European union law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

European union law - Essay Example In the current context it refers to the imbalance of power between national interests in decision-making within the Council of the European Union (Ministers) and across the EU institutions as a whole. Crucially European citizens have little say in what is done in their name once they vote for their MEPs. Mitchell (2005) clarifies this: Europe’s democratic deficit, whether it be perceived or real, is largely due to the EU’s institutional architecture, which promotes a type of circulatory decision-making process, but permits little input from the European public sphere. Compounding this situation is the informal nature of negotiations that often take place among and within the key policy-making bodies of the EU, leading to a less than transparent, and sometimes unpredictable, policy-making process. The institutions ultimately take their respective mandates from the Treaties which themselves are open to interpretation. It could be argued that the EU is not a well-defined cogent democratic entity – but a hybrid of functionalism, inter-governmentalism and mult-level governance (Steiner and Woods, 2003. p13). Indeed, quoting Dr Guiliano Amato, Aveblj (2005) points out that the EU’s stakeholders have yet to determine what the European Union ought to be – and therefore cannot begin to address the wider question of how to get there. Each member state is represented by a senior Minister with the President of the Council being appointed for a six-month term, thereby ensuring that in any fiscal year 2 different member states will have the opportunity to hold the Presidency. Although the representative Minister will have been elected to a seat by a majority in his/her national constituency and appointed to high office by members of his/her political party, critics argue that the manner in which Ministers are appointed means that there is no real European philosophy at work

Dooms Day Scenarios (the validity of these predictions will ever Essay

Dooms Day Scenarios (the validity of these predictions will ever happen) - Essay Example It certainly looks like we are in for another lost in translation event come December 21, 2012. The year when the Mayan calendar comes to an end of its cycle. Note, it is the end of the calendar year cycle for the Mayans. It is not the end of the world prediction of the Mayans like most naysayers wish us to believe. We have to remember that this same media hype existed a mere 3 years ago. Way back in 2009, Hollywood was making big money at the box office using the various end of days scenario to sell their product. From an asteroid hitting the earth, all the way to the melting of the polar icecaps, these film events somehow managed to take on a life of their own and become the doomsday prediction for the year. the people lapped it up because if Hollywood was telling the story, then there must a semblance of truth to it right? Obviously, it is not necessary to answer that rhetorical question. Instead, the focus of all attention should be on the latest doomsday scenario slated to happe n on December 21, 2012. For this is the year that some wanna be scholars and doomsday predictors insist the world will end because the Mayans provided definite proof of it through their calendar which ends its cycle this year. However, these people have failed to mention that the Mayans actually created at least 3 other different calendars, each with a specific task. This race of people developed a calendar for every need so to speak ranging from earthly, lunar, solar, and galactic in use (â€Å"The Mayan Calendar: What is it and What Does it Really Tell Us?†). Now why would a race of people require more than one calendar? After all, modern man goes by and does really well with only one calendar that ends every year to begin a new cycle anew. The Mayans were highly advanced scientific and mathematical thinkers during their time. As such, they wanted to make sure that all of their predictions when it came to crop harvesting, the lives of their tribal leaders, etc. all had a fa ctual basis to lean on. That is exactly what these Mayan calendars were meant to be used as, calibrators in order to help them synchronize their calendars, not for use as predictors. The doomsayers say that the evidence to point towards the accuracy of the prediction already exists. What with the tsunami that hit Japan and its accompanying earthquake and nuclear disaster, there can be no clearer signs than that. Let's not also forget the fact that the ice caps are constantly melting and the earth is continuously evolving on its axis, a move that causes various shifts and changes to the way the earth functions on its own. While most of see these events as part of the evolution of a living planet, there are those who would rather prepare themselves for the end of the world as they know it. As some wise journalists explain (Radford, Benjamin â€Å"The Truth About the 2012 Doomsday Hype†): Whether or not 2012 will bring cataclysmic volcanism or a great flood, it has undeniably br ought a flood of books. New Age and doomsday authors have been cranking out 2012-themed books at an amazing pace over the past few years; there are literally thousands of such titles in print, with more on the way. Doomsday predictions are a huge money making scheme for usncrupolous characters in modern times. By hyping up the misreading of the