The different ways countries trade with each other have developed during the years but the purpose, free exchange in goods and services, remains intact. The main idea of trade between countries is that both parties gain from the exchange. The European Union is the world’s biggest trading block, and in the form of a customs union there are mainly two different ways in which it theoretically can affect bilateral trade flows, namely by trade diversion or by trade creation. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the European Union affects the bilateral trade flows both within the union, as well as with countries outside of it. In order to examine these effects a quantitative method will be used where a regression analysis is applied based on a gravity model, observing the years 2000–2019. The results indicate a significant positive effect of EU-membership on both trade flows with different member countries, as well as with countries without a membership. The estimations from the different regressions indicate that the bilateral trade flows between member countries increases with around 33%–40%, while bilateral trade flows with countries outside of the union increases with around 3%. / Länders sätt att handla med varandra har utvecklats genom åren men syftet, fritt utbyte av varor och tjänster, är intakt. Grundidén till handel mellan länder är att båda tjänar på utbytet. Europeiska unionen är världens största handelsblock, och som en tullunion så finns det framförallt två effekter detta kan ge på länders bilaterala handel, antingen handelsfrämjande eller handelsomfördelande. Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera hur den europeiska handelsunionen påverkar den bilaterala handeln dels med andra medlemsländer, dels med länder utanför handelsunionen. För att undersöka dessa effekter används en kvantitativ metod där en regressionsanalys genomförs med hjälp av en gravitationsmodell, där de observerade åren är år 2000–2019. Resultatet av denna studie visar ett positivt signifikant samband mellan bilateral handel med både andra medlemsländer såväl som länder utanför unionen. Estimeringarna från de olika regressionerna indikerar att den bilaterala handeln ökat mellan EU-medlemmar med cirka 33%–40% och med cirka 3% med länder utanför unionen.

The usage of textbooks in Swedish schools vary greatly depending on different factors. There are many commercial players competing to have their textbooks in every school. This multitude of titles and book publishers makes it so that teachers in the same school might even use different books when teaching the same subjects. This essay has the ambition to examine some of the textbooks used to teach social studies in swedish schools and dissect their development over time. The essay looks at how the contents of the textbooks have changed over time, aswell as how books from different publishers differ from one another. This is done by analyzing how the EU and the UN have been depicted since 1994. The textbooks examined in this study correspond to the curriculum of the Swedish school system which was used between the years 1994 and 2010, aswell as the new curriculum which was established in 2011. Although the textbooks differ over time, within themselves and in comparison to other textbooks, the survey has shown that the contents of the textbooks have seen little change over the course of the survey period. The survey has also shown that textbooks have changed based on the structures in which they are written. As a teacher, it is important to be aware of how societal structures influence books used for learning purposes. Especially since the state of Sweden ceased to review litterature such as textbooks used in a school setting. Since then, the task to review and choose textbooks have been placed almost entirely on the teachers themselves.

