Search

In recent years, forced marriage as a manifestation of violence against women has entered the public agenda in European Union countries. This is partly due to higher numbers of migrants from regions where it is a regular practice. This paper aims to show the different ways violence manifests itself in forced marriage, both symbolically and practically - in terms of experiences - based on a qualitative sample of women with a range of migration backgrounds residing in Catalonia. The intersectional gender approach of the analysis enables the interaction to be considered of various factors when it comes to understanding contexts of risk and violence, as well as exit strategies from forced marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the end of 90s and the beginning of the new century, a political framework at European Union level has been established. This framework fosters the achievement of a common understanding of migrant integration and promotes mechanisms of coordination, funding, information exchange and "best practices" through the affected institutional levels, by means of soft law. In this paper I will analyse and discuss some of the most important consequences derived from the most important actors' understanding of "integration". I will use the case of "best practices" as an example, since they are considered as a fundamental tool within EU multi-level governance mechanisms. I will show that in the EU context, the very notion of integration has been constructed through an exercise of (apparent) depoliticization and technification, whose results are contradictory -since the political element often "returns" and manifests itself "at the bottom", "at the border" and "within" the technical element- and at the same time effective -since this exercise has been able to foster and shape certain ways of knowing, speaking and acting on migrant integration, naturalizing unequal power relations in society itself-. This paper is based on the empirical materials proceeding from the fieldwork done in Brussels between 2011 and 2012. It is made up of interviews done to the most important social and political actors within the EU integration framework, observations of various meetings and the reading of numerous sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The border can no longer be understood as a line demarcating a State's sovereignty. On the contrary, border production, that is, border deployment via multiple spaces that are internal and external to the State itself, brings about a recomposition of sovereign power. Taking the EU framework as a case study, this paper examines this recomposition based on its interweaving with the security ethos. The border emerges as a shifting geography of imprecise limits through which processes of capturing spaces and subjectivities are activated. This capture, which combines increasingly extensive and invasive surveillance with militarised control rationales, is one of the most notorious manifestations of a securitarian act that is legitimised in the bio-necro-political management of a migrant subjectivity that is seen, largely, in terms of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper intends to point the frictions and difficulties regarding the exception for private copying, from a legislative and technologic perspective. The analysis begins with the study of the caselaw of the European Court of Justice, followed by the examination and comparison of the Spanish and British systems of compensation. The analysis aims to show the issues present in the European system, highlighted by the legislative process of both countries. Hereafter, some of the more pressing defects of the supranational system of compensation will be exposed, so that legislative, financing and approach alternatives can be offered for the exception for private copying. This essay seeks to propose a reinvention of the current regulation, as well as exposing its obsolescence and hurdles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the question on the need to reinforce the social dimension of the European project is definitely not a new one, the hard economic readjustments, the current political crisis and the growing disaffection amongst citizens towards the EU have rekindled the debate and require today an urgent response from the Union, which is today immersed in a deep reflection on its future and on the possibility of creating a Social Pillar. After a first analysis of the progressive evolution of the Union's social acquis, as well as of the European social rights and their limits, this paper will examine the different alternatives that are available for Europe to go further in the social field, either at the general EU-wide level or at the particular range of the European Economic and Monetary Union; assuming that the establishment of a European social model is a necessary and inevitable step to restore citizens' confidence in the integration project and to make Europe a real welfare state and an authentic social market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing inclusion of women into the labour market, the aging of the population, and the austerity measures affecting the public care system in the European Union have propelled the demand for domestic and care workers in the last decades. A large number of private households are choosing to employ women to provide these services. Often, those employed are migrant women who, in some cases, reside in Europe without legal resident status. As undocumented migrants, these women lack legal protection as workers. This paper will focus on this lack of protection by studying the case of Latin American undocumented female migrants employed as domestic workers in private households in Western Europe. The focus of the paper will be the affective relationship between domestic workers and their employers. Understanding this relationship within the context of the feminization of labour, the heteronormative arrangement underlying the personal interactions in private households and the differential hierarchies established through EU migration policies, this article proposes as an analytical framework the exploration the intersections between heteronormativity and Quijano's