My diploma thesis is focused on economic integration between European Union and Southern Common Market, Mercosur. The aim of my thesis is to analyze current relationship between those two parties, compare their treaties and discuss the pros and cons of Association Agreement between EU and Mercosur. The work is divided into two parts - theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part, there are defined basic terms, such as integration, common market, free trade area, custom union and so on. Treaties that led to the establishing of EU and Mercosur are described as well. In practical part there is analysis of current relationship between EU and Mercosur. Furthermore, there is comparison of treaties of both parties, their similarities and differences. Lastly, SWOT analysis of Association Agreement was conducted and discussed.

EU-Ukraine trade relations are important for both parties: for the EU it is a new market with huge land and labor potential, for Ukraine it is a short-term perspective to modernize it's economy. For now the trade and investment relations are not developed as they can be, in this work we analyze the current trade and investment flows between EU and Ukraine, determine the key partners and industries. In order to bring the relations to the new level, we analyze the possible impact of Free Trade Agreement on the both sides in general and more specifically regarding key industries. The result is the recommendation to continue EU-Ukraine integration, especially in terms of economical cooperation.

The goal of the thesis "The EU-MERCOSUR: specific position of Argentina?" is the analysis of relations between the EU and MERCOSUR. The first part of the thesis deals with the characteristics of the selected territory. The second part of the thesis elaborates the relations between the EU and MERCOSUR. It includes historical development of cooperation, law basis of relations and business exchange. The crucial part of this chapter focuses on development of negotiation of inter-regional association agreement and its benefits for both parties. The thesis elaborates current progress of the negotiation especially in the context of the upcoming May 2010 EU and Latin America summit, where the association agreement could be signed. The agreement, however, will probably not include all the originally planned areas. The third part of the thesis analyzes the role of Argentina in MERCOSUR and relations of the EU and Argentina. The first hypothesis, claiming that Argentina is more oriented towards inter-regional MERCOSUR trade than the other member states, was not proved. The second hypothesis, claiming that signing the association agreement with EU will be very important for Argentina due to its strong ties to the European continent, was proved. The question, what the benefits for Argentina would be, if the Association Agreements would be signed without the chapter concerning the liberalization of the Agricultural products trade, still remains.

This study examines the impact of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on agriculture trade and agriculture businesses in the region. We argue that the Association Agreement is a Regional Trade Agreement in accordance with provisions of the GATT, and thereby apply established arguments of the positive and negative effects of the Association Agreement. To analyse the impact and establish a trend, we have utilised data from EU’s agricultural imports from Ukraine, Ukraine’s agriculture production output, and EU exports from one of Ukraine’s largest grain exporters. The agriculture commodities used to represent the agriculture data in the analysis are corn, wheat, seed oils, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds.  To support our discussion of the trends depicted in the data, we have applied the principles of the Theory of Free Trade, and its opposing theory, Protectionism. The findings suggest that the Association Agreement has facilitated a policy shift in the Ukrainian agriculture industry towards EU and away from Russia. However, we cannot limit out the possibility that this shift was inevitable with or without the Association Agreement considering Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine since 2014. Ukrainian agriculture exports to the EU have gradually increased since the implementation of the Association Agreement, and we infer that the Association Agreement plays a role in this increase. Our findings also suggest that agriculture businesses in the frontline five countries have been negatively impacted by the Autonomous Trade Measures which were introduced under the Association Agreement, but we argue that this was never the intention of the legislation. Lastly, we find that Multilateralism is achieved through a regionalist policy in this specific case, but that due to unforeseen circumstances does not reach its full potential.