The European Commission has presented a new seed directive that better matches the EU's sustainability goals, The Green Deal. However, the EU's common agricultural policy is based on an idea which means that it is mainly large-scale agriculture that benefits from the technological development that the proposal entails. In the periphery there are small-scale farmers whose opinions are rarely considered. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects that a change in the EU's current seed directive could potentially have on the farmer's ecological health and, in connection with this, the future of smallholder farmers. Finally, the study shows that the EU's proposal for a new seed directive can be understood in accordance with Dryzek's description of the two currently dominant environmental discourses, "sustainability" and "ecological modernization", which are also linked to both small farmers' economic and ecological future. • How does the new Seeds Directive want to increase the EU's agricultural sustainability? What are its concrete proposals? • What ecological effects can come from the new seed directive? • What effects will the different alternatives in the bill have on large and small farmers, respectively? • Which of Dryzek's discourses “ecological modernization” and “sustainability” is most in line with the various alternatives, and what are the implications for the long-term sustainability of agriculture?The study was carried out through a content analysis on the European Commission's proposal and on the report of the consulting firm Inner City Fund (ICF) on which the Commission based its decision. Subsequently, a problematizing dimension, a type of discourse analysis, was applied to examine which discourse is most dominant in the EU proposal and what this dominance means for both the farmer's ecological health and the small farmer's interests and needs.The results indicate that the proposal will to a large extent benefit large-scale agriculture and that there are few interests in meeting the needs of small farmers. The results also indicate that ecological modernization is the most dominant discourse in the proposal, which opens the proposal to the criticism that has also been delivered against ecological modernization as a sustainability discourse. / Europeiska kommissionen har presenterat ett nytt frödirektiv som bättre matchar EU:s hållbarhetsmål, The Green Deal. EU:s gemensamma jordbrukspolitik bygger dock på en idé som gör att det främst är storskaliga jordbruk som gynnas av den tekniska utveckling som förslaget innebär. I periferin finns småskaliga jordbrukare vars åsikter sällan beaktas. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka effekter en förändring av EU:s nuvarande frödirektiv potentiellt kan ha på jordbrukarens ekologiska hälsa och, i samband med detta, framtiden för småjordbrukare. Studien visar till slut att EU:s förslag till nytt frödirektiv kan förstås i enlighet med Dryzeks beskrivning av de två just nu dominanta miljödiskurserna, ”hållbarhet” och ”ekologisk modernisering”, vilka också både sammankopplas till småjordbrukares ekonomiska och ekologiska framtid.  · Hur vill det nya frödirektivet öka EU:s jordbrukshållbarhet? Vilka är dess konkreta förslag?· Vilka ekologiska effekter kan komma av det nya frödirektivet? · Vilka effekter kommer de olika alternativen i lagförslaget ge för stora respektive småjordbrukare? · Vilken av Dryzeks diskurser ”ekologisk modernisering” och ”hållbarhet” stämmer bäst överens med de olika alternativen, och vad har detta för konsekvenser för jordbrukets långsiktiga hållbarhet?  Undersökningen gjordes genom en innehållsanalys på Europeiska kommissionens förslag samt på den rapport av konsultföretaget Inner City Fund (ICF) som kommissionen grundade sitt beslut på. Därefter applicerades en problematiserande dimension, en typ av diskursanalys, för att undersöka vilken diskurs som är mest dominant i EU:s förslag och vad denna dominans innebär både för jordbrukarens ekologiska hälsa samt småjordbrukarens intressen och behov.   Resultatet tyder på att förslaget i stor utsträckning kommer gynna storskaliga jordbruk och att det finns få intressen för att möta småjordbrukares behov. Resultatet tyder även på att ekologisk modernisering är den mest dominanta diskursen i förslaget, vilket öppnar förslaget för den kritik som också levererats mot ekologisk modernisering som hållbarhetsdiskurs.

This paper aim to analyze how a Ukrainian membership in the European Union will affect the EU’s agriculture policy and if the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) needs to implement new reforms to deal with Ukraine’s possible connection. The method which used is a combination of qualitative text analysis a qualitative interview study. The results tell that the entrance of Ukraine will affect EU’s agriculture policy mainly through the economic aspect,that the agriculture support needs to increase which will affect the rest of the member statesas their payments to the EU also need to increase. Depending on when Ukraine accesses the EU, reforms of the current CAP would be preferably, alternatively a parallel CAP which aim to prepare Ukraine for the entrance to the EU’s internal market. The conclusions are that Ukraine’s accession to the EU will affect its agriculture politics, mainly through economics aspects and that the CAP would need reforms, mainly in purpose to reach the goals of a greener agriculture production and to adjust Ukraine to the EU:s regulations. / Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka om och hur en utvidgning av EU med fokus på Ukraina,får konsekvenser för EU:s jordbrukspolitik. Den ämnar också analysera huruvida EU:s gemensamma jordbrukspolitik (Common Agricultural Policy, CAP) behöver reformeras i samband med en anslutning av Ukraina till unionen. Metoden som används i uppsatsen är en kombination av en kvalitativ textanalys och kvalitativa intervjuer. De resultat som studien fastslår är att ett medlemskap för Ukraina får konsekvenser för de övriga medlemsländerna,ekonomiskt genom att jordbruksstödet bland annat behöver höjas för att kunna betalas ut till Ukraina, vilket innebär att medlemsavgifterna behöver höjas. Vidare analyseras hur jordbruksproduktionen kan få konsekvenser för både EU och Ukraina i from av effektivisering och en grönare produktion. De beslut EU fattar kring jordbrukspolitiken kommer att vara baserade på de ekonomiska faktorerna. CAP kan behöva reformeras, alternativt blir det aktuellt med skapandet av ett parallellt CAP, mer anpassat för att acklimatisera Ukraina inför anpassningen till EU:s jordbrukspolitik. Studiens slutsatser konstaterar att EU:s jordbrukspolitik kommer att påverkas av Ukrainas eventuella inträde i unionen, främst de ekonomiska aspekterna. En reform av nuvarande CAP beror på när Ukraina blir medlem. Sker det inom nästkommande 4 åren blir en uppdatering avnuvarande CAP aktuell.

