This article explores the links between the remarkable change in Russian-Turkish foreign relations in the early 2000s and the geostrategic importance of the Caucasus for global energy security. For much of the 1990s, domestic instability and power distribution distracted both countries’ focus on regional issues. Mutual suspicion dominated the bilateral relations, when Turkey, a longstanding NATO stronghold with close ties to the United States and Europe, set out to gain ground in Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. The resulting strategic division of the Caucasus marked a period of continuity in Russian-Turkish relations and resembled the bipolar bloc formation of Cold War times. By drawing on the distinct accounts of Neo-Realism and Liberal Intergovernmentalism, this analysis provides an understanding of the determining factors that changed Russian-Turkish relations from standstill to intensified cooperation despite that national interests in the region proved to be largely consistent. Russia seeks to maintain its traditional hegemonic position and Turkey strives to become a ‘soft power’ in the region. However, central to the new phase of Russian-Turkish relations is a mutual interest in the Caucasus as a stable transport corridor for Caspian energy resources to European and global markets, and both Ankara and Moscow stand to benefit greatly from reconciling geopolitical competition and cooperation in the region.

Uppsatsens syfte är att förstå hur den Europeiska kommissionen och Europaparlamentet diskuterar differentierad integration. Metoden som används är en kvalitativ textanalys där teorier om europeisk integration från forskningsområdet internationella relationer används som analysverktyg. En slutsats som dras är att teorierna om neofunktionalism och liberal intergovernmentalism kan komplettera varandra för att ge en mer mångsidig förståelse av de något olika diskussionerna. Den Europeiska kommissionen och Europaparlamentet vill i de tolkade dokumenten främst bibehålla en enhetlig union, men de är villiga att ge frihet till ambitiösa medlemsstater inom särskilda policyområden genom inkluderande opt in-lösningar av differentierad integration. Den Europeiska kommissionen och Europaparlamentet är motståndare till exkluderande opt out-lösningar av differentierad integration, de menar att exkluderande former av differentiering exempelvis skulle kunna leda till polarisering, fragmentering och ett upplevt skapande av ett första- och andraklassens EU-medlemskap. Gradvist tillträde är därmed historiskt sett som en sämre lösning till problemet kring kandidatländers integration, om gradvist tillträde skulle implementeras i integrationsprocessen för framtida kandidatländer skulle det därmed innebära ett trendbrott inom utvidgningspolicyn från den Europeiska unionen. / The thesis’ purpose is to understand how the European Commission and the European Parliament discusses differentiated integration. The method applied is a qualitative text analysis in which theories of European integration from the research field of international relations is used as an analytical tool. One conclusion recognises the fact that both the theory of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism are complementary tools in understanding the discussions from a multitude of perspectives. The European Commission and the European Parliament expressed in the analysed documents that uniform integration within the Union is preferred, but they are still open to giving freedom to Member States in specific policy areas through inclusionary opt-in measures of differentiated integration. The European Commission and European Parliament are opposed to exclusionary opt-out measures of differentiation, as they mean it could lead to polarisation, fragmentation, and the perceived notion of first- and second-class Member States. Staged accession is therefore historically seen as a poor solution to the problem of integrating the candidate countries, if staged accession would be implemented into the integration process for future candidate countries, it would therefore mark a change in trend within the enlargement policy of the European Union.

The European common currency, the euro, is in crisis. Bad news about indebted governments and economic recession has continuously outperformed itself since 2009/2010 and kept the European Union and its member states in suspense. It is up to them to combat the crisis. This master thesis deals with the European sovereign debt crisis (“euro crisis”) and tries to allow a better understanding of how the crisis has been managed by governments at the European level. A special focus is put on decision-making in the crisis, posing the research question “How can the decision-making of the EU in the euro crisis be understood?”. To solve this research problem, three different approaches are applied: liberal intergovernmentalism, historical institutionalism and cognitive institutionalism. Each of them adds different aspects to the analysis, gives answers from its respective point of view and thereby widens the overall picture that evolves. The design of the thesis is a case study with the euro crisis as a special case of decision-making and crisis management. Official documents and statements, expert interviews, scholastic, expert, and journalistic analyses are employed as basic research material. It has been uncovered that, powerful states, especially Germany and France, have bargaining advantages during crisis decision-making. However, the decision-making is constrained by institutional aspects (rules, norms and values). Stress factors deriving from the crisis situation facilitate group dynamics that appeared at least partially during the ongoing crisis.

