<p>Abstract</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse Europol. The research questions are:</p><p>- How would increased powers for Europol impact on the cooperation between Europol and police authorities in EU-member states?</p><p>- Which one of the two theories transactionalism and neofunctionalism can best create an understanding of Europol and its integration with the police of the member states?</p><p>In so doing the study applies a qualitative method.</p><p>Europol is the European Police Office and it was established through the Maastricht treaty in 1992 with the purpose of making the integration between police of the EU member states more efficient. In order for Europol to make integration between the police of member states more efficient it can be suggested that it needs for Europol to develop into having executive powers.</p><p>One conclusion of this study is that Europol is an important tool for integration in the EU but there are at least three issues that are influencing the level of effectiveness in the integration work between the police of the member states; possible mistrust, that Europol has no executive powers and that it is voluntary for member states to participate in assisting Europol with information. Another conclusion is that Europol can be understood through an integration perspective when transactionalism and neofunctionalism are complementing each other.</p>

International cybersecurity is arguably one of the most serious, complex and recent security-issues of our time. The connectivity between EU member states regarding cybersecurity due to the borderless nature of cyber, together with increasing threat-levels, has made the need for a common response widely acknowledged in the EU for several years. Even so, a common EU cybersecurity response involves problems such as reluctance of member states to share information, that cybersecurity management is linked to national security and therefore touches upon sovereignty, and different levels of cybersecurity development between member states. Despite this, the Network and Information Security Directive was adopted by the European Council in May 2016, involving EU-wide binding rules on cybersecurity. This thesis examines and explains, through a neo-functionalistic approach, how and why this development towards supranational management of cybersecurity in the EU has happened. The author finds that cybersecurity management seems to have institutionalized from a nascent phase during 2013, moving towards an ascendant phase during the end of 2013 and 2014, to end up between an ascendant and a mature phase during 2015 and 2016 – which makes the adoption of the NIS-directive logical. The neo-functionalistic explanation to the development of supranational cybersecurity management in the EU highlights the role of the Commission as a ‘policy entrepreneur’ and the publication of the EU cybersecurity strategy, accompanied by the proposal for the NISdirective in 2013. These regulatory outputs sparked further institutionalization by providing many opportunities and venues for member states to interact and build networks on cybersecurity issues, by initiatives with normative impact to foster an EU ‘cybersecurity community’, by the continuous strengthening of supranational cybersecurity actors such as ENISA, and by supranational cybersecurity cooperation platforms, such as the NIS-platform and the European Private Public Partnership on cybersecurity. Between 2013 and 2016, 21 EU Member States published national cybersecurity strategies, almost all referring clearly to their commitment to EU cybersecurity initiatives. This provides an indicator of a high level of legitimacy of supranational cybersecurity management. However, the thesis also finds that the strongest supporters of EU cybersecurity management are not the most powerful member states but rather the smaller ones. While not expressing a strong commitment to EU initiatives in cyber policy documents, the most powerful member states still agreed to the NIS-directive. This supports the neo-functionalist notion about the “stickiness” of an institutionalization-process, and the possibility that powerful states might have double paths, committing to EU regulation and institutionalization while still continuing their own way.

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The European Union (EU) have during the years faced challenges of disintegration between its own Members. This thesis have studied about the phenomenon of disintegration and it is focused on the research of Phillipe Schmitter and Zoe Lefkofridi. They have studied about the Neofunctionalism explicit and implicit suppositions and hypothesis toward disintegration in the EU. The thesis is structured as a case study and its main purpose is to study about the explicit suppositions and hypothesis of the Neofunctionalism and if they are capable to explain why the United Kingdom (UK) wanted to leave the EU. The thesis have studied areas like the UK's dependence towards other Member States of the EU, if the British citizens feel secured against threats, the jurisdiction of the ECJ (the European Court of Justice) and the implementations of the EU-regulations, the politcalization conflicts between the UK and the EU, the convergence in the British society, the role of the experts and lastly if the UK having any influence in the EU governance. The thesis can conclude that the UK was in fact a disintegrated Member State inside the European Union. Brexit was in other words predicted by the Neofunctionalism.

This essay examines the institutional coherence between the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the field of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), in order to combat jihadist terrorism. Coordinated instruments between the two policy areas are vital in order to maintain internal security within the European Union (EU) in its war against terrorism. However, as a result of several terrorist attacks in 2015, discussions surrounding the disintegration of the union have increased. This is paradoxical when looking at the strengthening of CFSP, an intergovernmental policy area, after 2015. By analysing the measures taken by the EU to counter terrorism in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016, it shows that CFSP-actors are becoming increasingly important in developing EU’s anti-terror policy. The result mainly concerns intelligence sharing and formal diplomacy, which blurs the boundaries between internal and external security. The result was achieved through a qualitative theory-consuming case study using neo-functionalism as a theory. The following research questions were asked: ‘’Has the CFSP, together with the JHA, been coordinated in a supranational manner to counter future terrorism in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels 2015-2016?’’ and ‘’What driving forces can be identified for, or against, a supranational policy between the JHA and CFSP, from a neo-functional perspective?’’

