This thesis set out to answer the question “What can France and the United Kingdom teach us about the role of the state in developing an Artificial Intelligence strategy that aims to ensure...Show moreThis thesis set out to answer the question “What can France and the United Kingdom teach us about the role of the state in developing an Artificial Intelligence strategy that aims to ensure Artificial Intelligence that benefits society as a whole?” Based on the literature review, this thesis assumed that there seems to be a causal relationship between the technology understanding in governments and the role of governments in developing a national Artificial Intelligence system and strategy. Based on a comparative case study between France and the United Kingdom, this thesis anticipated to adopt the hypothesis. The main result from the case study analysis is that both government’s approach in developing AI seems to have an intensifying effect on technology understanding of a government. Drawing from the analysis, the British government pursues an industry-led approach focused on industrial progress and economic value whereas the French government pursues a predominantly research-led approach that focuses on AI autonomy and transformative capabilities of AI. The main conclusion is that the case study analysis indicated that because of the distant governmental role, the technology understanding of the government appeared inadequate to correspond how a future society with AI will benefit all of society and will not exclude certain social groups. When a government had a more central role in AI, it seems more aware of the necessary conditions in technology design (and further development for applications) that would ensure a future with AI technology that includes the entire society.Show less
The main topic of this thesis is compliance with EU directives with a special focus on the issue of timely and correct transposition in the Netherlands. In a broader scope, the issue of...Show moreThe main topic of this thesis is compliance with EU directives with a special focus on the issue of timely and correct transposition in the Netherlands. In a broader scope, the issue of transposition has been extensively covered by the literature on compliance. However, this research adopts a new approach in which possible links between transposition performance and the degree of legal misfit are explored. Doing so, this thesis aims to answer the following research question: To what extent does legal misfit influence the transposition performance of the Netherlands? Based on the literature study the following hypothesis was introduced: The higher the degree of legal misfit the higher the impact on transposition performance. This hypothesis is tested through three directives of the Area of Freedom Security and Justice. This is done by conducting qualitative research that is based on a four-fold classification model that determines the degree of legal misfit of the directives based on the number and extent of the required amendments to the national legal framework. The findings of the analysis of the directives show no direct evidence that unambiguously support the hypothesis. As the hypothesis is rejected, it is concluded that legal misfit only influences the transposition performance of Member States to a limited extent and that the extent is hard to determine.Show less
The tools and means of the illicit drug trade change over time due to technological innovation. Consequently, the trade in illicit drugs nowadays also occurs on the dark net – that part of the...Show moreThe tools and means of the illicit drug trade change over time due to technological innovation. Consequently, the trade in illicit drugs nowadays also occurs on the dark net – that part of the internet that is intentionally hidden and requires specific privacy enhancing software to gain access. As a result, governments and law enforcement agencies are faced with a new phenomenon. Several scholars and EU reports have called for a new approach. With this thesis, the application of the current European Framework on illicit drugs is applied to three characteristics of the illicit drug trade on the dark net: the lack of borders, its dependency on conventional postal services and the level of anonymity. This study found that the consequences of these characteristics in the field of jurisdiction, controlled deliveries and privacy do not necessarily constitute problems for the application of the current EU Framework on the illicit drug trade on the dark net.Show less
Through qualitative legal research, this paper will answer the question: ‘How can constitutionalism be balanced with a human rights perspective, in EU accession to the ECHR?’ We hypothesize that...Show moreThrough qualitative legal research, this paper will answer the question: ‘How can constitutionalism be balanced with a human rights perspective, in EU accession to the ECHR?’ We hypothesize that this balance is possible. From the current academic debate, three theories applicable to this research are distilled: constitutionalism; a human rights perspective; and institutionalism. Through application of the first two theories, a concrete proposal for the way forward in EU accession to the Convention is constructed. The legal options for this proposal consist of Treaty revisions (including the adoption of a ‘notwithstanding’ protocol), unilateral measures (reservations, declarations, and agreements), and renegotiation of the Draft Accession Agreement. Thirteen amendments are proposed: eleven to the Draft Accession Agreement; one to the Draft Explanatory Report; and one to the TEU. Furthermore, it is argued throughout this research that institutionalist tendencies matter, but cannot serve as sole explanations for the Court’s reasoning. As the key conclusion, we find that a way forward in accession, that considers both constitutional demands and a human rights perspective, exists. Appended to this paper, a comprehensive proposal for this way forward is introduced.Show less
This master thesis questioned how the 2/13 Opinion of the European Court of Justice and its relationship with the European Court for the Protection of Human Rights can be explained on the one hand...Show moreThis master thesis questioned how the 2/13 Opinion of the European Court of Justice and its relationship with the European Court for the Protection of Human Rights can be explained on the one hand by the theories of the European integration process and on the other hand based on the method of a discourse analysis. The thesis sought to answer those two questions in order to put the 2/13 Opinion of the ECJ in a broader daylight.Show less
This thesis is concerned with the question why social democratic parties in Western Europe have shifted their socio-economic policies towards the right of the political spectrum in the 1990s. In...Show moreThis thesis is concerned with the question why social democratic parties in Western Europe have shifted their socio-economic policies towards the right of the political spectrum in the 1990s. In particular, labour market reforms that substantially conflict with social democratic ideology and conduce to the gradual erosion of the welfare state are under scrutiny. Building on the theoretical innovations of discursive institutionalism, it contributes to the academic effort of resolving the research gap on the motivation of social democratic parties legitimising this shift by focussing on the communicative discourse of social democratic parties governing in the Netherlands (PvdA) and Germany (SPD). Moreover, communicative discourse is posed as the independent variable explaining the strong difference in the degree of societal protest to the respective national reforms – within a timeframe of similar socio-economic challenges and with (ideologically) similar reforms. The thesis concludes, firstly, that the motivation of the PvdA and the SPD are generally alike in terms of their emphasis on the necessity to reform/modernise the labour market given internal and external challenges to the welfare state. Secondly, subtle but significant differences in the consistency, cognitive soundness and considerateness of the conveyance of the respective discourses explains why public protest in Germany was stronger than in the Netherlands.Show less
