'Democratic conditionality' is the core strategy of the EU to induce candidate states to comply with its human rights and democracy standards. How does it work and when is it effective? This article reports findings of a comparative study of 'hard cases': Slovakia under Meciar; Turkey; and Latvia. We argue that EU democratic conditionality is a strategy of 'reinforcement by reward' which works through intergovernmental material bargaining. Its efficacy depends on the candidate governments' domestic political costs of compliance. By contrast, social influence and transnational mobilization have proved ineffective. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

The political debate about the role of business in armed conflicts has increasingly raised expectations as to governance contributions by private corporations in the fields of conflict prevention, peace-keeping and postconflict peace-building. This political agenda seems far ahead of the research agenda, in which the negative image of business in conflicts, seen as fuelling, prolonging and taking commercial advantage of violent conflicts, still prevails. So far the scientific community has been reluctant to extend the scope of research on 'corporate social responsibility' to the area of security in general and to intra-state armed conflicts in particular. As a consequence, there is no basis from which systematic knowledge can be generated about the conditions and the extent to which private corporations can fulfil the role expected of them in the political discourse. The research on positive contributions of private corporations to security amounts to unconnected in-depth case studies of specific corporations in specific conflict settings. Given this state of research, we develop a framework for a comparative research agenda to address the question: Under which circumstances and to what extent can private corporations be expected to contribute to public security?

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The present report addresses the challenges in the fight against food fraud, discusses the definition of food fraud as a legal concept, the point in time at which policy makers in Europe became aware of food fraud, i.e., the horsemeat scandal in 2013, and the policy responses of the EU as well as Germany to that scandal. Moreover, the establishment, structure, and objectives of the recently established National Reference Centre for Authentic Food (NRZ‐Authent) in Germany are described. Practical Applications: The suggested structure of the German National Centre for Authentic Food (NRZ‐Authent) can be used as a blueprint when wanting to build up European Union centers for the authenticity and integrity of the agri‐food chain in the member states. Locations of the Max Rubner‐Institut across Germany and focus of food authenticity research at the different locations. The National Reference Centre for Authentic Food (NRZ‐Authent) headquarters are located in the city of Kulmbach.

The present report describes the establishment, structure and objectives of the recently established German National Reference Center for Authentic Food (NRZ-Authent). The NRZ-Authent is completely integrated into the Max Rubner-Institut (MRI), the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food in Germany. Various different departments of MRI have a long experience regarding the analysis of the quality of food in general and the testing of food authenticity in particular. Therefore, a close interaction between these food-related departments and the NRZ-Authent is a basic requirement for the successful work of this newly created centre. The addressees of the NRZ-Authent are the official food authorities and laboratories in the German states. In this context, the NRZ-Authent will establish a platform for providing quick access to updated, reliable and consistent technical data, research findings, new techniques and expertise necessary for the correct application of European Union legislation. The MRI has been working on the authenticity of edible oils for a number of years now, and some examples of this successful work are presented.