Suchergebnisse

The functional pressures shaping policy design may be disrupted in salient policies and politicised contexts, according to recent postfunctionalist/new intergovernmentalist theories. We contrast these expectations with those derived from liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism by analysing the reforms of the European Union economic governance. Its Council-centred enforcement, which has been a dominant feature until the euro crisis, despite noncompliance, does not sit comfortably with traditional theories but can be explained by policy salience and implementation uncertainties. Instead, the emphasis that traditional approaches assign to noncompliance, commitment problems, threats of exclusion and veto, issue linkages, path dependencies and supranational decision-making, allows to adequately account for the overall direction of reforms toward more tightening and delegation, notwithstanding the pooled enforcement in recent ancillary measures. Postfunctionalist theories overall fall short in highly politicised contexts, exactly where they should do most of the explaining. We conclude discussing politicisation as a strategic elite response.

The Eurozone crisis and the refugee crisis are showcases of the problems associated with the EU's shift from market integration to the integration of core state powers. The integration of core state powers responds to similar functional demand factors as market integration (interdependence, externalities and spill-over) but its supply is more tightly constrained by a high propensity for zero-sum conflict, a functional requirement for centralized fiscal, coercive and administrative capacities, and high political salience. We show how these constraints structured the initial design of EMU and Schengen, made them vulnerable to crisis, and shaped policy options during the crises: they made horizontal differentiation unattractive, re-regulation ineffective, centralized risk and burden sharing unfeasible and the externalization of adjustment burden to non-EU actors necessary by default. In conclusion, we explore possible escape routes from the trap.

Even though the role of the European Union (EU) in international organizations has generated increasing academic and political interest, scant attention has been devoted to the EU's participation in the Group of Eight (G8). The launch of the renewed Group of Twenty (G20), however, has sparked intense debate among member states about the way in which the EU is represented in the G8 system. The central issue covered in this paper is the participation of the EU in the G8 system. In particular, we focus on the involvement of the 23 non-G8 EU members (EU23) and the role of the European Commission and the Council Presidency. The focus lies on the internal EU level, rather than on the question of the EU's bargaining power at the international level. The paper draws on insights of Moravcsik's liberal intergovernmentalism to explain the variation of the EU23's involvement in the following policy domains: development aid, energy, finance and monetary affairs and trade. The paper finds a pattern of differing involvement that varies along the lines of the three forums within the G8 system: low involvement in the G8, medium involvement in the G20 and high involvement in the Group of Seven (G7). Four factors are suggested that explain the involvement of the EU23 in the internal EU coordination process: internal competences, intra-EU consensus, policy implications and the role of EU actors.

Abstract This article examines the degree to which Mercosur conforms with theories of regional integration, taking into consideration its institutionalisation, its particular characteristics, the characteristics of its member states, and its impact on policy arrangements among those member states. It also compares Mercosur to the European Union. I conclude that theories of integration fail to provide a full explanation of the process of regional integration in Mercosur.

Over the last two years Russian and European Union, as well as Russian and Lithuanian relations became the worst since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia's annexation of Crimea peninsula and aggression in Eastern Ukraine has made a serious impact on relations with Russian and for security of the European Continent. After all, not so long ago EU and Russia was strategic partners, developed common projects and was preparing to renew a Strategic Partnership Agreement. However at this moment EU is imposing economic sanctions on Russia. At that time Moscow even not trying to accomplish Minsk agreement. Lithuania–Russia relations was consistently complicated. In 2004 Lithuania's accession to the EU made a possibility to influence and increase one's role in EU-Russian relations by using Foreign policy instruments - Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). To some purpose Lithuania is the country which criticizing Russia's actions the most in the EU. In this thesis is trying to find out Lithuanian role in forming the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russia during the crisis in Ukraine. The aim of the thesis – by using European integration theories to analyze Lithuanian role of the formation of the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russian Federation in 2014-2015. The first part of the thesis is written about the European integration theories. By using these theories in this thesis is trying to present the main ideas and postulates of the European integration. The second part of the thesis is written about the Common Foreign and Security Policy historical development. Also in this part of the thesis is identifying the national States role in CFSP decision making. It is important to mention that in this part of the thesis is trying to find out why the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy is not that effective and common. The third part of the thesis is written about Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia since 1990 to present day. Also in this part is analyzing the main three phases of the Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia. The last part of the thesis is analyzing Lithuanian representatives in the European Parliament, President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius official discourse towards Russia in 2014-2015.

