The recent enlargements of the European Union brought about a strategic shift in the EU’s approach to conflict management and security in the eastern neighbourhood. The Partnership and Co-operation Agreements between the EU and Moldova contained no mention of the Transnistrian dispute, while the agreement between the EU and Geor gia included a vague phrase regarding political dialogue which may include the issue of conflict resolution. The addition of new members to the Union, however, expanded the EU into its neighbourhood and brought closer the unresolved territorial disputes. Concerns that were once further away are now right next door. While the former accession states might have served as buffers to these concerns, they can no longer, as members of the Union, be seen as such. Therefore, there is a greater need to address security issues, such as the ‘frozen conflicts’ bordering the EU. This thesis will examine the evolution of the EU’s responses to security chal lenges in the Eastern neighbourhood, and assess the role the EU plays in addressing these ‘frozen conflicts’ through the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Fur ther, this thesis will argue that the EU has thus far exerted limited direct pressure towards direct resolution of these conflicts and has instead approached regional stability through a variety of other indirect and long term means, such as the pursuit of economic growth and political stability. In particular, the research will look at the security sector reform (SSR) and will focus on the EU’s impact, or Europeanization, in the rule of law and border management sectors of Moldova and Georgia. It will be shown that these two sectors are related to promoting political stability and economic growth, which is in line with the EU’s effort to support development in Moldova and Georgia, and thus indirectly address ‘frozen conflict’ resolution by. altering the incentive structures. This thesis will conclude that the EU does have an impact on the rule of law and border management sectors and subsequently some impact on the ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova but less so on the conflicts in Georgia.

The recent enlargements of the European Union brought about a strategic shift in the EU’s approach to conflict management and security in the eastern neighbourhood. The Partnership and Co-operation Agreements between the EU and Moldova contained no mention of the Transnistrian dispute, while the agreement between the EU and Geor gia included a vague phrase regarding political dialogue which may include the issue of conflict resolution. The addition of new members to the Union, however, expanded the EU into its neighbourhood and brought closer the unresolved territorial disputes. Concerns that were once further away are now right next door. While the former accession states might have served as buffers to these concerns, they can no longer, as members of the Union, be seen as such. Therefore, there is a greater need to address security issues, such as the ‘frozen conflicts’ bordering the EU. This thesis will examine the evolution of the EU’s responses to security chal lenges in the Eastern neighbourhood, and assess the role the EU plays in addressing these ‘frozen conflicts’ through the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Fur ther, this thesis will argue that the EU has thus far exerted limited direct pressure towards direct resolution of these conflicts and has instead approached regional stability through a variety of other indirect and long term means, such as the pursuit of economic growth and political stability. In particular, the research will look at the security sector reform (SSR) and will focus on the EU’s impact, or Europeanization, in the rule of law and border management sectors of Moldova and Georgia. It will be shown that these two sectors are related to promoting political stability and economic growth, which is in line with the EU’s effort to support development in Moldova and Georgia, and thus indirectly address ‘frozen conflict’ resolution by. altering the incentive structures. This thesis will conclude that the EU does have an impact on the rule of law and border management sectors and subsequently some impact on the ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova but less so on the conflicts in Georgia.

The recent enlargements of the European Union brought about a strategic shift in the EU’s approach to conflict management and security in the eastern neighbourhood. The Partnership and Co-operation Agreements between the EU and Moldova contained no mention of the Transnistrian dispute, while the agreement between the EU and Geor gia included a vague phrase regarding political dialogue which may include the issue of conflict resolution. The addition of new members to the Union, however, expanded the EU into its neighbourhood and brought closer the unresolved territorial disputes. Concerns that were once further away are now right next door. While the former accession states might have served as buffers to these concerns, they can no longer, as members of the Union, be seen as such. Therefore, there is a greater need to address security issues, such as the ‘frozen conflicts’ bordering the EU. This thesis will examine the evolution of the EU’s responses to security chal lenges in the Eastern neighbourhood, and assess the role the EU plays in addressing these ‘frozen conflicts’ through the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Fur ther, this thesis will argue that the EU has thus far exerted limited direct pressure towards direct resolution of these conflicts and has instead approached regional stability through a variety of other indirect and long term means, such as the pursuit of economic growth and political stability. In particular, the research will look at the security sector reform (SSR) and will focus on the EU’s impact, or Europeanization, in the rule of law and border management sectors of Moldova and Georgia. It will be shown that these two sectors are related to promoting political stability and economic growth, which is in line with the EU’s effort to support development in Moldova and Georgia, and thus indirectly address ‘frozen conflict’ resolution by. altering the incentive structures. This thesis will conclude that the EU does have an impact on the rule of law and border management sectors and subsequently some impact on the ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova but less so on the conflicts in Georgia. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