coloniality of power. The article engages with the affective dimension of domestic work and proposes domestic work as affective labour. It concludes with some thoughts on the ethico-political dimension of affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of trade relations between economic blocs has been a consistent trend from the nineties. Taking into account the recent entry into force of the Strategic Partnership agreement between the EU and some members of the Andean Community of Nations (Colombia and Peru), it is clear that the negotiating strategy did begin as a bloc to bloc negotiation scheme which became a multi-party agreement. The aim of this paper is examining the negotiating strategy given by the Member States of the Andean Community of Nations to the Communitarian Andean Law since the announcement of the negotiations with the EU. Through a descriptive methodology, the negotiation dynamics reached by the Andeans will be analyzed chronologically, as well as the flexibility adopted by the Europeans. This paper is divided into three sections. The first one presents the main reasons for the European and Andean integration, and the increase of economic regional trade agreements; followed by a second section focused on the trade pillar analysis as part of the Strategic Partnership signed by Colombia, Peru and the EU. The third section deals with negotiation dynamics of the commercial pillar between the economic blocs and the flexibility of the Andean Communitarian Law will be discussed. Finally, the main remarks and recommendations will be tackled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 26 July 2016, the deadline expired as granted by the European Commission to Member States to adapt their procedural systems to the principles set out in the June 2013 Recommendation. Although our national legislation already has a more ambitious collective action framework than that derived from those principles, its incompleteness and somewhat unsystematic nature generates a number of problems regarding its interpretation and enforcement; as evidenced by the judicial experience to date. The Recommendation of the European Commission should be taken into consideration as an invitation to reflect on the opportunity to introduce amendments in our regulation of collective actions, in order to improve and complete it. This paper aims to provide guidelines on how our system of collective actions should be modified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed some of the reasons why Britain participated only half-way in the European Union and ended up voting for Bremen on 23 June 2016. It also examines the options open to the European Union and Great Britain. Europe must show that it can work by showing results. In Britain it is necessary to break the established molds of thought and reshape the structure of political parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New European regulation, Regulation 2016/679 and Directive 2016/680, with the goal to protect privacy regulates criminal sanctions, in particular, when there is massive data analysis. This paper analyse the criminal regulation protecting privacy in the Spanish criminal code to see if the actual offence are enough or new offence are need. In particularwhen the Regulation take in force in 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to analyze three models of European citizenship, by paying particular attention to the legitimacy crisis of the European Union's (EU) governance we are facing today. First of all, I will show the features of the crisis of the model of EU's governance, by clarifying how this crisis sheds light on 1) the veto powers of some of the member states, 2) the lack of accountability of the Union's decisions towards the public opinions, 3) the constant reduction of the mutual trust among both the political institutions and the public opinions. Secondly, I will show how the three models (the national-liberal model, the model of market citizenship, and the federalist model) offer different conceptions of the ideal of European citizenship, an ideal that is necessary when we discuss the normative solutions to the ongoing legitimacy crisis. I will end the paper by proposing a change in policy education: to supplement the programs of secondary schools with basic notions of public finance. Thus, it is possible to give to the future European citizens some of the necessary tools to evaluate the decisions whose costs they must bear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on public policy making for homosexual unions in Europe. It addresses these policies from the perspective of recognition, a concept drawn on the literature on civil rights and minorities. As a criterion for evaluation, the test of recognition demands the satisfaction of a twofold condition: firstly, democracies must be prepared to accept even the most costly of the demands as presented by the representatives of sexual minorities (in this case the right of joint adoption); secondly, public policies must show respect to the prevailing model of citizenship, not imposing visions of difference when difference-based claims are treated with disregard in the political community, and, conversely, not pursing assimilation and homogeneity where the prevailing tradition points at policies based on the recognition of difference and diversity. Ultimately, this article seeks the development of a new interest on this subject among political scientists and sociologists. The paper draws on the analysis of law-making in Europe since 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we intend to identify a professional speciality of Pedagogy that responds to a socio-labour demand, which is based on a little known research tradition, but well-founded. However, this field of interest has not an explicit implementation in the current university study plans. With this aim, we try to find out, through a descriptive-exploratory analysis, the origins of Labour Pedagogy. We also want to know how we can conceptualize Labour Pedagogy, why we consider it so important discipline, both from an academic and a professional perspective, where it is possible to fit it inside the current study plans of pedagogy, mainly