Over the last two years Russian and European Union, as well as Russian and Lithuanian relations became the worst since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia's annexation of Crimea peninsula and aggression in Eastern Ukraine has made a serious impact on relations with Russian and for security of the European Continent. After all, not so long ago EU and Russia was strategic partners, developed common projects and was preparing to renew a Strategic Partnership Agreement. However at this moment EU is imposing economic sanctions on Russia. At that time Moscow even not trying to accomplish Minsk agreement. Lithuania–Russia relations was consistently complicated. In 2004 Lithuania's accession to the EU made a possibility to influence and increase one's role in EU-Russian relations by using Foreign policy instruments - Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). To some purpose Lithuania is the country which criticizing Russia's actions the most in the EU. In this thesis is trying to find out Lithuanian role in forming the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russia during the crisis in Ukraine. The aim of the thesis – by using European integration theories to analyze Lithuanian role of the formation of the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russian Federation in 2014-2015. The first part of the thesis is written about the European integration theories. By using these theories in this thesis is trying to present the main ideas and postulates of the European integration. The second part of the thesis is written about the Common Foreign and Security Policy historical development. Also in this part of the thesis is identifying the national States role in CFSP decision making. It is important to mention that in this part of the thesis is trying to find out why the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy is not that effective and common. The third part of the thesis is written about Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia since 1990 to present day. Also in this part is analyzing the main three phases of the Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia. The last part of the thesis is analyzing Lithuanian representatives in the European Parliament, President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius official discourse towards Russia in 2014-2015.

Over the last two years Russian and European Union, as well as Russian and Lithuanian relations became the worst since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia's annexation of Crimea peninsula and aggression in Eastern Ukraine has made a serious impact on relations with Russian and for security of the European Continent. After all, not so long ago EU and Russia was strategic partners, developed common projects and was preparing to renew a Strategic Partnership Agreement. However at this moment EU is imposing economic sanctions on Russia. At that time Moscow even not trying to accomplish Minsk agreement. Lithuania–Russia relations was consistently complicated. In 2004 Lithuania's accession to the EU made a possibility to influence and increase one's role in EU-Russian relations by using Foreign policy instruments - Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). To some purpose Lithuania is the country which criticizing Russia's actions the most in the EU. In this thesis is trying to find out Lithuanian role in forming the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russia during the crisis in Ukraine. The aim of the thesis – by using European integration theories to analyze Lithuanian role of the formation of the EU common Foreign and Security policy against Russian Federation in 2014-2015. The first part of the thesis is written about the European integration theories. By using these theories in this thesis is trying to present the main ideas and postulates of the European integration. The second part of the thesis is written about the Common Foreign and Security Policy historical development. Also in this part of the thesis is identifying the national States role in CFSP decision making. It is important to mention that in this part of the thesis is trying to find out why the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy is not that effective and common. The third part of the thesis is written about Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia since 1990 to present day. Also in this part is analyzing the main three phases of the Lithuanian foreign policy towards Russia. The last part of the thesis is analyzing Lithuanian representatives in the European Parliament, President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius official discourse towards Russia in 2014-2015.

As part of an ongoing research, this paper focus on European monetary integration depicting to what extent existing theories and theoretical approaches fit with the ontology and subsequent developments of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). A special emphasis goes to the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as a crucial ingredient of European monetary integration, particularly for the political turmoil it produced in recent years. On a previous conference (UACES Annual Conference 2007: Exchanging Ideas on Europe: Common Values and External Policies, Portsmouth, UK, 3-5 September 2007), EMU and the SGP were assessed through the lens of neofunctionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, supranational governance, new institutionalism and the fusion thesis. This paper turns to the federal theory and the rational choice theory. Some argue that the power of ideas (the monetarist school) and national governments' adjustment to a new international setting provide the broad explanation of the move towards EMU. Others claim that the project of European monetary integration was independent from such exogenous inputs, understanding the step towards EMU as part of the dynamism encapsulated by European integration. I test these contrasting perceptions against the explanatory power of federal theory and rational choice. The analysis of the SGP (in both the original version and after the November 2005 reform) follows the same methodology. The rationale behind the paper is twofold. On the one hand, whether EMU and the SGP fit into one of the theories under examination, and whether the corresponding mapping is telling of theoretical prevalence or dissemination. On the other hand, whether the SGP (and subsequent reform) converges or diverges with EMU's theoretical matrix.