Suchergebnisse

Biodrivmedel blev efter millennieskiftet en alltmer prioriterad energikälla för EU och ansågs kunna stävja både klimathot och energissäkerhetsproblem samtidigt som drivmedelsproduktionen skulle gynna sysselsättningen i jordbruket. EUkommissionen formulerade 2007 ett mål om att ersätta 10 % av transportenergin till biodrivmedel. Snabbt uppkom dock en strid mellan en grupp av aktörer (miljörörelse och livsmedelsindustri) som såg biodrivmedelssatsningen som ett hot mot både miljön och livsmedelssäkerheten medan en annan grupp bestående av företrädesvis biodrivmedelsintressenter såg det som viktigt att behålla och utveckla EU:s mål för att rädda både klimat och miljö. Motsättningarna som uppkommit väcker frågor kring vilka logiker som legat bakom detta. Avhandlingens syfte är att analysera EU:s biodrivmedelspolicy, vilka aktörer och nätverk som har format denna process, vilka problem och lösningar som dessa aktörer och nätverk argumenterat för i processen, samt hur de har agerat för att mobilisera stöd för sina ståndpunkter. Detta har kopplats till teorier om nätverksstyrning, förekomsten av utlösande händelser i policyprocessen, resursberoende i nätverksmodellen samt på vilket sätt managementteori utövat inflytande. Metoden har varit att utifrån dokumentstudier rekonstruera det historiska förloppet och de aktörer som medverkat i processen. Avhandlingens visar att en förhållandevis liten grupp aktörer har haft ett stort inflytande över policyprocessen från det att problemen som biodrivmedel var satta att lösa definierades i slutet av 80-talet till det att hållbarhetsstandarder utvecklades och implementerades. Dessa aktörer har funnits i policynätverkens kärna och har som ett av sina centrala mål velat utarbeta globala regelverk för råvaruhandeln. De miljöorganisationer som medverkat i processen har genom resursberoenden till stor del varit underordnade denna grupp. Processerna har innehållit ett stort inslag av strategisk planläggning men även utlösande händelser som klimat- och livsmedelskriser har varit viktiga för att motivera politiska beslut. ; Biofuels became a prioritized energy source for the EU in the new millennium. It was believed that biofuels would suppress both climate change and problems with energy security, and would simultaneously benefit agricultural employment. The EU Commission decided in 2007 that 10 % of the energy used in transportation would be replaced by biofuels. This was, however, soon criticized by a group of actors (environmental associations and the food industry) that saw the biofuels initiative as a threat to both the environment and food security. The biofuels proponents, on the other hand, argued that it was important to maintain and develop the EU's biofuels objectives to save both the climate and the environment. These contradictions raised my interest to understand and analyze the logics that lie behind these different perspectives on the same issue. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the EU's biofuels policy, which actors and networks shaped this process, which problems and solutions these actors and networks put forward in the process, and how they have acted to mobilize support for their positions. Theoretically, I have applied theories on policy networks, the occurrence of triggering events in the policy process, resource dependence between actors and networks, and how management theory can be used to understand how policy develops. The main results are that a relatively small group of actors has had a strong influence on the policy process. These actors have been at the core of the policy community. The environmental organizations involved in the process have been subordinate to this policy community through resource dependencies. One actor network was formed that wanted to increase the amount of biofuels, while another was formed to protect the forest and soil from heavy exploitation. It took over 20 years before these contradicting efforts collided. This thesis concludes that the process contained large elements of strategic planning and that triggering events such as climate and food crises have been important to justify political decisions.

