Research on geopolitics primarily focuses on nation-state actors and how geographical factors affect their policy towards other actors in international relations. The EU, as a non-state actor and a normative power, has been understudied through the lens of geopolitics as scholars believed that this Union was unlikely to apply geopolitical thinking in their foreign policy. This thesis aims to explore to what extent and under what circumstances an actor, notably a non- state actor, applies geopolitical theories in the foreign policy. The paper argues that geopolitics theories, both classical and critical ones, have been increasingly able to explain the external relations of the EU, particularly after 2013 when the Chinese government launched Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Furthermore, geopolitics theories also add more values to understand the complexity of the EU' foreign policy, given the fact that there is no single theory that can explain it comprehensively. As explanatory research, qualitative methods, including discourse analysis, content analysis, and process tracing, will be used to examine how the EU has responded to BRI. The thesis first reviews the scholarship on geopolitics and EU's foreign policy. Next, it investigates how China applies geoplitics in BRI. Last, it focuses on how the...

The aim of this thesis is to analyze and determine the actual flow of oil and natural gas in Europe, from the results to draw conslusions of the weight of the EU's dependence on Russian energy supplies and subsequently to determine the possibilities and prospects for further security flows of oil and natural gas to the EU. Oil and natural gas are the basic strategic raw materials of world economics, including economics of European countries. Most of the European countries does not have adequate supplies of energy raw materials. In particular, EU countries are therefore dependent on external supplies of oil and natural gas. The first chapter of the thesis is focused on oil and natural gas as major raw materials for the current energy situation in Europe. I defined the terms "oil" and "natural gas" and I analyzed the significant deposits of these materials and described their current production and consumption in Europe. In the second chapter I focused on the current flows of oil and natural gas in Europe, particularly on the European network of pipelines. On the baisis of these two chapters I specified the weight of the EU's dependence on energy supplies from Russia and identified the main problems of these supplies. In the third chapter of the thesis I dealt with the security flow of oil and natural gas to the EU and its perspectives and I gave the EU energy policy. I have analyzed selected documents of European energy policy, the EU's energy mix and I identified possible ways to reduce the EU's energy dependency. I included diversification of supply routes and the diversification of EU energy mix among these options. In conclusion, I summarized the current European energy situation, assessed European energy policy and outlined its future development.

European Public Prosecutor's Office, abstract The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has been so far the most ambitious project in the field of Europeanization of criminal law. Criminal law has traditionally been an area where the member states of the European Union are strictly guarding their sovereignty and they are very reluctant when it comes to its harmonization or perhaps unification. This is also the reason why it is important to closely focus on this newly created institution. This is the very first time the EU member states established a body with a competence to investigate and prosecute crimes across countries regardless of national borders. According to the adopted legal framework, the European Chief Prosecutor located in Luxembourg is to focus primarily on crimes affecting the EU's financial interests. The EPPO is to investigate and prosecute these crimes and to represent public prosecution before national courts. The greatest added value of the EPPO should be its independence from national public prosecutor's offices in member states. Independence, expertise, and a cross-border competence should save dozens to hundreds of billions of Euros to the EU's - and nationals - budgets. These amounts of money are being lost every year due to cross-border financial crimes, mainly due to subsidy...

Magistro baigiamajame darbe išanalizuotos laisvosios prekybos susitarimai tarp ES ir trečiųjų šalių, ištirta tarpusavio prekybos struktūra bei pokyčiai 2000- 2010 metų laikotarpiu. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje, teoriniu aspektu išnagrinėjama liberalizacijos pradžia Europoje, bei šios idėjos plėtra, preferencinių susitarimų įpatybės pasaulyje be Europoje. Taip pat teoriškai vertinamas laisvosios prekybos susitarimų poveikis susitariančiom šalim. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjama ES ir Meksikos, Čilės, PAR ir P. Korėjos laisvosios prekybos struktūrą bei kaitą, be to įvertinamas poveikis šalių ūkinei veiklai. Trečiojoje dalyje išanalizuojama Lietuvos ir trečiųjų šalių prekyba bei ES taikomos strateginė plėtra pasaulyje. / Master's thesis analyzed the free-trade agreements between the EU and third countries, trade between the investigated structure and changes in the 2000 - 2010 period. The first part, a theoretical analysis of the context of liberalization starting in Europe, and this idea of development, preferential agreements įpatybės world without Europe. It is also theoretically considered a free-trade agreements on parties. The second part deals with the EU and Mexico, Chile, South Africa, and P. Korea free-trade structure and change, in addition to evaluating the impact of the economic activity of countries. The third part of Lithuania and analyzed by third parties for marketing and strategic development of the EU in the world.

