The thesis "Role of the European Union in Latin America: a Change after the Rio Summit?" focuses on alternations of the position of the European Union (EU) in Latin America after the Rio Summit (1999) which was supposed to be a milestone in European-Latin-American relations. The main objective is to identify and explore the EU role and its trends which result not only from the economic links but also the actions of the EU institutions. Factors of unequal position of Latin America in mutual relations, as well as the impact of the interregional strategy of the EU are of special focus. The thesis is organized as follows. The chapter 1 lays conceptual and theoretical grounds and develops the methodology of "the Atlantic triangle" to frame the issue in interregional relations concepts. The chapter 2 analyses the EU and Latin America as subjects of interregional relations. As for the Latin-American region, its social-economic features, development strategy orientation and its impacts and subregional integration are examined. The EU region subchapter is focused on the interregional strategy, its design and development, as well as the multidimensional nature of the relations and its component dynamics (trade, political dialogue, development cooperation). The Chapter 3 identifies and explores external factors which influence the European-Latin-American ties. According to the triangle methodology, the inevitable influence of the United States (the Anglo-American region in the thesis concept) is studied separately from the global environment and other regions. The Chapter 4 quantifies the economic links of the Latin-American region. It examines the shares and trends in trade, investment, development cooperation transfers and migration. The Chapter 5 studies the institutionalised relations within the Atlantic triangle. It classifies the existing links of the Latin-American region (treaties, fora), assesses the role of interregional summits, compares the political approaches from the United States (US) and the EU in trade, development and security areas and studies in detail the EU impact on several aspects of Latin-American institutional configuration (e.g. regional integration). Among others, the most important conclusions drawn in the last chapter are the following: The unequal position of Latin America in relations with the EU can be attributed to its development characteristics as well as its fragmentation that has recently been progressing. It results in week coordination capability of Latin-American countries on the subregional level and absence of effective coordination on regional level. The interregional strategy of the EU aimed at building "Birregional Strategic Partnership" has not met Latin-American expectations. Although the situation in both regions and global environment has changed substantially from the strategy initiation, the strategy concept remains unaltered which is reflected the mutual relation stagnation. The EU strategy has not proved to be effective in fostering the EU role in Latin America. The free trade negotiation balance of the EU and the US is unfavorable to the EU which has not been able to conclude the association agreements (a basic tool to build the partnership) with its major Latin-American partners (MERCOSUR). The mid/long-term trends in the economic positions on the Latin-American markets have been also unfavorable to the EU in favor to the US and Asian partners. The ineffective strategy did not reverse nor stop such trends. However, the EU role is still not negligible in Latin-American aspirations to diversify its external links from the US influence. The relations with the EU display evident counter-balancing features. The EU also plays the role of "external federator" on subregional level but its influence is rather limited. The overall conclusion is that the Rio Summit did not start closer cooperation. The weakening economic relations are not supported by an effective interregional strategy from the EU. The role of the EU is therefore diminishing.

Cette thèse porte sur les relations entre l’Union européenne et le Conseil de l’Europe de 1948 à 2014. Liées par un objectif commun d’une union politique entre les peuples d’Europe, ces deux organisations européennes entretiennent dès leur genèse des liens où coopération et concurrence se côtoient à des degrés différents en alternance. L’objectif de cette étude est donc d’analyser la nature de ces relations, la condition et la manière dont elles se mettent en place. Elle permet ainsi de réaliser une comparaison des deux organisations autour de paramètres politique, institutionnel et matériel. Il s’agit aussi d’apporter un regard nouveau sur l’histoire de l’intégration européenne : en s’élevant au-dessus d’une analyse intrinsèque de l’histoire de l’UE, l’intégration européenne est alors appréhendée par rapport aux interactions de l’UE avec le Conseil de l’Europe. / This thesis focuses on the relationship between the European Union and the Council of Europe for the period 1948- 2014. Having as their common objective a political union among the people of Europe, these two European organisations have alternated since their creation between cooperating stance and competitiveness.Therefore, the aim of this research study is to analyse the nature of these relationships, casting light on the conditions and the way in which these were put in place. The thesis makes a structured comparison of the two organizations regarding the relevant political, institutional and material parameters. It also aims at providing a fresh look at the history of European integration: by going beyond an intrinsic analysis of the history of the EU, European integration is thus understood in relation to the interactions of the EU with the Council of Europe.

The topic of this diploma thesis is the role of BRICS in the conceptions and reality of the external relations of the EU. The goal of this diploma thesis is to analyse the mutual relations of the EU and BRICS, based on a comparison of the workings and factual bases of their relations and to deduce possibilities for further progress in their cooperation. The EU develops relations with BRICS countries mostly on a bilateral level. Since the announcement of their strategic partnerships, cooperation between them has grown rapidly. Because bilateral agreements don't reflect actual needs anymore, there are ongoing negotiations about their new form which should enable further deepening of their cooperation. The first chapter describes the position of BRICS countries in the external relations of the EU, the development of the legal-institutional framework of relations between the EU and individual countries and the objectives for further deepening of cooperation. The second chapter analyses trade, flows of foreign direct investments and other areas influencing the mutual relations between these entities. The third chapter offers possibilities for further development of cooperation between the EU and BRICS countries.