Papers by Paolo Bargiacchi
The article examines the EU Commission's Communication of 5 February 2020 introducing a revised e... more The article examines the EU Commission's Communication of 5 February 2020 introducing a revised enlargement methodology for the purpose of reinvigorating the accession process of the Western Balkans candidate countries and make it more effective. Reasons put forward by some EU Member States at the end of 2019 for vetoing the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia are also discussed. The article suggests that the strategy outlined by the Council Conclusions of 5 June 2020 of enhancing cooperation with Western Balkans partners in the field of justice and home affairs (in particular, by strengthening cooperation with relevant EU Agencies) might be the key driving force for a more credible and dynamic EU perspective for the Western Balkans.
South-Russian Journal of Social Sciences, 2019
The impact of NSAs such as organized armed groups, organized crime groups and terrorist groups on... more The impact of NSAs such as organized armed groups, organized crime groups and terrorist groups on MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region is twofold. They fuel instability, crime, violence, and armed conflicts in the region and turn into push factors, if not means or vehicle, for illegal migration towards Europe where it is often perceived, right or wrong, as a serious threat to security. The EU response to migration is therefore evolving as well as the related security policies. Following decades of strong and wide protection of human rights in any situation, European States are seeking for a new and different balance between human rights and security. It seems as if States are nowadays ready to trade some political idealism and legal functionalism in the field of migration and human rights for more political pragmatism and legal formalism in the field of security. Some clues are emblematic of this new approach of security marked by some US-style features such as a more limited judicial review and a formalistic interpretation and application of the law. Even if, for the time being, Europe has substantially stayed true to a high standard of human rights protection, the quest for more security by Governments might set them on a collision course with supranational Courts and their functionalist approach to human rights protection. Keywords: non-State actors and illegal migration, security and human rights; European and US approaches to security, non-State actors' impact on MENA region and EU, new EU security policies.
Human security is the cornerstone of R2P doctrine. Yet, looking at the EU strategy in the 2011 Li... more Human security is the cornerstone of R2P doctrine. Yet, looking at the EU strategy in the 2011 Libyan War and in the 2013-2014 political unrest and revolution in Ukraine, one should start asking whether a single and unitary concept of human security actually exists among the global political actors and/or whether the EU is really promoting human security worldwide or, rather, a different concept. We contend that, for the time being, there are two different interpretations of the apparently same concept of human security: the first envisaged by the ICISS in its 2001 Report on R2P; the second envisaged and applied by the EU in the Libyan and Ukrainian cases. Even if scope and purposes of R2P doctrine and human security notion are clear, there is seemingly a “grey zone” where human security and western-supported “right” to a western-style form of democratic governance apparently overlap and leave some room for policy-oriented strategies and interpretations aimed at changing internation...
The notion of security is gradually changing in Europe. Since the end of the Cold War, the tradit... more The notion of security is gradually changing in Europe. Since the end of the Cold War, the traditional state-centric notions of security (international security and state security) have been challenged by new paradigms whose referent is no longer the State but the individual. Domestic and, above all, European Courts (ECtHR and ECJ) are playing a leading role in shifting the paradigm of security from a traditional approach to a person-centred approach by way of expanding the scope of human rights dimensions. The paper draws on European Courts’ pertinent case-law on responses to terrorism and migration issues in order to identify three main principles which presently strike the balance between human rights and State security. These principles no longer allow States to tackle security threats by ex post and/or preventive measures every time they are at odds with human rights, to begin with the right to a fair trial. For State’s actions to be more respectful of the European case law the...
The emerging discourse on human security is challenging the legal and political dichotomy between... more The emerging discourse on human security is challenging the legal and political dichotomy between national and international security. While these concepts focus on States’ interests and needs, the contemporary policy debate on human security focuses on people’s interests and needs in the course of their daily lives.The paper embraces the responsibility to react to situations of serious harm for a population (one of the three basic elements of the R2P concept) and, in particular, the right to adopt a military intervention for halting gross and systematic violations of human rights in the Libyan War of 2011. During the war, the European Union (EU), together with the Security Council and the NATO, made some elusive remarks to R2P and human security concepts, but as legal rationale for its Member States’ military participation to NATO operations the EU invoked the different «humanitarian intervention» theoretical framework. Yet, the reality on the ground belied the «humanitarian interv...
