Suchergebnisse

THE FAILURE OF THE REFORM OF THE EUROPEAN UNION'S IMMIGRATION POLICY, EXTERNAL BORDER CONTROL, AND ASYLUM POLICY BETWEEN 2015 AND 2020: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The primary research objective of the article is to evaluate the reform of the immigration, external border control and asylum policy of the European Union between 2015 and 2020. The author formulates two research hypotheses. The first is based on the assumption that the legislative packages presented by the European Commission in 2015-2016 and then in 2018 have almost completely failed. The second hypothesis is that the idea of establishing a permanent resettlement mechanism as a means to overcome the migration crisis in the Union in 2015-2016 and address the future migration challenges of the EU has generally failed. Instead, the EU's temporary resettlement mechanisms in place between 2015 and 2017 and the 1:1 resettlement mechanism between the EU and Turkey introduced in 2016 have worked well. The author then formulates two research questions: firstly, why have the legislative acts of the European Commission largely failed?; and secondly, why has the temporary relocation of asylum seekers in the EU generally been successful?

Germany and the Migration Crisis in the European Union in the Years 2011-2016
The aim of this research paper is to evaluate the position of Germany, including the federal government and the parliamentary opposition, as regards the migration crisis in the European Union in the years 2011‑2016. The first part of the article presents the course of the migration crisis in the presented time period. The second part discusses the evolution of the position of the governing coalition and the parliamentary opposition in Germany towards the first phase of the crisis in the years 2011‑2014. The third part has been dedicated to analysing the position of the federal government and the parliamentary opposition towards the second phase of the crisis in the years 2015‑2016. The fourth part presents the influence of the German government on the reform of the immigration and asylum policies, as well as the dynamics of the migration crisis in the European Union in the years 2015‑2016. The author formulates a research hypothesis that the federal government did not control the migration crisis in the European Union but rather acted impulsively, thereby contributing to its deepening.

The Dynamics of the system reform of the Eurozone in the years 2012‑2016
The article shows the dynamics of the system reform of the Eurozone in the years 2012‑2016. The first part of the article concentrates on the implementation of the system reform in the period since the adoption by the European Council Herman Van Rompuy's report on 13th/14th December 2012 until the creation of organisational foundations for the Banking Union. The second part has been devoted to the work on the reform after publishing on 22 June 2015 what is know as Five President's Report.

Debate on the new strategy of external security at the forum of European Union institutions and bodies in 2012-2015
The subject of the article is the debate on the new external security strategy, which has been ongoing in the European Union since 2012. It presents the position of the European Council and the Council for Foreign Affairs, the European Commission, the European Parliament as well as the Interparliamentary Conference for a Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy. In so far as these first two institutions play a decisive role in shaping a common security and defence policy, the influence of the next two is still limited, in spite of the fact that it has increased since the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty of 13 December 2007. In turn, the Interparliamentary Conference, whose members include representatives of the European Parliament and national parliaments, functions only as an advisory body in this area.

The subject of the article is the process of implementing the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty from 13 December 2007 during the first 5 years following its entry into force. The first part of the article introduces implementation actions concerning the EU's institutional system while the second part – works on the implementation of provisions concerning the delegated and implementing acts. The third part has been devoted to the implementation of provisions modifying the principles of democracy and the axiology of the EU, however the fourth part concerns changes in the European Union's common security and defence policy. Finally, the fifth part describes the Irish Protocol containing legal guarantees granted to Ireland by the EU within the domain of the right to life, education and family, tax policy and the security and defence policy.

The Program Evolution and the Strategy of the FDP in Ostpolitik in 1969- 1974 in the Light of New Resources of the Archive of German Liberalism
The main objective of the article is to analyze the program activities and the strategy of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the Eastern policy (Ostpolitik) of the Federal Republic of Germany in the years 1969-1974. The author has used in this work new resources from the archive of German Liberalism in Gummersbach, which is of great importance. This enabled him to present a new assessment of the influence of the FDP on the Eastern policy of the Federal Republic of Germany during the period presented.

