Council Conclusions Research Articles

“It's very much part of this movement to undermine democracy”: A qualitative study of European Union level opposition strategies against reproductive health and rights

Despite increasing contestations of agreed global commitments on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), our understanding of strategies of opposition in global health policymaking remains limited. This article explores the opposition to SRHR at the European level focusing on the decision-making institutions of the European Union (EU). The central research questions ask i) how SRHR opposition actors seek to influence EU institutions and ii) what challenges their actions pose for health policymaking at the EU level. Our empirical focus is based on the qualitative method of framework analysis, with data collected from multiple sources, including documentary data on European Parliamentary debates, Council conclusions of the European Union, reports of nongovernmental organisations, and key informant interviews. Our study is in line with observations on globally coordinated efforts to restrict access to SRH services. This is a challenge for specific forums and countries, but as well for European Union's wider internal and external policies. We present a toolbox of strategies and actors operational at the European Union level. Our findings on opposition to SRHR indicate that it can be seen as a political tool that is part of a broader anti-democratic movement. Understanding strategies of anti-SRHR opposition is important for health policymakers as it shapes debates and the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC).

Strengthening the European Semester to Achieve Economies of Wellbeing.

The environmental crisis, growing levels of social inequalities and rising levels of noncommunicable diseases are all symptoms of economic systems that are failing to generate wellbeing. There is increasing support for the notion that addressing these crises requires shifting the focus from economic growth to a broader range of measures that reflect wellbeing, through more comprehensive, consistent and integrated policy approaches to deliver this. In 2019, the EU Finnish Council Presidency Council Conclusions called amongst other things for the development of a new long-term, post-2020 strategy to provide the framework for horizontal assessment and cross-sectoral collaboration, in particular through the European Semester process. This article contextualises this call and explores its follow-up. It draws from key policy documents to explore what Economies of Wellbeing are, why and how the concept has emerged and how they can be put in place. It then explores to what extent this concept is being applied at the EU level, by tracking changes in some of the EU's key policies and strategies over the past 10 years and in the Semester process, as a mechanism to implement them. It concludes that while progress towards more comprehensive, consistent and integrated policy approaches has been made in the context of the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy, underpinning the Semester processes, it is limited by the continuing emphasis on economic, over other policy, areas. It also argues that the process needs to be broadened even further, to include other dimensions of wellbeing, which intersect with the economy and impact wellbeing. To strengthen the European Semester process to achieve Economies of Wellbeing, it should be put at the service of an even more consistent and comprehensive EU Strategy that enables policy sectors to deliver wellbeing objectives in a more integrated and coordinated manner. This paper ends with recommendations for action.

Renewable energy penetration in Nordic and Baltic countries of the EU

The low carbon transition of the energy sector towards a greater penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the most impressive examples of political and economic change in the European Union. For nearly two decades, the European Union was rightly considered to be a frontrunner in RES development and deployment around the world. This culminated in March 2007 when the 20-20-20-targets were agreed under the European Council Conclusions. They aimed at creating a carbon neutral society by 2050 and replacing fossil fuels with renewables. This target requires huge transformations of energy systems and transformative shifts in economics and society. Even as renewables can provide numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits, their fast penetration may cause various societal challenges and encounter many barriers. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the achievements of select EU countries in renewable energy development. For this purpose, an indicators framework is applied to monitor the RES drivers and achievements, RES penetration, and attained benefits of low carbon transformations. The case study focuses on Nordic and Baltic countries that are EU member states.

Development of tourism policy in the European Union

The development of the European Union's tourism policy is studied. The types of the Union's competence (exclusive, joint and auxiliary) are considered. It is noted that the Union's competence in the field of tourism is an innovation of the Lisbon Treaty, which states that the EU has been empowered to support, coordinate and complement the actions of Member States in the tourism sector, i.e. the Union will not take independent action in this area. It is established that, due to the lack of competence in the tourism sector, the European Union does not have any official body that would directly deal with the development of tourism in the Member States, but some issues related to tourism are within the competence of the European Parliament and the European Commission. It is noted that recent years have confirmed the interest of the Union institutions in tourism policy. The main messages and programs of the European Commission, which set policy guidelines for the development of the tourism sector, are considered. Two documents from 2022, which form the basis of the EU tourism policy, are analyzed: Council conclusions on European Agenda for Tourism 2030 and the Tourism transition pathway – Co-creation and co-implementation process. It is noted that tourism accounts for almost 10% of the Union's GDP and employs about 23 million people, but despite being one of the most important sectors of the European economy, tourism is not seriously considered. At present, the European Union has only auxiliary powers, i.e., the ability to supplement, support and coordinate the actions of the Member States, without the possibility of harmonizing the legislation of the Member States in the field of tourism. It is proposed that in order to achieve more effectively the Union's objectives in the field of tourism, which are to create a favorable environment for the development of tourism business and to promote cooperation between Member States, in particular in the exchange of goods and practices, a common tourism policy should be introduced and a body responsible for the tourism sector should be established. It has been proven that a thriving tourism industry will increase the overall competitiveness of the European Union on the world stage.