<p>This study examines the European Unions (EU) promoting of regional cooperation, included in its programme, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The thesis is based upon the agreed activities in the EU/Ukraine relation concerning regional cooperation.</p><p>The aim for this thesis is to visualise the policy outcome of the ENP concerning the EU/Ukraine relation and regional cooperation. The following questions are posed: What are the goals for the EU; what are the achievements and planned actions and what instruments are used by the EU in the ENP concerning the EU/Ukraine relation and regional cooperation?</p><p>The theoretical approach assumes that the Union is a power in international relations. It’s well suited promoting its policies in an asymmetric power environment, where the EU is the supremacy.</p><p>This study is conducted with a qualitative research method, based on text analysis on the European Unions official documents.</p><p>The result shows that the goals for the Union are the protection of its prosperity and its energy supply. Ukraine shall assist the EU, reaching these goals. In exchange, is the EU promising integration to the Unions internal market for Ukraine. But the EU has problems when this contravenes to Russia’s interests. This confirms the theory.</p>

Relations between the EU and its neighbour countries and regions are very important for either side. One of the topics which joins them is the energy resource issue. Daily, millions of barrels of oil and billions of cubic meter of natural gas flow through this area into Europe. This diploma thesis deals exactly with this matter, e.i. European Union's energy security. It is a very topical, discussed but above all for the EU important theme. The purpose of this thesis is to connect the conception of EU's energy security through the European Neighbourhood Policy, e.i. the policy which the EU has established to create stability and prosperity with the neighbour regions of North Africa, Near East, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus states. The outcome of this paper should be to evaluate the potential of the countries in the European neighbourhood and the potential of the neighbourhood policy for strengthening the EU security policy, that means to summarize the possibilities for effective co-operation in the field of energy and to say if this co-operation could strengthen European Union's energy security.

In my work I have focused on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) as an instrument of EU (foreign) policy towards its eastern neighbors with regard to the geopolitical implications of collaboration through the given initiative. My ambition has been to identify the potential benefits of initiating the project, especially in political-security and energy aspects. The first chapter focuses on the theoretical concept of geopolitics as well as the geopolitical definition of the East-European region. The second chapter is devoted to the conceptualisation of the EaP as an specific instrument of the European foreign policy as well as the concrete implementation of the EaP in practice. The third chapter deals with particular relevance to this project with the (geo)strategic objectives of the EU as well as the analysis of the EaP in terms of effective functioning.

Seit 2004 versucht die EU mit der Europäischen Nachbarschaftspolitik demokratische Werte in ihre Nachbarländer zu exportieren. Adressaten sind Länder der Mittelmeerunion und Länder des postsozialistischen Europa, die in der Östlichen Partnerschaft zusammengefasst sind. Als außenpolitisches Instrument bietet die Nachbarschaftspolitik eine Alternative zur Erweiterungspolitik. In erster Linie sollen negative Entwicklungen wie illegale Migration, organisierte Kriminalität, grenzübergreifende Umweltzerstörungen und ethnische Konflikte abgewehrt werden. Die Studie analysiert Externalisierung, Sozialisierung und Imitation als Mechanismen des Europäisierungsprozesses und untersucht im Rahmen einer empirischen Prozessanalyse am Beispiel der Ukraine, welche der von der Europäischen Union angewandten Mechanismen den größten Erfolg für eine Normenadaption bedeuten.

