erforderlich, damit im Rahmen von wasserbaulichen Ma fnahmen negative Konsequenzen hintangehalten werden k\uf6nnen bzw. der \uf6kologische Zustand wieder verbessert werden kann. Im Rahmen des Pilotprojekts Bad Deutsch-Altenburg an der Donau \uf6stlich von Wien ist daher nicht nur ein Monitoring der flussbaulichen Ma fnahmenumsetzung erforderlich, sondern auch ein wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisgewinn \ufcber grundlegende Zusammenh\ue4nge und biologische Abl\ue4ufe, um optimierte Ma fnahmen zum Einsatz bringen zu k\uf6nnen. In diesem Artikel werden Ergebnisse mehrj\ue4hriger Forschungsarbeiten in den Tiefenzonen der Donau und typischen Uferzonenlebensr\ue4umen f\ufcr die Organismengruppen benthische Algen, Makrozoobenthos und Fische pr\ue4sentiert.To ensure a long-term ecological stability, rivers need areas that are available at different discharge situations as highly productive habitats which are connected with the river. These retention areas or biologically active zones are important for the riverine communities as refuge (e.g. benthic macroinvertebrates and fish) or the development of benthic algae communities as basis for the riverine food web as well as retention zones to perform various ecosystem services (e.g. nutrient retention). Especially during low water level situations, the river shorelines and the river bed itself are of significant importance, but highly degraded in intensely regulated river systems such as the Danube River. A basic understanding of the processes and functional correlations is required to avoid negative consequences of engineering measures applied and to improve the ecological conditions. In the framework of the pilot project Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in the Danube River east of Vienna not only monitoring the implementation of engineering measures is required, but also scientific knowledge gained about basic ecological relationships and potential responses of riverine communities. This article presents results of several years of investigations on the distribution and development of three organism groups (benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish) along different riparian structures and in the river bed of the Danube River