Enhancing Lifelong Vaccination: Insights from Spain, France and Italy

Vaccinations are not limited to children and teenagers, as recently reiterated in the Council Conclusions on Vaccination. With the European Union's population continuing to age, there is a growing need to prioritize adult vaccination alongside pediatric vaccinations. In April 2023, the Italian NGO Cittadinanzattiva, through its European branch Active Citizenship Network, launched a new project called 'Civil Society promoting vaccination across the life-course' during the European Immunization Week. The goal was to enhance collaboration and dialogue with all relevant health stakeholders, engaging citizens' and patients' associations across Europe to better understand and implement vaccination policies. This article presents the outcomes of three national focus groups held in the second half of 2023 across Spain, France and Italy. The methodology involved discussions in native languages to gain qualitative insights into life-course immunization, barriers, and strategies. Engaging leaders from civic and patients' associations, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, the collaborative effort explored lessons learned and identified pathways for improving vaccination rates. Positive shifts in stakeholders' perspectives underscore the pivotal role of preventive measures, prompting increased policymakers' awareness. However, challenges arise, including a polarized approach to vaccination and issues in communication causing confusion and distrust, amplified by media influence. Presently, there is an overall stagnation in vaccination rates, with a slight decline, particularly in influenza vaccinations, signaling vaccination “fatigue”. Common suggestions include advocating for effective and personalized communication, leveraging digital tools, endorsing patient and civic organizations as strong vaccine advocates, and recognizing the increased role of different healthcare professionals (pharmacists, nurses, etc.) as invaluable support resources. Additionally, the importance of vaccination campaign evaluation is emphasized.

DIGITAL DIPLOMACY IS A STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The article is devoted to the analysis of the introduction of digital diplomacy. This is a strategic direction of public diplomacy. It involves the use of digital technologies and platforms. To protect the country's national interests. It is noted that modern society is undergoing large-scale changes due to the development of information technologies. The ability to effectively respond to changes determines the future prosperity of the country. The author notes that the use of information technologies in the field of public diplomacy is becoming a modern trend. Foreign scientists state that the "era of digital foreign policy" has arrived. The concept of "digital diplomacy" or "electronic diplomacy" has been introduced into modern scientific circulation. It is defined as the use of the Internet for new information and communication technologies to achieve diplomatic goals. Attention is focused on the fact that the latest trends in the development of public diplomacy of Ukraine are defined in the Public Diplomacy Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for 2021-2025. Due to the integration course of Ukraine's foreign policy, as well as Ukraine's acquisition of the status of an official candidate for accession to the European Union, close coordination and cooperation in the field of public diplomacy with the institutions of the European Union are important for our country. And the study of methodological approaches to building a system of digital diplomacy in the EU. We are talking about important documents adopted by the EU: "EU Digital Diplomacy", "Council Conclusions on Strengthening EU Digital Diplomacy in Complex Geopolitical Conditions". The article states that the Council aims to create a comprehensive and coordinated approach to EU digital diplomacy to protect human rights, democratic principles and the EU's strategic autonomy in the digital sphere. The conclusions highlight the need for stronger, more strategic, coherent and effective EU policies and actions in global digital affairs.

Diamond Open Access: Researcher’s Best Friend or just a Distant Relative?

