This study deals with the phenomenon of European integration and its impact on national party programs in Poland, a current member state of the European Union. The author will argue that the question of European integration has left a mark on the political party programs of two mainstream domestic parties on opposite sides of the ideological dimension, in the form of a certain degree of convergence regarding the “European issue”. Relating the result of the analysis to the theoretical structure of Europeanization and sociological institutional change, the essay will attempt to show a possible link between them. Although this trend does not seem to indicate any dramatic effects of the membership per se in the programs (the national arena seems, in most cases, be of more value for party activities) there is an indirect effect in the form of the presence of Europarties and a pronounced incentive for social and economic adaptation.

The Turkish accession to the European Union has been the most extended one that the Union has been dealing with so far. Turkey is now accepted as a candidate country but it is still in a problematic situation. Most of the EU’s member states do not share the Union’s belief that Turkey should become a full member of the Union, if they should even become a member at all. Europeanization constitutes a ground in this essay, and the “top-down” perspective within this process can give an explanation to why most EU member states have such a hesitance against Turkey.

Abstract Title: How does Europeanization effect Swedish alcohol policy? . Titel: Hur påverkar Europeiseringen svensk alkoholpolitik? Minor Thesis in Political Science, January 2008 Author : Markus Gustafsson Tutor : Lennart Bergfeldt Växjö University This essay will deal with the influence which Europeanization has on domestic politics. The case I have chosen is Swedish alcohol policy. Thus, the purpose is to explore whether observed changes in Swedish alcohol policy in the years 1993-2005 can be explained by Swedens´s membership in the European Union. To reach this purpose the following questions need to be answered: • What is europeanization? • How has Swedish alcohol policy changed from 1993 to 2005? • Is it possible to connect the changes in Swedish alcohol policy to a process of Europeanizationprocess? The method in this essay has been a qulitative study of litterature. The theory has been europenization and its effects on domestic politics. To conduct the analyse an analyticalmodell have been used. My conclusion shows rather clearly that a process of europeanization has been affecting the Swedish alcohol policy. Swedish authorities have been reluctant to change their alcohol policy in the liberal manner that was requested by the European Union, due to consideration for the public health. Traditionally, Swedish authorities have been forced by European Union law to accept significant changes. Keywords : Europeanization, Swedish Alcohol policy, The European Union, The Internal Market

This study is set out to examine if there is any kind of influence between the EU and Swedish gender policy. More specific the Swedish efforts within the gender policy area, especially in the area of social policy and employment, during the Swedish presidency in the Council of Ministers 2001. And also to examine the impact of Europeanization in Swedish gender policy. We have decided to delimit our study to care of elderly and children when it comes to the area of social policy. We are using a descriptive, examining qualitative method. Our theoretical framework consists of Gösta Esping-Andersen’s welfare state theory, Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory and the theory of Europeanization. During the Swedish presidency Sweden choose to focus on putting gender mainstreaming into all policy areas. We found the Swedish presidency being quite effective, concerning gender equality. A lot of discussions about gender equality took place and a few decisions were made. We found some indicators showing that Swedish gender policy and women’s situation has been affected by the EU-membership and Europeanization. But we also found that the EU is not the whole cause of changes in policies affecting women.

The purpose of the thesis is to study the role of the subnational civil servant and their discretions in a Multilevel Governance context, based on how it differs from the traditional role of the civil servant in Sweden. This is done by studying officials at Swedish Regional Representation Offices in Brussels through the method of semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework is based on research about traditional activities and role of the public administration, but also in the differences of duties between politicians and officials. Furthermore, the thesis is constructed on Europeanization research and a Multilevel Governance approach, where regional actions in a multi-level system can be clarified and explored by the dimensions of Europeanization: the download-, crossload- and upload dimension. The methodological assessment tool consists of a content analysis, where the collected interview data is compared and discussed using a constructed ideal type of the Weberian role of a civil servant. The respondent's descriptions and views of their role in Brussels is the main focus of the analysis.   To summarise, the regional officials in Brussels consider their scope of discretion as broad. Furthermore, the results illustrate that is not possible to distinguish the role of the sub-national civil service in Brussels, based on the designed ideal type. It’s because of the complexity of the Multilevel Governance system. The results show a significant variation between the respondent's experiences and descriptions of their duties at the office in Brussels. The official’s which are working with a tougher line of lobbying in Brussels, experience their role as both political and apolitical, where the civil servant role enters the political sphere. By working with lobby activities that imply the duty of a politician, they describe their role between the administration and the political sphere. When the officials are working with lobby initiatives in Brussels, they are acting as the political voice of the home organization, but always with a clear lobby mandate from their politicians. / Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera den subnationella tjänstemannarollen och dess handlingsutrymme i ett flernivåsystem, utifrån hur den skiljer sig från den traditionella tjänstemannarollen. Detta görs genom att studera tjänstemän på regionala representationskontor i Bryssel, utifrån semi-strukturerade intervjuer.   Uppsatsen tar ett teoretiskt avstamp i den traditionella förvaltningsverksamheten och i skillnaden mellan politikers och tjänstemäns uppdrag- samt rollfördelningen i den offentliga förvaltningen. Vidare utgår studien från europeiseringsforskning och har en multilevel governance ansats, där ett regionalt handlande i ett flernivåsystem förklaras i europeiseringsprocessernas download-, crossload- och upload-dimensioner. Det metodologiska analysverktyget består av en innehållsanalys av det empiriska intervjumaterialet. Intervjumaterialet jämförs och diskuteras utifrån en konstruerad idealtyp av den weberianska tjänstemannarollen, där fokus är intervjupersonernas uppfattningar och beskrivningar av sin roll i Bryssel. Sammanfattningsvis går det inte att urskilja den subnationella tjänstemannarollen i Bryssel utifrån den idealtyp som konstrueras. Tjänstemännens arbete i ett flernivåsystem är alltför komplext och det finns en betydande variation i hur tjänstemännen beskriver och upplever sin tjänstemannaroll. Generellt sätt uppfattar tjänstemännen i Bryssel sitt handlingsutrymme som brett. Tjänstemän som arbetar med en hårdare linje av påverkansarbete upplever att tjänstemannarollen går in i den politiska sfären och blir både politisk samt opolitisk. Den subnationella tjänstemannarollen upplevs befinna sig mellan administrationen och politiken, då påverkansuppdraget i Bryssel liknar en politikers, men där tjänstemännen är ett politiskt språkrör med ett tydligt påverkansmandat.

