Belgium devolution - rationale and mechanisms, relationship to Essay

Belgium devolution - rationale and mechanisms, relationship to national and local government, extent of powers - Essay Example The rationale for Belgium devolution is elaborated with the help of following points: These differences between groups had led to significant conflicts inflicting upon the economic growth of Belgium, hindering appropriate policy making, instability of government regimes and leading to financial crisis in the country. 9 The division between two broader groups viz. French and Dutch communities based on language was spotted all over the country. Flanders and Wallonia, in particular, exhibited significant social and economic differences.11 The process of devolution and federalisation was initiated as a means to resolve the conflicts among regions and communities, and to bring them in cooperation with the federal government by empowering them with the rights central to their activism. 12 The rationale for devolution involved the sense that the Communities were entrusted with responsibilities that they were more engaged with i.e., the individual and state services. The power encompassing territorial scenario was assigned to the Regions. The federal government, on the other hand, kept with it the critical and significant aspects of state affairs. 14 In this way, the devolution separated the Regions and Communities in terms of responsibilities and activities, it empowered them and allowed them much liberty to exercise their rights towards the betterment of their specific areas and competencies. It was based on the logic that the individual efforts of Regions and Communities would lead to the collective betterment of Belgian public. Asymmetrical i.e. the authority exercised by Regions and Communities in different areas are different. For example, in Flemish area, the Regions and Communities share single authority. In the French speaking area, on the other hand, the Regions and communities have separate authorities with different governments and councils.16 There is no hierarchy of standards i.e. the Regions and Communities are granted

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they Essay

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU; Discuss - Essay Example European Union was originally formed for seeking targeted economic interdependence after the Second World War  to make new military conflicts in the future impossible. An adjoining objective for formation of the Union was to accelerate economic growth.  Over the decades, several European countries have joined in several rounds of enlargement of the union to further the cause of the Union (Krumm and Herz, 1997). Impacts of European Union have been significant on member countries. Member states of European Union have converged to the use of a common currency, the  euro. The union is attributed with furthering the presence in European  region of freedom, security and justice. The EU Member states work together in the interior and justice policy due to the common foreign and security policy, and they also seek a common occurrence in relation to third countries.  It is asserted that the EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU (Gutià ©rrez a nd Urbano, 1996). The paper evaluates this assertion by comparing and contrast the impact of European Union on the member states in comparison to the one exerted by member states on the Union. The impact of European Union has been attributed with a number of key impacts on the European Union. Meuwese (2008) mentions that member countries owe much to the unification of Europe initiated by European Union. Enemy countries have become friends, and the common market provides millions of jobs to the citizens of these countries.  The enthusiasm for this new unification process has grows from one generation to another. Trade and commerce has grown among member countries. For instance, nearly two-thirds of German exports now go to EU partner countries and so are millions of jobs in Germany.  European Union has impacted member countries by improving educational systems too. One such example is that EU’s Erasmus