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<p>This study is set out to examine if there is any kind of influence between the EU and Swedish gender policy. More specific the Swedish efforts within the gender policy area, especially in the area of social policy and employment, during the Swedish presidency in the Council of Ministers 2001. And also to examine the impact of Europeanization in Swedish gender policy. We have decided to delimit our study to care of elderly and children when it comes to the area of social policy. We are using a descriptive, examining qualitative method. Our theoretical framework consists of Gösta Esping-Andersen’s welfare state theory, Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory and the theory of Europeanization.</p><p>During the Swedish presidency Sweden choose to focus on putting gender mainstreaming into all policy areas. We found the Swedish presidency being quite effective, concerning gender equality. A lot of discussions about gender equality took place and a few decisions were made. We found some indicators showing that Swedish gender policy and women’s situation has been affected by the EU-membership and Europeanization. But we also found that the EU is not the whole cause of changes in policies affecting women.</p>

This thesis is a comparative study examining the goals and tasks for the Swedish upper secondary school and the influence from the European Union’s strategic work with a common education policy. To determine if there is any Europeanization the question has been raised how the strategic work from the European Union has influenced the Swedish law of education and the curriculum for the upper secondary school. As a theoretical framework, the theory of Europeanization is used to examine if there is any change in before and after the membership. The main conclusions are that there is some degree of a Europeanization of the Swedish upper secondary regarding digital competence and entrepreneurship however not as much in the social and civic competences where democracy has been a central part in Swedish education since the 1950s. The changes in the curriculum are not exclusively by the influence of the European Union. the globalisation and a change towards service society is also a key factor. When it comes to a european dimension in the education, the amount found does not reflect the expectations, compared to the ambitions set down by the European Union. What has been concluded is, even if there is a larger trend in globalisation and societal change, the European Union is a part of this inclination and has therefore influenced the upper secondary school system to a degree.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: How does Europeanization effect Swedish alcohol policy? .</p><p>Titel: Hur påverkar Europeiseringen svensk alkoholpolitik?</p><p>Minor Thesis in Political Science, January 2008</p><p>Author : Markus Gustafsson</p><p>Tutor : Lennart Bergfeldt</p><p>Växjö University</p><p>This essay will deal with the influence which Europeanization has on domestic politics. The case I have chosen is Swedish alcohol policy. Thus, the purpose is to explore whether observed changes in Swedish alcohol policy in the years 1993-2005 can be explained by Swedens´s membership in the European Union. To reach this purpose the following questions need to be answered:</p><p>• What is europeanization?</p><p>• How has Swedish alcohol policy changed from 1993 to 2005?</p><p>• Is it possible to connect the changes in Swedish alcohol policy to a process of Europeanizationprocess?</p><p>The method in this essay has been a qulitative study of litterature. The theory has been europenization and its effects on domestic politics. To conduct the analyse an analyticalmodell have been used.</p><p>My conclusion shows rather clearly that a process of europeanization has been affecting the Swedish alcohol policy. Swedish authorities have been reluctant to change their alcohol policy in the liberal manner that was requested by the European Union, due to consideration for the public health. Traditionally, Swedish authorities have been forced by European Union law to accept significant changes.</p><p>Keywords : Europeanization, Swedish Alcohol policy, The European Union, The Internal Market</p>

<p>The purpose of the following essay is to analyze how the Swedish regional policy has been influenced by the regional policy in the EU. The study builds on the theoretical framework that is Europeanization, the top-down approach, which stipulates where you can find evidence of this influence. To obtain the information that I needed to answer my question formulations, which main question formulation are; in which way has the EU regional policy influenced the Swedish regional policy? I used the method of literature analysis. Both the theoretical framework alongside the chosen method pointed me to analyze the public debate in Sweden in the regional question. The public debate in Sweden amounts in so called ‘statliga offentliga utredningar’ which information gave me the answers to my question formulations. The findings are that the EU’s regional policy had influenced the Swedish regional policy in a great way. The influence comes through channels of rules and guidelines from the EU witch have to be incorporated in the Swedish system. This, in return, crates problem for the traditional Swedish system that has to change in order to comply with the given guidelines from the EU.</p>

<p>The Turkish accession to the European Union has been the most extended one that the Union</p><p>has been dealing with so far. Turkey is now accepted as a candidate country but it is still in a</p><p>problematic situation. Most of the EU’s member states do not share the Union’s belief that</p><p>Turkey should become a full member of the Union, if they should even become a member at</p><p>all. Europeanization constitutes a ground in this essay, and the “top-down” perspective within</p><p>this process can give an explanation to why most EU member states have such a hesitance</p><p>against Turkey.</p>