This thesis explores perceptions and preferences on regional action in EU-related frameworks among regional actors in Western Sweden. Building upon the literature on Europeanisation and the Fusion approach, three dimensions of Europeanisation are clarified and explored– download, upload and crossload – and together with a set of five variables that constitute the Micro Fusion Framework; a comprehensive analytical tool is developed. The thesis analyses the intense debate among the members of West Sweden that took place from 2011 to 2013 that focused on how to functionally organise the regional office in Brussels in order to meet future challenges. Surprisingly, the members eventually decided to terminate their cooperation and close the jointly owned office in Brussels in spite of the fact that it has been widely regarded as successful and effective. Diverging perceptions and preferences is understood in terms of three positions on regional action; a download-, upload- and a coherent oriented position. Finally, the thesis presents the empirical findings and discusses in relation to three fusion scenarios, infusion, defusion and clustered fusion. In terms of Micro Fusion Framework, the dynamics shaping why West Sweden was finally regarded as a dysfunctional arena for regional action are explained by a shift of attention and action among regional actors in Western Sweden that led to pressure for further institutional adaptation in order to meet the demand of how 'to get the best out of the EU'. Further, this redefinition of how to handle EU-affairs within the upload-oriented position was accompanied by positive attitudes towards the potential to bypass the state and thereby pursue regional priorities directly in Brussels given the compound nature of the EU. In contrast, those regional actors that are found to be more download-oriented often question the benefits of uploading activities in practice and advocate close relations to the state. A coherent oriented position recognises the importance of activities related to both of the vertical dimensions of Europeanisation. ; I avhandlingen studeras regionala aktörers uppfattningar och attityder till regionalt handlande i EU-relaterade frågor. För att hantera EU-frågor etableras ofta regionala representationskontor i Bryssel. Ett av de största och framgångsrikaste regionala kontoren i Bryssel var West Sweden som representerade västsvenska kommuner och regioners intressen i EU. År 2011 inleds en intern diskussion bland dess medlemmar om hur kontoret bör utvecklas för att möta nya utmaningar i en föränderlig omvärld. Diskussionerna är intensiva, och något överraskande beslutar dess medlemmar att lägga ned verksamheten ett par år senare. I avhandlingen analyseras diskussionen utifrån ett europeiseringsperspektiv. Med hjälp av en analysram som definierar tre dimensioner av europeiseringsprocesser identifieras tre olika positioner i diskussionen; en download-, upload- respektive sammanhållen position. Det kan vara frestande att förstå West Swedens nedläggning som ett uttryck för att subnationella aktörer "drar sig tillbaka" och föredrar aktiviteter inom nationalstatens domäner. Avhandlingen argumenterar för att så är inte fallet. Nedläggningen av West Sweden förstås som en konsekvens av ökade spänningar mellan regionala aktörer som anammar ett download- respektive upload-orienterat förhållningssätt.

Refined baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set per European Union Member State (MS), in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The inventories are based on the initial assessment of the MSFD (2012) and the updated data of the European Alien Species Information Network, in collaboration with NIS experts appointed by the MSs. The analysis revealed that a large number of NIS was not reported from the initial assessments. Moreover, several NIS initially listed are currently considered as native in Europe or were proven to be historical misreportings. The refined baseline inventories constitute a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation, providing an improved basis for reporting new NIS introductions, facilitating the MSFD D2 assessment. In addition, the inventories can help MSs in the establishment of monitoring systems of targeted NIS, and foster cooperation on monitoring of NIS across or within shared marine subregions.

Sweden has recently decided to ratify the European Landscape Convention (ELC). Methods for implementation have been discussed for both the ELC and related national environmental objectives. Thus, the Swedish Government decided that seven County Administrative Boards should undertake pilot studies for Regional Landscape Strategies (RLS) during 2006–2007. The RLS pilot projects aimed at a new and more effective approach for conservation and sustainable land use at regional level. Additionally, RLS should also function as a method for implementing the ELC and other environmental objectives. One specific focus of the pilot studies was on developing methods for public participation. Other important issues were to involve different administrative sectors, municipalities and regional authorities in the process, as well as attaining a good balance between conservation and profitable land use. This chapter presents some of the results from the RLS case study in Vellinge municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden's southernmost province. The focus of the study was on public participation in particular by equestrians and landowners. The first 'bridleway organization' of its kind in Sweden was established as a direct result of the project.

