University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. / Department of Government and Public Administration

The purpose of this thesis is to focus on the impact of the influx of refugees on the European Union taking into consideration the challenges, threats and opportunities that arise from this persistent crisis. The examination of the above-mentioned issue presents and analyzed pertinent findings derived from the relevant literature in the field, ranging from diverse case studies, public statistics, data of European Union institutions as well as NGO's, associations and other entities that have addressed issues of human rights and refugee integration in European Union countries. The thesis discloses how this complex matter, referred to as the "current European refugee crisis" gives rise to complex problems and divergent concerns ranging from Islamophobia, terrorist attacks and threats, economic challenges, cultural conflicts, and social clashes. It concludes that there is a need for new perspectives and strategies for better addressing the long and short term causes and challenges of the European refugee crisis.

Thesis (D.Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2008. / Supervisor: Professor David Rueda. Bibliography: leaves 279-302.

This thesis examines the relation between subnational autonomies, that is to say regional and local authorities and the norms they create, and European Union law. The existence of local and regional autonomies within the various Member States of the EU is a factual truth. We know that they exist and co-exist with other levels of public authority, themselves generating norms. Yet, on its surface European Union law does not devise any substantive understanding of such autonomies. This stands in stark contrast to the relation between the Member States and the EU, which is governed by a complex catalogue of Treaty rules. As a consequence of European integration, however, subnational autonomies and EU law do interact, so that the latter cannot simply ignore the existence of the former. This thesis sets out to determine the contours of their mutual relation through an analysis of EU procedural and substantive law. It uncovers that the relation between subnational autonomies and EU law is multifarious and diverges depending on whether we look at the surface of EU law, that is to say the Treaties, or whether we look below its surface, at the Court of Justice's rich case law or soft law instruments of the Commission. I map this conclusion through a modelling approach, relying on what I term the 'Insider Model' and the 'Outsider Model' respectively. These models underline that, in some areas of EU law, SNAs are seen to be outsiders to the project of European integration whereas other areas recognise SNAs and especially their norms to be the insiders of that project. The coexistence of both models forces us intellectually to rearrange things. It challenges our 'constitutional imagination'. The key to understanding the coexistence of both models can be found in the evolution of EU law itself. While the Outsider Model remains attached to the public international law origins of the EU Treaties, the Insider Model captures the reality that not only States and citizens, but also SNAs, are integrated into the EU legal order.

Under the competences of the European Union's intergovernmentally controlled Justice and Home Affairs policy, counter-terrorist co-operation and co-ordination of efforts have progressed at a rapid pace following the 11 September attacks on the USA. Given, however, that Europe has experienced entrenched terrorist campaigns for the past three decades, one could be forgiven for questioning, in light of the unique co-operative position of Western Europe, why it has taken so long for the membership of the EU to reach a common definition of terrorism. Also why is it that even now, the EU has failed to develop a common policy against terrorism? Political explanations are traditional responses to such questions, but there is a risk of underestimating the complexities of the European Project, and the effect which this has had on so many areas of transnational co-operation. By focusing therefore on the often-overlooked role played by European integration on counter-terrorist co-operation, in addition to empirical analysis of the efficiency of the co-operative structures, we place ourselves in a more beneficial position to understand the current situation. Intergovernmentalism, the controlling force of JHA co-operation, we find is not mutually exclusive to law-enforcement co-operation. Two theories tested for supranational influences - neo-functionalism and federalism - have also played their part, from the early 1960s onwards, in facilitating co-operation. The historical emphasis is important, because co-operation prior to the regulation of much of this area within the EU, following the Treaties of Economic Union, provides us with ample material for analysis and greater insight into the JHA process and counter-terrorism. Intergovernmentalism has helped push counter-terrorist co-operation along, but equally we find that it now serves as a hindrance in completing its development because of its in-built tendency to retain subsidiarity. Counter terrorist co-operation, we conclude, need not be restricted to intergovernmental control any longer.

In representative democracy the chain of political legitimacy runs from voters to governments through votes cast at elections. In order for representation to occur, political parties must offer distinct policy platforms that citizens consider in their vote choices. This thesis examines whether citizens are adequately represented within the European Union. It finds that although representation on left-right issues occurs, it does not occur for European integration preferences. Over the course its history, European integration has changed from being primarily an economic issue to a social issue. This separation from the primary axis of political competition has increased the need for representation on EU issues directly. Political parties have polarised over European integration providing increased choice, but voters have not engaged with the issue. Examining how voters process party signals about policy positions shows that very few are affected by signals on the EU. Accounting for voters' cognitive biases suggests that the influence of EU issues in European Parliament elections has been overestimated and is non-existent in most member-states. As direct democracy might offer an alternative to inadequate representation this thesis examines why referendums have been held on the EU but finds that they are largely driven by governments' desire to contain the threat of EU issues at national elections, further undermining representation. However, as a result of institutional differences between national and European Parliament elections rather than the emergence of the EU as an electoral issue, the size of party systems at European Parliament elections has grown considerably over successive elections in many member-states, a change that has fed into national party systems. Although representation on EU issues is inadequate, the expansion of European party systems and the redrawing of the lines of political competition offers some hope that representation on EU issues might improve in the future.

This thesis examines the EU arms embargo on China as a case-study, analysing the apparent paradox of the EU’s foreign and economic external policy mechanisms internally and the American involvement in the EU’s foreign and economic external policy with regard to China. The thesis firstly introduces the uniqueness of the Chinese arms embargo in contrast to the other 22 arms embargoes issued in EU’s history. In terms of the case-study, the EU’s arms embargo on China did not become a key contentious issue until the initial moves by the EU Commission to lift it surfaced in 2004. The analysis of the EU foreign and economic external policies towards China and the arms embargo focuses on the political, legal, and economic foundations of EC/EU policy and seeks to offer explanations of the evolution of events at EU institutional level, the EU member states’ level, and the wider international level. The thesis examines the evolution of the EC/EU – Chinese relationship. It also examines how the key political issue of the embargo eventually came to become a technical matter, which lost some of its importance to the Chinese. In this evolution, the thesis picks up on Chinese scholars’ fascination with the EU – the relationship between its institutions, and the member states relationship with each other and the EU institutions with regard to the arms embargo. It notes that some Chinese scholars have seen the EU as a potential role model for the developments in China and the region of Asia. The thesis notes the role of the outsider player, the United States of America, which influenced the making and implementation of foreign and economic external policy of the EU. The thesis proves that China is fully aware of the continuous influence exerted by the US onto the EU-Chinese relationship. In sum, the arms embargo is an ideal test case to examine: a) the evolution of the EU’s coherence, consistency and independence and b) the evolution of Chinese thinking about the EU model.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The advent of the NATO Response Force (NRF) is the result of the call for NATO to create a warfighting capability to meet the security threats of the 21st Century. The NRF is a joint force comprised of air, land and maritime assets designed to conduct operations across the full spectrum of conflict. Missions include opposed entry scenarios, counter-terrorism, crisis response and peace enforcement, embargo operations, interdiction, and human relief and non-combatant evacuations, meeting the need called for in the U.S. National Security Strategy as well as the European Union Security Strategy. The NRF will also serve as a catalyst for transformation, encouraging European nations to downsize and retool their legacy forces in order to participate in the NRF. Political influences and operational constraints threaten to limit the NRF. The tangible effect the NRF will have on the Air Force will be its disproportionate need for Air Force assets to meet its required operational mandate. The result of the EU's inability to readily address their capability shortfalls will be the NRF's dependence upon Air Force to provide strategic airlift, air refueling, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and the procurement and use of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) for the foreseeable future. / Major, United States Air Force

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration