L’Union européenne a poursuivi pendant des années sa construction sans rencontrer de véritable obstacle sur sa route. Dans un tel contexte, la communication se réduisait plus ou moins à informer après coup de chaque avancée. Il semblerait que son modèle ne soit plus en adéquation avec le monde dans lequel elle se construit aujourd’hui. A côté de l’euroscepticisme, se dresse un ennemi tout aussi gênant qui grossit et enfle de jour en jour : le désintérêt. Pendant les années 1990, la Commission a élaboré plusieurs stratégies de communication pour tenter d’inverser la tendance, composées de deux volets : d’une part séduire le citoyen, d’autre part informer le public des enjeux et autres décisions. Depuis, l’Union s’est aperçue que cette communication ne suffisait pas à compenser les sérieux handicaps dont souffre l’Europe. Car celle-ci accumule les contradictions, les manques, les « c’est un peu ça mais pas tout à fait ». L’Europe n’est pas une démocratie. Encore moins une nation. Est-elle un Etat ? Certains le pensent, mais ils sont peu nombreux. Sans oublier les autres contraintes : la barrière de la langue, mais aussi des représentations, des cultures propres à chaque pays, etc. Dans un tel contexte, la communication, l’information et la discussion apparaissent comme un moyen pour créer une identité européenne. Mais, pour atteindre cet objectif, encore faudrait-il que la circulation de l’information ne pose pas de problème. Et, pour le moment, ce n’est pas le cas. Pour répondre aux attaques et combler les manques, les institutions construisent un discours autour des valeurs attendues par le public. Et aujourd’hui ce que ce dernier souhaite, c’est que l’Europe devienne plus démocratique, plus proche, plus compréhensible. Les institutions européennes ont bien compris ces nouvelles attentes et les ont progressivement intégrées dans leur discours et leur action au fil des années. Elles se sont emparées de la notion qu’il faut absolument décliner : la proximité. Une notion polysémique qui justifie aujourd’hui toute action publique et la contraint fortement. On ne dit plus intérêt général, mais intérêt général local, on ne dit plus citoyen mais habitant. Il est impossible à présent de gouverner d’en haut, de ne pas aller sur le terrain. Mais comment l’Europe hier si lointaine, peut-elle reprendre à son compte cette notion sans être « décalée » ? Quels peuvent être les bénéfices ? Depuis le début des années 2000, et même avant si on n’y prête attention, pas un jour ne passe, pas une stratégie ne s’élabore, sans en toile de fond ce fameux rapprochement avec le citoyen européen. L’Union personnalise les enjeux, rapproche, écoute, prend en compte les opinions. Bref, utilise une communication de proximité. Et l’impératif d’accorder communication et réalité conduit petit à petit l’Europe à bouleverser son fonctionnement et son modèle. Mais les institutions se heurtent à d’éternels problèmes qu’elles ne peuvent résoudre seules. Leurs moyens financiers dérisoires les empêchent d’assurer une diffusion minimale qui garantirait un minimum de réception. Le discours a changé, l'action aussi, mais pas la fréquence. Or, on ne peut se rapprocher qu'à plein temps, pas par intermittence / For years, the European Union went on with its construction without encountering any real obstacle on its way. In such a context, communication somewhat consisted in providing information after any positive evolution. It seems that now, the fashion in which we design communication is no longer in accordance with nowadays’ world. Apart from euroscepticism, another enemy is appearing. It is equally important and becomes more serious everyday: disinterest. In the 1990’s, the Commission devised several strategies of communication to try and reverse the tendency. Those strategies were made up of two parts: on the one hand, they consist in seducing citizens, and on the other, to inform the public of challenges and other decisions. Since then, the European Union has noticed that its communication wasn’t enough to make up for serious handicaps which Europe suffers from. Because contradictions are piling up, lacks, as well as what we could call approximations or rough guesses: “it’s something like that, but not quite so, in fact”. Europe isn’t a democracy, let alone a nation. Is it a State? Some people think it is, but there aren’t many to think so. Without forgetting other constraints: language barriers, as well as representations and cultures specific to each country… In such a context, communication, information and discussion appear to be means to create a European identity. However, in order to reach this goal, information should circulate without problems. But for the moment this is not the case. So that they can face attacks and fill in gaps, institutions deliver speeches about values expected by the public. And today, what the public wishes for is a more democratic and comprehensible Europe, where people feel closer to each other. European institutions are well aware of new expectations and progressively built them in their speeches and actions over the years. They made theirs a notion with several versions: proximity. A polysemous notion which justifies all public actions today and strongly restrains them. You shouldn’t say general interest anylonger, but rather local general interest; you shouldn’t say citizen anylonger but rather inhabitant. It is impossible today to govern from high up without doing fieldwork. But how can Europe, so far-distant yesterday, take back this notion without any discrepancy? What advantages can there be? Since the beginning of the 2000’s, and even before that if we pay attention, not a day is spent, not a single strategy is devised without this very connection with the European citizen in the background. The Union individualizes issues, brings together, listens, takes into account different views. Altogether, Europe uses a communication of proximity. And the imperative to make communication and reality match slowly leads Europe to disrupt its mechanisms and model. But institutions clash against everlasting problems which they cannot resolve by themselves. Their ridiculous financial means prevent them from guaranteeing even a minimum circulation which could secure a minimum of reception. Speeches have changed, actions too, but not their frequency. And yet, you can only come closer full-time, not part-time

