Transforming the eastern neighbourhood: the security implications of European Union Activity in Ukraine 2000-2006

This thesis examines the external activities of the European Union conducted in the wider Europe against the backdrop of eastern enlargement. It focuses on the technical aspects of EU diplomacy, using qualitative research methodology to study the programmes and initiatives launched since the year 2000 in the countries lying along the Union’s new border to the east. Drawing on evidence from Ukraine, it hypothesises that the EU is an agent of transformation in the eastern neighbourhood and that this transformation has important implications for the regional order in the post-Soviet space. The thesis constitutes an investigation into the transformational activities engaged by the EU in Ukraine conducted with an eye to their strategic implications. It documents and analyses three instances of EU intervention in Ukraine’s internal processes that relate to management of cross-border traffic in the Ukrainian-Russian borderland, restructuring of the country’s energy sector, and conduct of its contentious presidential election in 2004. It is argued that while these interventions have explicitly sought to advance the Union’s security with respect to certain twenty-first century transnational threats, they have at the same time served to confer important strategic advantages on the EU that include giving the bloc greater knowledge and control over developments in Ukraine and that contribute to the dismantling of infrastructural, institutional and other ties between Kiev and the other Soviet successor states, notably Russia. The effect of the European Union’s actions in the region, whether intended or not, has thus been to undermine any competing regional initiatives that cut across its own functions, and thereby to assert itself as the primary integration project in Europe. By showing how technical interventions in the politics, economics and administration of Ukraine can yield important geopolitical dividends, this thesis demonstrates that, in the context of EU external relations, high and low politics are interlinked.

Institutional shifts in inter-municipal service delivery:an analysis of developments in eight Western European countries

Comparative research on inter-municipal cooperation in eight European countries shows that there is a great variety of institutional arrangements for cooperation across the different countries. Also, these arrangements tend to change over time in terms of the scope of cooperation among partners, their composition and the degree of organizational integration. This article describes and analyzes the variety of and shifts in institutional arrangements for a specific class of inter-municipal cooperation arrangements: those that are set up to provide for the joint delivery of public services. It is argued that specific arrangements are typically the outcomes of interaction between national institutional contexts,?environmental factors and local preferences.

War crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans

The baleful legacy of the wars of the 1990s continues to dog the states and societies of the former Yugoslavia and has overshadowed the disappointingly slow and hesitant trajectory of the region towards the EU. At the start of the new millennium, with the removal of key wartime leaders from the political scene in both Croatia and Serbia, it was widely hoped that the region would prove able to ‘leave the past behind’ and rapidly move on to the hopeful new agenda of EU integration. The EU’s Copenhagen criteria, which in 1993 first explicitly set out the basic political conditions expected of aspirant EU Member States, proved effective in the case of the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe in supporting the entrenchment of democratic norms and practices, and stimulating reconciliation and good neighbourly relations among countries with turbulent histories. Building on this experience, the Stabilisation and Association Process, launched for the countries of the Western Balkans in 1999, included both full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and regional reconciliation among the political conditions set for advancing these countries on the path to EU integration. EU political conditionality was intended to support the efforts of new political leaders to redefine national goals away from the nationalist enmities of the past and focus firmly on forging a path to a better future. This Chaillot Paper examines the extent to which this strategy has worked, especially in the light of the difficulties it has encountered in the face of strong resistance to cooperation among sections of the former Yugoslav population, many of whom have not yet fully acknowledged the crimes committed during the 1990s. Key chapters in the volume raise the vital questions of leadership and political will. EU political conditionality does not work unless the EU has a partner ready and willing to ‘play the game’, which presupposes that EU integration has become the overriding priority on the national political agenda.

