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The European Union (EU) has faced not only the international financial crisis, but also the European banking and the sovereign debt crisis. A lack of efficient regulations and supervision were a serious cause of recent developments. As a reaction, the EU finally implemented a framework covering both micro- and macro-prudential policies. Measures such as the new capital requirements, the deposit guarantee schemes, the green paper on shadow banking and, most importantly, the new approach for a macro-prudential supervision are headed towards crisis prevention. However, the challenge is to define regulations enhancing financial stability, which, at the same time, do not prevent institutions from generating reasonable financial risks and do not reduce growth. In that regard, the presented measures still have deficits which have to be faced. Furthermore, coordination between various authorities and the European Commission remains another challenge.

This paper reviews changes in role of European Parliament (EP) in EU’s trade policy since the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty brought about important changes in EU governance, and in particular, strengthening of the role of the EP. EP’s competences in trade policy were also strengthened. All trade agreements with third countries require a consent from the EP in the ratification procedure and all trade-related legislations must be jointly decided by the Council and the EP.This paper examines the determinants of voting patterns for EU’s trade legislations including EU’s Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Korea and Colombia/Peru. The results confirm that Members of European Parliaments (MEP) still tend to vote with others in their political groups in trade legislations and their voting pattern is not very different from the previous pattern. This trend is confirmed by both the comparison of intra-voting cohesion index and the empirical test based on the probit model. Country-specific variables do not explain well the voting behavior of MEPs. However, it is noteworthy that some MEPs voted in line with their national interests in case of Korea-EU FTA.It is expected that influences of the EP on EU’s trade policy would increase over time, as MEPs realize their new powers and learn how to use it to reflect their opinion on EU’s trade agenda. As the EU expands its FTAs to the United States and Japan, much larger trade partner than the EU ever negotiated, more active involvements from the EP are expected. This means that various interest groups, such as trade associations and NGOs will attempt to exert greater influence on the European Parliament as well as the European Commission.

This paper concerned is how the Trump administration treats Mexico as Testing Ground in term of trade and immigration two major subjects on which the US president promised a radical policy shift. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the announcement of the new immigration law known as the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) and the immigration policy as a whole are the reflection of racism and white supremacy of the Trump administration. the current account deficit between Mexico and the United States has been used as an anchor for the immigration policy. We will also analyze the realistic theory of international relations, according to which, power is at the center of all types of freed trade agreements. We point to these following structural problems (i); the racism and white-nationalism in the Trump administration, (ii) the causes and consequences of power and the degree of exploitation in the trade relationship between Unites States and Mexico, (iii); the Trade deficit reduction of US with NAFTA partners is not a reflect of Fair Play in a World Trade and therefore is unsustainable in the long term, and (iv); The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of 2019 (3.2 percent) of the United States is not the measure of the economy or import tariff, it is a result of a big corporate tax cut which necessarily mean a higher corporate benefits.

With a historical approach, this paper examines the Nixon administration’s policy and stance towards the European Political Cooperation (the EPC). In December 1969, at The Hague Summit the leaders of the European Community expressed their determination for deepening European integration. The final communiqué of The Hague Summit stressed the European Community’s desire to achieve the EPC and to parallel the European Community’s increasing economic strength with a role to play in the world affairs. With this in mind, the paper will examine the impacts that Nixon administration’s attempts to rebalance U.S. foreign relations reflected in the opening to China and the détente with the Soviet Union had on the European political integration. Then, it will be argued that the Nixon administration’s shifting of foreign policy priorities can be seen as one of the driving forces of the EPC. The paper puts forth that a European Community, whose weight was increased first by its economic integration and then by its political cooperation, was seen by the Nixon administration as a challenge to the United States. It is concluded that after a long time of consistently supporting European integration as a means to secure peace and prosperity in Europe, the United States under the Nixon administration had to reconsider its foreign relations and rebalance its focus on the global chessboard. This rebalancing certainly impacted the EPC in particular and the European integration process in general.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was intended to create jobs and boost the economies on both sides of the Atlantic. However, constituency support was difficult to garnish, and negotiations were frozen in late 2016, leaving their conclusion in doubt. What led to this stage? Why has an agreement been elusive? Using an array of indicators this paper argues that a major reason was the extensive and professionally structured public mobilization campaign conducted by European civil society organizations (CSOs). This shifted public opinion across Europe, which in turn impacted policy. Our research contributes to the literatures on trade, lobbying, and transatlantic relations, with relevance beyond TTIP. The paper discusses how generalized and diffused interests and public opinion are impacting an area of public policy (trade) traditionally influenced predominantly by lobbying from narrowly focused interests.

