The thesis traces the construction of the Western Balkans since the end of the armed conflict in 1995. The term Western Balkans has become a commonplace in international politics that refers to a recognisable region on the European map – ignoring that it does not constitute a historical formation of European and Balkan politics. Most contemporary analysis focuses on functional aspects of economic cohesiveness and security interdependence. However, this thesis argues that the concept of Western Balkans is better understood as a social construction, externally-driven. The argument is that the Western Balkans is what the European Union makes of it. By taking a macro-historical perspective, we look at the long and special ties that the EU has had from the time of Yugoslavia to the Western Balkans until the mid-2000s. What we uncover is a special and consistent involvement of the European Commission into the regional affairs. The Western Balkans starts as a small organisational department within the institutional structure of the external relations' portfolio to become a regional identity question for the local populations. Also, the thesis points to the Commission’s actions as not just the outcome of micro-calculations but part of a social context of competing world-views; and, finally, this is the reason that the end-product of the Western Balkans resembles more a messy amalgam rather than a rational design.

The international air transportation industry has historically been a paradox. While the industry enables globalization, historically, the international air transportation regulatory regime has been largely mired in protectionism. This restrictive regime was developed by national actors, who either owned or heavily subsidized their domestic carriers, and guarded their interests very closely, thus insulating the industry from large levels of foreign competition. This paradox of international air transportation continued until the development of convergence in regulatory policy through the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ air transportation agreement between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the developmental process of this agreement as an examination of policy convergence theory, in order identify the explanatory powers leading to the formation of the ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. To identify the explanatory powers, a comparative analysis is established, using two historical reference points, t(0) and t(1), as case studies. This thesis uses two mechanisms for the development of policy convergence, international harmonization and regulatory competition, to identify why the convergence took place at this specific time and why it was set at this specific level of regulation. Using these mechanisms, the 2002 European Court of Justice (ECJ) ‘open skies’ ruling is identified as the explanatory power for the convergence of policy in this field, and the precedent set by the previous bilateral agreement between the US and the Netherlands is identified as establishing the standards of regulation in the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. The thesis concludes with an examination of the prospects for further liberalization of transatlantic air transportation, as well as recommendations for the continued development of the field.

The international air transportation industry has historically been a paradox. While the industry enables globalization, historically, the international air transportation regulatory regime has been largely mired in protectionism. This restrictive regime was developed by national actors, who either owned or heavily subsidized their domestic carriers, and guarded their interests very closely, thus insulating the industry from large levels of foreign competition. This paradox of international air transportation continued until the development of convergence in regulatory policy through the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ air transportation agreement between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the developmental process of this agreement as an examination of policy convergence theory, in order identify the explanatory powers leading to the formation of the ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. To identify the explanatory powers, a comparative analysis is established, using two historical reference points, t(0) and t(1), as case studies. This thesis uses two mechanisms for the development of policy convergence, international harmonization and regulatory competition, to identify why the convergence took place at this specific time and why it was set at this specific level of regulation. Using these mechanisms, the 2002 European Court of Justice (ECJ) ‘open skies’ ruling is identified as the explanatory power for the convergence of policy in this field, and the precedent set by the previous bilateral agreement between the US and the Netherlands is identified as establishing the standards of regulation in the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. The thesis concludes with an examination of the prospects for further liberalization of transatlantic air transportation, as well as recommendations for the continued development of the field.