The nation state has over time become the natural locus for democracy and consequently also legitimate governance. Both concepts have been developed within the nation state and are therefore considered closely connected to it. Nation states are, however, not the only actor on the international arena anymore. The European integration is an example of a new actor, where nation states have started collaborating. Similar to nation states, EU has decision-making authorities and must therefore attain legitimacy. The thesis questions how legitimacy can be treated within an entity such as the EU. Three different ways of attaining legitimacy are brought up. The first perceives EU as legitimate in its current design with an intergovernmental part and a regulatory part. The intergovernmental part is claimed to be legitimised through democracy from the member states, and the regulatory part is legitimised through non-majoritarian democracy. Non-majoritarian democracy implies decision-making by independent institutions, which relies on expertise and fairness. The second part emphasises the need to enhance democracy for the EU to become legitimate. The EU is considered too similar to a nation state to make do with lesser standards of legitimacy than a liberal democratic nation state. Deliberative democracy could bring legitimacy through creating a dimension where citizens become oriented towards what can be perceived or acknowledged as the “common good” through active participation in deliberative processes. Federalism is brought up as another alternative that would possibly permit for democracy to be practiced in the EU. Legitimacy is claimed to be achieved through sustaining values such as mutual respect, reciprocity, compromise and toleration, values that are connected to a commitment to working for the “common good”. The purpose of this essay is to describe different aspects on the concept “legitimacy” in the EU context and to show how it is achieved and/or how it can possibly be achieved in a future union of nation states. The purpose is not to arrive at a solution, or even to construe a common ground, but to construe a limited insight on how “legitimacy” in the EU can be treated according to theorists/theories. / Nationalsstaten har kommit att bli den naturliga platsen för demokrati och legitimt styre. En trolig förklaring till detta är att båda koncepten har utvecklats inom nationsstaten och anses därför vara starkt sammankopplade med den. Nationalsstater är dock inte längre den enda aktören på den internationella arenan. Den Europeiska integrationen är ett exempel på en ny företeelse, ett forum/sammanhang där nationalsstater har börjat sammarbeta. Som med nationsstater har EU beslutsfattande befogenheter och måste därför uppnå legitimitet. Uppsatsen ifrågasätter hur legitimitet kan behandlas inom en enhet såsom EU. Tre olika sätt att uppnå legitimitet tas upp. Det första uppfattar EU som legitimt i sitt nuvarande utförande med en mellanstatlig del och en reglerande. Den mellanstatliga delen skulle kunna legitimeras genom medlemsstaternas demokrati, och den reglerande delen legitimeras genom ”icke-majoritets demokrati”. ”Icke majoritets demokrati” innebär beslutsfattande av självständiga instutitioner, som förlitar sig på experter och rättvisa som värdegrund. Den andra delen framhåller behovet av att öka demokrati för att ska bli EU legitimt. Enligt detta synsätt är EU alltför likt en nationsstat för att klara sig med en lägre standard av legitimitet än en liberaldemokratisk nationsstat. Deliberativ demokrati skulle kunna bringa legitimitet genom att tillföra en dimension där medborgare, genom aktivt deltagain i deliberativa processer, blir orienterade mot lösningar som uppfattas och erkänns som ”allmänt goda”. Federalism tas upp som ytterligare ett alternativ. Legitimitet anses kunna uppnås genom upprätthållandet av värden såsom gemensam respekt, ömsesidighet, kompromisser and tålamod. Värden som är kopplade till åtagandet att sträva mot ”det allmäna goda”. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att beskriva olika aspekter av legitimitetsbegreppet i EU och att visa på hur legitimitet uppnås eller kan uppnås i en framtida union av nationalstater. Uppsatsen gör varken anspråk på att tillhandahålla klara lösningar eller ens att föreslå en gemensam bas av möjliga sådana, men att erbjuda läsaren en begränsad insikt i hur legitimitet behandlas utifrån några teoretiska perspektiv, och av några teoretiker.

