This inter-disciplinary thesis takes an ethnographic approach to the European Parliament (EP) in order to bring actors, agency, and social context into the study of MEP behaviour. It explores how MEPs practice politics at the everyday level inside the EP. The study approaches politics as an activity performed on a daily basis by individuals within particular social spaces. It takes an individual level and holistic approach to MEP behaviour by exploring their everyday practice of politics inside this institution. The thesis attempts to provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of MEP behaviour than is currently available in the literature. The thesis primarily responds to gaps in the European Studies literature which mean we lack understanding of how MEPs practice politics within European structures as active, dynamic agents. The research design includes participant observation, elite interviews, and a survey. An inter-disciplinary theoretical framework is applied which combines tools from Goffman (1959), Wenger et al (2002), and Bourdieu (1990, 1977). It sees MEPs as actors accumulating capital and preparing backstage to give credible and thus persuasive performances to different audiences in this transnational political field and its habitus. This research particularly explores the role of the national party delegations and EP groups in MEPs' everyday practice of politics and the local meanings generated around these structures. The key narrative woven throughout this thesis concerns their role from participants' perspective. This thesis finds that these structures play a vital support role and that they can be conceptualised as collegial communities of practice in which members routinely exchange knowledge with trusted colleagues to enable them to cope with the work environment they face and to pursue their chosen interests more successfully.

The thesis examines how parties in Serbia and Croatia have responded to the significant challenges brought by European integration since 2000. It seeks to identify and categorise the broad, underlying stances on the substance of the European integration as expressed by relevant, parliamentary parties across both countries. The thesis also intends to discern the most important factors that determined the formation of their attitudes. It explores the interaction and effects of five explanatory variables: party ideology, party strategy, position within the party system, relations with electoral constituencies and socio-economic groups, and transnational and bilateral party linkages. As a qualitative comparative study, it draws on a qualitative content analysis of party programmatic documents as well as interviews with senior party officials, country experts and officials of the EU and European transnational parties. The thesis makes a major empirical contribution to our knowledge on party responses to Europe by looking systematically and comparatively at two under-researched cases. It also makes a more general theoretical contribution by using a new set of cases to test, amend and develop the literature on party positions on the EU. The thesis found that party ideology and strategy were the most important drivers of parties' attitudes towards the EU. Although Serbian and Croatian parties had generally loose ideological underpinnings, a party's ideology was the single most important source of motivation for a response to Europe in the majority of these parties. This was due to the nature of European issues, closely related to identity and statehood issues, in the context of these post-communist and post-conflict societies. Additionally, due to the specific conditions pertaining to the political milieu of candidate countries, a number of former nationalist and Eurosceptic parties fundamentally shifted their long-term positions on the EU. This volte-face was a strategically driven response to internal and external incentives in the context of dynamic electoral competition and strong EU presence, and aimed at maximising their chances of securing executive office. Other factors generally proved to be of secondary importance since their effect was mostly mediated through party ideology and strategy.

This thesis presents a critical analysis of the property rights in terms of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to the property conflict in Cyprus. The theme that runs through the paper is whether property disputes in Cyprus have had an impact on the established case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Also addressed is the extent to which Cypriot property claims caused the Court to depart from its traditional approach concerning property rights under the ECHR and whether these cases before the Court have introduced a new aspect to the understanding and interpretation of the protection of property rights in the Convention system, specifically the application of the P1-1 to the Convention. The Court's approach, in its various precedents, in examining property rights within the remit of P1-1 will be compared with the property claims from Cyprus in order to determine the unique and significant character of the Cypriot property cases and to analyse their relationship with the right to property under P1-1 to the ECHR.