The European Union as a sui generis political system has become an attractive subject of inquiry especially within the last decade. By expanding into ever new areas of integration and by widening its competences, the Union has become a complex structure. As a result, the Union has started to be perceived as an entity remote from its citizens. Therefore the debate on the future of Europe has intensified and the legitimacy of the Union has started to be questioned. With this questioning process, the emphasis has begun to be put on creating new channels to reach the Union&amp / #8217 / s citizens. Within this context, the literature has focused on the importance of a European civil society. The desire to establish a deeper European political integration by constructing a European public space has made the European civil society a popular concept. On the other hand, the community institutions have also started to introduce policies to increase the role of civil society in order to close the gap between the Union and its citizens. In this respect, it can be argued that this process has been intensified after the publication of White Paper on European Governance. In the White Paper, the Commission has underlined the significance of a European civil society to strengthen the ties between the citizens and the EU. Then, a further step was taken by the Convention on the Future of the European Union. With the Convention, for the first time citizens and their representatives participated in the decision-making concerning the future shape of the Union. This is an important departure from the past and an essential step in the direction of a public debate on the prospective characteristics of European governance and democracy. This debate has raised interesting questions about the relationship between democracy, subsidiarity, efficiency and governance. Within this context, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze whether the development of an organized European civil society, which gains prominence by forms of governance developed by the EU, is perceived as a part of the solution to get the Union closer to its citizens. In this respect, the question of to what extent the European civil society is perceived as an arena, where EU citizens can exercise their rights beyond the nation-state will be discussed. In addition, different attitudes of the community institutions concerning European civil society will be also examined.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "August 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-232). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The international air transportation industry has historically been a paradox. While the industry enables globalization, historically, the international air transportation regulatory regime has been largely mired in protectionism. This restrictive regime was developed by national actors, who either owned or heavily subsidized their domestic carriers, and guarded their interests very closely, thus insulating the industry from large levels of foreign competition. This paradox of international air transportation continued until the development of convergence in regulatory policy through the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ air transportation agreement between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). This thesis examines the developmental process of this agreement as an examination of policy convergence theory, in order identify the explanatory powers leading to the formation of the ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. To identify the explanatory powers, a comparative analysis is established, using two historical reference points, t(0) and t(1), as case studies. This thesis uses two mechanisms for the development of policy convergence, international harmonization and regulatory competition, to identify why the convergence took place at this specific time and why it was set at this specific level of regulation. Using these mechanisms, the 2002 European Court of Justice (ECJ) ‘open skies’ ruling is identified as the explanatory power for the convergence of policy in this field, and the precedent set by the previous bilateral agreement between the US and the Netherlands is identified as establishing the standards of regulation in the 2007 ‘open skies-plus’ agreement. The thesis concludes with an examination of the prospects for further liberalization of transatlantic air transportation, as well as recommendations for the continued development of the field. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This research proposed to look at quality standards of evaluations in economic and financial respect undertaken on behalf of the European Commission in order to assess the performance of its development assistance in a policy-driven context. the research found that evaluation on the basis of an individual project is often flawed and lacks quality in terms of the applied evaluation method. / South Africa

Small and medium enterprises are very important for the european economy from the view of their quantity, creation of jobs and the added value.In the first part of my thesis I'm introducing the definition of the small and medium enterprises according to European Commission, their importance, strenghts and weaknesses. Another important issue is also the business environment in the Czech republic, which is the main attribute of the development of SME. The second part is about the main types of SME support of European Commission, like the finance and non-finance help, direct help and structural funds. In the third part I will present the impact of the current economic crisis on SME and the steps of European Commission and Czech government which are being taken to help SME. At last, I am introducing succesfull medium company named VARI, a.s. and external and internal factors which help the company to be successful on the Czech market.

More than ten years after the largest economic crisis, which stroke the European Union in 2008 and thoroughly tested its readiness and ability to act, Europe was hit by a global pandemic of COVID-19. Because of this crisis, the European Union and its institutions faced a number of challenges, stemming from unprecedented measures imposed to tackle it. In contrast with the economic crisis, it was not only the European industrial and financial sectors but also more segments, essential to the functioning of the European Union itself, which were affected by the recent crisis. The aim of this thesis is to point out the differences of impacts of the two crisis and to find out the role played by the European Commission during the process of dealing with them.

Diplomová práca popisuje malé a stredné podniky, ich rozvoj a podporu poskytovanú európskou politikou a štrukturálnymi fondami. Použitie relevantnej literatúry a prípradových štúdií umožnuje poskytnúť kritický pohľad na danú problematiku. Na konci práce sú navhrnuté odporúčania na zlepšenie a záver.