Der Einfluss Internationaler Organisationen reicht angesichts der Herausforderung, für globale Probleme Lösungen zu finden, mittlerweile so weit, dass sich die Frage nach den in ihnen vorhandenen Machtbegrenzungsmechanismen stellt. Doch wie kann die Macht Internationaler Organisationen kontrolliert werden, wenn das aus dem nationalen Verfassungsrecht bekannte Gewaltenteilungsprinzip nicht auf die internationale Ebene übertragen werden kann?   Die Arbeit analysiert die dazu innerhalb der Vereinten Nationen (UNO) und der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) existierenden formalisierten Mechanismen anhand ihrer Gründungsverträge. Dabei werden drei Kategorien von Machtbegrenzungsmechanismen identifiziert: Kompetenzzuweisungen und -abgrenzungen, organinterne Mechanismen und schließlich Interaktion zwischen den Organen. Die in der Praxis bedeutsamsten Mechanismen stellen zum einen das Vetorecht im UN-Sicherheitsrat sowie der negative Konsens im Streitbeilegungsgremium der WTO dar, die zur Gruppe der organinternen Mechanismen gehören. Zum anderen besteht in der Kontrolle der Streitbeilegungs-Panel der WTO durch den Appellate Body eine wichtige Machtbegrenzung durch Interaktion.  Die Untersuchung dokumentiert das paradoxe Phänomen, dass die Mechanismen zur Begrenzung der Macht in vielen Fällen auch eine machtsteigernde Wirkung haben, indem sie die Effizienz, Akzeptanz und Legitimation der Organisation erhöhen. Die Verfasserin erklärt dies damit, dass das Augenmerk der Gründungsstaaten in der Entstehungsphase auf dem Funktionieren der Organisation als Gegengewicht zu ihren jeweiligen Mitgliedsstaaten lag. Dass Internationale Organisationen in der Zwischenzeit so stark an Einfluss gewonnen haben, dass ihre Macht nunmehr begrenzt werden sollte, ist eine neue Entwicklung, die jedoch in Zukunft deutlich an Bedeutung gewinnen wird. / In light of the challenge to find answers to global problems, the influence of international organizations nowadays goes so far that the question of existing checks and balances within these organizations arises. But how can power be controlled when the principle of separation of powers originating from national constitutional law cannot be transferred to the international stage? The purpose of this thesis is to analyze existing formalized internal mechanisms within the United Nations and the World Trade Organization on the basis of their founding treaties. The author identifies three categories of checks and balances: allowing and limiting competencies, mechanisms within the organs and finally interactions between the organs. In practice, the most important mechanisms of these organizations are on the one hand the power of veto within the UN Security Council and the negative consensus within the WTO dispute settlement body, which belong to the category of mechanisms within the organs. In addition, the control of the WTO dispute settlement panels by the Appellate Body is an important form of checks and balances through interaction. The analysis shows the paradoxical phenomenon, that checks and balances in many cases have the effect of increasing power by augmenting the efficiency, acceptance and legitimacy of the organization. The author explains this by reference to the intentions of the founding states during the developing phase to strengthen these organizations as a counterbalance to their respective member states. It is a new development that international organizations have now increased their influence so much that their power should be limited, but this will become significantly more important in the future.

This thesis explores the pressing need for reform within the United Nations Security Council, a key organization in global governance, in the form of a case study. The main purpose of the research is to understand how its reform could enhance its legitimacy while attending to the possible opposition from the USA, China, and Russia. It encompasses historical information, from the League of Nations to the reform proposals throughout history, culminating in the present debates, as well as useful theoretical approaches for the analysis. Through the Syrian Civil War, it describes the Council struggle to handle contemporary geopolitical issues. The insights of the Intergovernmental Negotiations Framework and the Elements Paper are crucial to research the current reform debates, and other literature from scholars, International Organizations and media are also employed. The analysis investigates the research question and hypothesis, and the conclusion helps summarize the findings. The thesis serves as a call for a better articulated Security Council that can better confront the complexities of our multipolar world with effectivity and effectiveness.