Presently, the relative lack of concern for the observance of legal international norms is one of... more Presently, the relative lack of concern for the observance of legal international norms is one of the major shortcomings of the system of international relations. Law is a guarantee of equity and justice. It is the social factor best able to foster justice and peace in interstate relations: states repeatedly and solemnly commit themselves to implement this axiom, even if, regrettably, their deeds do not always match their words. Far from being a mere idealistic and scholarly hypothesis or a moralistic posture, observance of and commitment to international norms is a needed condition for politics to create confidence, constructive dialogue and peaceful attitudes within the international society of states. Accordingly, maximizing the degree of legal compliance in international relations should be a common goal so that politics would be played primarily within an overall framework in which the rule of law is respected and benefits for the global community would follow. Therefore, the k...
SSRN Electronic Journal
If we compare American and European legal systems, there are some remarkable differences which es... more If we compare American and European legal systems, there are some remarkable differences which essentially depend on the different way of dealing with two general issues: the culture of security and the relationship between politics and law. Paragraphs 1-2.2 examine these differences while paragraphs 3-4 suggest that they are slowly diminishing and European security policies are learning some lessons from the American approach to security. Security is a core issue in US politics to such an extent that some related notions (imminent threat, continuing threat, etc.) are so widely interpreted that sometimes human rights are severely limited. For instance, some Guantanamo detainees “ who cannot safely be transferred to third countries in the near term [...] and who are not currently facing military commission charges ” are subject to continued indefinite detention without charge or trial because their detentions “ remains necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States ” [1] . Also in Europe security is a core issue but its goals are accomplished within a more comprehensive framework of values and interests in which human rights and the rule of law are equally important.
El Arreglo Pacifico De Las Controversias Internacionales Xxiv Jornadas De La Asociacion Espanola De Profesores De Derecho Internacional Y Relaciones Internacionales Cordoba 20 22 De Octubre 2013 Isbn 978 84 9033 521 5 Pags 811 818, 2013
The emerging discourse on human security is challenging the legal and political dichotomy between... more The emerging discourse on human security is challenging the legal and political dichotomy between national and international security. While these concepts focus on States' interests and needs, the contemporary policy debate on human security focuses on people's interests and needs in the course of their daily lives. The international discourse on the human security framework started with the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty Report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) (ICISS, 2001) and several implementing reports of the UN Secretary-General, including the latest adopted on 11 July 2014 by the United Nations General Assembly, have eventually shaped the concept (UNGA, July 2014). The paper embraces the responsibility to react to situations of serious harm for a population (one of the three basic elements of the R2P concept) and, in particular, the right to adopt a military intervention for halting gross and systematic violations of human rights...
Illyrius International Scientific Review, 2020
SOMMARIO: 1. La centralità dei valori fondamentali nell’azione esterna dell’Unione europea. – 2. ... more SOMMARIO: 1. La centralità dei valori fondamentali nell’azione esterna dell’Unione europea. – 2. I Balcani occidentali come investimento geostrategico per l’Europa in un contesto di più forte concorrenza geopolitica nella regione. – 3. Dal Vertice di Sofia del 2018 alla Comunicazione 2019 della Commissione sulla politica di allargamento. – 4. Il non-paper della Francia sulla riforma del processo di adesione. – 5. La Comunicazione della Commissione sulla nuova metodologia del processo di adesione dei Balcani occidentali. – 6. L’avvio dei negoziati con Albania e Macedonia del Nord e la Dichiarazione di Zagabria del 6 maggio 2020. – 7. La cooperazione in materia di giustizia e affari interni come possibile volano del processo di adesione all’Unione europea dei Balcani occidentali.