This paper outlines the importance of the studies of EU external perceptions in the Asia-Pacific region in the times of global multipolar redesign and an ongoing eurozone sovereign debt crisis. It links understanding of the concepts of EU external images and EU international ‘branding’ to the conduct of the EU’s foreign policy. The paper also details the methodology of the transnational comparative research project ‘The EU in the Eyes of Asia Pacific’ which informs all contributions to this Issue. The paper then presents those contributions which explore EU external perceptions in nine Asia-Pacific locations, members of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia.

This paper investigates the impacts of IPR protection in foreign countries on Korea's export performance. The empirical analysis in this paper differs from those in previous studies in several respects. First, the impact of IPRs is firstly forced to be uniform across sectors and then is allowed to differ across sectors so that industry-specific evidence can be documented. Second, in order to analyze the impact of IPR protection on trade, we employ the random-effects model to incorporate differences between cross-sectional entities by allowing the intercept to change, but the amount of change is random. Third, the study is based on an analysis of the most recent panel data which allow the patent regime to change over time. Finally, this study provides new evidence regarding the linkage between IPRs and trade with a focus on Korea. Our major findings are summarized as follows. First, reinforced IPR protection in foreign countries has a positive effect on Korea's total exports, indicating the dominance of market expansion effects. Second, stronger protection of IPRs induces Korea's exports to all foreign countries regardless of their level of development. The effects are stronger in medium-income and high-income countries. Third, Korea tends to export more to countries with strong imitative ability when the IPR protection in those countries is strengthened. Finally, stronger protection of IPRs in foreign countries with weak imitative ability leads to an ambiguous reduction in Korea's exports. Efforts to increase the GDP, improve social infrastructure, accelerate domestic reforms (openness to trade), and strengthen IPR protection in foreign countries are suggested as a remedy for obstacles to Korea's exports. Importantly, strengthening of IPRs would have the greatest effect if foreign GDP also rose.

The international debate over sustainable utilisation of animal species often reaches a fever pitch, especially when Northern and Southern governments and NGOs clash. This paper examines one such clash in its proper historical framework: the recent debate over the international ivory trade. The article outlines Zimbabwe's pro-ivory trade position, with special attention paid to Zimbabwe's attempts to transform a local culture which has been hostile to wildlife conservation. Specifically, the paper argues that the current majority government is trying to transform the formally racist Rhodesian preservationist policies into utilisationist policies so that local people can realise some material benefit from the conservation of the African elephant, even in face of fierce opposition from the Western world.

The European Union has established the free movement of goods, which covers the parallel import of goods in the EU. However, the free movement of goods should not infringe on the rights of trade mark owners. In some cases, parallel importer needs not only to repackage but also to rebrand pharmaceutical products. ECJ has stated that rebranding is permissible if objective necessity to rebrand exists. But it is the national court that has to determine what objective necessity is. This paper analyses the decisions of EU Member States. In some cases, objective necessity has been determined on similar grounds. However, in other cases, a necessity to enter some part of the market has been evaluated differently in different Member States. The different evaluation of the necessity criterion could be treated as the infringement of uniform application of the free movement of goods in the EU.

Initially, before the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, differences in integration between members of the European Communities (EC; later the European Union) were relatively few and usually temporary in nature. The Schengen Agreement, the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the possibility of establishing enhanced cooperation meant that the problem was becoming more and more important in the functioning of the EU—both in theory and in practice. The objective of the paper is to show that for several years, along with the stagnation in the deepening of integration between all the EU Member States, differentiation of integration in the EU is progressing very rapidly. The progressing differentiation in the EU is a consequence of mainly two processes: the development of enhanced cooperation and reforms in the eurozone, which are strengthened by the widening of the EU. The article covers the issue of the categorization of differentiation of European Union integration, which constitutes the theoretical framework for further considerations. Specified processes which contribute to increasing the differentiation of the EU are discussed, showing the development of enhanced cooperation in the EU and presenting the reforms of the eurozone. The article concludes with the identification and the consequences of differentiated integration, both those that have already occurred and those that may occur in the future.