The European Union (EU) policy of gender mainstreaming has been discussed at length in the context of embedding gender equality into the EU's internal market. The effectiveness of gender mainstreaming has been less analysed in other areas of EU competence. This PhD draws on feminist theory to explain the EU's gendered treatment of vulnerable women within the asylum system. Using a range of theories of gender equality, notably separate spheres, radical feminism, and intersectional feminism, the thesis analyses the relevant asylum legislation, judgements and guidelines in international law, EU law and the national legal systems of two EU member states: the United Kingdom and Ireland. These feminist theories provided a perspective which allowed this research to explain how the EU has failed to address significantly and meaningfully the gendered aspects of the asylum system in member states. Despite the EU's stated attempts to ensure through gender mainstreaming that the member states rely on a theory of gender equality which provides protection to women in the asylum system, this PhD found both that the EU has not sufficiently embodied an intersectional approach to gender and asylum and that member states are still more influenced by their national political culture and treatment of gender equality than that of the EU. This thesis uses that research to make recommendations at both an EU and national level to help the EU and its member states better incorporate gender mainstreaming in order to ensure human rights protection for vulnerable women. As the EU manages increasing refugee applications and increasing nationalist sentiment, this presents an opportunity to embed more thoroughly intersectional gender mainstreaming in both EU asylum policy and the EU's political culture.

The aim of this thesis is to add to the growing literature on Euroscepticism by providing an in-depth comparative study of groups in civil society that actively campaign against European integration in Denmark, Estonia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. This study labels these groups as ‘Eurosceptic Protest Movements' (EPMs). Five explanatory factors drawn from the literature on Euroscepticism and social movements are used to ask the research question of why EPMs are formed. These are namely, Euroscepticism in the party system, the number of referendums in each case study, the availability of resources, the openness of the policy making process, and the perceived pro-EU bias of the media. Empirically it proceeds on a case by case basis, providing an in-depth account of each state's relationship with the EU from party system, public opinion, referendums to case specific factors to allow for an appreciation of the environment in which EPMs are formed. Data is gathered primarily from interviews with the founders and both current and former members of EPMs, with additional information coming from EPM documents, referendum manifestos and posters. Contextual information is provided by interviews with academics, journalists and pro-European activists, and secondary literature in EU studies and social movements. The thesis comes to two key conclusions. Firstly, in relation to the literature on social movements, EPMs conform strongly to the political opportunity structure paradigm in that body of work. More specifically is the importance of referendums to EPM formation, an element of the political opportunity structure that has not been researched in relation to social movements. Secondly, with regard to Euroscepticism the thesis concluded that EPMs emerge because of a lack of available space for contestation on the EU issue and the inability of political parties to act as an interlocutor between the electorate and the EU.

Cet ouvrage, composé de trois parties, présente un scénario des évènements qui se déroulent dans l'axe Est-Ouest. La première partie parle de la construction européenne et de la naissance de la migration interne des États membres. La création de la Communauté européenne et ses élargissements successifs ont conduit à un nouveau statut des frontières nationales et à l'émergence progressive d'un espace de libre circulation des biens et des personnes. La seconde partie concerne l'harmonisation des politiques d'immigration des pays membres, présente la Pologne comme un acteur important des politiques migratoires entre l'Est et l'Ouest. La dernière partie est dédiée à la politique européenne d'asile, à l'intégration européenne et à l'évolution des nouvelles politiques d'immigration européennes et notamment à l'intégration du Pacte européen pour l'immigration et l'asile. Le présent travail, qui met en évidence l'expérience polonaise des questions de migration, vise à définir les tendances migratoires, à évoquer la nature des problèmes forçant ou encourageant les citoyens d'un espace à le quitter. / The tesis, constructed in three parts, presents the script of the events which go on around the Est-West axis. The first part is about European construction and the birth of the internal migrations of the members nations. The birth of the European community and its enlargements resulted in a new status of national borders and gradual creation of the space of the free circulation of gouds and people. The second part refers to the harmonization of the immigration policies of the members countries, views Poland as an essential actor of migratory policy between East and West. The last part is devoted to European policy of refuge, European integration and new European evolution of immigration policy, especially the implement of the European Pact to immigration and refuge matters. The present work, which puts in evidence the experience of Polish migration issues, aims to define migration patterns, a close the origin of the problems forcing or enco! uraging citizen space is left.