Viduržemio jūros regionas ilgą laiką nebuvo aktualus nei Lietuvai, nei kitoms Vidurio ir Rytų Europos šalims. Globalizacijos akivaizdoje ES plėtojant vis glaudesnius ryšius su tarptautinėmis organizacijomis (JT, NATO, ET, PPO) ir kaimyniniais regionais, strateginio Viduržemio jūros regiono vaidmuo tapo ypač aktualus. Barselonos konferencijoje 1995 m. lapkričio 27–28 d. iškelta ES ir Viduržemio regiono bendradarbiavimo iniciatyva nepasiekė užsibrėžtų tikslų, todėl 2004 m. pradėta Europos kaimynystės politika buvo svarbus žingsnis atvėręs naujo regioninio bendradarbiavimo etapą. Viduržemio jūros regiono šalys nuo pat EKP pradžios intensyviai siekė ir siekia įsitraukti į EKP ir pasinaudoti integracijos pranašumais, ES savo ruožtu regioninio bendradarbiavimo atžvilgiu pradėjo taikyti ne tik tradicines diplomatijos ir prekybos priemonės, bet ir naujas iniciatyvas. Viena jų, nagrinėjama šiame magistro darbe – bendradarbiavimas švietimo ir aukštojo mokslo srityje. Darbo tikslas – atskleisti ES ir Viduržiemio jūros regiono bendradarbiavimą bei išanalizuoti, ES vykdomos politikos įtaką Viduržemio jūros regiono švietimui ir EKP vykdomų į aukštąjį mokslą nukreiptų programų ir projektų efektyvumą. Atliekant šį tyrimą naudojami šaltinių ir literatūros analizės, lyginimo ir pusiau struktūrinio interviu tyrimo metodai. Pirmoje dalyje nagrinėjama ES ir Viduržemio jūros regiono šalių bendradarbiavimo raida, išskiriant ir analizuojant Barselonos konferencijos vaidmenį ir įtaką tarpregioniniam... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Mediterranean region has not been very interesting for a long time not only for Lithuania, but also for others Middle and East Europe countries. In the era of globalization, while EU is constantly building new connections with international organizations (UN, NATO, EC, WTO) and local neighboring regions, the role of strategic Mediterranean has recently became a very important topic. At a conference in Barcelona on November 27 – 28, 1995 a new revival between the Mediterranean and the EU was attempted. However, the desired results were not reached. As a result of this failure in 2004 a new European neighborhood policy was started. This step was very important since it opened a new stage of regional collaborations. All Mediterranean countries have always tried and are still trying to get into EKP and to use integration advantages. At the same time, the EU started to apply not only traditional political diplomacy and international marketing actions, but also began to build new initiatives. One of those new initiatives -- “Collaboration in education and higher education” -- is the subject of the analysis of this masters degree. The main point of this work is to reveal the collaboration between the EU and the Mediterranean region, as well as to analyze the influence of the EU on the Mediterranean region’s education and explore the efficiency of the programs and projects related to higher education. For this research we used literature analysis, halfway structure interviews... [to full text]