As a consequence of the international crisis in 2008-2009, the role of exports in economic growth came into focus in most countries. Exports of EU Member States gained momentum from 2010 onward but with certain changes in their structure and direction. In several countries, the turn towards non-EU areas, such as China or Latin America was part of the state export strategy. On the one hand, our article describes these foreign trade strategies and their institutional framework of the Iberian, Baltic and Central European governments, detecting possible similarities. On the other hand, we analyse recent export data. This way we can get a picture on the structure and direction of exports of periphery economies and this can be compared to the aims of the given states. Our hypothesis is that there is a gap between the reality and the intentions of the governments. The size of this gap varies and is influenced by certain factors such as the different involvement of multinational companies in foreign trade or the different economic structure of these countries. In our paper we list which countries adopted a government strategy and with what aim. We provide a short literature review on state trade promotion policies and discuss these policies and their institutions in the Baltic, Visegrád and Iberian countries.

The goal of this paper is to stress the importance of changing the present growth strategy of Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies. The economic model of resource and debt intensive growth they have enjoyed in the past two decades have proved to be ineffective and unsustainable. Given that the CEE growth model cannot be identified separately from the EU as a whole, we try to propose possible policy measures that would stimulate growth in the CEE in context of the policies at the EU level.

Despite the fact that documentary letters of credit (LC) are meant to facilitate the process of international trade, their specific characteristics may increase the risk of fraud while being used as the method of payment in the process of international transaction. Many factors like exclusive use of documents, geographical distance, absence of efficient prosecution, the diversity of legal system at the global level and restricted application of fraud rule can be considered as reasons for LC fraud. While billions of dollars are lost annually due to fraud in the course of LC operations, such vulnerability can result in reducing the global popularity of documentary letters of credit as the main method of payment used in international trade. Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that fraud risk management is an unexplored territory in the practice of documentary letters of credit operation. Existing research tries to fill the gap in the study on comprehensive methods for mitigating fraud risk in operations with documentary letters of credit by using risk management theory in order to answer the question of how to manage fraud risk in LC transactions? In a quest to answer the research question, the paper is divided into two parts: the first part is dedicated to preventive measures while the latter explores responsive measures of an enterprise to manage fraud risk in LC transactions.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership represents a strategic vision of transatlantic relations, including job creation, global leadership, and establishing high international standards. This paper discusses how three recent bi-lateral and regional agreements, along with positions adopted in transatlantic negotiations, convey respective side's acceptable parameters, and how international standards are emerging from and disseminated through agreements involving the European Union and the United States

The article will show major dimensions in the experience of EU Member States that could be shared with the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. The framework of the study is the EU concept of trade unions in social dialogue and social partnership in the public sector. This study outlines the concept of social dialogue as a core element of industrial relations and will focus on industrial relations specifically in the public sector. The authors have elaborated the approach to industrial relations and social dialogue taking into account comparative approach to definitions provided by international institutions such as ILO and OECD, as well as institutions in the EU and Latvia. Latvia is also a case study for Eastern Partnership countries as these countries and their trade unions are in a transition period from socialist structures to structures that possess liberal economies. Trade unions in these countries are members of the International Trade Union Confederation. The major transformation that trade unions underwent from being part of the socialist system and becoming an independent institution since Latvia regained independence in 1991 has been studied. The paper discusses the current developments related to the position of Latvian Free Trade Union Federation in the system of decision-making process related to the public administration management. Finally, the prospective role of trade unions in the EU and in Latvia is analysed and possible revitalisation of trade union is discussed. This approach could be applied to the Eastern Partners of the EU.

This paper aims to investigate some of the main features of sixteenth century international law in order to challenge traditional international law foundations. By exploring concrete cases, and indicating situations in which state and non-state actors resorted to international norms in order to promote trade and celebrate peace treaties, it is inquired whether some pre-Westphalia international trade and warfare practices may be defined as the beginning of “modern” international law., Este artigo objetiva investigar aspectos relacionados ao direito internacional do século dezesseis com o objetivo de desafiar os fundamentos tradicionais da disciplina. O estudo de casos concretos, indicando situações em que Estados e atores não estatais empregaram normas internacionais para promover o comércio e celebrar tratados de paz, sugere que tais práticas estatais anteriores à Paz de Vestfália inauguram o direito internacional moderno.