Diploma thesis "Free Movement of Services - The focus on Eastern Enlargement of the European Union" describes the development of the internal market of services of the European Union in view of the recent developments to complete liberalization of this market through the adoption of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 12th December 2006 on Services in the Internal Market. The Eastern Enlargement of ten new countries partly affected the whole development, because it caused the reestablishment of some protectionist measures in the form of the transitional periods. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the situation on the market of services in the European Union after the admission of at least eight countries from Central and Eastern Europe, and to understand each of these steps, which have lead some states to these protectionist measures. For a greater understanding of my diploma thesis, I tried to explain some important definitions and terms in the first part of the thesis, which can help the reader to easily understand the following sections of the essay. The other chapter presents, in brief, the historical genesis of the internal market of services in the European Union putting greater emphasis on the important milestones such as the founding treaties and...

The aim of this masters thesis is to assess the relation between two organizations with competences towards the European space policy that happen to be in dispute over these competences - the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The main research question asks whether the ESA hinders further supranationalization of the space matters within the EU framework and the research uses the lenses of the theory of the rational design which highlights the importance of the Member States as the decisive actors in this question who have to incline one way or the other. This thesis examines relevant documents issued by the EU and the ESA, as well as at the positions of the Member States of the European Space Agency with regard to this dispute, and concludes that the ESA indeed hinders further supranationalization of the space matters within the EU framework because it goes against the positions and interests of the Member States. The hindrance reaches the level that the only thing the Member States are willing to do is to adjust the financial procedures in respect to the programmes run by ESA and funded by the EU to ensure their efficient implementation complying with EU rules.

The diploma thesis is devoted to explanation of Czech position towards European monetary integration. Even though Czechia is committed to adopt euro, the official term has not been set. The main purpose of a thesis is to answer why the Czech Republic postponed entrance into to eurozone indefinitely. The first chapter applies materialistic aspects of liberal intergovernmentalist theory into the Czech context by analysing economic interests on micro and macro level. Detailed cost-benefit analysis results in a slight favour of entrance. However, valid economic arguments on both sides and lack of interest group pressure allow government to adopt waiting strategy. Second analytical part incorporates constructivist theory, particularly defines Czech national identity and its effect on public opinion on eurozone. The thesis refuses exclusive character of the Czech identity and its ability to fully explain postponement of euro adoption. Thesis main contribution to international relation research is final chapter, which extends traditional integration theories by perspective of ideology. Ideological prism seems to present the most eloquent explanation of the Czech position, especially dominance of firstly the Eurosceptic ODS and then populist party ANO, as well as conservative stance of CNB. Despite the fact that...

This thesis examines the European Peace Facility and more specifically how this off-      budget fund has been put into effect in Ukraine in light of the recent events of the Russian invasion of 2022.  This thesis will carry out a single case study about how the European Peace Facility (EPF) has been established in support of Ukraine since the end of February 2022. It will also analyse data that concerns the support provided by Member States to Ukraine to provide a better picture of how the EPF has been implemented in Ukraine. The topic can be deemed to be remarkably recent since the situation in Ukraine is still in rapid development. This is proved by the fact that European Union’s Council Decisions that are analysed in this dissertation are still being further amended. Moreover, the topic is relevant for the field of European Studies since it provides a preliminary study of these unprecedented matters that have had a profound impact on the EU. Theories of Intergovernmentalism and Supranationalism will be employed to analytically analyse the material.  This thesis will conclude that even though the EU bodies have had a marginal role in the implementation of the EPF, their response has been timely. The funds allocated by the decisions of the Council of the EU to support Ukraine are quite a substantial part of the whole financial reference of Facility. It is also discussed that the Member States have committed to a great extent to the support of Ukraine both in the training of Ukrainian troops through the EUMAM Ukraine and through the provision of weapons and arms to the UAF. In addition to this, the thesis draws considerations which connect the theory and the single case in question.