The study examines the European coverage in four leading Nordic newspapers during two periods in 1993 and in 1996. During the first period, three countries were negotiating for membership in the European Union. During the second period, work on a new European Constitution was ongoing, to be negotiated by the Intergovernmental Conference at the end of the period. Two of the applicant countries, Finland and Sweden, were then members of the union since Jan 1, 1995. Voters in the third country, Norway, opted to stay outside the union. Norway is, however closely linked to the union by the previous EEA agreement. Finally, the fourth country, Denmark, had limited its longstanding membership in four important areas. Results of the main study in 1993 indicate a great difference in the degree of Europeanness of the coverage of European affairs, as indicated by the share of European issues, sources, players, institutions etc. The Danish paper, the Politiken, was on all counts genuinely European in its coverage. This could, to begin with, be understood in terms of a relational context - Denmark was a member of the European Community, the other countries were not. In 1996, as could be expected, the Norwegian paper, the Aftenposten, reduced its coverage of European affairs to about half the previous volume, the Finnish and Swedish papers, the Hufvudstadsbladet and the Dagens Nyheter, increased their volumes to new highs. The Danish paper maintained its previously comparatively high volume of European coverage, and was still distinctly more European in its outlook on transnational politics. This could be understood in terms of a new Maturity proposition - it may take a long time for the national media to come to terms with a new political environment. The study also puts forward the proposition that Danish political culture requires a different coverage of European affairs, and also requires an opportunity to discuss and evaluate European politics. On a theoretical level, the study supports the idea that national experience, historical and relational contexts influence media content. National agendas powerfully determine the orientation of transnational political communication . Three in-depth studies by and large confirm results from the content analysis. A separate exercise inspired by Grounded Theory gives rise to three theoretical concepts that seem to be fundamental dimensions of European political communication: Legitimacy (media coverage contributes to status conferral and encourages deliberation of cooperation as an idea), Participation (media coverage as expressions of intrinsical and instrumental motives for joining and taking responsibility towards European cooperation), and Mondialization/Universalism (media coverage of Europe's efforts in the global arena) ; digitalisering@umu

The literature highlights how climate change might challenge the definitions of wine geographical indications (GIs) in Europe. The central issue addressed in this thesis is whether European GI viticultural systems could tackle climate change via initiating adaptive institutional change processes to relax the constraints imposed by GI production standards. To do so, drawing from institutional economics theory and literature on cooperatives and collective brand, we developed a novel agent-based model (ABM) representing an abstract GI wine production system in the European Union (EU). Using illustrative data, our model allows testing different impact scenarios driven by climate change, spatial heterogeneity, and alternative institutional settings (i.e., voting mechanism). We used the model to explore individual and collective components of climate resilience and the relationship between economic agents and their environment. We compared the average output of 100 simulations for each of the 12 different climate-landscape-institution scenarios. The inclusion of endogenous institutional change led to considerable variations in all target variables, including the emergence of complex/chaotic behaviours. It enabled the system to reduce farm exits, increase profitability and collective brand value. We showed how landscape heterogeneity has a twofold role in the climate resilience of the system. It increases individual adaptability but obstructs collective adaptive capacity through institutional change. The two different voting mechanisms considered (i.e., relative and absolute majority) did not produce any discernible result. The study highlights the importance of policies oriented to strengthening investments in intangibles and facilitating GI rule amendments, especially in sectors where cooperatives predominate due to poor intangible investments capability and other issues connected to member heterogeneity.

This thesis contains (1) a discussion of theory and methods in the contemporary analysis of political ideas (chap II), (2) a framework for the study of decision-making in the field of foreign policy, and (3) an application of the framework to the discussions about the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway in 1905. The subject-matter has been treated in the form of a comparative study of Swedish and Norwegian discussions, as they can be followed in newpaper articles, pamphlets, and records of parliamentary sessions and party meetings. I have also drawn upon a considerable amount of private materials (diaries, minutes and memoranda). ; Fulltext för avhandlingen är en något reviderad utgåva från 2007 som motsvarar doktorsavhandlingen från 19 december 1971. Stavfel i 1971 års tryckta upplaga har rättats till. Se sidan 4 i fulltext-filen för mer information om vad som ändrats i texten.