The EU’s foreign policy response(s) to the unfolding Ukraine crisis has further illustrated its difficulty in making effective foreign policy decisions. Using a neoclassical realist analytical framework, this paper argues that although the EU did have tangible collective interests in pursuing its Ukraine foreign policy, it was unable to adequately filter these through its domestic setting. Three key constraints to the EU’s Ukrainian foreign policy> were identified: decision-makers ’ miscalculations; rigid normative demands; and a reliance on consensus politics. Ultimately, the Ukraine crisis illustrated that the EU, in current incarnation, cannot translate interests into effective foreign policies, even when making policy for their direct neighbourhood.

Since the outbreak of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, the economic balance between the traditional developed economies and the emerging ones has changed drastically, including that between the European Union and China. While the EU and its Member States are preoccupied by the eurozone debt crisis, stagnant economic growth and high domestic unemployment, China raised as the world’s second largest economy and one of the quickest growing consumer market. This paper explores the change in perception of the EU as an economic actor in the eyes of Chinese mainstream news media and national elites under such context. It argues that the strategic partnership could improve only if the two sides understand the mutual perception clearly. It is found that China has increased its leverage for bargaining vis-à-vis the EU as well as the capacity to give some help to the EU. Although the image of the EU as an economic powerhouse has been slightly weakened, it did not turn the heavily trade-oriented EU-China relations more comprehensive.

This paper seeks to determine whether the EU has accomplished its objectives concerning the visibility of EU external action, which the Lisbon Treaty sought to achieve. The role of Catherine Ashton as the EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, together with the newly formed European External Action Service (EEAS) which supports her work, aimed to “effectively project European values and interests worldwide” (Šefčovič, n.d.) and to make Europe “an actor on the global stage” (Europa, n.d.). Despite the sui generis nature of the internal functioning of the EU, there is a strong case in academic literature that the EU can be studied as an international actor like any other state actor. Southeast Asia, represented in this article by Singapore and Thailand, is a key region to test whether the post-Lisbon EU has reached the status of a key actor on the global stage. The findings from media research carried out in 2006 and 2011 (i. e. before and after the Lisbon Treaty) suggest that the EU has failed to achieve its stated aims.

The European Union (EU) has become an important global actor in numerous areas. It is an economic giant, a key actor in global trade and trade negotiations. It leads talks on environment and it is the biggest provider of assistance to the developing world. It is the largest contributor to the United Nations budget and its peacekeeping missions are present in all major conflicts. With such prominent global presence, it would seem that when the EU speaks, the world listens. This paper assesses whether new public communicative spaces are emerging between the European Union and the rest of the world, including Australia. It first argues that supranational developments in the EU have encouraged an important shift in which international political communication is no longer equated with the boundaries of the nation state. It goes on to illustrate how the emergent Euro-polity is developing an important strategy for communication not only with its own Member States and their citizens but also with the world. To test how the new communication environment is received outside the EU, encounters of the Australian media with the European Union are analysed. The results tend to confirm the European Union’s existing fears of being largely unheard.

For many years, the Baltic Sea region stood out for its remarkable stability. The dramatic changes following the end of the Cold War did not have a profound effect on the territory. However, Russia's cooperation with other states in the Baltic Sea region began to lose momentum. This paper discusses the negative effects of the Ukrainian and Syrian crises and the increasing tension between Russia and other countries in the Baltic Sea region. In the short term, these trends are unlikely to re¬verse. Of the two possible scenarios — suspending relations until a solution to the political and military problems is found or trying to make use of every opportunity in economy, culture, science, education, etc., — the latter is preferable. A breakdown in regional cooperation will weaken Russia’s position. However, gaining positive momentum may prove instrumental in overcoming the confrontation between Russia and the West in the future.

This article considers the possibility of Russian integration into a common research, technological, and innovative space of the Baltic region. The author presents the results of a comparative analysis of innovative development in Russia and the Baltic Sea countries based on the calculation of an integral research and technological potential index for the Russian Federation, the Northwestern Federal District of Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The paper describes the level of research and technological development of Russia in 2008—2010 in terms of human resources, R&D, material and technical components, and the transformation capacity of innovative potential. The author identifies the key issues in the field of research and innovation that inhibit the growth of research and technological potential concentration, as well as innovative development of the Russian Federation. The article considers the prospects for the development of research and technological potential in Russia through the use of instruments of international research and technological cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

The paper examines flows of foreign direct investment within the Baltic region. The author demonstrates close investment ties among the EU members, which are of special importance for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Transborder corporate integration in the region is characterized by significant imbalances. In many aspects, it can be viewed as Sweden’s economic expansion or development of domestic markets for northern European companies. Although many German, Polish and Russian companies are involved in corporate integration in the Baltic region, other vectors of their foreign economic relations are still more important for them. As a result, the integration of Russian business in the Baltic part of the European integration area is still rather weak despite Russia’s considerable foreign direct investment in the Baltic States.