As demographic and economic contexts have shifted, the need for pension systems to reform has increased. Often, however, these systems have proved difficult to change – especially in continental Europe. Despite this, Germany, by many considered particularly reform resistant, succeeded in reforming its pension system; while France, with its strong executive power, has not. As research has yet to find a consensus on what factors makes welfare retrenchment possible, this field requires more attention. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the developments of the German and French pension systems, from 1990-2010, and to unearth what factors made successful reform possible in Germany while it failed in France. Using a comparative case study, all major pension reforms in the two countries during the time period, are analysed from four institutionalist perspectives. The results point to three main factors explaining Germany’s successful reform. Firstly, the shock brought on by the reunification of East and West Germany forced politicians to act. France on the other hand, experienced no such shock. Secondly, the subduing of the unions removed the main veto player against reform. In contrast, the French unions, whose political power lies in their ability to call for manifestations and shift public opinion, could not be outflanked. Lastly, the new liberal ideas that permeated German politics around the turn of the century provided a locus for change that was lacking in France. These results suggest the importance of external pressure, veto players and ideational factors to major welfare reform.

La trascendencia práctica del tema del régimen jurídico de las joint ventures es indudable. En los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, y más especialmente en España, las joint ventures remiten a una idea de mayor eficiencia económica, permitiendo a las empresas formar alianzas entre ellas, y así mejorar su competitividad, adaptando sus estructuras a las dimensiones crecientes de los mercados europeos y mundiales.Las joint ventures no están reguladas como tales en ninguna legislación nacional europea. El derecho comunitario se concentra por su parte en el análisis de los efectos de estas operaciones sobre la competencia. Las joint ventures adquieren en la práctica, únicamente, su contenido jurídico.Este estudio tiene por objetivo presentar un análisis a la vez teórico y práctico del régimen jurídico de las joint ventures, intentando definir el "valor añadido" del trabajo del jurista profesional cuando interviene en la creación y el funcionamiento de las joint ventures. La adopción de esta óptica funcionalista permite integrar el análisis de los diversos aspectos jurídicos de las joint ventures, sus estructuras contractuales y societarias así como su tratamiento en derecho de la competencia, que se abordan tradicionalmente en estudios separados, e insistir en la interelación existente entre las diversas ramas del derecho afectadas. Este estudio se concentra esencialmente en las cuestiones planteadas por las joint ventures en el ámbito del derecho de las obligaciones y del derecho societario.El jurista profesional desempeña, en primer lugar, una función de naturaleza organizativa, creando un conjunto de reglas obligatorias (reglas jurídicas) para todas las empresas participantes en la operación, de acuerdo con sus intereses estratégicos. El resultado puede ser, por ejemplo, la conclusión de un simple contrato, la constitución de una AEIE o la de una sociedad de capital. La complejidad de la organización jurídica de la joint venture impide estudiar de manera separada, como dos piezas aisladas, el llamado acuerdo de base de la joint venture por un lado, y la sociedad eventualmente constituida, la llamada filial común, por otro. El hecho de no entender la filial común como parte de un todo unitario y más complejo no permite describir correctamente las especialidades del régimen aplicable a dicha sociedad frente a sociedades constituidas en otros contextos económicos. La organización compleja de las joint ventures se diferencia de otros negocios jurídicos complejos por razón de su finalidad económica específica, la de establecer una alianza entre empresas. Tal como indica el derecho comunitario de la competencia, la joint venture es una operación en la que: (i) participan dos o más empresas independientemente activas en el mercado; (ii) se agrupan recursos necesarios al desarrollo de una actividad económica común en el seno eventualmente, pero no obligatoriamente, de una entidad separada (la llamada empresa común"); (iii) las empresas participantes ejercen un control conjunto sobre dicha actividad económica común. Estos tres elementos forman el núcleo de la definición de la joint venture en derecho.La cuestión de la validez y eficacia jurídica de los pactos presentes en el contrato complejo de joint venture, cuando implica la existencia de una sociedad de capital, es la que más dificultades plantea. El problema respecto a la joint venture, como respecto a muchos otros contratos complejos, es organizar un discurso sobre el uso de la libertad y sus consecuencias en el ámbito del derecho de sociedades.Mientras el jurista profesional organiza la joint venture, atrae también la atención del legislador sobre las necesidades jurídicas de las empresas que deciden "aliarse" en el seno de una joint venture. Los pactos presentes en los contratos complejos de joint venture no dependen únicamente del contenido del derecho aplicable a la sociedad "filial común" por ejemplo, sino también de la creatividad de los juristas profesionales. Las finalidades a cubrir por el contrato lo serán en regla general mediante combinaciones originales