The purpose of this thesis is to map and assess the organisational and ideological development of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party, the ELDR. More specifically, it seeks to analyse the degree of integration between the members of the ELDR over time, to identify factors that may or may not generate integration, to relate the development of the ELDR to earlier research about European parties, and finally to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether or not the traditional national party families are about to establish parties at the European level. The thesis is based on the assumption that parties adapt to their environment, in this case, the system of multi-level governance that characterises the European Union. As the European parties are composed of national parties, they are also dependent on the member parties' opportunities and motives for cooperation. If there is integration, we can, however, not only expect the European parties to adapt to their environment. As they become independent actors, they may also influence their environment. In other words, we can anticipate interaction between the European and national levels that leads to mutual adaptation, or Europeanisation. To be able to capture the interaction between the two levels, theories from international relations and comparative politics are combined. Based on interviews, participant observation, documentary research and content analysis of European election manifestos, the analyses shows that the members of the ELDR have over time reached a rather advanced level of integration, both organisationally and ideologically. Although it is possible to identify constraining factors to this development, the ELDR has, at least from what is known from literature, reached about the same level of development as the two other European parties, the Christian democratic EPP and the Social democratic PES. The internal integration of the ELDR is the outcome of a successive transfer of power from the member parties to the ELDR. By now, the ELDR can therefore be defined as a rather independent actor and as a type of party at the European level. This type of party is, however, not comparable to national parties. It is instead adapted to the institutional structure of the European Union, with, at least partly, a different organisation and different functions from those of national parties. ; digitalisering@umu

This thesis is an attempt to formulate a constructive proposal for the ongoing establishment of a post-national European citizenship in the European Union. To the extent that the proposal is post-national, the ambition is to re-conceptualise the idea and ideal of citizenship in a new historical setting. To the extent that the proposal is constructive, the ambition is to develop and employ a methodology which combines normative and empirical analysis. The aim of the thesis is to make a contribution in each of these fields?with particular emphasis on the first. To achieve this, the thesis is focused on two questions. First, what should post-national citizenship mean? Second, to what extent can the European Union provide the conditions for such a post-national citizenship? The answer to the first question is based on the elaboration of a neo-republican norm and the analysis of the changing empirical conditions and organization of citizenship. The result is a trans-national model of citizenship, which diverges from both the cosmopolitan and the multicultural models that have attracted substantial attention in academic debates. Trans-national citizenship is a citizenship inspired by the Habermasian idea of constitutional patriotism, yet recognizes the continuing predominance of national citizenship and the complementary status of post-national citizenship. The answer to the second question is rooted in an empirical analysis of European citizenship and the application of the trans-national citizenship model to the existing realities of European citizenship. The first part of the constructive proposal is based on a critique of European citizenship as it stands with respect to its functionalism, its continued exclusivity, and its statist bias. The second part of the proposal is an extrapolation and subsequent comparison of three future-oriented principles for the evolution of European citizenship: free movement, identity, and residence. For each of these principles a metaphorical scenario is outlined: the market-oriented vision which basically reduces European citizens to customers of a mall; the European pan-national vision which reduces citizenship to an instrument for cultural reproduction; and the place-oriented vision of a European neighbourhood where all permanent residents are treated as equal subjects and sovereigns of the European polity. Having considered the intrinsic advantages and disadvantages of each scenario, the eventual proposal will comprise a defence of the third principle.