The Legitimation of authority in the European Union

The founding Treaties of the European Union (EU) provide the Commission with bureaucratic structures and functions, and the authority to take a political leadership role in the integration process. However, the legitimacy of the Commission's authority to act either as a bureaucracy or as a political institution is periodically contested, as is the authority and leadership of its President. Max Weber's theory of the legitimation of authority suggests itself in this context as a working tool for assessing the nature of institutional and individual authority and leadership in the Commission and the broader EU context. Weber's typology of authority offers both an understanding of the changes in the Commission's fortunes within the 'would-be polity' of the European institutions, and an appraisal of claims to authority at the individual level by the Commission President. When applied to two contrasting moments in the Commission's life during the presidency of Jacques Delors (the generating of the White Papers of 1985 and 1993), Weber's typology provides an explanation for the evolution of the legitimation of these forms of authority in terms of, first, the Union's imperfect provisions for legitimate claims to leadership authority on 'charismatic' grounds and, second, the absence in the Union of resources for leadership legitimacy based on 'traditional'-type authority, such as explicit, popular, or party political European-wide support for the project of European union. These are resources which, if present in the EU, would legitimise calls to reform the EU's institutions in the direction of more integration and a more federal polity. The case studies offer an appraisal of the functioning and malfunctioning of authority within the Union, as well as a critical assessment of the applicability of the Weberian model to the legitimation of authority in the EU.

Europeanising the 'Kosovo question'?:Serbia's policies in the context of EU integration

The issues of Kosovo intependence and European Union membership have dominated Serbian domestic politics and foreign policy since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Despite the lack of formal conditionality on the Kosovo issue, Serbia's isnsitence on its uncompromising 'no recognition' Kosovo policy has been detrimental to its EU candidacy aspirations. This article examines Serbia's Kosovo policies in the context of EU integration, examining in particular the divergence between SErbia's stance towards Kosovo and its aspirations towards EU candidacy.

Changes in the comovement of european equity markets

This paper investigates the impact that the removal of exchange controls within major European economies has had on the interdependence of European equity markets. For five years prior to the removal of exchange controls and five years following their removal, we use impulse responses and variance decompositions from vector autoregressions to illustrate that European equity markets have become substantially more integrated after the removal of exchange controls. We undertake further tests that demonstrate that, even if we allow for parallel macroeconomic harmonization, the removal of exchange controls has been a major cause of increased equity market integration within Europe.

European Union development:challenges and strategies

The publication represents a multi-dimensional and multi-faced, in depth assessment of the most significant determinants of the EU development as a political, economic and legal entity, in its format emerging from the Lisbon Treaty. The book represents an important contribution to our understanding of the most profound issues in the recent process of EU integration, including the issue of maintaining its cohesion and coherence under the stress of global challanges faced also by the European Union. Autohors formulated worthwhile conclusions of high value not only for academics but also for political decision-makers, which gives the book same competitive edge over its more theoretical and, hence, less practice-oriented, knack. The arumentation presented in the book would not be left without a reaction of the academic and/or professional circles. I take it almost for granted that the overall setting of the argumentation presented in it, as well as specific points made in its various chapters would find their adequate resonance in a high profile discussion likely to emerge after the book would have been published.

European Union - Reforms - Hungarian interests. What kind of European Union would we like?

The lecture deals with broad topics. First, it addresses some questions related to the current state of the EU integration regarding institutions and common policies. Second, it discusses the continued importance, the main results and hindering factors related to the Lisbon Programme, with a special emphasis on the educational system in Europe and Hungary. Third, the lecture deals with some possibilities in changing the EU’s rather limited external relation models to more flexible instruments.

Az integráció mérésének lehetőségei (Measuring the level of integration)

Az integrációt, mint folyamatot, valamint állapotot (integráltság), az integráció „intenzitását” az irodalomban nagyszámú mutatóval mérik. A mérési kísérletek a globális és regionális integrációk feltérképezésére és elemzésére egyaránt kiterjednek. A mérés kérdésének különös jelentősége van a gazdaságpolitikai kihívások és a hatékony válaszok kidolgozása szempontjából. / === / Many methods exist in the literature to measure the level and intensity of integration both as a process and as a state. These measurement exercises can be used to assess both global and regional integration. The most important goal of measurement is to provide inputs for effective policy making. The paper provides a review on the various approaches used in the context of the European Union.

