Thesis Theoretical reflection Iceland integration into the European Union: neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism discusses integration of Iceland into the European Union, and tryi to analyze this case in the context of two theoretical approaches, neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. Since the creation of an independent state in 1944, Iceland held traditionally isolationist and Euro-skeptic stance. In 1970 he became member of the European Free Trade Association. Gradually relationships has intensifyied and deepend with participation in the European Economic Area and the Schengen Convention. After the economic crisis in 2008, which hit in Iceland with unusual power because of risky actions of local banks, the newly elected government decided to make a historic step and apply for membership in the European Union. The first part of the thesis is an analysis of foreign policy and the position of Iceland in international relations. Subsequently thesis explores the integration of Iceland from the perspective of three different actors, Iceland, European Union member States and the European Union, first from a theoretical point of view following with empirical level. Based on the findings should be made to confirm the theoretical starting points of one of the two selected directions.

No / The European Union (EU) is an evolving system of multi-level governance (MLG). For scholars of the EU, a critical question is which level of governance has the most decisive influence on the integration process? Some studies of EU regional policy claim that subnational actors, using channels of interest representation that bypass national officials, interact directly with EU policy-makers generating outcomes that are neither desired nor intended by national executives. This article examines the development of EU biodiversity policy over a thirty-year period (c. 1970-2000) and finds that environmental groups, who were generally marginalized at the national level in Britain, have learnt to use EU opportunities to outflank the government, resulting in policy outcomes that they would be unlikely to secure through national channels of representation. However, the evidence presented suggests that supranational actors were the major cause of these unintended consequences, not environmental groups.

The recently intensifying climate changes enable a large-scale economic development of the Arctic region. This region is characterized by the vast hydrocarbon resources, but also by the unique fragile ecosystem. Therefore, any economic development must be aligned with environmental protection. This protection is encouraged by the leading intergovernmental institution in this area, the Arctic Council. This master thesis aims to analyse Russian environmental cooperation with the Arctic coastal states within the Arctic Council. Its structure follows a theoretical framework, introduced by the liberal intergovernmentalism. Firstly, formation of Russian national Arctic interests is analysed, using the key legal documents. Secondly, Russia's participation in the Arctic Council is studied. Thirdly, bilateral environmental cooperation between Russia and other four Arctic coastal states is analysed. Based on the performed research, the Russian Federation is aware, that reaching its very ambitious plans for economic development of the Arctic is only possible along with improvement of environmental protection. Russia cannot ensure this alone and therefore it actively seeks international cooperation. The research also pointed out, that before the establishment of the Arctic Council, the bilateral cooperation...

This study is an attempt to understand strategy-making in the European Union (EU). By targeting the strategy-making process of the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS), the stydy aims to reveal the legal provisions and the in-practice procedures of strategy-making in the area of EU foreign policy. The thesis presents two theories, liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism, from which it constructs two contrasting ideal types of policy-making. By applying the theoretical ideal types on the targeted case, that is the strategy-making process of the EUGS, the study reflects on the relationships between Member states and the EU, as well as on the inter-institutional dynamics that would come to characterize the progress and development of the EUGS.  Despite difficulties in rejecting any of the theoretical ideal types, the study finds the policy-formulation of the EUGS to be more coherent with the neofunctional ideal type than that of liberal intergovernmentalism. This is due to the central role of the European External Action Service (EEAS) which would come to conduct an innovative policy-formulation phase of the strategy and to the lack of bargaining between the Member States on the textual provisions of the strategy. The neofunctional ideal type does yet fall short in explaining for the EUGS as an initial concept and partly for the implementation of the strategy, favoring a liberal intergovernmental interpretation of how the instruments of the EUGS would come to be initiated. The study also reflects on if the experience of making the EUGS may provide for an argument to review the presumed centrality of Member States being the ultimate drivers of EU foreign policy.

<p>The aim of this paper is to explain how the European Union’s common strategy for theCommon Foreign- and Security Policy (CFSP) will change with the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon. A comparative case study and qualitative method is used. On the basis of Smith’s theory of institutionalization we will analyze two member states: France and Denmark. Our aim is to see which standpoints these countries have taken concerning the CFSP. We have chosen, in order to analyse the inner and outer factors, to use the liberal intergovernmental “two level game” theory as a theoretical approach. The purpose of the CFSP is to gradually increase the sovereign states’ foreign policy cooperation. The aim of the CFSP is to become an international visible and active player that represents the people of the European Union. At the moment the CFSP is an intergovernmental part of the EU, however there are presentiments that this will change and that CFSP will achieve supranationality. In conclusion, the results of the case study shows that Denmark is aiming for the CFSP cooperation to remain on an intergovernmental platform. France is aiming toward supranationality and a stronger cooperation within the CFSP. In time, with the full implementation of the CFSP, the EU will be able to compete on a global platform.</p>

The aim of this paper is to explain how the European Union’s common strategy for theCommon Foreign- and Security Policy (CFSP) will change with the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon. A comparative case study and qualitative method is used. On the basis of Smith’s theory of institutionalization we will analyze two member states: France and Denmark. Our aim is to see which standpoints these countries have taken concerning the CFSP. We have chosen, in order to analyse the inner and outer factors, to use the liberal intergovernmental “two level game” theory as a theoretical approach. The purpose of the CFSP is to gradually increase the sovereign states’ foreign policy cooperation. The aim of the CFSP is to become an international visible and active player that represents the people of the European Union. At the moment the CFSP is an intergovernmental part of the EU, however there are presentiments that this will change and that CFSP will achieve supranationality. In conclusion, the results of the case study shows that Denmark is aiming for the CFSP cooperation to remain on an intergovernmental platform. France is aiming toward supranationality and a stronger cooperation within the CFSP. In time, with the full implementation of the CFSP, the EU will be able to compete on a global platform.