The costs of Open Access publishing increase year by year (e.g. Zhang et al. 2022). Diamond Open Access (OA), in which journals and platforms do not charge fees to either authors or readers, has been hoped to provide solutions for the current situation. Also, the Council of the EU highlights the importance of Diamond OA in the recent Council Conclusions (8827/23). Various incentives, such as Action Plan for Diamond Open Access, DIAMAS and Craft-OA are established to support the development of Diamond OA. However, do researchers really use Diamond OA publication venues? Is Diamond OA a researcher’s best friend or just a rarely met distant relative? Both international (Bosman et al. 2021) and national level (Frantsvåg 2022) studies have been conducted in relation with Diamond OA. This poster views the phenomenon on a local level by illustrating Diamond OA publishing at the Finnish Aalto University in 2018–2022. Aalto University consists of six schools: School of Arts, Design and Architecture, School of Business, School of Chemical Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and School of Science. Aalto Current Research Information System, ACRIS contains the comprehensive publication data of university’s researchers. Information on Diamond OA journals was added to ACRIS journal records in the spring 2023. We identified Diamond OA journals in ACRIS by using Directory of Open Access Journals and journals’ web pages. This information in relation with publication data will form the basis for our analysis. We recognize that information on Diamond OA is incomplete and our results only indicative, since only a third of diamond OA journals are indexed in DOAJ (Bosman et al. 2021). The poster seeks to illustrate the usage of Diamond OA channels from various aspects. How has Diamond OA publishing evolved over the years? Which Diamond OA journals and publishers are the most popular? What are the differences between schools? What is the share of Diamond OA compared with other Open Access types and how has the usage of different Open Access paths evolved?

The role of the marine research infrastructures in the European marine observation landscape: present and future perspectives

The ocean regulates the exchange, storage of carbon dioxide, plays a key role in global control of Earth climate and life, absorbs most of the heat excess from greenhouse gas emissions and provides a remarkable number of resources for the human being. Most of the geo-hazards occur in oceanic areas. Thus, high-quality systematic observations are necessary tools for improving our understanding, and subsequent assimilation to provide early warning systems. A holistic scientific approach for the understanding of the ocean’s interrelated processes requires coordinated and complementary monitoring and observation programmes. Research Infrastructures (RIs) are large-scale facilities that provide resources and services for the scientific communities to conduct high-level research and foster innovation. RIs benefit from strong governance and multi-annual funding from their member states with operational life spans in decades. RIs promote knowledge, outreach and education to public, private, and policy stakeholders, and they play a key role in enabling and developing research in all scientific domains and currently represent a growing share of coordinated investment in research, and also in providing essential observations to operational services such as Copernicus. They are strategically important for Europe to lead a global movement towards a data-driven, interconnected, open digital twin that brings together different disciplines, clean technologies, public and private sectors and a broad scientific/technological community, as well as education and training. In Europe several marine RIs have been established, which are maintained by national and European Union (EU) resources. The aims of these infrastructures are aligned with the key priorities of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development; and with the new European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda annexed to the Council conclusions on the ERA governance1, which set out 20 concrete actions for 2022-2024 to contribute to the priority areas defined in the EU Pact for R&I2. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the combined expertise and assets of Europe’s marine RIs can form a comprehensive and holistic framework for long-term, sustainable integrated marine observation. Through this integration process the marine RIs can become better and better a significant pillar of the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS). Such a framework must be built as part of interfaces of interaction and promote not only scientific excellence but also innovation at all levels.

Legal regime of stay in the EU of citizens of Ukraine

The article focuses attention on the factors that became catalysts for the adoption of Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382, which establishes the presence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC and introduces temporary protection. The above-mentioned decision became the basis for the appearance of a legal regime for the stay of Ukrainian citizens in the EU, which did not exist before - this is the regime of temporary protection.
 Focuses on the Council conclusions of 27 May 1999 on displaced persons from Kosovo, Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof.
 The article highlights all existing legal regimes of a Ukrainian citizen's stay in the EU (temporary protection; tourist; refugee) and characterizes them. It is emphasized that the regime of temporary protection is limited in time, it is not the same as permanent protection and that it provides that EU member states take measures necessary for the voluntary return of persons who enjoy temporary protection or whose temporary protection has expired - to Ukraine. If the legal regime of a tourist - a citizen of Ukraine independently ensures his stay in an EU member state, he does not have the right to work in the EU. Refugee status can be acquired by a citizen of Ukraine who proves that he has a justified danger of being persecuted because of race, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or political beliefs. Under the legal status of a refugee, a person gains access to the labor market if the application for granting refugee status has not received a final review within 9 months.
 It is emphasized that EU law establishes only minimum standards of protection that each EU member state must ensure. National protection standards (EU member countries) are higher compared to EU standards.

