The on-going constitutionalization of Europe has led to various changes in media and communications, opening up areas of debate regarding the role of traditional and new media in developing a specific European public sphere as part of the wider European Project. This timely volume addresses the little understood relationship between old and new media, communications policy at the European level, issues of regulation and competition within the EU, the role of the European Parliament in media policymaking, and the questions emerging about the sustainability of traditional public service broadcasting. To understand the concrete significance of these debates two contributions address specific practical areas, i.e. the potential of online environments and specific developments in European media contexts, such as channel strategies, web-related services, iDTV and community networks. Consequently, Mediating Europe provides an original and important contribution to understanding the role of the media in shaping a European public sphere.

Mediation is rapidly becoming a norm in cross-border dispute resolution among European Union (EU) Member States. Accordingly, an important question for legal advisers to ask themselves is: Which jurisdiction offers the best legal framework to support a potential future mediation of my client’s dispute? This book responds to this question by examining the law on mediation in each Member State on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Each country analysis applies the book’s overarching principle of a specially designed Regulatory Robustness Rating System, which is thoroughly explained in an introductory chapter. This framework offers a highly effective way to analyse the quality and robustness of each of the EU’s twenty-nine national jurisdictions’ legal frameworks relevant to mediation (including legislation, case law, practice directions, codes of conduct, standards, and other regulatory instruments) and factor such an analysis into choices about governing law in mediation clauses and other agreements. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: • congruence of domestic and international legal frameworks; • transparency and clarity of content of mediation laws; • standards and qualifications for mediators; • rights and obligations of participants in mediation; • access to mediation services; • access to internationally recognised and skilled mediators; • enforceability of clauses and mediated settlement agreements; • confidentiality and flexibility; • admissibility of evidence from mediation in subsequent proceedings; • impact of commencement of mediation on litigation limitation periods; • relationship and attitude of courts to mediation; and • regulatory incentives for legal advisers to engage in mediation. This detailed analysis clearly allows users and other regulatory stakeholders to look closely and critically at regulatory regimes for mediation in order to make informed choices and develop appropriate strategies in relation to the law that governs their mediation. This is the first book to consider authoritatively what makes good mediation law and what makes a jurisdiction attractive for cross-border mediation purposes in terms of its regulatory framework. As a resource that identifies potential strengths and weaknesses of each EU Member State’s regulatory regime, it has no peers and will be welcomed and put to use by the alternative dispute resolution community in Europe and beyond.

EU Cross-Border Commercial Mediation' is a book which focuses on the European Union?s (EU?s) continued efforts to encourage the use of cross-border mediation and examines why such efforts have had a limited impact. It does so by drawing on rare, and at times surprising, detailed insights from the in-house counsel of multinational companies regarding their use of EU cross-border commercial mediation. By viewing mediation through the disputants? perspective, new and important findings regarding why disputants do, and do not, use cross-border mediation have emerged. While these findings are of primary relevance to EU policy and practice, they have implications far beyond the EU context at a time of increasing international interest in cross-border mediation.

International exchange in European cultural life in the 19th and 20th centuries From the early nineteenth century till the middle of the twentieth century, cultures in Europe were primarily national. They were organized and conceived of as attributes of the nation states. Nonetheless, these national cultures crossed borders with an unprecedented intensity even before globalization transformed the very concept of culture. During that long period, European cultures have imported and exported products, techniques, values, and ideas, relying on invisible but efficient international networks. The central agents of these networks are considered mediators: translators, publishers, critics, artists, art dealers and collectors, composers. These agents were not only the true architects of intercultural transfer, they also largely contributed to the shaping of a common canon and of aesthetic values that became part of the history of national cultures. Cultural Mediation in Europe, 1800-1950 analyses the strategic transfer roles of cultural mediators active in large parts of Western Europe in domains as varied as literature, music, visual arts, and design. Contributors Amélie Auzoux (Université Paris IV-Sorbonne), Christophe Charle (Université Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne), Kate Kangaslahti (KU Leuven), Vesa Kurkela (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Anne O’Connor (University of Galway), Saijaleena Rantanen (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Ágnes Anna Sebestyén (Hungarian Museum of Architecture, Budapest), Inmaculada Serón Ordóñez (University of Málaga), Renske Suijver (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), Tom Toremans (KU Leuven), Dirk Weissmann (Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès)

This book explores the EU’s effectiveness as an international mediator and provides a comparative analysis of EU mediation through three case studies: the conflict over Montenegro’s independence, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, and the Geneva International Discussions on South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The book starts from the observation that the EU has emerged as an important international provider of mediation in various conflicts around the world. Against this background, the author develops an analytical framework to investigate EU mediation effectiveness that is then applied to the three cases. The main finding of the book is that EU mediation has a stabilising effect on conflict dynamics, making renewed escalation less likely and contributing to the settlement of conflict issues. At the same time, the EU’s effectiveness depends primarily on its ability to influence the conflict parties’ willingness to compromise through conditionality and diplomatic pressure.

Originally available as two separate volumes, Intersentia's Civil and Commercial Mediation in Europe is now available as a two volume set. *** About Volume I on National Mediation Rules and Procedures: Mediation is becoming an increasingly important tool for resolving civil and commercial disputes. Although it has been long since recognized in many legal systems, in recent years it has received an important boost and is currently one of the most topical issues in the field of dispute resolution. The European Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21.5.2008 on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters, prescribes a set of minimum common rules on mediation for all EU Member States, with the exception of Denmark. This book examines the current legal framework in every EU Member State regarding mediation in civil and commercial matters, as well as the way in which the Directive has been, or is expected to be, implemented in the near future. It is written by renowned specialists on mediation in Europe and provides an exhaustive account for both scholars and practitioners in Europe and beyond the continent. Every chapter on national law analyzes: both out-of-court and court-annexed mediation in the existing legal framework * the areas of law covered by mediation * the value and formal requirements of the agreement to submit any dispute to mediation * personal features and requirements for mediators * procedural requirements in the mediation procedure * the relationship between the mediator and public authorities * the outcome of the mediation procedure * in the scenario in which a mediation settlement is reached, its requirements and effects. *** About Volume II on Cross-Border Mediation: Mediation plays a leading role within the movement of Alternative Dispute Resolution after centuries in which for several reasons the State and State courts were regarded as the only available instrument to ensure access to justice to citizens. In the European Union the institution of mediation has received much support in the form of Directive 2008/52/EC which sets forth a minimum common legal framework for mediation in the Member States. The 2008 Directive has finally been implemented in the Member States and this book provides the much needed in-depth analysis of the status of the mediation regimes in the European Union. The analysis covers the legal regimes of the Member States set up for cross-border and national mediation. This volume includes national reports on cross-border mediation including in-depth information on all the relevant aspects of cross-border mediation: the notion of cross-border mediation, the law applicable to the mediation clause, the mediation proceedings and the content of the settlement reached by the parties. Special attention is of course given to the recognition and enforcement in the European Union of settlements reached in other Member States and outside Europe. In addition the role of mediators and requirements to become a mediator are examined. This book provides a unique picture of the legal situation in the European Union for cross-border mediation. It is an invaluable instrument for those who want to know more about this complex topic or want to become a mediator in Europe themselves.

The conference brought together over 350 people with a professional interest in family mediation. The Council of Europe recommendation R 98 (1) encourages member states to introduce, promote and strengthen family mediation as an appropriate process for the resolution of family disputes, particularly those involving children in marital separation and divorce. The Conference proposed increasing promotion of mediation; assistance for cross-border mediation, training and accreditation of family mediators; assisting states to adopt family law practices that reduce family disputes.