En tant qu’entité politique dotée d’un pouvoir normatif, l’Union européenne participe à la tentative d’appréhension de la réalité économique que sont les investissements internationaux. Mais l’Union n’est pas un État ; or, l’appréhension juridique de cette matière résulte essentiellement de la coexistence d’États. Comment, dès lors, l’ordre juridique européen se saisit-il des investissements internationaux ? Il le fait de longue date dans le cadre de l’élaboration du marché intérieur puisque les traités UE et FUE sont, entre autres, des instruments de libéralisation des investissements transfrontaliers. Depuis l’entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne, une étape supplémentaire a été franchie dans le processus de consolidation de la compétence européenne dans le domaine des investissements : l’Union est désormais dotée d’une compétence externe exclusive en matière d’investissements étrangers directs dans le cadre de la politique commerciale commune. La mise en œuvre de cette compétence européenne montre deux choses. Malgré l’entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne, l’Union ne dispose encore que d’une compétence limitée dans ce domaine qui lui permet certes d’agir mais qui ne suffit pas à créer les conditions de sa pleine substitution aux États membres. La coexistence entre l’Union et les États membres qui en résulte n’empêche cependant pas la recherche autonome d’affirmation de l’Union sur la scène internationale. Celle-ci révèle alors la spécificité de son action économique extérieure : plus qu’elle ne protège l’investissement, l’Union recherche, au moyen de la règle de droit, la libre circulation des flux d’investissements et des courants d’échanges internationaux. / As a political entity endowed with a normative power, the European Union contributes to the attempt to apprehend the economic reality of international investments. But the Union is not a State ; yet, the juridical prehension of this matter essentially results from the coexistence of sovereign States. Consequently, how does the EU legal order comprehend international investments? Long-standing, it does so as part of the organisation of the internal market, since the TEU and TFEU are, among other things, juridical instruments of cross-border investments liberalisation. Since the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the strengthening of the EU’scompetence over international investments went one step further. Henceforth, the EU has an exclusive external competence over foreign direct investments within the framework of the common commercial policy. The implementation of this competence shows two things. Despite the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the Union still does not possess the whole competence on investment matters. Certainly, the Union can now act more easily in this field. However, that competence does not suffice to create the legal conditions allowing for its full substitution to the Member States. Though, the resulting coexistence between the Union and the Member States does not prevent the Union from researching an autonomous way to assertits own existence and identity on the world stage. By doing so, the Union reveals the specific features of its external economic action regarding international investments : more than the protection of particular investments, the Union seeks, by using the rule of law, the free movement of investment and trade international flows.

This study traces the development of narratives on the role of culture within the EU’s external relations and aims to identify culture’s contribution to contemporary construction and self-imagination of the Union’s international actorness. The focus lies not on how individuals and publics perceive these narratives or if they are successful in construction and shaping the perceptions of their audiences. Instead, the EU institutions’ and officials’ intentions and aspirations behind sending those messages are the focus point of the analysis, as well as the critical identification of the tools and methods through which the Union strives to do so. Thus, the overarching research question to answer is: how the EU uses narratives on the role of culture and international cultural relations to construct itself as a relevant international actor. And, why and how the internal EU discussion developed and changed over time. Based on a critical discourse analytical approach to the selected, official EU documents, speeches, international declarations and communications, it shows that currently two different understandings and roles of culture and international cultural relations coexist within the EU’s internal discourse: one, advocating the deployment of international cultural relations not for simply showcasing one’s own, national culture but for a greater, ambitious goal of global responsibility and sustainable development. The focus of this approach lies in the development of a new and solidary global environment which respects and celebrates (cultural) diversity, through mutual exchanges, reciprocity and the sharing of knowledge and expertise. While the other narrative focuses on constructing the EU as a “global power” and emphasises the importance of a more traditional European “cultural diplomacy”.

This thesis deals with the proposed changes in the area of EU asylum and migration law in the light of the current refugee crisis. EU asylum and migration law are two separate areas between which there is a "close connection". The paper describes EU asylum and migration legal framework, then delimits the term "refugee crisis" and reviews recent measures taken or proposed by the EU. The thesis is divided into 3 chapters. In the first part of the paper the author follows up the legal framework which encompasses both international legal instruments (1951 Refugee Convention and others) and EU primary law and secondary acts. The second chapter is dedicated to analysis of the "refugee crisis", its crises factors, as well as to reflections on the characteristic of this crisis as a state of emergency. The last chapter, which is internally divided into two subchapters, concerning asylum and migration law, relates to particular measures taken by the EU during the crisis. The subchapter which deals with the asylum law includes the following topics: on the one hand it describes ad hoc measures to tackle the migration crisis in Italy and Greece, on the other hand it analyzes proposals of a system reform (e.g. proposal for a permanent EU relocation mechanism, reform of the Dublin system, completing the reform of...

The aim of this Master thesis was to find out whether the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union was able to exert influence in EU's external relations after the Lisbon Treaty has entered into force. Thesis was looking on two post-Lisbon Council Presidencies- Hungarian Council Presidency and the Polish Council Presidency and their influence in Eastern Partnership-the flagship initiative of both of these presidencies. Through the identification of the informal roles of the rotating presidency-agenda setter role and broker's role, the influence on the development of Eastern Partnership of both Council Presidencies was determined. The other factors such as the reputation of the presiding country, stable domestic political situation, ability to deal with unexpected developments have been considered as important pre-requisites for the Council Presidency to be able to exert influence through its informal roles.