Reaction to the Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and the Implementation of Open Science Policies

Reaction to the Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and the Implementation of Open Science Policies

The Council conclusions ‘The European arrest warrant and extradition procedures – current challenges and the way forward’

On 1 December 2020, the Council of the European Union has adopted conclusions on ‘the European arrest warrant and extradition procedures - current challenges and the way forward’. They represent the Council’s response to the ongoing debate on the future of the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant. While the European arrest warrant is commonly regarded as a success story, several issues have emerged in recent years that weaken mutual trust and pose obstacles to the smooth functioning of surrender procedures. This article sets out the legal and political context that shaped the debate in the Council during the German Presidency. It highlights the main challenges identified in the conclusions as well as the Council’s proposals to master them. In addition, the authors analyse the developments that have taken place since 1 December 2020 and, in particular, the efforts that have been made to implement the measures called for in the Council conclusions.

Die Türkei auf der Agenda des Europäischen Rates: Beitrittsperspektiven, Interessen und Konflikte

Relations between the European Union (EU) and Turkey have been highly topical in recent years. Growing hostilities, political turmoil and verbal skirmishes have kept this partnership in the limelight and aroused heated discussions in academic, political and public debate. Turkey’s backsliding democracy and shift towards a more assertive foreign policy in Syria, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean have largely contributed to the EU’s perception that ‘Turkey is increasingly moving away from the Union’. Yet, Turkey is still an accession candidate country and remains a ‘key partner for the EU’ in a number of policy areas - such as migration, trade and security cooperation as part of the NATO partnership. Aiming to shed light on this contradicting framework of EU-Turkey relations, this chapter studies European Council conclusions since the 1970s, focussing on narratives about Turkey generated by the EU leaders - the Heads of State or Government of the member states. The analysis examines Turkey in its roles as a candidate country, as a transactional partner and as a problematic neighbour from an EU perspective.

The European Council, the Council, and the European Green Deal

We assess the response of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (hereafter the Council) to the emergence and development of the European Green Deal (EGD). First, we conduct a literature review of the historical role of the two intergovernmental institutions in EU climate policy development, drawing inspiration from new intergovernmentalism, historical institutionalism, and discursive institutionalism. Next, we provide an overview of the EGD itself and three of its core elements: (1) the ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050; (2) its systemic and integrative nature; and (3) the just transition approach. We then present the results of a qualitative content analysis of all Council and European Council Conclusions from 2018 to 2020. Our findings show that the European Council and the Council have declared support for the EGD and its underlying principles. The European Council engaged with all three elements but mentioned the objective of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 most frequently and with growing intensity over the years studied. The Council similarly discussed the three elements of the EGD and gave increasing focus to the integrated/systemic transition over the course of the years 2018–2020. Our empirical analysis suggests that, on paper, the Council and the European Council may manage to govern through the organisational turbulence of member state divisions on climate governance. Furthermore, environmental turbulence arising from external contexts (e.g., economic and health crises) did not dampen their declared support towards the goals of the EGD.

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

EU Blacklist: Implementation under Luxembourg Domestic Law

This article discusses implementation in Luxembourg of one of the defensive measures in the tax area provided by the Council conclusions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions adopted on 5 December 2017.

Il nuovo regime generale di condizionalità per la protezione del bilancio dell’Unione: verso una più efficace tutela dello Stato di diritto?

On 16 December 2020 the Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget was finally approved, after having been long-awaited by scholars to test the adequacy of the response of European institutions to the rule of law crisis that is severely affecting some EU countries. From a substantive perspective, the paper aims at highlighting some elements that, albeit crucial for the functioning of the instrument, do not seem to be sufficiently defined in the final text. Moreover, since the European Council conclusions of 10 and 11 December 2020 seem to introduce some ex-post amendments to the Regulation, the paper will investigate – through a comparative analysis of the two texts – if that is the case and if the scenario can be considered as a breach of EU law by the European Council. Finally, taking into consideration the principles governing conditionality mechanisms, a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of the Regulation as an instrument to safeguard the rule of law within the EU legal order will be developed.

Norms of belonging: emotion discourse as a factor in determining future “Europeans”

ABSTRACT This article searches for the existence of emotion norms in the enlargement process of the EU. It argues that there is an appropriate emotion that needs to be expressed through the coordination and communication discourses of the European Commission and of the (European) Council. The article displays these norms through a critical discourse analysis of the enlargement strategy papers of the European Commission and the European Council conclusions in the 1997–2002 round of enlargement towards the Central and Eastern European countries. This analysis identifies the topoi that collectively form these emotion norms of enlargement. Afterwards the article analyses the same type of documents on the Western Balkans between 2014 and 2020 through periods of stalling and reinvigoration to demonstrate the resonance between these institutional discourses. It concludes that progress in the enlargement process takes place if both types of discourses conform to the emotion norms of enlargement.