y complejas de mecanismos jurídicos, demostrándose una vez más el papel relevante de la práctica en la formación del derecho. Como consecuencia, puede observarse una tendencia a la flexibilización del derecho aplicable a las sociedades de capital, sobre todo en los países europeos continentales. Esta adaptación del derecho a la realidad práctica se observa también, y de manera significativa, en otras ramas del derecho, como en derecho de la competencia donde el legislador intenta introducir un tratamiento cada vez más pragmático de los efectos producidos por las joint ventures sobre los mercados. El análisis de la organización jurídica de las joint ventures en la práctica demuestra, sin embargo, la falta de utilidad y de oportunidad de una ordenación legal de la joint venture como tal en Europa. Como en el caso de la organización de la empresa, basta con que los operadores "candidatos" a la alianza encuentren en el derecho positivo los legal tools, o instrumentos jurídicos, adaptados a los objetivos económicos legítimos que persiguen ( por ejemplo, diversas formas sociales, la AIE, la UTE, la cuenta en participación etc), y sobre la base de los cuales puedan conservar y reforzar el sentimiento de confianza que necesitan tener en la operación y en su "aliado" para alcanzar con éxito estos objetivos. / This study provides a comprehensive analysis of both practical and theoretical legal issues raised by joint ventures in Europe. In the European Union member states and especially in Spain, joint ventures are viewed as a high efficient strategic operation - allowing alliances between firms, which may improve their competitiveness and adapt them to the growing dimensions of European markets and to the new global economy. Joint ventures are not organised as such by any statute law in Europe. European law focuses on the analysis of the effects they may produce on competition. Joint ventures obtain a legal content only in practice.The aim of this study is to define the "added value" of the practical work of lawyers, when they take part in processes of creation of joint ventures. This question allows to integrate the analysis of different legal aspects of joint ventures - their contractual and corporate structure as well as their legal treatment under competition law - which are traditionally treated in separate studies, and to point out the existence of on-going interfaces between them. This study focuses essentially on the contractual and corporate aspects of joint ventures. Practitioners set up, first of all, mechanisms which are compulsory - i.e. legal rules - for the firms involved in the operation according to their strategic interests. The result may be, for instance, the creation of a mere "contractual joint venture", of an European Economic Interest Grouping, or the incorporation of a "joint venture company". The complexity of the joint venture legal organisation prevents from studying separately the so-called "joint venture agreement" on which is based the operation, and the company which may be incorporated within it. The joint venture company is only a part of a more complex ensemble, which needs to be understood as such in order to be correctly analysed.The complex legal organisation of joint ventures differs from any other complex legal organisations because of its specific purpose, ie. establish a strategic alliance between firms. It aims to organise an operation in which: (i) participate two or more firms independently active on the market; (ii) are gathered the resources necessary to carry out a common business activity, possibly but not obligatory within a separate entity; and (iii) the participating firms jointly control the common business activity. Those three features are at the basis of the legal definition of joint ventures.The question of the legal validity and efficiency of the terms and conditions present in incorporated joint venture agreements is the more problematic one for the practitioners. The main difficulty in relation with joint ventures like in relation with many other complex agreements is to determine the limits of use of contractual freedom in company law.While organising the operation, the practitioners are also drawing the attention of the legislator on the legal needs of the firms willing to enter into alliances. The terms and conditions present in joint venture agreements depend not only on the content of the statute law applicable to the joint venture company for example, but also on the creative skills of the practitioners. The joint venture agreement needs to cover different purposes generally through original and complex combinations of legal mechanisms, proving once again the relevant role of practice in the generation of law.As a result, it is possible to observe a certain "flexibilization" of the rules in company law, especially in continental Europe. This new tendency develops in parallel with the movement observed in competition law towards a more realistic and pragmatic analysis of joint venture effects on the markets.The analysis of the legal organisations of joint ventures existing in practice demonstrates however the lack of necessity for a statutory regulation of this (strategic) operation in Europe. Like in the case of the organisation of a firm, the economic players willing to enter into strategic alliances only need to find in statute law different "legal tools" which may adapt their legitimate economic interests - such as different company forms, the Economic Interest Grouping, the partnership - and on the basis of which they can conserve and reinforce the confidence they need to have in their partner and in the operation in order to achieve successfully their purposes.