Internationalisation and standardisation of European Environmental Assessment. Relevance to India

This paper discusses the rationale underlying ‘PENTA’, an EU funded Erasmus Mundus project. In doing so, it explores the challenges of internationalising and standardising European environmental assessment (EA) practice and education to a third country audience, looking at India as a case study. It is argued that the EU EA Directives are influencing the development of EA systems internationally, leading to a standardisation of the way in which EA is practiced. The so‐called Bologna process is especially playing a crucial role in leading to the standardisation of European higher education and the EU's marketing initiatives are generating effects of internationalisation. Within this context, it is argued that an internationalised and standardised approach to EA education could improve the effectiveness of EA practice in both the developing and developed nations, and ultimately help address the environmental challenges that the world is facing today. However, harmonisation and standardisation challenges must be taken into account at an international and national level, as an internationalised EA curriculum such as that proposed by PENTA must nevertheless be relevant to different policy planning and cultural contexts.     

参与民主在欧盟的兴起及其理论反思

20世纪90年代中期以来,在消弭欧盟民主赤字的尝试中,欧盟机构实现了对公民社会价值的重新发现,<欧盟宪法条约>以及后来的<里斯本条约>写入了有关参与民主原则的表述.本文指出,欧盟有关参与民主的讨论与实践具有两个显著特征:其一,欧盟关注的不是每个公民的直接参与,而是通过公民社会组织实现的间接参与;其二,欧盟不是把参与作为面向单个公民的内在价值,而是把参与作为提高复杂治理机制中的问题解决能力的一种工具.正是这些特征决定了在欧盟这个特殊构成体中,参与民主只应且只能是代议制民主的补充,而非替代.     

The early school leaver count as a policy instrument in EU governance: the un/intended effects of an indicator

ABSTRACT

The EU has embraced the use of indicators as policy instruments for achieving common aims. One of the indicators, ‘early school leaver’ (ESL), depicts the proportion of young people leaving education and training prematurely. Initially defined as an education policy indicator, it has been transformed into a performance indicator measuring the targets of the current Europe 2020 strategy. In this article, we examine how the indicator works as a policy instrument at different levels of governance applying the conceptual tools provided by the policy instrumentation approach to unpack the components, pinpoint the political effects, and reveal the power relations they produce. Thus challenging the taken-for-grantedness of comparison as a way of knowing we have intended to shift the focus of discussion concerning the role of large-scale comparisons in education towards more productive directions: moving from problematisation and deconstruction of comparison to engaging with processes of measurement.     

欧洲高等教育机构经费筹措模式及经验启示——以欧盟七国为例

文章在考察欧盟七国高等教育机构经费筹措模式的基础上,反映并揭示了现代高等教育经费筹集的未来发展趋势,以期为我国大学解决日益尖锐的办学资金短缺问题提供思路与借鉴。     

欧美自由贸易区贸易便利化经验及对中国的启示

为建立拥有完善法律制度与管理体系的自由贸易区,欧美国家建立并推行了与区域经济密切相关的自由区制度,并在经授权的经营者制度、不同税收战略取向的动态调整机制等方面作了卓有成效的探索.我国应充分借鉴欧美相关成熟经验,理顺法制及管理体系总体保障思路,解决监管机构的法律授权问题,探索税收监管权、监督权、司法权及海关选择性征税等制度的创新,加强AEO制度的立法与互认,建立国际贸易单一窗口,明晰区内知识产权边境保护制度,创新海关监管制度.通过这些举措,我国贸易便利化环境将会得到优化,我国国际贸易便利化水平将会得到提升,上海自贸区试点的积极效应也将持续发挥.     