Tandis que l’OMC éprouve des difficultés à réglementer le commerce, les nations expérimentent tous types d’accordssusceptibles de favoriser leur stratégie d’insertion internationale : bilatéraux, stratégiques, régionaux, de coopération,d’association, etc. Les États-unis et l’Union européenne sont en concurrence face au plus important marchélatino-américain, le Mercosud, lequel bénéficie désormais d’un contexte favorable l’autorisant à choisir ses partenaires. Depuis le rejet du projet de ZLEA, le jeu de séduction tourne à l’avantage de l’Europe qui a su proposer un projet plus complet incluant la coopération pour le développement, l’approfondissement du dialogue politique et la libéralisation deséchanges. L’ouverture de négociations en 1999 en vue de parvenir à un accord, dit d’association, entre les deux systèmesd’intégration régionale, symbolise l’apparition d’un concept nouveau : l’« interrégionalisme»Pourquoi 12 années de négociations n’ont-ellespas été suffisantes pour parvenir à unconsensus sur les termes de l’association ?L’acuité des dossiers, le nombre de paysimpliqués, le « noeud agricole, l’absence deconsultation du secteur privé, sont autantd’éléments à prendre en considération. Cetravail synthétise un processus de négociationcomplexe et présente la particularité d’inclurele secteur privé. En partant à la rencontre, desacteurs politiques et économiques, des deuxrégions, on observe que le secteur privén’occupe pas la place qui lui revient de droitdans ce projet. Il ne manque pas de le rappelerici et, ce faisant, interpelle l’Université sur lerôle qu’elle a à jouer dans l’évolution desrelations entre l’Europe et le Mercosud / In a global economic context where the WTO is losing momentum, nations experiment all sorts of agreements which are likely to help them implement their international integration strategies: bilateral, strategic, regional, cooperation, association agreements, etc. It results in a competition between the United States and the European Union to win the most important market in Latin America, Mercosur, which now enjoys a favourable context and can choose its partners. Since the Free TradeArea of the Americas project was rejected, the game of seduction benefits Europe for it has offered a more complete project including cooperation for development, a deeper political dialogue and a free trade area. Furthermore,the negotiations opened in 1999 with a view to getting to a so-called “association” agreement between the two regional integration systems, symbolise the emergence of a new concept: “interregionalism”Why were those 12 years of negotiation notsufficient to reach a consensus on the terms ofthe association?The complexity of the files, the number ofcountries involved, the agricultural issue andthe lack of consulting from the private sectorare all clues to be taken into consideration.The interest of this research lies in theperspective given by political and economicstakeholders from the two regions. Meetingthem and analysing their speeches helped meshow that the private sector has not beendirectly consulted at all during thenegotiations. In addition, the economicstakeholders have expressed their will to bepart of the process. The private sector alsocalled out the Universities, reminding the rolethey can play in the evolution of therelationship between the two regions.

Tenue à Barcelone les 27-28 novembre 1995, la Conférence euro-méditerranéenne des ministres des Affaires étrangères a marqué le début d’un Partenariat nouveau entre l’Union européenne, ses 15 Etats membres (désormais 27 Etats membres) et leurs 12 Partenaires Méditerranéens (désormais 10). Ce Partenariat comprend une coopération bilatérale (conclusion d’un accord d’association qui couvre les trois objectifs fixés par la Déclaration de Barcelone entre l’Union européenne et chaque pays partenaire), d’une part, une coopération régionale, d’autre part. Le Partenariat euro-méditerranéen repose sur la conviction commune qu’il est souhaitable de développer une politique globale axée sur l’association étroite, dans un large éventail de domaines présentant un intérêt commun, du fait de la proximité des deux régions. La Déclaration de Barcelone, adoptée lors de la Conférence de Barcelone, a établi les trois objectifs essentiels du Partenariat : 1- la définition d’un espace euro-méditerranéen de paix et de stabilité par le renforcement du dialogue politique et de sécurité (partenariat politique et de sécurité) ; 2- le rapprochement entre les peuples au moyen d’un partenariat social, culturel et humain qui vise à favoriser la compréhension des cultures et les échanges entre les sociétés civiles (partenariat social, culturel et humain) ; 3- la construction d’une zone de prospérité partagée et l’instauration d’une zone de libre-échange (partenariat économique et financier), fondée sur l’économie de marché et l’initiative privée dans le respect des règles de l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce. La mise en place de la zone de libre-échange prévoit l’élimination des barrières douanières (et des taxes d’effet équivalent) et de toute entrave à la libre circulation des marchandises entre les pays de l’Union européenne et les pays du sud et de l’est de la Méditerranée. Or, dans le cadre du Partenariat euro-méditerranéen, les pays arabes partenaires sont confrontés à la nécessaire conciliation de deux impératifs majeurs : -d’une part, la demande sociale, liée à l’exigence du développement économique, entraîne un fort besoin de recettes publiques ; d’autre part, le désarmement tarifaire, résultant de l’instauration progressive de la zone de libre-échange euro-méditerranéenne, se traduit par une baisse significative de recettes douanières et entraîne de ce fait la nécessité de mobiliser plus largement la fiscalité interne. Dès lors, quid de la dimension économique et financière et des incidences financières publiques sous-jacentes du Partenariat ? Quels sont les défis auxquels les partenaires arabes méditerranéens sont désormais confrontés en matière de finances publiques ? Du Processus de Barcelone, découle une nécessaire prise de conscience par les Etats arabes méditerranéens de l’exigence d’une réforme de leurs finances publiques. / Held in Barcelona November on 27 and 28 1995, the euro-Mediterranean Conference of ministers of Foreign Affairs marked the kick-off of a new Partnership between the European Union, its 15 member states (from now on 27 member states) and their 12 Mediterranean Partners (from now on 10). This Partnership includes on the one hand a bilateral cooperation (conclusion of an association agreement which covers the three objectives set out in the Barcelona Declaration between the European Union and each partner country), on the other hand, a regional cooperation. The euro-Mediterranean Partnership is founded on the mutual recognition of the value of developing a comprehensive policy of close association in a large number of sectors of common interest resulting from the proximity of the two regions. The Barcelona Declaration, adopted at the Barcelona Conference, has established the three key objectives of the Partnership : 1- the definition of a euro-Mediterranean area of peace and stability by strengthening the policy dialogue and the security (political and security partnership) ; 2- the rapprochement of peoples by means of a social, cultural and human partnership which aims at promoting understanding between cultures and exchanges between civil societies (social, cultural and human partnership) ; 3 – the creation of an area of shared prosperity and the establishment of free-trade area (economic and financial partnership), based on the market economy and private initiative in line with World Trade Organization standards. The establishment of a free trade area provides for the elimination of customs barriers (and of equivalent effect taxes) and of any obstacle to the free movement of goods between the European Union countries and South and East Mediterranean countries. However, in the framework of the euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Arab partners countries are confronted with the necessary conciliation of two majors imperatives : - on the one hand, the social demand, linked to the requirement of economic development, involves a strong need for public receipts ; - in addition, tariff dismantling, resulting from the progressive establishment of a euro-Mediterranean free trade area, results in a significant decrease in the customs returns and thus caused the need to mobilize more broadly the internal taxation. So what about the economic and financial dimension and the underlying public financial implications of the Partnership ? What are the public finance challenges facing Arab Mediterranean partners ? Arising from Barcelona process, the necessary awareness by member states of the need for their public finances reforms.