Some researchers argue that EU affairs are being depoliticized on a national level, while others claim the opposite. If EU affairs are characterized by depoliticization, it is a democratic problem, since voters do not have the possibility to choose between different political options. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the theory of depoliticization. The study was based on a least likely case where the degree of politicization was examined in the Swedish Committee on European Affairs on the issue of the EU Recovery Fund. A hypothesis that depoliticization would prevail was formulated, and if the hypothesis proved to be supported in this study, the results could be generalized to other EU affairs in the Swedish party system. To answer the question, The EU Recovery Fund was divided into seven different sub-questions, which in turn was divided into two dimensions, economic redistribution on EU level and rule of law. Statements from four different parties, the Left Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats, were analyzed using two analysis schemes. With the help of the analysis schemes, the disparity of the parties' positions were analyzed using standard deviations. A low standard deviation indicated that the issue was depoliticized, and a high standard deviation implied politicization. The depoliticization hypothesis was found to be supported in both of the dimensions. This study has therefore contributed with some evidence that EU affairs are depoliticized in the Swedish party system.

Europas regioner väljer i allt högre utsträckning att etablera så kallade regionkontor i Bryssel för att bevaka sina intressen mot EU:s institutioner samt använda unionens resurser för att uppnå regionala politiska mål. I tidigare studier av dessa kontor har ett perspektiv förbisetts, nämligen huruvida etableringen av ett regionkontor påverkar det regionala politiska och administrativa systemet. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i denna uppsats är Börzel och Risses teoretiska ramverk, vilket ämnar förklara den skiftande graden av europeisering av nationella politiska system. Genom att använda sig av ramverkets idéer rörande socialisering prövar denna studie om regionala representationskontor i Bryssel kan förväntas anta rollen som normativa entreprenörer för att få tjänstepersoner inom regional förvaltning att ändra sin inställning kring EU:s roll i arbetet med regional utveckling. För att undersöka detta utförs en fallstudie med tjänstepersoner verksamma inom Region Dalarna, Region Gävleborg samt Region Örebro län, tre regioner som samtliga representeras av regionkontoret Central Sweden i Bryssel. Genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer undersöks Central Swedens normativa effekt på tjänstepersoner som frekvent interagerar med regionkontoret. Uppsatsens resultat indikerar att regionkontor har en upplevd normativ effekt på tjänstepersoner inom vissa politikområden. Inom dessa områden upplever de intervjuade att Central Sweden har kunnat påverka deras inställning till att engagera regionen i aktiviteter på europeisk nivå samt attityder gällande hur EU kan användas i arbetet med regional utveckling. Inom andra politikområden går det inte att observera en normativ effekt. Tjänstepersoner verksamma i politikområden inom vilka det föreligger en tydlig diskrepans mellan europeisk och svensk policy förefaller ha större förutsättningar för europeisering. Vidare har dessa normativa skiften hos tjänstepersoner potential att påverka inriktningen på den regionala politiken, särskilt inom områden med vaga eller otydligt definierade mål.

<p>This study deals with the phenomenon of European integration and its impact on national party programs in Poland, a current member state of the European Union. The author will argue that the question of European integration has left a mark on the political party programs of two mainstream domestic parties on opposite sides of the ideological dimension, in the form of a certain degree of convergence regarding the “European issue”. Relating the result of the analysis to the theoretical structure of Europeanization and sociological institutional change, the essay will attempt to show a possible link between them. Although this trend does not seem to indicate any dramatic effects of the membership per se in the programs (the national arena seems, in most cases, be of more value for party activities) there is an indirect effect in the form of the presence of Europarties and a pronounced incentive for social and economic adaptation.</p>

This study aims at examine if an Europeanization is affecting the bilateral diplomatic relation between Sweden and Italy as managed by the national embassies. The questions asked to pursue the aim are; how the bilateral diplomatic work is managed between the countries, are there any signs of Europeanization within this relation or is it still contingent on intergovernmental principles? In this study an analytical model is created and used to analyze how the bilateral diplomacy between Italy and Sweden is managed through the embassies. The discussion on top –down Europeanization by Tanja Börzel is central to the development of the analytical model. Indicators of Europeanization are generated and applied in the empirical analysis. The empirical material is based on documents and interviews.   One general conclusion of this study asserts that there is no direct top-down Europeanization going on within the national bilateral diplomacy. Another one affirms that an indirectly top-down Europeanization on an embryonic stage may be going on within the embassy-driven bilateral work carried out between the EU member states.