2008年全球金融風暴為歐洲債券危機埋下隱患，歐元區國家紛紛進行紓困以提振經濟，導致財政赤字更加嚴重。歐元區各國因採行單一貨幣而喪失獨立的貨幣政策，使得融資工具受限。信用評等機構又先後對周邊國家調降評等，無形中擴大危機。歐洲債券危機不僅讓歐洲經濟暨貨幣同盟的結構缺陷再度浮上檯面，亦引發歐元區解決方案的認知分歧，形成以德國為首的撙節派和法國代表的反撙節派間的對立，政治界興起一片波瀾。 為分析未來歐洲統合的方向和進程，本論文從政治和經濟面了解經濟暨貨幣同盟的建立與歐洲債券危機的發生，並透過自由政府間主義的分析層次，探究未來歐洲統合的發展。經由上述方法，研究發現就德法目前國內情勢和相互交往來看，未來歐洲統合的發展可能維持現狀，而不會開倒車或形成完全的超國家建制。至於理論是否和事實重合，又有待日後持續觀察。 / After the outbreak of the European Debt Crisis since 2009, the necessity and possibility of the further integration is once again highly valued. To analyze the future development of the European integration, the thesis looks into the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union and the outbreak of the European Debt Crisis. In addition, it looks into the relation between Germany and France through the approach of the Liberal Intergovermentalism to explore the future development of the European integration. The result of the research demonstrates that it is likely European integration will remain at status quo, instead of advancing integration to the establishment of supranational institutions, nor leading to the breakup of the European Union. While Liberal Intergovernmentalism provides the integration analysis with a feasible approach, whether the result of the research coincides with the future development of the European integration still remains to be seen.

The starting point of this study is theories of European integration, which are used to formulate different scenarios about the future of the European Union. This is made in regards to the eurocrisis which has intensified the discussion about how to change the construction of the euro to overcome the economic difficulties that has arisen. In this study, four different scenarios are presented: "An updated Europe", "A new Europe", "The death of the euro" and "Goodbye Greece". The first two scenarios takes its starting point in the neofunctionalist theory of European integration and describes how the EU might increase its level of integration in different ways. We can either see a development where the EU tries to improve the implementation of the rules that are meant to coordinate the member states’ economic policy, or we might encounter a more advanced integration where fiscal policy competences are transferred to the EU-level. The latter scenarios, however, takes another theory in to account, liberal intergovernmentalism, and describes how the eurozone might be fragmented in different ways due to conflicts of interest between lenders and countries that has to receive loan-packages. In the third scenario the euro stands in front of a collapse. This is connected to a situation where Spain, which is one of the largest economies in the EU, is starting to have similar problems as countries like Grecce, Ireland and Portugal. The fourth scenario describes a more ordered progress where Grecce, as part of a joint decision with the other EU-members, decides to abolish the euro as their currency. This is a way for the EU to reduce its economic burden, in the same time as Greece are given an opportunity to use an independent monetary policy to cope with their problematic situation.

This thesis treats the development of the European Union asylum- and migration politics and the EU member states transfer of authority to the European Union. The main purpose has been to look closer with the use of the application of theory of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism on the European Union case. The focus will be to answer the following questions: How has the political development within EU asylum and migration policy developed through the period of The Single European Act to the ratification of the Stockholm program? And how can the chosen theory explain European countries transfer of national decision regarding asylum policy in favor of a supranational European asylum policy? Based on the available material of European Union programs and harmonization measures for this area I have attempted to understand to what extent the European Union’s development in the area of the asylum and migration politics can be explained through the theories of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The result of my analysis is confirmation of the European Union development of the area of the asylum and migration policy and also a series of explanations according to the theories regarding the member states transfer of authority to the EU. The thesis has also led to an understanding of the methods of application.

The study at hand aims at understanding the "twisted fate" of the EU's initiative to provide transparency of payments in oil, gas, and mining deals. The European Commission in October 2011 followed the lead of the US Dodd-Frank Act in establishing strict disclosure requirements for businesses in the extractive industries. Its initiative demanded annual reporting of any payments made by such enterprises to public authorities of commodity exporting countries, in order to mitigate corruption of public officials via transparency of payments. Praised by NGOs, the initiative was heavily opposed by the German government and experienced efforts by the very same to water its efficacy down. Germany's uncompromising position prolonged the search for an agreement between Council of Ministers and European Parliament until April 2013. It is hypothesized that the German opposition originates in highly effective interest representation of influential domestic actors, dismissive of a tight transparency regime. To validate this, Moravcsik's Liberal Intergovernmentalism is the theoretical framework of choice. At its core lies a genuine two-step of domestic societal actors, upgrading their particular interests to "national preferences" and the subsequent agency of their governments in rational bargaining with others. However, in order for this to apply in European everyday politics, theoretical amendments have to be made. Namely, the originally disregarded influence of supranational institutions as well as a shift of bargaining arenas has to be sufficiently respected by the theoretical frame.