La Politique européenne de voisinage (PEV) a été conçue pour promouvoir la prospérité, la stabilité et la sécurité dans les régions voisines de l'UE. L'analyse de cette politique dans le cadre du développement des relations entre l'Ukraine et l'UE, ainsi que dans le contexte de l'évolution d'une dynamique intra-régionale du Partenariat oriental, a conduit à l'identification d'une série de lacunes de nature différente, concernant à la fois les failles institutionnelles de la PEV et les incertitudes pesant sur ses perspectives finales vis-à-vis de l'Ukraine. En outre, la PEV a montré la limite de ses capacités à faire face aux défis sécuritaires lors de la crise en Crimée. Elle a également démontré les limites de sa stratégie géopolitique dans le cadre des relations entre la Russie, l'Ukraine et l'UE, de même qu'elle a révélé son incapacité à prévenir les risques potentiels qu'entraînerait l'Accord d'association Ukraine-UE pour l'Ukraine. / The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was originally designed to promote prosperity, stability and security in the European Union's neighbouring regions. The analysis of this policy within the framework of the relations between Ukraine and the EU and in the context of the evolution of the intraregional dynamics of the Eastern Partnership and of the external policy of the Union did however reveal a number of inherent flaws. In addition to the policy's deficiencies relating to both institutional failings and to the uncertainty regarding the final perspective of this process for Ukraine, the ENP also turned out to be insufficient when faced with the security challenges of the Crimean Crisis. It has demonstrated its limitations concerning the EU's geopolitical strategy within the framework of the relations between Russia, Ukraine and the EU and was shown to be unable to prevent potential risks arising from the European Union's Association Agreement with Ukraine.