in Spain, but also in the European countries close to us, and how we can guide our students academically so that they can develop a professional career inside this area. After the analysis, we have discovered the need to make Labour Pedagogy visible by increasing subjects in the curricula and research in this line, as well as more national and international meetings which may favour the exchange of experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 28, 2016, the European Commission presented its Anti Tax Avoidance Package, which calls on Member States to take a stronger and more coordinated stance against tax avoidance and to ensure that companies pay tax wherever they make their profits. Key element of the package is a Directive that proposes six legally-binding anti-abuse measures, which all Member States should apply against common forms of aggressive tax planning. This proposal of Directive cannot be understood without the OECD Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), endorsed by the G20 Leaders in September 2013, and whose final conclusions were published in October 2015. This paper examines and comments such final conclusions and the six legally-binding anti-abuse measures included in the proposal of Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2011, a new agency, EU-LISA, was created in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) to manage largescale IT systems. From then onwards, the agency has been responsible for the communication infrastructure of SIS II, VIS and Eurodac, without merging those databases. Due to its short time in operation, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of EU-LISA, but this paper aims to give an overview of the agency to facilitate knowledge about it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s, the EU began collecting the personal data of people arriving from third countries in order to control migratory flows within the EU. However, since the 9/11 attacks function creep has led to this information, which was originally collected for EU border management, being used by police authorities. Information systems such as SIS, VIS, CIS and Eurodac have been amending their own regulations to permit access by police authorities from the member states and Europol. This paper analyses the potential conflict arising from these practises and the fundamental right to data protection in the EU. First, general and sectoral data protection rules applicable to the data processed by SIS, VIS, CIS and Eurodac will be examined. After that, this study will assess whether allowing law enforcement authorities to access such EU information systems could violate the EU principles of necessity and purpose limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to study the relationship of lifelong learning with other social and educational variables for the European Union framework. The latest objective is to determinate regularities of supranational abroad and to present a predictor of lifelong learning we call index of educational commitment. The European contextual dimension is relevant for the homogeneity accounting for this type of study and because it has been a particularly political redefinition of lifelong learning by the Strategic Framework Education & Training 2020. Furthermore, standardized and periodic sources are available for analysis. The main contribution of this paper is, therefore, an index of educational commitment that allows us to advance our understanding of the relationship between education and society with statistical foundation and determine the level of educational commitment in different frames and territorial scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to give a view on the main novelties introduced by Royal Decree 83/2015, dated 13th February which amends the current Regulations governing Collective Investment Schemes. This rule complements the reform started in November last year by Law 22/2014 on venture capital entities, closed ended collective investment schemes and their management companies. The publication of this Royal Decree concludes the transposition of Alternative Investment Funds Managers Directive that sets forth the framework for authorization, marketing, rules of conduct and organization for such vehicles within the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the recent change in the case law doctrine about the treatment of the rebus sic stantibus clause emerged from the judgments of the Supreme Court of June 30 and October 15, 2014. The mentioned judgments confirm the abandonment of positions which held that it was a residual doctrine, based on the principle of equity, dangerous in their consequences and of exceptional and cautious application to sustain its standard application in the contract law field and the objectification of its technical base that would be given by the principles of good faith and commutativity in the exchange of assets and services. A new formulation of the unpredictability criteria is produced for whom determination should be taken into account the distribution of the risk resulting from the specific contractual relationship for those who are parties to the contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays public policies are insufficiently ambitious in order to reverse the environmental damage generated by man. Most of the literature that analyses policy changes tends to explain the incentives but do not give clear explanations about the limitation factors. We develop in this paper a reflection on policy change from the notion of transaction costs. Following a review of the three main approaches --sustainable development, ecological modernization and democratization-- we expose ten theses on the role of transaction costs in the policy change from the case of the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