Pojem transteritoriálny správny akt je vo vede správneho práva relatívne novým, a to najmä v podmienkach Slovenskej republiky. Svoju praktickú uplatniteľnosť má v súvislosti s uplatňovaním práva Európskej únie (aj medzinárodného práva). Jeho podstata spočíva v tom, že účinky takéhoto správneho aktu vydaného v rámci jedného členského štátu presahujú územie tohto členského štátu, t.j. majú účinky aj v iných členských štátoch, resp. vo všetkých členských štátoch Európskej únie bez toho, aby podliehali procesu jeho uznania. Cieľom monografie je zhrnutie výsledkov skúmania tohto typu správnych aktov, vymedzenie jeho charakteristických znakov a jeho účinkov, skúmanie možností procesnej obrany pred pôsobením jeho účinkov zo strany dotknutého štátu, prípadne posúdenie možností unifikácie postupu členských štátov Európskej únie v prípade potreby procesnej obrany voči účinkom transteritoriálnych správnych aktov. V rámci monografie sú taktiež analyzované jednotlivý typy transteritoriálnych správnych aktov aplikujúcich sa v podmienkach Európskej únie a Slovenskej republiky, ktoré sú kategorizované podľa stanovených kritérií. *** Transterritorial administrative acts in the confitions of the European Union and Slovak republic Scientific monograph summarizes outputs of research project named as "Transterritorial Administrative Acts of the Member States of the European Union" supported by the Grant of the Scientific Grant Agency under no. 1/0203/18. The concept of a transterritorial administrative act is relatively new in administrative law, especially in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. It has practical applicability to the application of European Union law (including international law). Its essence lies in the fact that the effects of such an administrative act issued within one Member State exceed the territory of that Member State, have effects in other Member States, in all Member States of the European Union without being subject to the recognition process. The purpose of the monograph is to present outputs of the ...

Evaluation is an institutionalized practice in the western public sector with several applications and uses. At the same time, the effectiveness and use of evaluation is seldom demonstrated. This evaluation paradox is due to the fact that evaluation is constrained and shaped in relation to, among others, a political context. In this dissertation, the political context is examined from the assumption that governance shapes evaluation. The aim is to analyze the relationship between governance and evaluation, by studying the translation (i.e. inter­pretation) of the European Union evaluation approach ongoing evaluation in Sweden, in the context of Cohesion policy 2007-2013, which in Sweden aims at reinforcing competitiveness and employment. The relation­ship is examined through documents and interviews on a European union and a Swedish level, and in the translation process in between. With key concepts such as steering logics, participatory evaluation and translation through framing, the formation of evaluation in relation to governance has been mapped. This is particularly interesting in Sweden where the approach puts forth ideals of learning and interaction that seem to depart from ongoing evaluation. Results show that governance cannot fully explain the shape of evaluation. Instead, Swedish agencies and other implementing actors have promoted their evaluation norms while at the same time fulfilling the Swedish ministries' learning frame. It is an actor perspective comple­menting the relation­­ship between gover­nance and evaluation previously presented. The evaluation approach in Sweden has been translated to a practical participatory evaluation approach within a larger group of collabora­tive inquiry. In conclusion, evaluation on both levels has functioned as a relatively un­critical supportive resource for decision making within predetermined boundaries, more connected to the object of evaluation than to a larger gover­nance context. Evaluation in Sweden is being separated from questions of accounta­bility, and participation in evaluation is for goal fulfillment rather than for critical examination of basic assumptions underpinning projects and programs. Results made possible through the lens of trans­lation show that the Swedish approach was made possible by the vague borders of the field of evaluation, the rhetorical use of evaluation terminology in translation, skilled institutional entrepreneurs using legitimizing strategies, and the framing by the Commission and state ministries that opens up for national variation.

English-Slovak parallel corpus consisting of several freely available corpora (Acquis [1], Europarl [2], Official Journal of the European Union [3] and part of OPUS corpus [4] – EMEA, EUConst, KDE4 and PHP) and downloaded website of European Commission [5]. Corpus is published in both in plaintext format and with an automatic morphological annotation. References: [1] http://langtech.jrc.it/JRC-Acquis.html/ [2] http://www.statmt.org/europarl/ [3] http://apertium.eu/data [4] http://opus.lingfil.uu.se/ [5] http://ec.europa.eu/ ; This work has been supported by the grant Euro-MatrixPlus (FP7-ICT-2007-3-231720 of the EU and 7E09003 of the Czech Republic)