Az európai gazdasági kormányzás előtt álló kihívások. A hármas tagadás lehetetlensége (Challenges of European economic governance. The impossible trinity of denial.)

Az európai gazdasági integráció folyamata olyan kényszerhelyzetekben formálódott a múltban, amelyek a közgazdaságtudományban jól ismert lehetetlen háromság alapján is leírhatók. Az Európai Monetáris Rendszer a rögzített árfolyam-mechanizmusra és önálló jegybanki politikára épített, korlátozva a tőkemozgásokat. A Gazdasági és Monetáris Unió ugyanakkor a tőke szabad áramlásával és az árfolyamok visszavonhatatlan rögzítésével felszámolta a tagállami szintű jegybanki autonómiát. Az euróövezet működése egyszersmind arra a háromszoros tagadásra épül(t), hogy 1. nem lehetséges az euróövezetből való kilépés, 2. nem engedélyezett a kimentés és 3. nem kerülhet sor államcsődre. A 2008-ban Európát is elérő pénzügyi és gazdasági válság azonban elemi erővel mutatott rá e hármas tiltás tarthatatlanságára. A gazdasági kormányzás körül kibontakozott viták így jól közelíthetők a három tiltó szabály egyidejű érvényesülése lehetetlenségének bemutatásával, számba véve az egyes opciók költségeit és lehetséges hasznait. / === / The process of economic integration in the EU has been shaped by the well-known theorem of the impossible trinity. Accordingly, the European Monetary System was built upon a mix of a fixed exchange-rate regime and an autonomous monetary policy, thereby constraining capital mobility. In launching the EMU project, the EU countries decided to fix national currencies irrevocably and maintain full capital mobility, in exchange for delegating their monetary policy upwards to a supranational level. The introduction of the Euro zone, however, has simultaneously meant denial of the following three elements: (1) exit, (2) bail-out, and (3) default. Nevertheless, the 2008–9 financial and economic crisis has demonstrated mercilessly that these three pillars are incompatible with each other. So the current debates on reshaping economic governance in the EU can be modelled by introducing the “impossible trinity of denial”, concentrating on the benefits and the costs of each option.

Aszimmetriák az Európai Unión belül (Assimetries within the European Union)

A centrum-periféria kapcsolatok elemzése az Európai Unióra is kiterjeszthető. Az integrációs folyamatban jól elemezhetőek a bourdeiu-i tőkeformák, ezek egymásra történő átváltása, a gazdasági és politikai aszimmetriák kölcsönhatása. E kölcsönös kapcsolatokban továbbra is a gazdasági viszonyok meghatározottsága érvényesül. A világgazdasági válság felszínre hozta a történelmi aszimmetriákat, amelyeket a korábbi neoliberális politikák tovább mélyítettek. Az Unión belüli periferális térségekre a válság különbözőképpen hatott. E hatások semlegesítésére többnyire a megszorító gazdaságpolitikákat alkalmazzák. Továbbra is hiányzik azonban egy, a minőségi s nem mennyiségi szempontokat hangsúlyozó fejlesztési politika. Egy ilyen megközelítés a strukturális, intézményi vonatkozásokat erősítené, s ezzel járulna hozzá a periféria termelési, forgalmi, elosztási képességeinek fokozásához. _____ Analysis of centre-periphery relations can be extended to the European Union as well. The capital forms by Bourdieu, their inter-changeability, mutual effects of economic and political asymmetries could be analysed well in the integration process. In these mutual relations economic relations still play the dominant role. The global economic crisis has brought to the surface historical asymmetries, further aggravated by earlier neo-liberal economic policies. Peripheral regions within the Union have been affected in different ways. In order to neutralise these effects austerity measure have been implemented. However, a development policy, emphasising quality and not only quantitative aspects, is still missing. Such an approach would strengthen structural and institutional elements, further enhancing production, trade, and distribution capabilities of the periphery.