This study has aimed to examine the actions of the European Union and its member states during the on-going refugee crisis. The EU is founded on a certain set of values and institutions that were clearly abandoned by more than one of the actors of the EU in the face of the overwhelming refugee crisis. The purpose is thus to investigate the cause behind these decisions by using two European integration theories. Neofunctionalism and Security Communities were chosen because of their founding role in the field of theories and because they constitute a so called hard case. The study concludes that the reason for these actions has its explanation in the lack of trust and common values between the member states. The crisis is also perceived by some actors as an outside threat due to the securitization of the European identity.

European integration has been a widely discussed topic within political science since the creation of the EU. In recent years, signs of disintegration have been observed due to widespread euroscepticism, major crises and public discontent. Simultaneously, cross-border terrorism has become an acute issue for the EU with terror attacks being executed in several member states. This study examines the development of European integration in counterterrorism from 2014 to 2017 to determine if integration in this field has continued or halted. Two traditional integration theories, neofunctionalism and liberal intergovern­mentalism, are applied to understand the driving factors for the European integration process in this field. The results show that European integration in counterterrorism has persisted, and even accelerated in the aftermath of recent terror attacks. The driving factors for this development can be explained by a combination of the applied theories, but the framework of neofunctionalism is unexpectedly strong.

Building on three theories of European integration – liberal intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism and postfunctionalism – I offer an explanation to the process and outcomes of the development of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) between 2008 and 2018. The process to establish the CEAS has been characterized by clashing actor preferences, which forced actors into negotiations. This thesis aims to analyze the dynamics of these negotiations surrounding the CEAS. My results show that liberal intergovernmentalism explains locked positions in interstate bargaining and highly compromised outcomes, and even non-decisions, of the CEAS. I also argue that neofunctionalism loses explanatory power when sensitive issues concerning automatic quota systems and national sovereignty are discussed, although many arguments by the involved actors in the policy process draw upon neofunctional assumptions. Postfunctionalism is argued to gain explanatory power during recent years, since identityrelated arguments and Eurosceptical and anti-immigrant ideas in European governments have increased.

<p>The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has long been recognized as a major engine behind the European integration project for its role in passing judgments expanding the powers and scope of the European Community, while member states have consistently reacted negatively to judgments limiting their sovereignty or granting the Community new powers. It is this interplay between the Court and member state interests that cause the ECJ to pose a threat to the future of integration. Using a combined framework of neofunctionalism and rational choice new institutionalism, six landmark cases and the events surrounding them are studied, revealing the motivations behind the Court’s and member states’ actions. From the analysis of these cases is created a set of criteria which can be used to predict when the ECJ will make an activist decision broadening the powers of the Community at the expense of the member states as well as when, and how, member states will respond negatively.</p>

Economic globalization at post-Cold War era brings new opportunities and challenges for economic development in each country. Regionalism is the main feature of multipolar international systems and globalization and regionalization are two main powers to push current international politics and economy development forward. Since China reformed and opened the policy in 1978, fast economic growth has made China become the regional leader to obtain regional politics and economy advantages through good-neighborly diplomacy. Moreover, ASEAN consists of medium and small countries and has to build up the safety for the Nationals and regions as so to strengthen the integration of politics and economy. Due to the painful lessons of Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the turning point contributes both parties to establish ¡§China-ASEAN FTA¡¨ in 2010. Taiwan is located at the center of west Pacific which is the major juncture of North East Asia and Southeast Asia and has the superiority of geographical conditions. Taiwan is a trade-oriented country and Taiwan, China and ASEAN have close economic and trade relations. Taiwan depends deeply on China¡¦s economy and trade and the establishment of ¡§China-ASEAN FTA¡¨ will cause crowding effect to Taiwan¡¦s economy and trade. Due to international blockaded by China¡¦s ¡§one China¡¨ policy, ASEAN maintains separation strategy of economy and trade to Taiwan. During the economic globalization, advancing Regional Trade Agreement or allying with bilateral trade has become the strategy for each country to boost global competitiveness through regional economic integration. Therefore, stable domestic political environment is one of the main elements to affect national diplomacy and security policy. Cross-Strait relations in politics are full of complex confrontation and contradiction. After Ma Ying-jeou exercised the power, both sides opened the negotiation way and economic issues have become the most important focus. Both sides started with theory of neofunctionalism and the precondition is to put the controversy about both sides¡¦ sovereignty aside but normalize the economic and trade relations. Both sides reopened the negotiation which is the foundation to build up mutual trust and reciprocity and mutual benefit is the ultimate goal. Opposite ideology shall be put aside and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement shall be signed to ensure the economic safety and cooperation between both sides in response to the impact of establishing ¡§China-ASEAN FTA¡¨ to settle a stable economic relation to both sides.