欧盟国家成人学习质量保障体系研究

在终身学习领域,成人学习质量保障一直是各国政策中的行动焦点。21世纪以来,欧盟先后出台了有关成人学习质量保障的政策,诸多国家明确了质量保障体系的实施目标、运行流程,制定了较为细化的评估指标体系。其中,设计理念的相关性、体系设计的科学性、运行进程的透明性以及评估主体的多元性推动了欧盟各国成人学习质量保障体系朝正确的方向发展。然而,目前欧盟各国缺乏综合性的质量保障体系、成人学习特殊元素难以彰显、成人学习专业工作者的持续专业发展困境以及缺乏监测信息数据等,桎梏了成人学习质量保障体系的＂更上一层楼＂。基于欧盟国家的实践,无疑拓宽了我国成人学习质量保障体系发展的视野。在整体框架设计原则上,要遵循综合性与特殊性相结合的原则;在操作哲学上,要从＂技术＂转向＂文化＂;在关键元素上,要关注成人学习工作者的专业化;在反馈控制上,要实现质量信息的资源共享。     

论中国城镇化给中欧关系带来的机遇

中国城镇化的探索和实践是人类历史上史无前例的创举,健康有序的城镇化不仅有利于中国自身的发展,给我国经济增长注入强大动力,而且具有世界性意义,尤其是能够为中欧合作开辟新的平台,注入新的动力.一方面,中国能够借鉴欧洲发达国家城镇化历程的积极经验,学习其先进技术,推动自身城镇化的健康发展.另一方面,中国的城镇化意味着巨大的内需,为中欧贸易的发展带来巨大机遇.当然,在学习西方经验和技术的同时,中国应当注意从实际情况出发,走一条适合本国国情的城镇化之路.     

Context clues for the stall of the Citizens’ Initiative: lessons for opening up e-participation development practice

The European Union recently launched an innovative participatory mechanism allowing its citizens across Europe get together and set the agenda for policy-making in Brussels. The tool – the European Citizens’ Initiative – was labelled as “most direct and digital” ever in the history of European democratic experimentation as it made it possible to collect signatures (of which it is required not less than 1 million) in favour of an initiative via the internet (e-collection). Launched on 1 April 2012 the ECI was met with major enthusiasm in Brussels, but soon stumbled over serious difficulties as the organisers on the ground were unable to set up their online collection systems. The present paper looks into this ICT-related crisis from the point of reference of e-democracy theory based on the findings of a qualitative case-study. As a deliverable, it offers an understanding of factors and stakeholder rationales which shaped the design and implementation of the digital dimension of the ECI (iECI).     

欧盟语言多元化政策回顾

回顾了欧盟近几年在语言多元化方面的政策措施,指出欧盟的语言多元化政策促进了欧盟成员国之间的交流,扩大了就业机会,并增强了欧盟企业在全球市场的竞争力。欧盟的语言多元化政策着重培养多种语言能力,这对欧洲语言文化的传承和保护,是有积极意义的。     

欧盟资源外交政策研究

欧盟是世界资源的主要进口地区,年资源进口量均超10亿t,欧盟经济发展受资源约束严重。近年欧盟资源外交呈现了新的变化,2008年11月4日欧盟委员会发布了欧盟资源的总体原材料战略——《欧盟原材料倡议》,标志着欧盟资源政策的新走向。在对欧盟资源供需状况、资源政策走向分析的基础上,得到了欧盟战略资源稀缺,而中国等少数国家储量丰富;欧盟新能源技术发展快速,而中国刚刚起步。因此,中欧在战略性资源、农产品资源等具有较高的互补性,在化石和新能源技术方面具有巨大的发展潜力。提出了驱动欧盟资源外交的5个主要力量,这些力量为欧盟资源外交营造了良好的氛围,加强了谈判的力量,提供了安全的资源外交环境,并确保了欧盟资源的安全供应。根据中欧资源禀赋的差异,提出了重点资源合作领域：优先保障战略性资源,积极研发化石能源和可再生能源的技术开发和大力发展农产品资源贸易合作,并为中国资源外交提供了相应的对策。这些对中国应对资源危机、破解资源瓶颈,提升我国资源领域国际话语权和影响力,保障国家资源安全等具有重要的参考价值。