Patterns and Drivers of the Agri-Food Intra-Industry Trade of European Union Countries

This paper investigates the drivers of agri-food intra-industry trade (IIT) indices in the European Union (EU-27) member states during the period from 2000–2011. The increased proportion of IIT in matched two-way agri-food trade of the EU-27 member states is consistent with economic integration and economic growth. When export prices were at least 15% higher than the import prices, high-vertical IIT, increased for most member states. This finding suggests that quality improvements occurred when comparing agri-food exports to similar imports of agri-food products. The IIT indices for both horizontal and vertical IIT are positively associated with higher economic development levels, new EU membership and EU enlargement. Additionally, as higher levels of economic development decreases, the size of the economy and marginal IIT increases the effects of agri-food trade liberalization on the costs of the labor market adjustment. Understanding how improvements in agri-food trade quality impact agribusiness and managerial competitiveness reveal significant policy implications.

The Central European initiative : an approach to regional stabilization and democratic consolidation

This thesis examines how multilateral institutions can contribute to democratization and regional stability. It is a case study of the Central European Initiative (CEI), a regional intergovernmental organization founded by Italy and Austria in 1989 to undertake a regional integration process, and of its role in stabilizing post-communist democracies. Documents were collected at the CEI offices in Trieste, Italy, and interviews conducted with CEI officers, and data obtained from the websites of related organizations and of CEI member countries. The thesis probes the relevance of concepts derived from theories of international regimes and social constructivism. It shows that the CEI diffuses norms and institutional rules conducive to consolidating democracies, including the development of a free civil society, a relatively autonomous political society, rule of law, state bureaucracies that are usable by the new democratic governments, and functioning free market economies, addition, and fosters habits of dialogue, socializes participants, and supports the creation of supra-national identities.

Compilation of downward flux observations from sediment trap deployments in the Atlantic Ocean - Contribution to EURO-BASIN's Data integration

We provide a compilation of downward fluxes (total mass, POC, PON, BSiO2, CaCO3, PIC and lithogenic/terrigenous fluxes) from over 6000 sediment trap measurements distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, from 30 degree North to 49 degree South, and covering the period 1982-2011. Data from the Mediterranean Sea are also included. Data were compiled from different sources: data repositories (BCO-DMO, PANGAEA), time series sites (BATS, CARIACO), published scientific papers and/or personal communications from PI's. All sources are specifed in the data set. Data from the World Ocean Atlas 2009 were extracted to provide each flux observation with contextual environmental data, such as temperature, salinity, oxygen (concentration, AOU and percentage saturation), nitrate, phosphate and silicate.

To land or not to land : How do stakeholders perceive the zero discard policy in European small-scale fisheries?

The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable comments and suggestions made by members of the Committee of Fisheries of the European Parliament. The authors also thank the financial support of the European Parliament (IP/B/PECH/IC/2014–084) and the assistance of Ojama Priit and Marcus Brewer. SV acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) (Grant no 11-CAP2–1406) and the Galician Government (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia) (Grant no R2014/023). MC acknowledges the financial support from the European Commission through the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant Fellowships – PCIG10-GA-2011–303534 - to the BIOWEB project. CP and GP acknowledge the financial support of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (Portugal) and the University of Aveiro. CP would also like to acknowledge FCT/MEC national funds and FEDER co-funding, within the PT2020 partnership Agreement and Compete 2020, for the financial support to CESAM (Grant no UID/AMB/50017/2013). JMDR and JGC thanks the financial support from the European Commission (MINOW H2020-SFS-2014–2, No 634495) and Xunta de Galicia (GRC 2015/014 and ECOBAS). MA acknowledges financial aid of Xunta de Galicia through Project GPC 2013–045. URS and CP acknowledge the Too Big to Ignore Partnership supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).