La thèse "L'équilibre institutionnel dans L'Union européenne" vise à reconstruire les développements juridiques et jurisprudentiels qui ont défini l'évolution de l'équilibre au sein de l'Union à partir du début du processus d'intégration. L’approche choisie est double : juridique et politique. Juridique, car il s’agit de déterminer quelles sont les possibilités données par l’ordre juridique communautaire aux institutions pour définir l'équilibre interne sur la base des dispositions des traites. Politique, car cette approche permet de replacer le principe dans son environnement général et de prendre en considération des facteurs de contraintes et des comportements que la logique juridique omet parfois. L'étude a été organisée en deux parties principales, en premier lieu par un examen du cadre institutionnel définie par le Traité sur l' Union européenne puis par une analyse des bases juridiques introduites par la dernière révision des traites, susceptibles d'influencer et modifier les relations interinstitutionnelles dans le domaine de l'adoption des actes juridiques et de l'éxécution des actes de l'Union. / The institutional balance can be envisaged in two different ways. As a principle it has been developed and defined by the Court of justice since Meroni jurisprudence, whilst the practise of the institutions in the implementation of the treaties and the treaty changes concerning the institutional framework and the legal basis governing legislative and budgetary procedures defined the institutional balance as a dynamic concept. The thesis is aimed at analysing the evolution of the institutional balance in the practical sphere and it has been organized in two main parts composed respectively of 2 chapters. The results of the study were that the institutional balance is in a permanent state of evolution and this process didn’t come to an end after the entry in to force of the Lisbon treaty. The institutional innovation failed to eliminate the structural tension which characterized the institutional interaction in the past. Despite the fact that the Lisbon Treaty was adopted after fifteen years of debate and reflection on institutional reforms it was found that the juridical instrument provided in order to implement the inter-institutional cooperation in the Lisbon Treaty are not adequate if one considers the high-level interaction they are required to observe to the scope of achieving the objectives of the Treaty.

.Les think tanks sont des acteurs qui s’inscrivent dans une perspective d’information et d’influence. A travers des expertises et des recommandations politiques, ils cherchent à atteindre la sphère politique. Bien qu’ils soient majoritairement apparus en Europe dans les années 1970 et 1980 et que leur essor date des années 2000, les think tanks sont des acteurs émergents dans le processus décisionnel européen. Ils ont rapidement su se saisir des différents points d’accès proposés par les institutions européennes et sont progressivement devenus des acteurs incontournables et influents dans le processus décisionnel européen. Les cibles d’action sont plus précisément la Commission européenne, le Parlement européen, le Comité des Régions ainsi que le Comité Economique et Social Européen. Les modalités et les stratégies d’influence mises en place par les think tanks pour atteindre ces institutions et organes prennent des formes variées. / .Think tanks are actors that are part of a didactic and influence perspective. Through expertise and political recommendations, they seek to reach the political sphere. Although most of them emerged in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s and their growth began in the 2000s, think tanks are emerging players in the European decision-making process. They quickly managed to seize the various access points proposed by the European institutions and gradually became key and influential actors in the European decision-making process. The action targets are more specifically the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. The modalities and strategies of influence put in place by the think tanks to reach these institutions and organs take various forms.