¿Who is best qualified to teach a course in Communication Ethics? In this paper we analyze the main possibilities which, as the literature on the subject reveals, are four: A Ph. D. in philosophy; a Ph. D. in communication; team - teaching; or the so-called “competent amateur” . We also present the main findings of a survey carried out in 14 European Union member states. We analyze the responses of 49 Comnunication Ethics teachers who have been asked to fill in a questionnaire about their previous education and training. Results show that the most common option is the Communication specialist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the procedures for challenging decisions in the procedures for the award of government contracts, governed by Portuguese and others European countries law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that boosting regional and local development is an essential component of action to favour economic recovery and that economic growth policy must therefore be based on supply-side measures to improve the situation of the existing productive fabric in every part of the country. On this basis, it examines the role of a policy of endogenous development, shows the regional and local diversity of Europe and studies the challenges currently facing Spain and the opportunities offered by the Europe 2020 strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pillars of economic growth in the Western economies have been weakened by the current economic crisis. Some of the political answers entail an economic reactivation based on promoting entrepreneurial initiative. Although there is an abundance of literature on this topic, the study of company structures has received little attention. Among these, collective entrepreneurship, in general and cooperatives in particular are especially relevant in light of their greater resistance and flexibility in the context of a crisis such as the current one. This article aims to gain a deeper knowledge of the factors that explain the size of the cooperative sector using growth factors as its theoretical framework. The contribution of this paper rests on its international comparative perspective, surpassing microeconomic perspectives of entrepreneurial behaviour, based on 2009-2010 data from twenty-nine European nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analyzing the use of the concept of «constituent power» in the context of European integration. The thesis is that the constituent power is the «forgotten» of European integration, since this legal order was built and acquired a political and constitutional dimension without any action attributable to an European demos. Indeed, it is under the combined action of the member States (as «masters of the Treaties») and of European institutions (especially the European Court of justice) that the process of «constitutionnalization» has developed itself endogenously. It is generally argued that the lack of «constituent power» illustrates the fact that the EU has not yet crossed the «state threshold», since this concept was historically shaped within the nation-state framework. However, we believe that the eviction of the concept of constituent power is not a theoretical necessity but that it stems from a political choice, due to the fear that the adoption of a European constitution by a European people could result in the disappearance of the states. However, we think that there is no conceptual need to limit the concept of constituent power to the state field. In other words, we assume that the concept of constituent power could be transposed into the European field and, moreover, that this prospect could be essential in the view of bridging the «democratic deficit» of the European Union. The model of the «Federation of States» could be used to sketch a European constituent power respectful of the existence of the nation-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the EU Anti-corruption Report, which is a new instrument developed by European Union to fight against corruption inside the EU and within EU member States. The first EU Anti-corruption Report will be released during second part of 2013. Our analysis focuses on the procedures of its elaboration and also explains its structure and contents [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to outline a certain number of concrete proposals in view of providing detailed, operational content to the project to strengthen legitimacy and democratic control of European decisions as part of the work towards reforming the Economic and Monetary Union.The legal feasibility of each of the proposals set out here is analyzed by identifying the type of reform it involves: innovation using the treaty as it stands; limited changes to the Treaty under the simplified revision procedure, more important changes to the Treaty under the ordinary revision procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the greatest challenges of the European Union in the following years will be the correct regulation and control of migratory fluxes with the EU as their destination. In this sense, the entrance and movement of non-Community citizens and their access to the different rights established by community norms constitute a particular preoccupation for the legislator. Controlling the entrance of third state citizens by using norms such as the Schengen acquis, regulating types of visas, establishing residence models and their beneficiaries, and acknowledging certain fundamental rights, like the right to family life, would solve many questions regarding the right to free circulation of non-Community citizens. Nevertheless, it is clear that a lot remains to be done in this field, for in a changing society such as ours, in the middle of an economic crisis, the factors that determine the work market, a key element in the displacement of people from one state to another, is bound to be variable and unpredictable and requires a constant updating of new forms of regulation to match the existing realities. The present paper analyses the current situation of Community freedom, by observing both the norms that regulate extreme cases and the jurisprudence that determines its interpretation and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is an important consensus regarding the fact that regions have lost their attraction in terms of European studies. This leads us to the following paradox: while the metaphor "Europe of the Regions" that had such great resonance in the 1990s has become discredited, the degree of regional commitment with the EU has been constantly