This study was conducted to examine the impact of the EU's policy on waste management in large and small municipalities. The purpose of this study is to examine if there are any differences between large and small municipalities in terms of the impact of the EU and its waste policy, and what these differences are due to. The study combines document studies and interviews, and the theories that have been used are Europeanisation and multi–level governance. One conclusion of this study is that the EU impacts both large and small municipalities mainly from a top–down perspective. Although large and small municipalities find it difficult to influence the EU from a bottom–up perspective, they can use national institutions and organizations to understand and apply EU laws and regulations. Both large and small municipalities are governed by EU regulations in their waste management, but they have different conditions for implementing the EU´s regulations. In particular, small municipalities often have a lack of resources, in the form of less money and fewer employees working with waste, compared to large municipalities.

This thesis explores perceptions and preferences on regional action in EU-related frameworks among regional actors in Western Sweden. Building upon the literature on Europeanisation and the Fusion approach, three dimensions of Europeanisation are clarified and explored– download, upload and crossload – and together with a set of five variables that constitute the Micro Fusion Framework; a comprehensive analytical tool is developed. The thesis analyses the intense debate among the members of West Sweden that took place from 2011 to 2013 that focused on how to functionally organise the regional office in Brussels in order to meet future challenges. Surprisingly, the members eventually decided to terminate their cooperation and close the jointly owned office in Brussels in spite of the fact that it has been widely regarded as successful and effective. Diverging perceptions and preferences is understood in terms of three positions on regional action; a download-, upload- and a coherent oriented position. Finally, the thesis presents the empirical findings and discusses in relation to three fusion scenarios, infusion, defusion and clustered fusion. In terms of Micro Fusion Framework, the dynamics shaping why West Sweden was finally regarded as a dysfunctional arena for regional action are explained by a shift of attention and action among regional actors in Western Sweden that led to pressure for further institutional adaptation in order to meet the demand of how ‘to get the best out of the EU’. Further, this redefinition of how to handle EU-affairs within the upload-oriented position was accompanied by positive attitudes towards the potential to bypass the state and thereby pursue regional priorities directly in Brussels given the compound nature of the EU. In contrast, those regional actors that are found to be more download-oriented often question the benefits of uploading activities in practice and advocate close relations to the state. A coherent oriented position recognises the importance of activities related to both of the vertical dimensions of Europeanisation. / I avhandlingen studeras regionala aktörers uppfattningar och attityder till regionalt handlande i EU-relaterade frågor. För att hantera EU-frågor etableras ofta regionala representationskontor i Bryssel. Ett av de största och framgångsrikaste regionala kontoren i Bryssel var West Sweden som representerade västsvenska kommuner och regioners intressen i EU. År 2011 inleds en intern diskussion bland dess medlemmar om hur kontoret bör utvecklas för att möta nya utmaningar i en föränderlig omvärld. Diskussionerna är intensiva, och något överraskande beslutar dess medlemmar att lägga ned verksamheten ett par år senare. I avhandlingen analyseras diskussionen utifrån ett europeiseringsperspektiv. Med hjälp av en analysram som definierar tre dimensioner av europeiseringsprocesser identifieras tre olika positioner i diskussionen; en download-, upload- respektive sammanhållen position. Det kan vara frestande att förstå West Swedens nedläggning som ett uttryck för att subnationella aktörer ”drar sig tillbaka” och föredrar aktiviteter inom nationalstatens domäner. Avhandlingen argumenterar för att så är inte fallet. Nedläggningen av West Sweden förstås som en konsekvens av ökade spänningar mellan regionala aktörer som anammar ett download- respektive upload-orienterat förhållningssätt.

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Up until today, nearly all Swedish regions have decided to set up an EU office in Brussels. However, earlier research on the subject shows that there are big differences concerning what the regions are trying to achieve with their EU office. The aim for this study was therefore to analyse Swedish subnational actors’ EU work within three different arenas and dimensions: at the Brussel arena (upload), at home ground (download) and lastly, the coordination between these two arenas (crossload). To achieve this, an extensively material on the subject was gathered by interviewing key persons from both Brussels and the subnational actors’ home organizations. In order to analyse the material, the theoretical framework multi-level governance was put into practice. The theoretical framework offered a definition on how the regions interact within the EU, and it also provided the framework for the analyses.  The study was able to unpack three Swedish subnational actors’ EU approaches and their different forms of organization regarding their work with EU. In addition, the study could for each explored arena set up a collection of criteria’s that Swedish subnational actors must achieve in order to succeed with their strategic work with EU. Those criteria’s, with numerous important subheadings, were categorised as effectiveness, legitimacy, and strategical selection.