Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka vilka problem och möjligheter Kemikalieinspektionens anställda upplever i arbetet medmiljömålet Giftfri miljö och dess delmål. Detta för att bättre förstå komplexiteten i miljömålsarbetet och vilka drivkrafter och barriärer som finns iarbetet. För att göra detta har fem respondenter från Kemikalieinspektionen genom ett strategiskt urval valts ut till kvalitativa semistruktureradeintervjuer som varade mellan ca 30-60 min i omfattning. Som komplement till dessa intervjuer har även fyra rapporter från Naturvårdsverketanalyserats. Dessa är: uppföljningsrapporterna från 2005, 2010, 2015 och den fördjupade utvärderingsrapporten för 2015. Detta med avgränsningtill de kapitel som behandlande Giftfri miljö och etappmålen. Materialet har sedan analyserats och tematiserats med inriktning på de problem ochmöjligheter som vi kunnat se. Resultatet av denna analys gav tillslut 9 teman som är: Giftfri miljö, Etappmålen för farliga ämnen, Samordning,Företagsansvar, Produktionsökning och diffusa produktinnehåll, Det komplexa Reach, Styrmedel, Skadliga ämnen i miljön, EU och EUkommissionen.Det största hindret för miljökvalitétsmålet Giftfri miljö, är att det egentligen inte alls är ett definierat mål utan snarare en vision,vilket alla våra respondenter förtydligade under intervjuerna. 2020 har aldrig vart en realistisk tidsram för att miljömålet ska kunna bli uppnått.Problematiken som vi ser det med att nå Giftfri miljö ligger i målets struktur. Efter denna studie ser vi i stället hur etappmålen kan fungera som ettsteg på vägen men att miljökvalitetsmålet är allt för orealistiskt och kanske istället borde formuleras om till en vision. / This paper aims to examine the problems and opportunities that the employees at The Swedish Chemicals Agency experience in theirwork with the environmental objective A Non- Toxic Environment. We want to get a better understanding of the complexity of the environmentalobjectives and the driving forces and barriers that exist in the workfield. To do this, five respondents from The Swedish Chemicals Agency wasselected through strategic selection and later interviewed through qualitative semi-structured interviews, which lasted between 30-60 minutes. As acomplement to these interviews four reports by the Environmental Protection Agency has also been analyzed. These are: annual monitoring reportsfrom 2005, 2010, 2015, and one the in-depth evaluation report from 2015. We have limited ourselves to the chapters about toxic environment andits environmental objective milestones. The material has then been analyzed and thematized with a focus on the problems and opportunities thatwe have seen through analyze. The result of this analysis eventually gave 9 themes: The environmental objective Non-toxic environment, Theenvironmental objective milestones for harmful substances, Coordination, Company responsibility, Production increase and diffuse productcontent, The complex REACH, Policy instruments, Harmful substances in the environment, and EU and the European Commission. The biggestobstacle to the objective of non-toxic environment is that it is not really a defined goal but rather a vision, which all of our respondents expressedduring the interviews. 2020 has never been a realistic time frame for this quality objective Non-toxic environment. The problem as we see it has todo with the structure of the environmental quality objective in question. By this we mean that none of the respondents actually see theenvironmental objective as anything that can be achieved. After this study we can see how the environmental objective milestones can serve as astepping stone, but that the environmental quality objective is unrealistic and should instead be made into a vision.

This research project seeks to gauge the autonomous power of the European Commission within the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), a new mode of governance coined at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 and based on the principle of the voluntary cooperation of Member States. Two cases form the basis of this inquiry, namely, quality in work, a policy issue addressed under the banner of the European Employment Strategy, and child poverty and social exclusion, a key item on the agenda of the OMC for Social Inclusion. A primary impetus at the heart of this project is one of ontological pluralism. Rejecting a zero-sum interpretation of the rationalist/constructivist debate, this study constitutes a plea for a conversation across paradigms. The domain-of-application model employed here works by preserving the integrity of individual theories while specifying a particular scope condition under which constructivist and rationalist insights are likely to prevail. Selecting two cases on the basis of the critical scope condition of issue sensitivity, a central postulate informing this integrative research design is that high issue sensitivity (quality in work) invites strategic interaction among pre-constituted social actors driven by a behavioural logic of utility-maximization, while low issue sensitivity (child poverty and social exclusion) allows for a fundamentally norm-guided behaviour. Concretely, in effecting this theoretical dialogue, two sets of causal hypotheses are examined. On the one hand, rational choice institutionalism (principal-agent theory) offers a number of suppositions about the Commission’s institutional power, that is, its ability to transform the conditions of action of self-seeking national governments. On the other hand, sociological institutionalism conceptualizes the Commission’s productive power (i.e. its power to constitute the interests and identities of individual agents) through the lens of discourse analysis. Testing theoretical predictions against collected data makes plain the superior explanatory value of independent variables and causal mechanisms of rationalist lineage in capturing the essence of the Commission’s autonomous power in the case of quality in work and the congruity of sociological institutionalism’s original conjectures in the area of child poverty and social exclusion. Crucially, this strict correspondence corroborates the pertinence of the critical scope condition of issue sensitivity in delineating the explanatory ambit of both theories and attests to the co-existence of different forms of autonomous power wielded by the Commission within the framework of the OMC.

"Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit (LL.D) et à l'Université Jean Moulin en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit" / Les États européens n'ont, jusque dans les années 90, envisagé leur défense que dans le cadre d'alliances militaires et restaient maîtres de leur défense nationale. La mise en place d'une politique européenne de défense a toujours connu des obstacles, reflets des problèmes de souveraineté. Dans l'Union européenne, l'intégration politique, et en particulier celle de la défense, reste le domaine le plus incertain. Cette thèse de nature essentiellement empirico-descriptive aborde le thème de la défense européenne sous une approche réaliste, en plaçant les États au centre de la construction européenne et en en faisant les acteurs principaux. Depuis 1992, les États tentent de définir une politique européenne de défense mais rencontrent différentes difficultés. En effet, la politique européenne de défense souffre d'un double déficit. Le premier est un déficit institutionnel puisque la P.E.D. est loin d'être une politique commune et se limite à un mécanisme de coopération. Le second est un déficit matériel puisque l'Union européenne n'a pas la puissance militaire pour mettre en oeuvre une éventuelle décision commune. Afin d'évaluer les perspectives d'évolution d'une politique européenne de défense, nous devons étudier les différents défis que les États et les institutions communautaires doivent relever pour combler ces deux déficits. Les défis d'ordre institutionnel concernent les multiples acteurs, États et institutions, qui interviennent dans la définition de la P.E.S.D. Il s'agit de déterminer quelle instance est la mieux à même d'assurer la représentation internationale de l'Union européenne afin de donner l'impulsion politique nécessaire de la P.E.S.D. Les défis d'ordre militaire concernent les moyens que les différents acteurs souhaitent engager afin de concrétiser la politique définie. Toutes ces discussions montrent la justification d'un système européen de défense mais la question est de savoir si les États, acteurs centraux de la construction européenne, sont prêts à relever ces défis. / Up until the 1990's, the European States have solely thought of their security forces inside military alliances as they kept control of their national defense. The putting in place of a European defense policy has always met obstacles, which reflect the problems linked to the preservation of sovereignty. The political integration in Europe remains uncertain, mostly when it comes to common defense. With an empirical and descriptive manner, this thesis depicts the European defense theme in a realistic approach, by placing the States in the middle of the European construction and by giving them the main role. Since 1992, the States tried to lay down a European policy of defense, but they encountered various difficulties. Indeed, the European policy of defense suffers from a double deficit. The first is institutional since the European Defense Policy is far from being part of a common policy and is strictly a cooperation mechanism. The second is a material deficit since the European Union doesn't have a military force to implement a common decision. In order to evaluate the possible evolution of a European defense policy, we had to study the various challenges that the States and institutions must face in order to address those two deficits. The institutional challenge concerns the multiple actors, States and institutions, which intervene in the definition of E.P.S.D. This part will try to identify which institution would be best capable of ensuring the international representation of the European Union and to give the political impetus necessary to the putting into place of the E.P.S.D. The military challenge concern the means that the different actors would engage in order to concretize the policy. Ali these discussions show the justification of a European system of defense, but the question remains as to whether the States, central figures of the European construction, are ready to take up these challenges.