rising. Nowadays, the EU is enmeshed in a crisis that is not only of an economic and financial nature, but also a crisis of democracy. In this context, it seems appropriate to 'recover' this study on the role of regions in the European system of governance. This paper alms, on the one hand, to review the evolution of the role of regions in the European system of governance, and on the other, to explore the way in which this role has been dealt with in the European integration literature. Its ultimate goal is to understand what the future prospects are for regions within the integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last twenty years the educational policy of the European Union has sought two objectives: on the one hand, to make the citizens aware of the common European identity and on the other hand, to enable them to make Europe the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. Education is seen as the most effective tool to face the current challenges in Europe in the context of globalization and economic crisis. It is therefore essential to raise the proper orientation to the present European Education crossroads. The hypothesis of this paper is that the education policy raised at European level does not respond with rigor and depth to the current challenges in Europe since it is predominantly subject to a target of economic progress and growth and to a professional training. Neither does it propose a comprehensive education within a code of ethics that achieves to alleviate the profound moral failings of the current crisis, their breeding ground consisting of nihilism and moral relativism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the validity of different interpretative models of voting behavior in European elections in the light of the June 2009 results. First, we focus on models linking the European vote to national political concerns (Second Order model) and the domestic electoral cycle (Mid-Term model), and then we assess the capacity of a model based on the role of party positions and campaigning (Europe matters model) to explain occurrences which are at odds with traditional interpretations. Finally, we present a composite model in order to provide a more solid explanation of the 2009 European election results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has its origins in my doctoral dissertation, submitted to the University of Barcelona in 2011. As a part of the investigation's theoretical framework, it explores the sociopolitical and symbolic context through which, since the mid-80s in Spain, the migration from non-EU countries has become a focus of intervention and public debate mediated by metaphors of otherness and negative differentiation. The paper explores three interrelated issues: (i) the dynamics of labor migration in Europe since the post-war period until the 1973 oil crisis; (ii) the political, administrative and legal dynamics that began to emerge in the Spanish context thereafter, designed to regulate immigration, and (iii) the set of representations and discursive strategies around non-EU immigration and immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how the announcement of changes in corporate control (tender offer) of Endesa, Hidrocantábrico and Scottish Power have affected their stock prices and the impact that these events have on the stock market returns of competitors of the target firm. Using an "event study" methodology we find that takeovers positively and significantly affect, at the 1% level, the stock market return of the target firm. Results are robust across several econometric specifications such as GARCH and MCO models. Also, the results suggest the announcement of a tender offer positively and significantly affects the stock market return of the target firm's competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of Law 18/2011 (5th July), governing the use of IT by the Justice Administration, is to regulate the introduction of the E-Justice Administration, which will allow professionals and citizens to maintain contact with the Administration in a safe and flexible fashion both online and via other electronic means. The coming into force of this legislation represents a great advance in the project to modernize Justice Administrations, begun several years ago at national and European levels. To be successful, Administrations require the availability of adequate technological resources and to make a major effort to move past their paper-based traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) contribute to improve the competitiveness of the international markets within the European Union, EU, and strengthen the economic and social development of its countries. The aim of this paper is to analyze the infrastructure policy promoted by the EU. To that end, we describe and assess both the planning process of the TEN-T, and the financial instruments implemented by the EU to foster them. In the last decades some steps have been conducted to improve the EU infrastructure policy. However, these measures have not been sufficient to ensure the development of such infrastructures. In order to solve this problem, in the future, the EU should play a greater role in developing cross-border infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an analysis of the neoliberal construction of European monetary integration, the Greek economic crisis and the Hayekian-style austerity policies being used to deal with it are analyzed. After theoretically characterizing these policies, the paper analyzes how their generalization in Europe is helping to deepen the European crisis and jeopardizing the recovery of the world economy. Nevertheless, the reason of the crisis is the loss of monetary sovereignty of every country and the financing of the state is sustained across the financial bank and not bank investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite indicators capable of summarizing a large and complex information such as the one in the well-being field, has become a tool with a great potential for the evaluation and management of public policies. Given the limitations in the construction of well-being indicators which include a gender perspective, this paper proposes