Spain and the Hispanics: A Strategic Project

Emilio Cassinello. WP63-2004 - 28.12.2004 (Translation from Spanish) .

This report provides specific suggestions as to how the various Spanish institutions can proceed in their dealings with the diverse, dynamic, growing and ever-changing Hispanic community in the US. The presence of Hispanics is growing at an accelerating pace on the political, cultural, artistic, media and economic scenes of the –for now– sole global superpower. The tightening of ties between Spain and the US Hispanic community can take place at several levels, including the political, the educational-cultural and the economic

Spain and Latin America: global vs. bilateral relations

Carlos Malamud . WP58-2004 - 1.12.2004 (Translation from Spanish) .

Traditionally, Spanish foreign policy on Latin America has put global relations before bilateral ones, especially with the most important countries in the region. The philosophy behind this is that we are part of the Ibero-American Community of Nations, a theoretically supranational body made up of fraternal and equal nations. This bias in our diplomacy has affected bilateral relations which, though not inexistent, have not been developed systematically. Preference has been given to good, acceptable relations with Ibero-American nations as a group, rather than stable ties with the main Latin American countries

The Future of Latino Politics

Rodolfo O. de la Garza. WP59-2004 - 30.11.2004.

The promise of Latino politics is greater today than ever before. In part this reflects the extent to which Latinos have become responsible for their own well-being, and in part it reflects changes in their political environment. Where once the issue was how to gain access to the political process, now it is how to best capitalise on the dramatic increase in the size of the population and the electorate, on the electoral access resulting from the VRA, and on the interest that both parties claim to have in the Latino vote

North Africa: Grappling with Demography (WP)

Rickard Sandell. WP 56/2004 - 4/11/2004.

This paper discusses the general nature of current demographic trends. The purpose is to offer a more nuanced view of part of the world''''s population development. In particular, the author shows that the demographic transition, while similar in developed and developing countries, gives rise to an emerging demographic clevage between developed and developing countries. The focus of this paper is on demographic changes in the Mediterranean region. Rickard Sandell contrasts demographic developments on both the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Adapting to a New Funding Relationship with Europe: Spain and Cohesion Policy

Keith Salmon . WP53-2004 - 29.9.2004.

Spain has enjoyed substantial net inflows of money from the European Union (EU) since accession in 1986, contributing to a strong growth performance relative to other EU member states. Specifically, as one of the poorer countries in the EU, Spain has attracted large sums of money through Cohesion Policy (embodying the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund). However, strong economic growth over the last decade has closed the income gap with the EU reducing eligibility for funding while raising payments to the EU budget

Turkey’s EU Membership: The Moment of Truth

William Chislett. WP17-2004 - 19.10.2004.

The European Commission took a momentous decision in October when it recommended, with certain conditions, that accession talks start with Turkey, the most secular state among the Islamic nations created by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923 from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The decision, however, has to be endorsed by the leaders of the European Union (EU) member states at their meeting in Brussels on December 17. No other country seeking full EU membership has stirred up as many passions in favour or against its entry as Turkey

The Three Logics of EU Enlargement: Interests, Identities and Arguments

Sonia Piedrafita and José I. Torreblanca. WP51-2004 - 15.9.2004.

Five rounds of enlargement have now been completed. The original European Economic Community has grown from Six to Twenty-Five members and the process has not yet come to an end. Still, we know very little about how enlargement processes work and how their effects are felt by and transmitted to the European Union

Spain and Portugal: From Distant Neighbours to Uneasy Associates

William Chislett. WP46-2004 - 2.9.2004.

Spain and Portugal lived back to back for some 300 years until they came face to face when both joined the European Union in 1986. Since then the two economies have increasingly converged. Trade and direct investment between the two countries is now very strong. Spain exports to its neighbour almost as much as it does to the United States and the whole of Latin America, and it is a major investor in the country. Spain is also Portugal's largest export market

Spain and European Union Constitution-building

Raj S. Chari, Alfonso Egea de Haro, Kenneth Benoit and Michael Laver . WP45-2004 - 27.8.2004.

The broad objective of this paper is to better understand how national governments form their policy position on the Draft Constitutional proposal by analysing developments in Spain. It examines the Spanish position on various parts of the European Convention based on data from expert interviews carried out in November 2003. It then evaluates the internal coordination process, focusing on the few domestic-level actors (from the Prime Ministers’ Office and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy) that have been most influential in shaping Spain’s position. Finally, it ponders the potential shift in the Spanish position given the recent Socialist victory in March 2004.

Poverty, Sustainable Development and the Environment

José Antonio Alonso. WP38-2004 - 5.7.2004.

For Latin America, the year 2002 marked the end of a half-decade of negative economic results, characterised by a slowdown in growth, pressures from international financial and currency markets and domestic challenges stemming from political crises of governance in a number of the countries in the region. Accompanying these developments has been the popular disappointment with the scant progress achieved in social well-being during this period. The decade of the 1990s –which had been heralded from the start as the coming decade of recovery- turned out to be, by the turn of the century, in the words of the ECLAC, just another lost decade.