The European Union Treaty after Lisbon emphasises the overarching objectives of sustainable development and a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment, high levels of environmental protection and social progress. Yet, in 2022, it is clear that these ambitions have not been fully achieved. The ongoing pandemic, the continuing fall-out from Brexit and the resulting economic damage, a Grexit avoided, and potential other exits from the EU, have come to undermine the political consensus of the idea of a European Union. Amidst these challenges, the debates on how to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals have turned towards demanding more sustainable economic policies, financial investments and business actions. The present volume provides a much-needed space for in-depth discussion of the concept of sustainable value creation and how it can be achieved within the ecological limits of our planet, through the prism of an interdisciplinary concept of sustainability.
02
Letters: It is time to stand up for the cause of the European Union
It clearly smacks more than a little of hypocrisy for the Prime Minister to attack Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, for having a divided Shadow Cabinet when it came to the debate on military intervention in Syria, but is now happy to have those inside his own Cabinet campaigning against the UK Government line.
We also have the spectre of UK Ministers calling for EU withdrawal from the EU attending and speaking at Council of Minister meetings, a scarcely credible position and one that will significantly weaken the UK position in such talks.
Exit from the EU would pose a direct threat to jobs, investment and international influence. It is therefore more important than ever that those who support the UK’s continued EU membership stand up and make the case as strongly as possible.
Alex Orr,
Flat 2, 77 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh.
HOW do you solve a problem like Maria? You consign her to Culture. How do you solve a problem like Hilary Benn? You can’t, unless you want your parliamentary colleagues in full-scale revolt, and a leadership coup before you can say Trident.
But as Jeremy Corbyn reviews and reshuffles his truculent troops (“MP: Straight-talking got me sacked from Corbyn cabinet”, The Herald, January 6) and discards those who disagree with him, (or at least those he can get away with discarding) it seems only a few months ago, because it was only a few months ago, that Mr Corbyn had invited these same people to join him on the Opposition front bench, and was declaring his intention to do politics differently, promising a frank exchange of views within his party.
Of course, Mr Corbyn isn’t the only party leader with a back like a colander. David Cameron, too, is having trouble on his benches and is now without the hapless Nick Clegg beside him to draw the ire of the voters. Mr Cameron’s decision to allow his ministers to do their own thing regarding his European referendum is in total contradiction to his position this time last year. As they sit in the Commons, with their hands tied, contemplating each other across the crowded room, Mr Corbyn and Mr Cameron may well reflect on the old saying that in politics, the opposition sits in front of you, and the enemy sits behind. But tellingly, in their cases, the enemy is also sitting beside them.
Ruth Marr,
99 Grampian Road, Stirling.
IS it Jeremy Corbyn who is changing the politics of Westminster, or that Westminster is changing Mr Corbyn? From the result of this apparently over-hyped shadow cabinet re-shuffle the outcome is one of compromise and those who installed Mr Corbyn in Labour leadership – grass roots party folk – are, as usual, undone by career parliamentarians who in this, as in many other instances, are unrepresentative of grass roots support.
Now, it seems, Mr Corbyn himself is being pulled into the career parliamentarian drift. It’s how it goes at Westminster if you’re not watchful. It’s the way of things there. It’s one thing to arrive in a flurry of radicalism, another to keep it going in that place where baaing, as in sheep, is chosen before hand clapping, as in people.
Ian Johnstone,
84 Forman Drive, Peterhead.
“WITH revelations being published on an almost daily basis, the public will have lost count of how many SNP politicians are in trouble”, says rent-a-quote Tory MSP Alex Johnstone (“Tories call on Sturgeon to break her silence on MP claims”, The Herald, January 6). He clearly hasn’t made any New Year resolution to engage his brain before he opens his mouth.
It is a good number of years since I was at school but I am certain that my old English teachers would strongly dispute Mr Johnstone’s apparent understanding of the phrase “almost daily”. That piece of nonsense is only made more laughable by his seeming inability to count the fingers on one hand, not even two.
As my old teachers would say: “Must do better, Johnstone. Do pay attention.”
Archie Hamilton,
39 Orchy Gardens, Stamperland, Glasgow.
YOU won’t often catch me agreeing with David Cameron, but he’s quite right on the question of another independence referendum. Alex Salmond’s much-vaunted Edinburgh Agreement requires the result of the referendum to be respected. A referendum is an exceptional event in a representative democracy. The outcome is for a period, and Nicola Sturgeon’s precious “material changes of circumstances” have no bearing on the matter. It’s outrageous that her party’s repeated unilateral re-interpretation of the Agreement is given so much uncritical and indeed generous coverage by media outlets, including your own.
Tim Bell,
11 Madeira Place, Edinburgh.
03
Conflict, Negotiation and European Union Enlargement
Crossref CitationsThis Book has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.
Holzinger, Katharina and Schimmelfennig, Frank 2012. DIFFERENTIATED INTEGRATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: MANY CONCEPTS, SPARSE THEORY, FEW DATA. Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 19, Issue. 2, p. 292.
Pullano, Teresa 2014. La citoyenneté européenne. p. 281.
Slapin, Jonathan B. 2015. How European Union Membership Can Undermine the Rule of Law in Emerging Democracies. West European Politics, Vol. 38, Issue. 3, p. 627.
Grande, Edgar and Hutter, Swen 2016. Beyond authority transfer: explaining the politicisation of Europe. West European Politics, Vol. 39, Issue. 1, p. 23.
Schimmelfennig, Frank and Winzen, Thomas 2019. Grand theories, differentiated integration. Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 26, Issue. 8, p. 1172.