The Evolution of the Concept of Hans-Dietrich Genscher in the German Détente Policy in the Years 1974-1989. Genesis – Instruments – Impact
The main aim of this article is to present the genesis, instruments and real influence of the concept of the "realistic" détente policy of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher on the foreign policy of the German federal government in the years 1974-1989. The author formulates a thesis that Genscher's concept had very significant influence on the program activities of the FDP as well as on the practical foreign policy of the SPD/FDP governments (1974-1982) and CDU/CSU/FDP governments (1982-1989), whereby the year 1985 was an important turning point in this evolution.

The Debt Crisis in the Eurozone in Years 2010‑ 2018. Genesis, Dynamics and Tools to Overcome the Crisis
The global financial crisis significantly contributed to the outbreak of the Eurozone debt crisis in 2010 and exposed the institutional weaknesses of the entire zone that had existed since its inception. In 2010‑2018, the European Union focused essentially on four basic forms of crisis management in the Eurozone: financial support for indebted economies, aid programs for crisis‑stricken countries, measures by the European Central Bank to overcome the crisis and system reform of the Eurozone and the Economic and Monetary Union. The research objective of the article is to analyze the dynamics of the debt crisis in the Eurozone. The author would like to answer the following research questions: How much have the aid programs of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund contributed to overcoming the debt crisis? Has this crisis really been overcome? How deep were the structural reforms of the indebted economies? The author also defines the research hypothesis that the debt crisis in the Eurozone has not been finally overcome, since in many countries government debt is still on a high level.

The main goal of the article is to analyze the FDP's program activities in the eastern policy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the years 1949–1969. Of great importance here is the fact that the author used in this work new archives from the Archives of German Liberalism in Gummersbach. This enabled him to present a new assessment of the FDP's impact on the eastern policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. ; Zasadniczym celem artykułu jest analiza działalności programowej FDP w polityce wschodniej Republiki Federalnej Niemiec w latach 1949–1969. Autor wykorzystał nowe zasoby Archiwum Niemieckiego Liberalizmu w Gummersbach, co umożliwiło przedstawienie nowej oceny wpływu FDP na politykę wschodnią Republiki Federalnej Niemiec.

Celem badawczym pracy jest rekonstrukcja wpływu Niemiec na reformę ustrojową Unii Europejskiej dokonaną w traktacie lizbońskim z 13 grudnia 2007 r. Autor formułuje hipotezę badawczą, że traktat lizboński znacząco wzmocnił pozycję Niemiec w Unii. Ograniczenie prawa weta państw członkowskich oraz radykalne wzmocnienie metody wspólnotowej w Unii dokonane w tym traktacie zamiast jeszcze bardziej związać Niemcy z UE, stworzyły potencjalne przesłanki nawet do ich dominacji w Unii.

Celem badawczym pracy jest rekonstrukcja wpływu Niemiec na reformę ustrojową Unii Europejskiej dokonaną w traktacie lizbońskim z 13 grudnia 2007 r. Autor formułuje hipotezę badawczą, że traktat lizboński znacząco wzmocnił pozycję Niemiec w Unii. Ograniczenie prawa weta państw członkowskich oraz radykalne wzmocnienie metody wspólnotowej w Unii dokonane w tym traktacie zamiast jeszcze bardziej związać Niemcy z UE, stworzyły potencjalne przesłanki nawet do ich dominacji w Unii. ; The research objective of the article is the reconstruction of Germany's influence on the system reform of the European Union in the Treaty of Lisbon (December 13, 2007). The author formulates a research hypothesis that the Treaty of Lisbon has strengthened Germany's position in the European Union. Instead of connecting Germany with the Union even more, veto restrictions on the Member States and the radical strengthening of the community method in the EU provided by the treaty formed possible grounds for their domination in the EU.