This thesis attempts to analyze the European Neighbourhood Policy from a Neo-Gramscian perspective, mapping transnational power relations in Europe and identifying the historical-specific articulations between economic, political and (civil) societal processes in the specific case of Ukraine. Thus the thesis attempts to show how the EU&rsquo / s hegemonic project is formed and applied, it also explores whether there are redefinitions of the EU hegemonic project and ask whether it is sustainable or not. It is contended that the European Commission&rsquo / s neo-liberal strategy is designed to transform the region into a space in which the free flow of capital, goods and services is secured, but the free movement of people is heavily restricted, and no commitment is made towards full membership for its partners. In fact, this study explores whether or not the ENP as a hegemonic project is likely to establish an historic bloc / whether the ENP is sustainable or not with the consent of its partners. This study focuses on social power relations and their organisation and articulation within the structures of the state/civil-societal complex at the national and transnational levels in order to analyse the degree and manner of both coercion and consent given to the EU&rsquo / s hegemonic project, which in turn will allow for an assessment of the project&rsquo / s likelihood of success. The EU&rsquo / s general strategy towards its neighbours is shown to be a hegemonic project spearheaded by an intellectual and moral leadership directed by conflicting political and cultural agents and organisations.

<p>Abstract</p><p>The thesis investigates how the European Union promotes stability and security in the Mediterranean region. The aim is to analyse the European Union’s security ambitions with Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Barcelona Process. An analytical framework with five sectors (military, political, economic, environmental and societal), based on the Copenhagen School’s theories about security sectors and securitization, is used for the analysis. Within the framework threats, objectives and methods are categorized into each security sector. Then it is possible to distinguish if any sector is more prioritised by the EU. Qualitative text analysis is used to examine relevant EU-documents. The result of the analysis shows that the European Union prioritizes the economical and societal sector in promoting peace and security within the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Through economical integration and cultural dialogue, the EU tries to enhance security and stability. The EU emphasises the importance of global governance and international law for a stable peace. The study concludes that the widened concept of security, within the Copenhagen School, can help to explain the European Union’s work inside the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.</p>

The thesis tests the efficacy of Principal-Agent (PA) theory in explaining the creation and development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). As such, the thesis is subject as well as theory-driven. Empirically, the focal point is how the interaction between the EU member states and the European Commission affected the development of the ENP. It is a theme which is largely overlooked in the ENP literature. In terms of theory, the ENP represents a fascinating case study for PA analysis not only because it has rarely been applied to the field of EU foreign policy but also because PA has seldom been used for studying the evolution of a policy (both pre and post-delegation). Conceptualising EU member states as principals and the European Commission as agent, the thesis examines PA dynamics through the following three ENP policy stages: formulation (2002-2004), finalisation (2004-2006), and implementation (2007-2009). Three hypotheses are tested for each stage of the ENP. Two hypotheses are rooted in PA scholarship, and address the influence of the agent as an informal agenda-setter, while the third distinguishes the agent's influence between different stages of the policy development. Methodologically, the research design is based on within-case process-tracing while the empirical data is drawn from a triangulation of official documents, secondary sources and elite interviews. The thesis findings show that during the initial stages of the policy, the Commission took advantage of its favourable position (e.g. informational asymmetries and uncertainty among the member states) to establish itself as the key actor in the ENP. As the ENP evolved, the Commission’s influence has diminished while the member states, collectively and individually, became more engaged in determining the course of the policy. However, contrary to PA assumptions, member states' increased oversight over the Commission did not come as a response to disobedient behaviour. Based on the empirical data, the Commission, as an agent, was in fact trying to implement the ENP following the guidelines which were previously agreed by its principals. Thus, in the case of the ENP, my PA analysis shifts from the traditional inquiry of how principals control opportunistic agents, to examining how principals could hinder the work of the agent. This phenomenon, broadly defined by Thompson (2007) as the ‘principal problem’, is an anomaly in existing PA literature dominated by an agency-biased standpoint and has previously not been analysed in the context of the European Union. Finally, the wider implication of this thesis is that there is still room for broadening the scope of PA analysis while highlighting the necessity to keep a watchful eye on both the principals and the agent.