Research Briefing
Denmark has invoked Declaration No. 25 TEU in support of the whaling activities of its territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Denmark’s reliance on this Declaration at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has prevented the EU from presenting a more united stand on whaling issues at the IWC.
Research Briefing
In the UK expenditure on health comes largely from public funds, with 82.6% of total expenditure on health coming from public expenditure. This is the fifth highest proportion among OECD countries and is similar to other northern European countries. In the United States less than half of total health expenditure comes from public funds.
Research Briefing
The incorporation into UK law of the European Convention on Human Rights has led to the development of privacy law. This note summarises the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the recent controversies over the use of injunctions and super-injunctions.
Research Briefing
In May 2011 the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of Resolution A/RES/65/276, which granted the EU the right to speak at the United Nations. This Note looks at the background to the vote and the issues involved.
Research Briefing
The EFSM is a €60bn facility to provide loans to EU Member States in financial difficulty. It is financed through borrowing secured against the EU Budget. Thus far, Ireland and Portugal have received support through the EFSM.
Research Briefing
Elections on 5 May 2011 resulted in little change in the overall party composition of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Gains and losses by individual parties involved just one or two seats. 108 Assembly Members were elected by Single Transferrable Vote, 6 Members for each of 18 constituencies. Following the 2011 elections the two largest parties in the Assembly are the DUP (38 MLAs) and Sinn Féin (29 MLAs).
Research Briefing
This Research Paper provides summary and detailed results of the fourth elections to the National Assembly for Wales, which took place on 5 May 2011.
Research Briefing
67.9% of voters opposed changing the electoral system to the Alternative Vote, in a UK wide referendum on 5 May 2011. Turnout was 42.0%. This Research Paper presents information on votes cast in each region and referendum counting area.
Research Briefing
The Habitual Residence Test is applied to people (unless they are exempt categories) who have recently arrived in the country and who make a claim for certain means-tested social security benefits, or seek housing assistance from a local authority.
Research Briefing
This paper presents labour market data for Parliamentary Constituencies. A summary of the latest national and regional labour market data is given, along with a selection of relevant constituency-level indicators including the latest Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimant count data.
Research Briefing
This note provides information on the driver and vehicle requirements in the UK for foreign drivers and imported vehicles.
Research Briefing
The BBC World Service has a global audience of some 180 million people and is widely considered to be an important instrument of British “soft power”. This note provides background to ongoing parliamentary debates on recent decisions to cut the World Service’s budget and, in the longer term, to fund it by the licence fee.
Research Briefing
This note briefly considers the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, composed of the US, the UN, the EU and Russia, and its three principles governing engagement: the renunciation of violence, the recognition of the State of Israel and the acceptance of previous diplomatic agreements.
Research Briefing
The US government has asserted that by killing Osama bin Laden on 1 May 2011, justice has been done. Its view is that the killing was clearly lawful. But the nature, timing and location of the killing have raised various questions under international law. The killing also has possible implications for future policies towards al-Qaeda as well as Libya and other countries.
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