In this qualitative study, the experiences of high school students enrolled in the course Social Studies 2 regarding the European Union (EU) as a subject matter in social studies education were examined. The research questions guiding the study are: In what ways do students describe how the EU has been addressed as a content area in social studies education? And, how do students describe their expectations for teaching about the EU? To answer the research questions, six focus group interviews were conducted, involving a total of 28 students. The data was analysed using a hermeneutic approach. The results indicate that students had a somewhat basic understanding o the European Union, characterized by a focus on its institutions and the four freedoms within the union. Furthermore, the study’s findings reveal that students wish to learn more about the EU to participate in the European Parliament elections, specifically how they can influence the union and how it affects them. Suggested teaching methods include engaging with the EU through study visits, external lecturers, or simulation exercises. / I föreliggande kvalitativa studie undersöktes vilka erfarenheter gymnasieelever som läser kursen Samhällskunskap 2 har om EU som ämnesinnehåll i samhällskunskapsundervisningen. Frågorna som studien utgår från är: På vilka sätt beskriver elever att EU har behandlats som ett undervisningsinnehåll i samhällskunskapsämnet, och, hur beskriver eleverna sina förväntningar på undervisningen om EU kopplat till ett aktivt valdeltagande i valet till Europaparlamentet.? För att erhålla svar på forskningsfrågorna genomfördes sex stycken fokusgruppsintervjuer, totalt 28 elever medverkade i studien. Genom att utgå från en hermeneutisk teori analyserades datamaterialet. Resultatet visar att eleverna hade en översiktlig kunskap om den Europeiska unionen som präglas av ett fokus på dess institutioner och de fyra friheterna. Vidare framkommer det i studiens resultat att eleverna önskar lära sig mer om EU för att kunna delta i valet till Europaparlamentet, då främst hur de kan påverka unionen samt hur den påverkar dem. Förslag på undervisningsmetoder riktar in sig på att komma i kontakt med EU genom studiebesök, externa föreläsare eller simuleringsövningar.

Europe stands at the face of transformative changes, where the study of EU integration becomes crucial in comprehending the complex dynamics between member states and EU institutions, as well envisioning its future. Since its origin, the parliament has played a fundamental role in advancing political integration across national borders by representing EU citizens.  However, recent years have witnessed shifts that seem to alter the European Parliaments role and its leaning towards integration, indicating a move towards increased intergovernmentalism within the EU.  By examining its historical progress and stances towards integration, we can gain deeper insights into how its role has shifted and how it affects the EU's future, done by comparing two different periods, 2004-2009 and current election period 2019-2024. By using competing theories of European integration, this paper purposes to map out implications for the European union future. This study seeks to seal a significant research gap by investigating the European Parliament's role in integration. By analyzing parliamentary materials with debates longitudinally, this research aims to identify shifts in attitudes towards European integration. Results were shown that indicated the European parliament’s attitude towards integration had its changes in recent decades. From previously being a strong advocate for deeper integration, the European parliament has now a more nuances view of supranationality and intergovernmental collaboration. Future directions for European integration suggest a more cautious and gradual approach, continuing to cooperate without transferring excessive power to central EU bodies. This could have reaching implications for the future of the union and for the role of the European parliament in the continued integration process.  This study on the role of the European Parliament and its integration is of great importance to political science, since of its ability to surround various aspects of the EU’s political landscape. Understanding these dynamics is essential for predicting future developments and shaping policies that foster a solid and strong European union.