Rassegna dell'Arma dei Carabinieri, 2020
Contemporary threats and push-factors have blurred the once clear-cut difference between asylum-s... more Contemporary threats and push-factors have blurred the once clear-cut difference between asylum-seekers, in search for temporary protection, and migrants, in search for a lifelong better future. Temporary status associated with legal regimes of international protection is no longer fit for irregular flows in a globalized world because behind each asylum-seeker there is a potential citizen of the country that protects him. Under the migratory pressure of recent years Europe has reached a crossroad where a new question must be answered once and for all before resuming the journey: should the EU integrate the "others" within its social fabric or isolate itself from them? The concept of regional disembarkation platforms, currently being explored by the EU Institutions, suggests that isolationism will be the likely answer of European policies for the coming years.
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Papers by Paolo Bargiacchi
The volume, divided in four sections and nineteen chapters, aims to shed light on some aspects of the overall political and normative framework on security, obviously without claiming to be exhaustive.
Section I focuses on the concept of the rule of law and the promotion of democracy worldwide by the EU but also on the expansion of authoritarianism and decline in global freedom and the lacking implementation of the responsibility to protect in the Ukrainian armed conflict.
Section II deals with some drivers: a) increasing the overall degree of the security system, such as women, justice and international humanitarian law; b) strengthening or instead affecting the security system depending on their use, such as food and antitrust (and economic and financial) policies; c) decreasing the overall degree of the security system, such as piracy, human trafficking and transnational organized crime.
Section III analyses migration as a case study on security: a) exploring the concept of securitization, even as implemented in France by the National Front Party; b) reviewing the ECJ decisions against the Visegrad States in the time of the migration crisis; and c) suggesting sustainable investments in Northern Africa to mitigate the impact of migration on the EU.
Section IV devotes its attention to three regional challenges to security whose unintended and/or long-term effects have however crossborder and transnational consequences, such as: a) the abolition of the death penalty in South Africa and Botswana; b) the coltan and cobalt mining industry in the DRC; c) the Turkish foreign policy towards the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The volume comes from the International Spring School on International Security, Human Security and the EU Global Strategy, held at Kore University of Enna (Italy) on April 2022, whose Final Agenda can be read at pp. 253-258 of the book. The International Spring School was one of the major events of the 2018-2022 POWERS project, an Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Network (Peace, War and the World in European Security Challenges) involving nine Higher Education Institutions from France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Russia, Spain and Turkey (http://powers-network.vsu.ru/en/home/). The International Spring School brought together, in person or online, more than 30 speakers and 170 partici-pants from Italian and foreign Universities. Notably, most speakers (and eventually authors of the chapters of the volume) were young researchers, Ph.D. students and master students.
The volume is published as a Special Issue (July 2022) of KorEuropa, the Online Law Journal of Kore University’s European Documentation Centre (ISSN Online: 2281-3349).
https://unikore.it/ricerca/pubblicazioni-e-attivita-editoriale/
DISCLAIMER: The contents of all chapters of "Interconnected and Multifaceted Security. Pillars, Drivers and Regional Challenges" reflect the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Nell'ordine, i Capitoli analizzano: I) La Società internazionale e il diritto; II) I soggetti (con un focus sul diritto di autodeterminazione dei popoli e sugli attori non statali); III) Norme generali e convenzionali; IV) L'adattamento tra ordinamenti giuridici; V) Risoluzione delle controversie e uso della forza (con un focus sull'aggressione, sulle interpretazioni innovative della legittima difesa e sulla responsabilità di proteggere); VI) La responsabilità internazionale; VII) Immunità dello Stato e dei suoi organi. (con un focus sulla prassi italiana e statunitense) I tribunali penali internazionali (con un focus sulla Corte penale internazionale); VIII) Le Nazioni Unite; IX) La tutela dei diritti umani (con un focus sull'applicazione extraterritoriale della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell'uomo e sulla International Criminal Law Section della futura Corte africana di giustizia e dei diritti umani); X) Il diritto internazionale del mare; XI) Il diritto internazionale dell'economia; XII) Il diritto internazionale dell'ambiente