The European Commission expects the use of biomass for energy in the EU to increase significantly between 2010 and 2020 to meet a legally binding target to cover at least 20% of EU's total energy use from renewable sources in 2020. According to estimates made by the member states of the EU, the direct supply of biomass from forests is expected to increase by 45% on a volume basis between 2006 and 2020 in response to increasing demand (Beurskens LWM, Hekkenberg M, Vethman P. Renewable energy projections as published in the national renewable energy action plans of the European Member states. ECN and EEA; 2011. http://https://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2010/e10069.pdf [accessed 25.04.2014]; Dees M, Yousef A, Ermert J. Analysis of the quantitative tables of the national renewable energy action plans prepared by the 27 European Union Member States in 2010. BEE working paper D7.2. Biomass Energy Europe project. FELIS Department of Remote Sensing and landscape information Systems, University of Freiburg, Germany; 2011). Our aims were to test the hypotheses that European private forest owners' attitudes towards supplying woody biomass for energy (1) can be explained by their responses to changes in prices and markets and (2) are positive so that the forest biomass share of the EU 2020 renewable energy target can be met. Based on survey data collected in 2010 from 800 private forest owners in Sweden, Germany and Portugal our results show that the respondents' attitudes towards supplying woody biomass for energy cannot be explained as direct responses to changes in prices and markets. Our results, furthermore, imply that European private forest owners cannot be expected to supply the requested amounts of woody biomass for energy to meet the forest biomass share of the EU 2020 renewable energy target, at least if stemwood is to play the important role as studies by Verkerk PJ, Anttila P, Eggers J, Lindner M, Asikainen A. The realisable potential supply of woody biomass from forests in the European Union. For Ecol Manag 2011;261: 2007-2015, UNECE and FAO. The European forest sector outlook study,II 2010-2030. United Nations, New York and Geneva; 2011 [abbreviated to EFSOS II] and Elbersen B, Staritsky I, Hengeveld G, Schelhaas MJ, Naeff H, Bottcher H. Atlas of EU biomass potentials; 2012. Available from: http://www.biomassfutures.eu [accessed 14.10.2013] suggest. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Societal spheres in the light of history A division of society into statecraft, economy, and civil society is found in Plato's Republic. Its theoretical base is the differentiated and sometimes contradictory norms for these spheres. The mainstream of European structuration is traced from the 'two swords' - state and church - that structured western European society in the Middle Ages to the six societal spheres (or cardinal institutions) of society - the economy, government, science, religion, ethics, and art - that are visible today. Each maintain a large measure of independence (Weber's Eigengesetzlichkeit). Each is dependent on a special type of freedom: civic liberties, free trade, academic freedom, religious toleration, the right to follow one's conscience, artistic license. The paper pauses in this differentiation process at special junctures: the English revolution, the emergence of the Latin American and North American societies, the evolution of modem society as an underpinning of democracy, the emergence of the European Union, and the post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. ; Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Plant breeding has always relied on progress in various scientifc disciplines to generate and enable access to genetic variation. Until the 1970s, available techniques generated mostly random genetic alterations that were subject to a selection procedure in the plant material. Recombinant nucleic acid technology, however, started a new era of targeted genetic alterations, or precision breeding, enabling a much more targeted approach to trait management. More recently, developments in genome editing are now providing yet more control by enabling alterations at exact locations in the genome. The potential of recombinant nucleic acid technology fueled discussions about potentially new associated risks and, starting in the late 1980s, biosafety legislation for genetically modifed organisms (GMOs) has developed in the European Union. However, the last decade has witnessed a lot of discussions as to whether or not genome editing and other precision breeding techniques should be encompassed by the EU GMO legislation. A recent ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union indicated that directed mutagenesis techniques should be subject to the provisions of the GMO Directive, essentially putting many precision breeding techniques in the same regulatory basket. This review outlines the evolving EU regulatory framework for GMOs and discusses some potential routes that the EU may take for the regulation of precision breeding.