La recherche est consacrée à l’analyse du régime juridique d’adhésion appliqué par l’UE dans le cas de la Macédoine. L’étude est divisée en deux volets – la stabilisation et l’association –, conformément aux objectifs de la politique du PSA de l’UE envers les États des Balkans occidentaux. En ce qui concerne la politique de stabilisation, sont abordées les modifications constitutionnelles et législatives provenant de l'accord-cadre d'Ohrid – l’élément central du cadre de la conditionnalité d’adhésion à l’UE posé à la Macédoine – ensuite, est recherchée l’application du principe de bon voisinage dans le cas de la Macédoine, notamment en ce qui concerne les divergences avec deux États voisins – le Grèce et la Bulgarie. Le volet association de la thèse est consacré à l’analyse du rapprochement du droit de la Macédoine de l’acquis communautaire en ce qui concerne le droit économique, ainsi que le droit non économique. La thèse vise à combler une lacune dans la littérature existante concernant les relations entre la Macédoine et l'Union européenne. / The research is dedicated to the analysis of the application of the legal regime regulating the enlargement of the European Union toward Macedonia. The work is divided in two parts – the stabilisation and the association –, in accordance to the objectives of the policy of SAP of the UE towards the states of the Western Balkans. The research of the policy of stabilization concerns the constitutional and legislative modifications introduced by the Ohrid Framework Agreement – the central element of the enlargement conditionnality framework imposed on Macedonia –, as well as the application, in the case of Macedonia, of the principle of good neighborliness, in particular the bilateral disputes with its two neighbors – Greece and Bulgaria. The part of the thesis dedicated to the policy of association analyses the rapprochement of the national law of Macedonia to the acquis communautaire in the fields of economic law, as well as the non-economic law. The thesis therefore fills a certain gap in the literature concerning the relations between Macedonia and the European Union.

Au cours des cinq dernières décennies, la Turquie n’a cessé de montrer son désir profond de devenir un Etat membre de l’Union européenne. Cette étude aura pour but de mettre en exergue l’évolution des relations euro-turques depuis 1959 à nos jours étant précisé que le point de départ sera marqué par le traité d’Ankara, signé en 1963, connu également sous le nom de Traité d’association. En effet, bien que la candidature turque occupe une place importante dans les débats européens, les bases juridiques de la relation euro-turque ne sont quasiment jamais évoquées. La recherche portera également sur les évolutions survenues dans le sillage du Conseil Européen d’Helsinki (1999) qui accorda à la Turquie le statut de candidate à l’adhésion. Malgré de substantielles évolutions positives, les négociations avancent au ralenti. L’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union européenne ne pourra donc être clairement envisagée que lorsque des réformes réelles et concrètes auront été engagées en Turquie. En effet, même si ces dernières années ont profondément transformé le paysage turc dans de nombreux domaines, on s’aperçoit que les pratiques ne sont pas encore à la hauteur des législations communautaires. Enfin, la persistance du gouvernement turc à ne pas se conformer aux recommandations européennes sur des sujets très sensibles semble remettre en cause la probabilité d’adhésion de la Turquie au sein de l’Union européenne. / In the past five decades, Turkey has consistently demonstrated its deeply felt desire to become a European Union Member State. The purpose of the present study is to highlight the development of Euro-Turkish relations from 1959 to nowadays, it being specified that the starting point of this study is the Ankara Treaty, signed in 1963, also known as the Association Treaty. Indeed, although Turkey candidacy is now an important part of the European debates, the legal basis of the Euro-Turkish relations are rarely mentioned. The study will also focus on the developments that occurred when the Helsinki European Council of December 1999 stated that Turkey was a candidate for accession to the European Union. Despite substantial and positive developments, the negotiations are progressing very slowly. Therefore, the Turkish accession to the European Union will only be actively considered, when Turkey incurs tangible and real reforms. Indeed, even though changes in recent years have profoundly transformed the Turkish landscape in many areas, it has been noticed that its practices are still not up to Community legislation. Finally, the likelihood of Turkey’s accession to the European Union seems to be questioned by the Turkish government persistence not to comply with European recommendations on highly sensitive issues.

This thesis deals with German foreign policy on example of negotiations of Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine in years 2007-2013. The purpose of this paper was to analyse German interests in these negotiations and to answer the question, if Germany acted more as a civilian or geoeconomic power. Moreover, I focused on the mistakes of German politicians during this process and how it could influence the negative outcome. Firstly, the thesis follows up main basis of German foreign policy and European Neighbourhood Policy, mainly Eastern Partnership, and the role of Germany in these. The main chapter studies chronologically the process of the treaty negotiations and focuses particularly on press releases and statements of key German politicians. These are compared with chosen criteria to assign the actions to one of the concepts. This thesis comes to a conclusion that Germany acted as a civilian power because it tried to multilateralize the relations, stressed the principles and values and avoided conflicts. Germany's mistake was that it did not pay enough attention to the negotiations and had no clear strategy for this area. With its passivity and lack of interest in Ukraine itself it contributed to the failure of the negotiations.