LEGAL REGULATION DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED EUROPEAN UNION POLICY FOR THE ARCTIC IN COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CONCLUSIONS OF 2016 AND 2019

The article is dedicated to the study of legal regulation development of the EU Arctic policy, on the example of its current basic document (Joint Communication by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on An integrated European Union policy for the Arctic 2016) provisions evolution in the latest documents — four conclusions issued by the Council of the European Union in 2016 and 2019. Place and role of the aforementioned acts in legal regulation of the EU Arctic policy, as well as their interconnection, is examined. View of the Council of the European Union, as one of the Policy addressee, on its further development is demonstrated. By means of in-depth analysis of thematically different conclusions of the Council of the European Union, their contribution to the development of the ideas of Joint Communication within such directions as environment, sustainable development and international cooperation in Arctic is considered; new proposals and approaches are underlined. Special attention is paid to the definition of the legal nature of Joint Communication and conclusions as atypical acts of the EU institutions. During the study of documents accompanying the conclusions (especially on space issue), an integrated nature of the EU Arctic policy is demonstrated, i.e. its relationship with other EU policies and areas of competence (maritime, environmental, space). Based on the results of the study, several findings are made: Council conclusions of 2016 and 2019 compose together a single entity as integrated documents package, serve as the basis for further actions by the EU and Member States in the Arctic region; implementation of 2016 Policy in 2019-2020 and 2021 is carried along the same lines laid down by it, according to the same priorities, which are more adapted and supplemented by documents following it, with tendency to greater integration of Arctic policy into neighboring areas of competence.

Obstinate and Unmovable? The EU vis-à-vis Myanmar via EU-ASEAN

This article examines continuity and change in the European Union’s interactions with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regard to Myanmar. As the EU has used its connections with ASEAN to raise its concerns around Myanmar, the Association’s behaviour also comes into focus. This investigation is linked to the evolution of the EU in world affairs via its political ties to ASEAN. It concentrates on the rather abrupt change introduced by the reform process launched in 2011-12, which marked the beginning of a new phase. The EU’s concern that the Myanmar issue not destabilise its relations with ASEAN has remained constant, however changes in the dialogue can be seen as forming three distinct phases. It is maintained that the aspiration to escape from pervasive China and the desirability of attracting new partners were the catalyst for these changes. Official documents from the EU, the European Commission, and European Council Conclusions and Common Positions, declarations issued at ASEAN, Asia-Europe and other meetings, together with secondary sources and interviews conducted mostly in Myanmar, contribute to this work. While many scholars have hinted at the extent to which the issue of Myanmar has been problematic to the EU-ASEAN links, there has been no emphasis on the positive effect that Myanmar has had on EU-ASEAN relations. This research illuminates the extent to which this issue has conversely helped to reinforce the long-lasting EU-ASEAN relationship.

European Union One Health Country Visits as Driver to Combat on Antimicrobial Resistance

Background: In 2016, the European Union adopted unanimously Council Conclusions on the next steps to combat antimicrobial resistance under a One Health approach. To implement some of the provisions laid down in the Council Conclusions, a European Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Healthcare-Associated Infections (HCAI) or EU-JAMRAI was set up, gathering 44 partners. Methods: As part of EU-JAMRAI, 13 participating European countries set up a country-to-country peer review system to evaluate each other’s national action plans (NAPs). This review system entailed a self-assessment, strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats (SWOT) analysis, and country visits. All steps were executed with representatives from both the human and the veterinary domains (One Health approach). Special attention was given to supervision and the way supervision can enhance the implementation of guidelines on AMR, both at the policy level and within healthcare institutions. Results: Despite differences in the stage of developing and implementing NAPs, all 13 countries are working on NAPs. In this process, country visits function as a moment to exchange best practices and to provide an outsider’s point of view. At the end of 2019, 13 country-to-country visits had taken place, resulting in tailor-made recommendations for each country. These recommendations were shared with the competent authority. An example is a country that used the recommendation to improve infection prevention as an immediate reason to get the topic on the agenda of the Ministry of Health. During the country visits, intersectoral participation was perceived as desirable, but in some cases it was challenging to arrange. For some highly relevant topics, it has been recognized that discussion should take place on a European level. Examples of such topics include supervision, infection prevention guidelines, funding, surveillance, and regular audits of antibiotic prescriptions for physicians including feedback loops. Conclusions: Peer review is a cooperative and friendly working method compared to common audits. The country visits function as an agenda setting tool to get or to keep AMR on the political agenda and presenting the most relevant topic(s) to address for each country.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None