Studia europejskie jako element internacjonalizacji szkolnictwa wyzszego w Unii Europejskiej

The aim of this article is to investigate how the European university education sector is being internationalized. The authors test „European Studies” programs, assuming that due to their peculiar character they are the forerunners of change, which results, among other things, from Europeanization processes. The field of „Teaching Europe” is mapped in the European Union and then a more detailed analysis is conducted in Poland and Germany. These allow the authors to formulate three models describing how universities in Europe are answering the challenges created by the integration process. The Polish and German cases further illustrate the dynamics of „European Studies” development, as well as differences in general aims, disciplinary construction as well as level of internationalization. Various geographical patterns of enhanced collaboration are revealed by the research when checking Double Degree programs.

Integracja europejska w mikroperspektywie. Graniczne miasta blizniacze w Europie Zachodniej i Srodkowo-Wschodniej

The dynamization of integration processes in Europe has generated numerous research topics for political analysis. Border integration is an expression of the broader unification processes of certain structures. It is also a manifestation of the observation that people think globally, but function locally. The European integration perspective is therefore practically implemented in micro structures, exemplified by border twin towns. The objective of this paper is to revive the micro perspective as a useful approach in the investigation of integration processes. This perspective is applied in the field of border studies, which focus on research into the transformation of European borders resulting from integration processes, as well as on the transformations of the concepts of statehood, territoriality and sovereignty. It is assumed that these phenomena are definitely more observable at the outskirts of states than in their centers. Theoretical and empirical considerations are based on the example of border twin towns, as the European units of local government that integrate across borders. The main differences between the integration of towns in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe are also indicated in the analysis.

Na granicy Unii Europejskiej – pozycja europejskich terytoriów autonomicznych w dobie globalizacji i integracji. Przypadek Wysp Alandzkich

The model of autonomy developed by the Aland Isles can provide a number of interesting solutions applicable in other territories. Territorial autonomy as a manner of ensuring the political and economic rights of the minority involves facing up to the challenges of European integration and globalization. It seems that the Aland Isles have successfully coped with this challenge. Firstly, they were able to present and promote their own interests during the accession negotiations in an efficient manner. Secondly, they maintained (and additionally strengthened by including it in the aquis communitaire) their separate, autonomous status and the guarantees of identity protection by virtue of limiting the rights of persons without domicile rights to purchase land and run business activity. Thirdly, they managed to obtain a special status excluding them from the process of indirect tax harmonization, thus ensuring considerable economic benefits. Fourthly, both Finland and the European Union confirmed their autonomy, demilitarization and neutrality allowing the Isles to retain their former status under the new circumstances. Fifthly, they obtained representation in the Committee of the Regions and a defined position on European matters in Finland. The skillful application of the existing solutions and the winning of an advantageous set of derogations and exceptions strengthened the position of the Isles both with respect to Finland and the international surroundings. The Isles’ economic, cultural and political protection was augmented. Alongside their participation in international organizations, such as The Nordic Board, the Aland Isles have remained active and discernible on the international arena.

The priorities of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union

The paper discusses the Polish presidency of the EU Council in terms of its priorities. It analyzes the circumstances of their formulation, selection and implementation. The authors answer the question of what influenced the selection of Poland’s priorities and what selection mechanisms were applied. Additionally, they examine how the national agenda was ‘concealed’ in Community rhetoric. Thus, the analytical part discusses the political and legal path that determined the priorities. The EU agenda, Polish ambitions and the context of the trio is also presented. The paper concludes with the authors’ assessment of the implementation of the priorities.

Unia Europejska i jej granice. W poszukiwaniu modelu integracji na europejskich peryferiach

Research into borders and frontiers in the context of European integration has evolved, leading to the question of the shape of the external borders of the EU and their organization in relation to the external surroundings. The approach to how the unification processes of the continent are presented has recently changed, and the Union is being perceived through its peripheries. The one-way model of the flow of ideas from the center to the peripheries has been replaced by a two-way one. This allows us to use the Westfalen, imperial and neo-medieval geopolitical model to analyze the EU and, consequently, the four geo-strategies that are regionally diversified in the northern, eastern and southern peripheries of the Union. Nevertheless, it is the periphery that plays the key role and initiates certain types of relations with neighbors, whereas the center approves of them and modifies them, according to its own requirements.