Šią magistro baigiamojo darbo temą pasirinkome todėl, kad ji yra nauja, įdomi ir mažai išnagrinėta. Be to, ji yra artima patiems darbo autoriams. Mes atlikome Europos Sąjungos paramos panaudojimo Lietuvos žemės ūkyje analizę tam, kad sužinotume, kaip ši parama yra skirstoma ir įsisavinama. Aišku, realus paramos poveikis žemės ūkiui bus matomas tik po kelerių metų, tačiau pirmuosius šios paramos panaudojimo rezultatus jau galime pamatyti. Problema yra ta, kad ne visa ši parama yra paskirstoma ir panaudojama. Egzistuoja nemažai problemų, kurios šią problemą ir įtakoja. Mūsų darbo tyrimo objektas yra visos Lietuvos žemės ūkis. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti, kokią įtaką Europos Sąjungos parama daro šalies žemės ūkiui. Šiame darbe mes išsiaiškinome Lietuvos žemės ūkio pokyčius, išanalizavome žemės ūkio politikos vykdymo teisingumą ir efektyvumą, apžvelgėme Lietuvos žemdirbių aktyvumą, parodėme teigiamus ir neigiamus paramos lėšų panaudojimo aspektus. / This subject of master thesis was chosen because of its newness, relevance and lack of researches. Moreover the subject is relevant for both of the authors. We performed analysis how European Community support for the Lithuanian agricultural sector is distributed and absorbed. It is evident, that the real impact will be seen after several years, but initial results of use already can be seen. The main problem is that not all given support is distributed and used appropriately. The object this master thesis is whole Lithuanian agricultural sector. The primary objective is to comprehensively analyse the impact of European Community support for the Lithuanian agricultural sector. We researched the changes of Lithuanian agriculture, analysed the efficiency and equity of implemented policy, overlooked the activity of farmers and tried to define positive and negative aspects of support use. To reach the objective of this master thesis and to collect the initial data for the analysis we used scientific literature, documents and statistic data provided by support administrating institutions and the method of comparison. The first part of the analysis covers the main aspects of implemented policy of European Community and Lithuania, the second part gives the analysis of SAPARD, BPD fourth priority programme and the draft of expansion of rural areas for 2004-2006 support use, short overview of the changes of Lithuanian agriculture and guidelines for the new period of 2007-2013 year... [to full text]

Sportinės veiklos teisinis reguliavimas Europos Bendrijoje yra nedaug nagrinėta ir gana menkai žinoma tema. Dėl žymių pokyčių, kurie ištiko sporto pasaulį po to, kai Bendrija pripažino sportinę veiklą didžiąja dalimi esant ekonomine veikla ir ėmė taikyti jai vieningos rinkos nuostatas, sportinės veiklos teisinis reguliavimas EB ilgai buvo neapibrėžtas, ne visada pagrįstas ir susilaukiantis daugiau kritikos nei pritarimo tiek iš sporto visuomenės, teisės žinovų, tiek iš eilinių Europos piliečių. Ilgai kvestionuojama, visų pirma, buvo Bendrijos kompetencija apskritai teisinėmis priemonėmis reguliuoti sportinės veiklos realybę. Šito priežastis paprasta – Bendrijų steigimo sutartyje nėra nė vieno straipsnio, kalbančio apie Bendrijos teisę vykdyti sportinės veiklos reguliavimą. Vėliau, sporto pasaulio visuomenei susitaikius su tokia Bendrijos pozicija ir suvokus, kad pastaroji neketina atsižadėti parodytos savo iniciatyvos, buvo imta vertinti Bendrijos taikomo teisinio reguliavimo pobūdį. Kaip vėliau paaiškėjo, sportinės veiklos reguliavimo pradžioje Bendrijos užimta pozicija buvo klaidinga: sporto vertinimas kaip grynai ekonominio pobūdžio veiklos reiškė nepagrįstą socialinės – kultūrinės jo prigimties ignoravimą. / Sporting activity regulation in the European Community is a topic which has not been widely analyzed and still needs great attention. After the seismic changes in the world of sport which were determined by the ECJ acknowledging sporting activity being a subject to EC law in so far as it constitutes an economic activity, the situation in the world of sport was characterized by considerable confusion and great legal uncertainty. The right of EC to implement legal regulation of sport was widely discussed while proving that its policy involvement in sport extends beyond legal regulation. At the end the EC regulatory policy interest in sport was justified of its commitment to protect the legal foundations of the Single Market, but it has not reduced the negative attitude towards the EC. Later on the primary regulation of sport as an economic activity has proved to be wrong because of EC paying lack of attention to the social and cultural significance of sport which was agreed to be essential. Because of this the EC and ECJ have both received a great criticism from the society of sport, various sporting organizations and common people of the united Europe. While sporting activity being just one of many others (in which the EC had its own interests) but a very sensitive one in which the negative image of EC was taking its tall, the EC has therefore faced many problems concerning slow integration. This negative experience has forced EC to revalue its policy towards many areas... [to full text]

