While everyone is (understandably) focused on Brexit, there is much more going on in Brussels that needs attention. Near the top of that list has to be plans for closer EU security and defence cooperation. Big decisions are due before December and – as of yet – the arguments have not had much of anContinue reading “Ireland’s European Security and Defence Questions”
Author Archives: JamesPCross
The EU Global Strategy and Academia – new avenues for cooperation
On 12 June 2017, I was invited, along with about 70 other academics, foreign and security policy experts, think tank staff and policy makers to a ‘high level’ Jean Monnet thematic seminar on the “EU’s Global Strategy – From Vision to Action”. This was organised by the EU Commission’s DG Education and Culture and theContinue reading “The EU Global Strategy and Academia – new avenues for cooperation”
The State of EU Foreign Policy Scholarship
EU foreign policy scholarship has made an undoubted contribution to our understanding of politics at the global level. First, it has added to our understanding of what EU membership means for member states. The complex and reciprocal relationship between national political systems and a developing European-level polity poses many challenging questions to comparative politics andContinue reading “The State of EU Foreign Policy Scholarship”
Are young people turning away from democracy?
Richard O’Neill is a UCD Master of Public Policy student. Here he questions recent claims about the rise of anti-democratic sentiment among millennials, but warns that there is no room for complacency in the defence of democratic values. Millennials get a bad rap. In the last year we’ve been blamed for ruining the American wine industry,Continue reading “Are young people turning away from democracy?”
Public Integrity and Trust in Europe
Marie-Therese Culligan is a UCD Master of Public Policy student. Here she assesses the report on Public Integrity and Trust in Europe, prepared by the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building (ERCAS), Hertie School of Governance, Berlin 2015. Principal Investigator: Prof. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. This report was commissioned by the European Commission during the Dutch Presidency of the EU in the first half ofContinue reading “Public Integrity and Trust in Europe”
Information is power: tackling corporate tax avoidance
Michael McCarthy Flynn is a UCD Master of Public Policy student. He points out the significant advantages corporate interests currently enjoy in shielding income from effective taxation in any jurisdiction, and the key role of effective international coordination of tax policy not only in securing tax justice but in addressing poverty and meeting global development goadls/ Corporate taxContinue reading “Information is power: tackling corporate tax avoidance”
Public interest and private gain in pharmaceutical regulation
Jess Ennis is a UCD Master of Public Policy student. She considers the conflicts over funding and availability of critical medications – specifically Orkambi for cystic fibrosis sufferers. In July 2015, the FDA approved the combination drug Lumacaftor/ Ivacaftor (Orkambi) which treats the underlying cause of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) for patients with two copies ofContinue reading “Public interest and private gain in pharmaceutical regulation”
How the Netherlands became a country of cyclists, and why the UK failed
Emil Törnsten is a Swedish Erasmus student of urban planning. In this blog for POL40160 Comparative Public Policy, he compares the dramatically different role of cycling in urban transport policy in the Netherlands and the UK – and the policy lessons to be learned. Cycling is considered an important tool in mitigating climate change, local pollution, congestion and lifestyle-related healthContinue reading “How the Netherlands became a country of cyclists, and why the UK failed”
Wonky policy or sweetly inspired? Why ‘sugar taxes’ won’t solve our growing problem with obesity
Emer Scott asks how effective a levy on soft drinks is likely to be in tackling obesity. Emer is a student on the UCD Master of Public Policy programme. Waistlines in Britain and Ireland have thickened in the last 20 years, and it’s not just our scales that are groaning under the burden of rising obesity. Health servicesContinue reading “Wonky policy or sweetly inspired? Why ‘sugar taxes’ won’t solve our growing problem with obesity”
To tax or not to tax: The relationship between taxation and welfare
As a newly arrived Dane in Ireland, I have found myself highly puzzled by the public resistance and mass demonstrations across the country against the recent introduction of water taxes. The unwillingness to pay for a utility is unfamiliar to Danish citizens, recognising the fact that the provision of clean drinkable water, as well asContinue reading “To tax or not to tax: The relationship between taxation and welfare”
The Brussels Insider 