Does China’s quest for oil raise tensions with the United States? This paper examines the effect of international relations on global oil trade patterns. Using voting records for the United Nations General Assembly to measure the state of international relations, we estimate a modified gravity model in a panel data framework over the period 1962-2000. Our presumption is that a divergence in voting patterns reflects misalignment in political interests among pairs of states, and hence an increase in “political distance.” Controlling for oil exporters’ endowment, potential supply disruption due to civil conflict, other standard gravity controls, as well as exporter and year fixed effects, we first show that private energy companies based in the United States import significantly less crude oil from US political opponents. The result is robust to controlling for economic sanctions and militarized interstate disputes, suggesting that the political oil import diversification is more than a wartime phenomenon. A similar oil import pattern is observed in China, in which case only a few national oil companies control the oil sector. While the incentives to diversify are stronger for both the United States and China when the exporters are nondemocratic, import sanctions have opposite effects on oil imports into the United States and China. Finally, we document that there is no such oil import pattern in other non-major power oil importing countries.

Osmanlıca ve Venedik lisanını okuyarak 4 asırlık Osmanlı - Venedik münasebetlerinin vesikalarına dayalı topyekün bir tarih yazılması sadece Akdeniz değil dünya tarihi açısından da muteber bir çalışma olacaktır. Bu tez çalışmasında maksat da böyle çalışmalara başlayacak olan tarihçilerin istifade edeceği bir basamak olmak iddiası taşıyarak meseleyi Osmanlı?nın en kudretli olduğu asırdaki ahval-i umumiyeye bakarak ele almakta olup bu sahadaki ilmi literatüre katkı sağlamaktır.Çalışmanın giriş bölümünde, Osmanlı ? Venedik arasında on altıncı yüzyıldan evvel meydana gelen tarihi münasebetler kısaca takdim edilecektir. Bu bölümde bazı Osmanlı vekayinameleri gibi birinci el kaynaklar az olmakla beraber daha ziyade ikinci el kaynaklardan malumat verilecektir.Birinci ve ikinci kısımlarda, Sultan ile San Marco arasında on altıncı yüzyılda meydana gelen ticari ve diplomatik münasebetler takdim edilecektir. Burada, Osmanlı Devleti?nin Divan-ı Hümayun Sicilleri ve kronikler gibi birinci el memba daha ziyade kullanılıp, kısmen ikinci el kaynaklardan da malumat takdim edilecektir.Üçüncü kısımda, Kıbrıs Seferi?nin Merkez?den idaresi ve bu esnada Osmanlılar ile Venedikliler arasındaki kriz dönemi üzerinde durulacaktır. Burada, doğrudan birinci el kaynaklar ışığında meseleye bakılarak istihbarat, nakliyat ve donanma idaresi gibi noktalara temas edilecektir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Osmanlı, Venedik, Ticaret, Diplomasi, Kıbrıs Seferi. Writing a history based on the Ottoman-Venetian affairs of four centuries by reading the Ottoman and Venetian languages will be a recognized study not only for the Mediterranean world but also for world history. Having a claim of being a useful step for historians who will attempt such kinds of studies, the aim in this thesis study is to contribute to scientific literature by looking at the general conditions in the century when the Ottomans were the most powerful.The content of this thesis is:In the introduction, the features of the relations which were experienced in previous centuries between the Ottomans and the Venetians will be briefly introduced. In this chapter, while at times, the paper makes use of primary sources like chronicles, mostly secondary source will be used.In the first and second chapters, while handling how the diplomatic and commercial deeds between the Sultan and San Marco in the sixteenth century occurred through classifications, generally first-hand sources such as State Council Registries (Divan-ı Hümayun Sicilleri) and chronicles are used; secondary sources will also be used at times.In the third chapter, how the conquest of the Island of Cyprus, organized from the Ottoman Palace, caused a crisis between the Ottomans and the Venetians in this century, will be covered with three titles under the light of direct primary sources. Here, it will be referred to as intelligence, transportation and navy administration.Key words: Ottoman, Venetian, Trade, Diplomacy, Cyprus Campaign. 151