the use of a new methodology for constructing a measurement. We propose new linear programming models to improve the traditional DEA models. For the practical implementation of this proposal we take the countries of the European Union as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first quarter of 2010, the European Commission reviewed the Block Exemption Regulations concerning the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union («TFEU») to certain categories of agreements between undertakings operating at different levels of the distribution or production chain («vertical agreements») generally and in the motor vehicle sector in particular. The European Commission also adopted a revised Block Exemption Regulation for certain categories of cooperation agreements between competing undertakings («horizontal agreements») in the insurance sector. This paper sets out the main changes introduced in the various revised Block Exemption Regulations and in the European Commission's accompanying Guidelines on the compatibility of these categories of agreement with Article 101(3) TFEU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manipulative activities are a popular learning tool that promotes the effectiveness on scientific and technological education. Aiming to promote its widespread use in all possible areas, in 2003 it was established the educational network "Hands-on Science" (HSci) in the frame of the Socrates program of the European Commission. It enrolled initially twenty-eight institutions from ten European countries (BE, CY, DE, ES, MO, MT, PT, RO, SL, UK) and a multinational consortium (CoLoS). Once finished the three-year project the network was established as an international association with the same purposes and philosophy. In an open and open-minded and participated way we approach and involve teachers, schools and educational boards, presenting, discussing and implementing well-established practices of the learning of Science and Technology. Its objective is to promote the development and use of manipulative activities in formal and informal learning, so that students "do" science rather than simply being "exposed" to it, while in the same time increasing society' scientific literacy. In this paper we will briefly present the main objectives, pedagogical strategies and proposals of the network as well as the outstanding achievements so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last years the University has evolved from an institution which focused on the study of different natural and social phenomena to becoming the focus of research. This paper shows part of the results of a research on the effects of social changes in the work and professional life of university teachers. The professional life history has been the strategy chosen to approach the changes in the lives of teachers and researchers. As a result of studying and comparing 24 life histories, there appears a group of different topics which have different meanings for the participants in this research. Their analyses show there is an increase in stress and pressure on teachers who are forced to carry out three completely different activities: teaching, researching and having managerial positions. This text presents the situations teachers have to face in a working context which is becoming more and more demanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One common criticism to the European integration process has been the deficit of democratic legitimacy. Direct consultation through referendum has been proposed as a mechanism to bridge this gap, however, there is a debate about the potentialities and risks of direct democracy. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate by analysing the Spanish experience of ratifying the European constitution (February 2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce an professional learning environment based in viewing the chapter "Vector" of Numb3rs. We introduce the meaning of environment of professional learning as a theoretical framework for the instructional actions of the project titled EarlyStatistics: improving statistics instruction in European elementary and middle schools though online professional development''. (Action 1: COMENIUS Project 226573-CP-1-2005). We, also, include the didactical analysis of the activities that students should do before, during and after viewing the chapter, and the proposals of its contrast as teachers' professional tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the U.S. Congress approved the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), spurred by the desire of regulators to recover confidence in financial markets and traded entities, broken by the scandals headed by Enron and WorldCom. Its enactment implies a profound revision of corporate codes of conduct by means of tools like independence, transparency and internal control, along with subsequent repercussions in other geographic areas. In this paper we analyze the characteristic elements of the SOX framework and describe its development in the European Union under different legal criteria and dispositions, but with similar content. Our work concludes with a look at the impact on Spanish legal dispositions and an analysis of the "Conthe Report." [TRANSLATION]

Inmigration is a frequent issue in the media as well as in the personal encounters of people. The social interest of this topic is evident. According to official figures in 2001 there were in Spain 1.1 million foreigners, that is, near 3 percent of the total population of Spain and less than half of the ones of the EU.s countries. We continue having a low migration rate. though this is not impediment for its growing interest to study it. To this, it is also strange to learn that no body talks of the Spaniards living abroad except at electoral limes. At the beginnings of year 2000, there were 1.57 millions, much more than the immigrants. If we had them in mind, our behavior with the foreigners, especially iberoamericans, would be different, more just and solidary. Therefore, in this paper, I try to explain the number, causes, characteristics and consequences of the Spaniards abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]