<p>The aim of this inquiry is to investigate which ideals of democracy that three proposals for strengtening the democracy in the European Union consists of and to judge if the desired effects of the proposals are reachable. The method that is used is an analysis of ideas and contents. Theories that are used are deliberative and particiapatory ideals of democracy. The theories are used to investigate if the ideas in the proposals correspond to the ideals of deliberative and participatory democracy. The major result is that the proposals fail to fulfil the ideas of the theories. The reason is that the proposals are lacking ideas of how to make the citizens more aware and active in politics. The point of departure in the proposals is that the European Union will be more democratic if the people are brought in to the politics, but they do not suggest how people should form opinions through communication and become conscious and competent in political issues through participation. It is also likely that the effects of the proposals not are reachable to all the citizens. Only the ones who have an interest in communicating and participating in European politics will be gained by the proposals.</p>

The aim with this thesis is to find out how one can understand the exceptions not to introduce the euro as the currency of Denmark and the United Kingdom, as well as their attitude to European integration. It has been implemented in a comparative case study using theories in which the case has been the central focus of the investigation. The theories being used is rational actor model that emphasizes rational decision-making and self-interest. In comparison to that theory has a historical institutional perspective been used, which emphasizes path-dependency and critical events. The focus of the study is the time when the countries became members of the European Economic Community in 1973 to the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 where these exceptions not to introduce the euro as the currency was ratified. In the analysis section, one can see portions of both theories to a varying degree. The conclusions of the study is that both countries show a skeptical attitude to European integration and that the exceptions to not introduce the euro as a currency is based on this critical view of moving power to centralized institutions.

This thesis purpose is to examine the development of the European Union’s threat perception and identetity construction in regards to Russia. It uses a qualitive text analysis to study the national security strategies formulated by the memberstates Sweden, Germany, Italy and Poland and how these countries view of Russia is formulated. Furthermore it compares the change from before the annexation of Crimea and the Ukraine crisis and how this influenced the possibly change in perception of Russia. The study finds that the Russian action in Crimea and Ukraine has changed the threat perception in Sweden, Germany and Poland but that Russia is not mentioned in the Italy papers. Hence the identity construction is similar in the countries north of the Alps but Italy does not contrast its identety to Russia. From this the study concludes that the Russian threat is not enough to construct an European identity throughout Europe but there are patterns within the Union, which might indicate how the European project might continue.

Polarity-reversing affirmative particles are a phenomenon that has largely been overlooked in previous research. A polarity-reversing affirmative particle is used to express disagreement with the polarity of a preceding negative statement. It is a typical answer strategy in Swedish, German, Dutch as well as in French. In fact, findings from previous cross-linguistic studies suggest, though without further detail, that polarity-reversing affirmative particles are a phenomenon predominantly found in European and more specifically in Germanic languages (Da Milano 2004; Roelofsen &amp; Farkas 2015; Moser 2018). The aim of this study is to examine the hypotheses presented in Moser (2018). The goals are to investigate the distribution of polarity-reversing affirmative particles in Europe on the one hand, and to examine the phenomenon in Swedish, German, Dutch and French from a diachronic perspective on the other hand. On the basis of these endeavors, this study is embedded in the framework of areal typology. This study brings forth highly interesting findings in view of the discussion of Standard Average European and the Charlemagne Sprachbund. / Polarity-reversing affirmative particles (sv. polaritetsomvändande affirmativa partiklar) är ett fenomen som har förbisetts i tidigare forskning. En polarity-reversing affirmative particle används för att uttrycka oenighet med ett negativt påstående. Det är en vanlig strategi i svenska, tyska, nederländska samt franska. Tidigare resultat från tvärspråkliga studier visar att polarity-reversing affirmative particles oftast förekommer i europeiska, mer specifikt germanska språk (Da Milano 2004; Roelofsen &amp; Farkas 2015; Moser 2018). Denna studie ämnar undersöka resultaten från de ovannämnda studierna. Målet är således att undersöka distributionen av polarity-reversing affirmative particles i Europa samt att undersöka fenomenet i svenska, tyska, nederländska och franska från ett diakroniskt perspektiv. Denna studie anknyter till ett arealtypologiskt perspektiv. Resultaten påvisar intressanta rön med direkt relevans för Standard Average European och i den så kallade Charlemagne-arean.