The subject of the article are preparation works on the new EU external security strategy. The fi rst part of the analysis presented the assumptions and goals of the European security strategy of 12 December 2003 together with the modifi cations introduced five years later. The second part discussed the negligence and problems of the EU in the process of implementing the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty of 13 December 2007 regarding the common security and defence policy. However, the third part presented the course of hitherto works on the new EU security strategy, the beginning of which may be considered to be the political conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of 23 July 2012, whereas the fourth part of the article contains proposed changes to the common security and defence policy that the author considers to be necessary for the improvement of the EU's effectiveness in this sphere. Key words: European Union, Lisbon Treaty, European security strategy of 12 December 2003, new EU external security strategy

On balance the performance of the first Polish EU Council Presidency in the matter of the enlargement process of the European Union seems to be positive. The Polish Presidency effectively implemented the five main functions of a Presidency: the agenda-setting, brokerage, management, coordination and internal representation in the contacts with the governments of member states and the institutions of the European Union. The most important aspect was that it managed to implement almost all the operational objectives typically required for the enlargement process. Despite the objections and doubts expressed by the governments of many member states, conditioned mainly by the debt crisis of the Eurozone and the need for internal and external consolidation of the European Union, the Polish Presidency managed to maintain the concept of enlargement as an important element on the EU's agenda. On 5 December 2011, on the initiative of the Polish Presidency, the General Affairs Council agreed a new approach to the accession negotiations involving the earliest possible opening of the most contentious negotiation chapters, including fundamental rights and policies pertaining to the area of freedom, security and justice. Employing the agenda-setting function, the Polish Presidency was the co-author of the Group Presidency programme and the author of the country's Presidency programme and both documents provided the foundation for Poland's activity in the process of enlargement of the European Union. The most important achievements of the Polish Presidency resulting from the implementation of the brokerage, coordination and management functions concerned Croatia, Iceland, Serbia and Montenegro. The Polish government finalised the work on the text of the accession treaty with Croatia and brought about the signing of the treaty on 9 December 2011. It also accepted the agreements referring to the status of Croatia in the transition period; that is, until the treaty becomes fully effective. The Polish Presidency also gave a significant impetus to the accession negotiations with Iceland, by opening seven negotiation chapters and concluding six. The achievement of the Polish Presidency towards the endeavours of the countries of the Western Balkans to gain accession to the European Union was the opening of procedures leading to Serbia being granted candidate country status, although the formal decision was taken on 28 February 2012 by the General Affairs Council under the chairmanship of the Danish Presidency. In addition, the politically crucial enlargement conclusions of the General Affairs Council for Montenegro, on the basis of which the European Council announced that a decision would be taken on the commencement of accession negotiations in June 2012, were achieved during the Polish Presidency. Taking into account that some member states were critical of the steps taken to normalise relationships between Serbia and Kosovo, the balanced conclusions of the Council, in the part referring to Serbia, should also be taken as a success for the Polish Presidency. Although the Polish Presidency suffered a few failures it is worth emphasising that they resulted mainly from the attitude of other member states such as Greece or the negligence of the third party countries in the enlargement process – in the cases of Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. The Polish government, like the others since 2009, failed to overcome the opposition of Greece to the commencement of accession negotiations with Macedonia, although other member states fully supported the concept. The Polish Presidency, like the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies, was unable to open any new chapter in the accession negotiations with Turkey. However, the reasons were the lack of progress in the implementation of the process of reforms by the Turkish government, the still unsolved controversial issues with Cyprus, the growing assertiveness of Turkey in the foreign policy arena and the unfavourable attitude towards the accession of Turkey to the Union by some member states. Nonetheless, the Polish Presidency achieved an agreement with other member states for a positive agenda in the relations between the Union and Turkey, which led to a relatively balanced text relating to Turkey in the conclusions of the General Affairs Council on 5 December 2011. The reason for the lack of achievement in the enlargement process with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo was the limited progress in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria made by these countries. Therefore, these countries still remain only as states which aspire to be members of the European Union. Balancing all the stated successes and failures it should be emphasised that the Polish Presidency gave new impetus to the enlargement process of the European Union. This was visible in the proposal by the Polish government and its acceptance by the General Affairs Council of a new methodology for conducting future accession negotiations, the significant advancement of the accession negotiations with Iceland, the opening of the procedure for granting candidate country status to Serbia and establishing the political requirements for the commencement of accession negotiations with Montenegro. In addition, the Polish government signed the accession treaty with Croatia and accepted the agreements regarding the country's status in its relationships with the European Union in the transition period until the accession treaty is fully implemented.