The goal of this diploma thesis is to define the European political parties. The thesis has been divided into five chapters, which are further subdivided. The reason why I have chosen this topic is quite simple - to analyse the current status of the European political parties and introduce them to wider audience not to be confused anymore with political groups in the European Parliament. In the first chapter the thesis brings a brief definition of the legal constitution of political groups in the European Parliament. For many years there has been confusion between the concept of a European political party and political group, so the thesis defines the political groups and its position in the European Parliament in order to create a basis for their differentiation from the European political parties. The second chapter is devoted to create a definition of the European political party and to bring the legal regulation of the European political parties. The thesis focuses also on the variability of their legal base in the treaties of the European Union (legal base before the Treaty of Lisbon, legal base in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and legal base in the Treaty of Lisbon). The third chapter is dedicated to legal issues of the European political parties. Emphasis was put on...

The need to improve the economic governance of the EU occurred during the financial crisis when many member states experienced recession. The fact that each member state was influenced differently shows us the two main weaknesses of the EMU: economic heterogeneity of the member states and deep public debt. Existing fiscal rules were proved to be ineffective and unenforceable. The topic of this master thesis is the analysis of the impact of the economic governance reform on the position of the European Commission. The thesis deals only with one aspect of the reform- the budgetary surveillance framework. The thesis explains that this reform was necessary for improving of the EMU and it deals with the impact of this reform on the position of the European Commission. The analysis is based on the comparison of legal acts concerning the budgetary surveillance framework before and after the reform.

Univ., Habil.-Schr. u.d.T.: Topan, Angelina: Der Entscheidungsprozess in der Europäischen Kommission aus der Perspektive der modernen Institutionenökonomik: am Fallbeispiel der europäischen Regionalpolitik--Hamburg, 2004.

Les États européens n'ont, jusque dans les années 90, envisagé leur défense que dans le cadre d'alliances militaires et restaient maîtres de leur défense nationale. La mise en place d'une politique européenne de défense a toujours connu des obstacles, reflets des problèmes de souveraineté. Dans l'Union européenne, l'intégration politique, et en particulier celle de la défense, reste le domaine le plus incertain. Cette thèse de nature essentiellement empirico-descriptive aborde le thème de la défense européenne sous une approche réaliste, en plaçant les États au centre de la construction européenne et en en faisant les acteurs principaux. Depuis 1992, les États tentent de définir une politique européenne de défense mais rencontrent différentes difficultés. En effet, la politique européenne de défense souffre d'un double déficit. Le premier est un déficit institutionnel puisque la P.E.D. est loin d'être une politique commune et se limite à un mécanisme de coopération. Le second est un déficit matériel puisque l'Union européenne n'a pas la puissance militaire pour mettre en oeuvre une éventuelle décision commune. Afin d'évaluer les perspectives d'évolution d'une politique européenne de défense, nous devons étudier les différents défis que les États et les institutions communautaires doivent relever pour combler ces deux déficits. Les défis d'ordre institutionnel concernent les multiples acteurs, États et institutions, qui interviennent dans la définition de la P.E.S.D. Il s'agit de déterminer quelle instance est la mieux à même d'assurer la représentation internationale de l'Union européenne afin de donner l'impulsion politique nécessaire de la P.E.S.D. Les défis d'ordre militaire concernent les moyens que les différents acteurs souhaitent engager afin de concrétiser la politique définie. Toutes ces discussions montrent la justification d'un système européen de défense mais la question est de savoir si les États, acteurs centraux de la construction européenne, sont prêts à relever ces défis. / Up until the 1990's, the European States have solely thought of their security forces inside military alliances as they kept control of their national defense. The putting in place of a European defense policy has always met obstacles, which reflect the problems linked to the preservation of sovereignty. The political integration in Europe remains uncertain, mostly when it comes to common defense. With an empirical and descriptive manner, this thesis depicts the European defense theme in a realistic approach, by placing the States in the middle of the European construction and by giving them the main role. Since 1992, the States tried to lay down a European policy of defense, but they encountered various difficulties. Indeed, the European policy of defense suffers from a double deficit. The first is institutional since the European Defense Policy is far from being part of a common policy and is strictly a cooperation mechanism. The second is a material deficit since the European Union doesn't have a military force to implement a common decision. In order to evaluate the possible evolution of a European defense policy, we had to study the various challenges that the States and institutions must face in order to address those two deficits. The institutional challenge concerns the multiple actors, States and institutions, which intervene in the definition of E.P.S.D. This part will try to identify which institution would be best capable of ensuring the international representation of the European Union and to give the political impetus necessary to the putting into place of the E.P.S.D. The military challenge concern the means that the different actors would engage in order to concretize the policy. Ali these discussions show the justification of a European system of defense, but the question remains as to whether the States, central figures of the European construction, are ready to take up these challenges. / "Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit (LL.D) et à l'Université Jean Moulin en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit"