Qu’il s’agisse des dernières participations aux élections européennes (1999 à 2009), du traité constitutionnel (2005) ou de la crise de l’euro, l’Union européenne fait face depuis plusieurs années à une crise institutionnelle et à une détérioration de son image importantes. Partant de ce constat, la présente thèse a pour objectif, d’une part, de présenter l’UE, à partir de l’analyse de ses institutions, de leurs influences et de leurs dernières stratégies de communication. Ce travail présente, d’autre part, l’organisation et le mode de traitement journalistique de l’information européenne, à travers une mise en parallèle des presses française et italienne, de leurs correspondants et de leurs accrédités auprès de l’UE. A l’ère de l’immédiateté, de la multiplication des sources d’information, mais aussi face aux exigences de rentabilité et de productivité qui s’imposent aux médias, la présente recherche se propose de déterminer si les pratiques et les conditions de travail des accrédités évoluent. Enfin, face à la crise du journalisme et de la presse écrite, et à la montée du rôle de l’Internet et des médias sociaux (web 2.0) dans la publication et la diffusion du scoop et de l’actualité internationale, il s’agit de déterminer si le poste de correspondant est ou non menacé. Nos conclusions, basées notamment sur des enquêtes de terrain, des statistiques et des analyses de contenus d’entretiens semi-directifs et d’articles de journaux, nous permettent d’esquisser l’image de l’UE projetée par les presses des deux pays, de mieux cerner le rôle des journalistes spécialisés sur l’UE et de nuancer les menaces, les opportunités et l’influence des nouveaux médias sur leur travail. / Whether one refers to recent European elections (1999-2009), to the Constitutional Treaty (2005) or to the euro crisis, the European Union has undergone several years of institutional crisis and a deterioration of its image. This is why, this Ph. D. dissertation, first examines the EU, from by analysing its institutions, their influence and their communication strategies. This thesis further presents the organization and the journalistic treatment of European news by conducting a parallel study of the French and Italian press, of their foreign correspondents and of their permanent EU correspondents. In the era of continuous flows, of the proliferation of news sources, and given the profitability and productivity required of media organizations, this thesis aims to determine whether the practices and working conditions of EU accredited correspondents have changed. Finally, given the crisis that journalism and print media, are undergoing and given the growing role of the Internet and social media (web 2.0) in research, publication and dissemination of scoops and international news, it studies whether the correspondent’s professional status is threatened or not. Our conclusions, based in particular on field surveys, statistical and content analyses of semi-structured interviews and newspaper articles, enable us to depict the EU image projected by the press of the two countries, so as to better understand the role of EU specialized journalists and highlight threats, opportunities and influence of new media on their work.

The topic of this diploma thesis is the Process of institutional reforms of EU in light of its enlargement. The thesis is divided into two parts -- theoretical part and practical part. Theoretical part talks about European treaties that founded or reformed five main European institutions -- Parliament, Council, Commission, Court of Justice and Court of Auditors. In separate chapter the thesis talks about Lisbon Treaty and this chapter is followed by description of the main institutions. Practical part was based on original research in which almost two hundred respondents took part and which was focused on the knowledge of respondets of the administration of EU. The results of the research were analysed in form of commented graphs and tables. Based on the research, last chapter provides recommendations that should help increase the knowledge of Czechs of the EU administration.

Police cooperation is an important part of EU's internal security, but its pursuance differs in each member state. This master thesis focuses on the coordination of police cooperation from the Czech Republic's point of view. The objective is to interpret the coordination mechanism in the Czech Republic and to analyse its level of centralization and the method of management. For this purpose, theories of liberal intergovernmental approach and institutionalism are engaged. The partial objective is to examine the influence of Europeanization on the coordination mechanism. Analysis is carried out on a systemic level, connecting the national and European coordination levels. The coordination mechanism of European police cooperation in the Czech Republic proved to be quite centralized with some decentralized elements and hierarchical management structure. The Europeanization affects the police cooperation in all its dimensions, with downloading, uploading and crossloading.

The thesis provides a glimpse into lives of the Czechs working in the EU institutions. Accent is on the theory of transnationalism as contemporary approach to international migration. The paper focuses on group of migrants for which mobility and high qualification is characteristical as important elements within the current knowledge based society. It deals with migrants who are living their lives in two or more countries at once and who stay in close touch with the country of their origin. Focus of the work is aimed at the concept of temporarity as a key dimension that has influence on strategy, lifestyle and values of the Czech transnational migrants in Brussels. Conclusions are based on qualitative research composed of longterm participant observation, formal semi-structured and informal interviews. The aim of the work is to show the dimenson of temporarity by using material culture as a method on strategies of living and consumation and also how are the Czechs in Brussels biased by a specific environment of the EU institutions. Further to find out whether it is possible to consider Czech migrants as transnational migrants with regards to the definition of transnational migration and following the relationship to the Czech Republic and Belgium, contacts with home. KEY WORDS: transnational...

Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif d'étudier la construction de l’Europe institutionnelle en parallèle de l'émergence des questions environnementales et interroger dans le cadre d'une évolution historique, les interactions entre les décideurs, les administrations et les citoyens autour des questions de société, pour en observer les mécanismes de mutation. Il s'agit de questionner la capacité des Institutions européennes à faire intégrer à ses Etats membres des exigences environnementales. Nous observerons le glissement opéré depuis un principe de conservation de la nature à l’assurance d’un développement durable, en passant par une protection de l’environnement puis une préservation de la biodiversité où seront analysés les leviers d'action privilégiés pour imposer aux Etats des réglementations contraignantes. Les travaux développés dans cette recherche analysent les changements de « modèle », de cadrage législatif, de comportements, de conscience, de mode de vie en Europe, et leurs conséquences dans des solutions dites réalistes pour le modèle de croissance. Pour conduire à l’explication de ce phénomène, le présent ouvrage s’articulera autour de trois logiques utilisées successivement : la mise en place d’une politique de la nature, prenant en compte les contraintes des logiques existantes à travers le modèle de développement productiviste, puis une contestation caractérisée du modèle de développement proposant une protection de l’environnement, et enfin une prise en compte consciente et orchestrée des questions d’environnement par les institutions européennes vers la structuration d’un modèle caractérisé par la mise en œuvre de la Stratégie Européenne Développement Durable. / Approaching the European construction from 1949 till 2002 within environmental questions wish to bring a new prism for complex systems understanding. The present work sustain an interactional analysis between stakeholders, administrations and citizens thoughts across society matters to observe mutation mechanisms. In a Historical study of the Twentieth Century common decision making tools, we will observe how European Institutions contribute strengthening its territory. From nature conservancy to an insurance of a sustainable development, via an environmental protection then biodiversity preservation, an approach of related concepts and their evolvement wants to show presuppositions and difficulties to explain clearly what kind of empowerment tool is become Europe. Because citizen and political fights escort the discovery of environmental matters. Because painless degradation of the European natural heritage brought conflicts between countries which had contracted peace. The natural and industrial disasters management, limitations of a productivist development "model", the increase of societal individualization, urban spread and research of support and membership will drive the European Community in building operational targets before the rise of an "Environmental Economy". Facing dissimilar perceptions and trade-off in taking into account environmental questions inside community agenda, European institutions asked to develop understanding tools able to support, to control and manage its patrimony. In its successive enlargements, European Community will encourage the preservation, the protection, the improvement of environmental quality and public health, a wise use of natural resources or even international promotion of standards designed to face-off regional and planetary biodiversity matters. The European Union is finally able to suggest to the U.N. members a practical Sustainable Development Strategy Scheme ready to implement.

Diploma thesis " Democratic deficit of the EU: options of evolvement" deals with democracy and democratic legitimacy of the European Union. It represents a particular concept of the EU's democratic deficit, which is ambiguous term, but generally indicates a lack of democracy- particularly the lack of popular participation in the governance or a lack of democratic legitimacy of EU institutions and decision-making. The aim of my work was, according to the hypotheses to determine what is causing the EU's democratic deficit, whether it is a serious problem that should be addressed at European level, and if so, what are the possibilities for minimizing or further evolvement. To explore this issue further, I examine the theory of democratic legitimacy in the introduction and divide it into the "input and output" legitimacy. Subsequently, I also introduced methodology and the current debate on democratic deficit in the leading periodicals, dealing with the EU and think tanks. The second part deals with the history of the democratic deficit and its various definitions, follows with a presentation of my two hypotheses dealing with the question whether or not the EU's democratic deficit is a problem. In the third part, my two hypotheses are tested on the project of the Single European Sky, which aims to...

Although social policy was once perceived to be solely within the purview of the nation state, there has been a move toward a more European social policy. The European Court of Justice for the European Communities (‘Court of Justice’ or ‘Court’) determines the scope of European law and how it affects national welfare states. The court’s decisions will affect not only the national law of the member states with regard to social policy but also the direction of European social policy as it expands. However, the ECJ does not choose the policy areas in which it makes its decisions, but instead reacts to the preliminary references that are sent by the national courts of the Member States. These preliminary references from the Member States will set the Court’s agenda. Preliminary references are unevenly distributed across the Member States of the EU, and some Member States’ preliminary references are concentrated in particular policy areas. The jurisprudence of the Court, and consequently the social policy of the EU, could be steered by this uneven distribution. This thesis will answer the threshold question of why scholars of social policy should care about the Court of Justice, with a legal analysis of some key themes in the Court’s decisions in the area of social policy. It will then employ a mixed methods research design to explain the variation in rates of social policy preliminary references from the EU-15. First, a Time Series Cross-Section (TSCS) model will be used to test a series of hypotheses generated from the literature, and three novel hypotheses, in a dataset of social policy preliminary references from the EU-15 from 1996 to 2009. Next, a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (Ragin 2000) will group the variables that were found to be significant into sets of conditions, or ‘causal pathways,’ that lead to higher and lower rates of social policy preliminary references. Finally, two qualitative case studies will be conducted, in the UK and France. Analysis of documentary evidence and 25 expert interviews in the two member states and at the Court of Justice will further explain and illuminate the differing usage of preliminary reference process. The analysis of the mixed methods is integrated in the final stage. Implications for the direction of EU law related to social policy and the future development of European social policy will be considered in the concluding chapter.