ES vidaus rinka suprantama kaip teritorija be sienų, kurioje be kitų laisvių užtikrinamas ir laisvas prekių judėjimas. Laisvas prekių judėjimas yra labiausiai išplėtota iš vadinamųjų keturių „laisvių“ ir bene sėkmingiausiai veikianti Europos Bendrijos sritis. Automobilių pirkimas-pardavimas taip pat patenka į laisvo prekių judėjimo principų reguliuojamą sritį, nes autmobiliai taip pat yra „Prekės“. Taigi automobilių registravimo draudimas yra akivaizdus laisvo prekių suvaržymo pavyzdys, nes joks žmogus nebus suinteresuotas pirkti automobilį žinodamas, kad negalės jo registruoti ir naudoti. Tyrimo tikslas buvo išsiaiškinti, ar toks Lietuvoje taikomas draudimas nepažeidžia laisvo prekių judėjimo principų. Visų pirma, svarbiausio laisvam prekių judėjimui taikomo proporcingumo principo. Jis reikalauja, kad naudojamos priemonės atitiktų tą tikslą, kurio jomis siekiama. Taigi nukrypti nuo bendrosios taisyklės leidžiama tik tiek, kiek yra būtina keliamiems tikslams pasiekti. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad Lietuvos institucijų veiksmai nėra proporcingi siekiamiems tikslams. Visų pirma, proporcingumo principas nereikalauja Bendrijos šalių atsisakyti naudoti laisvą prekių judėjimą varžančias priemones. Antra, taikomas „dešiniavairių“ automobilių registracijos draudimas, nepagrindžiant moksliniais tyrimais ar skaičiavimais, negali būti pateisinamas tik dėl galinčio kilti pavojaus kitiems eismo dalyviams, žmonių sveikatai ir visuomenės saugumui. Išanalizavus kitų šalių praktiką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The free movement of goods is the most successful project in European Community. It is an important part of the internal market described in EC treaty as follows: the internal market shall comprise an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty. It is necessary to ensure the appropriate application of principles of free movement goods in European Community. Only this way it is possible to ensure fair competition among states companies and keep internal market competitive to the rest of the world. For the majority of products, EU countries have adopted the principle of mutual recognition of national rules. Any product legally manufactured and sold in one member state must be allowed to be placed on the market in all others. Articles 34 and 35 of the Treaty on Functioning of European Union deals with the prohibition of quantitative restrictions and measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions on imports and exports. Measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions mean laws, regulations, administrative provisions, administrative practices, and all instruments issuing from a public authority including recommendation which have similar effect to quantitative restrictions. These articles are a leading tool to deal with elimination of technical barriers which are the most dangerous to free movement of goods notion. Only on the... [to full text]

Daugiavaliutinės sistemos pakeitimas į vienvaliutinę Europos ekonominės ir pinigų sąjungos pagrindu – to paties integracijos ir konvergencijos proceso etapas. Pinigų politika, neseniai buvusi kiekvienos valstybės kompetencijoje, perduota į Europos centrinio banko rankas. Savanoriškas monetarinio nacionalinio nepriklausomumo atsisakymas ir perėjimas į konsoliduotą europinį lygį – unikalus valstybių bendradarbiavimo istorijos reiškinys. / The replacement of a multi-currency system by a single currency on the basis of the European Economic and Monetary Unit is the stage in the same integration and convergence process; monetary policy that recently was the matter of each state was handed over to the European Central Bank. A voluntary rejection of monetary national independence and transition to the consolidated European level is a unique phenomenon in the history of the cooperation of the states.