Of the findings, the European Commission established in its report on Energy Sector Inquiry, market manipulation constituted a major concern for the functioning and integrity of EU energy sectors. The Commission argued that the responsibility for high prices in wholesale energy markets could be attributed to manipulative practices of energy incumbents and the trust in the operation of operation of sector was largely compromised, due to these practices. Remedies, EU competition law provided, were considered as insufficient to resolve these shortcomings and thus should be supplemented with regulatory-based tools. The findings of the Energy Sector Inquiry and subsequent consultation documents by multiple EU institutions paved the way for the adoption of the Regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency, REMIT, which incorporated into an anti-manipulation rule, specifically designed to prohibit and prosecute manipulative practices in EU wholesale energy markets. Nevertheless, as EU case law on market manipulation has yet to develop and there are uncertainties with respect to the concept of market manipulation. Furthermore REMIT does not preclude the jurisdiction of EU competition law, questions arise as to the scope and the extent of the application of this prohibition. Throughout its chapters, this book explores the scope of and the case law on market manipulation to determine what types of market practices are regarded as manipulative and thus prohibited under anti-manipulation rules. It also focuses on the interplay between REMIT and EU competition law and evaluates factors and circumstances that determine when and what market misconduct can be subject to enforcement proceedings under both anti-manipulation and antitrust rules. As the development of a single, coherent, rulebook that can be relied upon by market participant is fundamental for the functioning of EU wholesale energy markets, the book, finally, provides proposals and measures that can mitigate and resolve the legal uncertainties regarding the regulatory framework REMIT established.

[pt] Com o objetivo de estudar a questão da aquiescência às normas no sistema internacional, esta pesquisa enfoca o projeto da União Européia (UE), e mais especificamente da Comissão Européia, para o alargamento do bloco para a Europa Central e do Leste (ECL). A UE criou normas de condicionalidade para a adesão dos países da ECL, que incluíam uma economia de mercado, democracia liberal e respeito aos direitos humanos. Através de ações da Comissão Européia, a UE trabalhou para que os países da ECL cumprissem essas normas. Os autores que trabalham com a questão da aquiescência costumam dividir-se entre os defensores do uso de sanções (enforcement) e os que defendem a busca de soluções para situações de violação da regra (administração). Segundo esta última perspectiva, uma estratégia que vise administrar a aquiescência por meio de construção de capacidades e transparência deve ser mais eficaz em garantir o cumprimento da norma. A hipótese desta pesquisa é a de que as ações da Comissão para o alargamento pautaram-se pela administração da aquiescência às normas de condicionalidade. / [en] With the goal of studying compliance in the international system, this research focuses the project of the European Union (EU), and more specifically of the European Commission, for the enlargement to the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The EU established conditionality norms for membership of those countries, which included a market economy, liberal democracy and respect to the human rights. Through actions of the European Commission, the EU worked so that the countries of CEE accomplished those norms. The debate about compliance is framed in terms of contending perspectives: enforcement theorists, who advocate the coercive use of sanctions, and the management scholars, who advocate a problem- solving approach. According to the latter, a strategy that seeks to manage compliance through capacity building, rule interpretation, and transparency is more effective in guaranteeing compliance than a coercive one. The hypothesis of this research is that the actions of the Commission for the enlargement were based on the management perspective of compliance with the conditionality norms.

Information has always been strategically relevant for the European Commission, especially during the last thirty years with discussions about a gap in communication and the possible democratic deficit propagating. For that reason, communication was introduced as a policy after 2000. In order to reach specific interests in the Union, the Commission highlighted the importance of the partnership with civil society in 2005 through the “Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate” and its “going local” approach. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the communication strategy of the EU through the lens of one of its regional communication instruments, the Europe Direct relays of information. The relays are a first-hand portal for the citizens to enter into the Union not only by acquiring information but also by transferring their comments and suggestions to Brussels. They form, therefore, a debate platform between citizens and institutions under a European “public sphere.” Nevertheless, research has identified two critical points in their function: the host structure, which intervenes in their administration role, and the European Commission, which provides them with financial support and information services. This thesis seeks to ascertain the success or not of the relays in relation to those two variables. In order to achieve that, the Spanish study case is examined. It will be finally verified if, according to the guidance of the European Commission, the relays fulfill their role in fostering national involvement in supranational activities.