European Union Interest Research Articles

EU Membership of Western Balkan Countries and Digital Citizenship Practices

Following the end of the Cold War, the European Union's interest in the Western Balkans intensified, driven by geopolitical and geostrategic considerations. Moreover, the region holds significance as a transit route for energy lines supplying EU member states. Encompassing a diverse geographical expanse, the Western Balkans includes Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, Romania, Greece, and Slovenia. While the EU’s perspectives on the Balkan countries, situated in a geopolitically crucial position, became clearer following the Thessaloniki Summit 2003, they are currently grappling with various challenges. Within the EU, enlargement fatigue has emerged following the enlargements in 2007 and 2013. Concurrently, economic and political crises within the union have prompted restructuring efforts. These reforms, encompassing areas such as the “Rule of Law”, “Functioning Market Economy” and “Democratization and Transparency of Public Administration”, have become imperative amid the evolving global order and globalization trends. Consequently, reforms in digital citizenship have also become inevitable. This study examines the EU membership and digital citizenship practices of the Western Balkan countries.

The European Union's Interest in Implementing The Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) Policy on The Issue of Discrimination Against Indonesian Palm Oil

The discrimination of Indonesian palm oil imposed by the European Union through the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) policy provides mixed and overlapping speculation. This is evident by the E.U.'s unpublished interest in the issue of discrimination against Indonesian palm oil. The purpose of this study is to find out the hidden interests or objectives of the European Union after imposing trade barriers on Indonesian palm oil exports, which will be reviewed through the theory of neo-mercantilism and also the concept of national interest. This research uses qualitative methods in collecting data related to problems using a descriptive approach to ensure a consistent understanding of the ideas considered. Our analysis shows unprecedented public interest in the European Union regarding discrimination against Indonesian palm oil. This is an effort to protect the European Union from their domestic vegetable oils being less competitive than vegetable oils from Indonesian palm oil. The European Union imposed trade barriers to prevent Indonesian palm oil from quickly entering the European market. Keywords: palm oil discrimination, European Union, RED II

Paradiplomacy and its Impact on EU Foreign Policy

Cities and regions play an increasingly vital role in international relations, even co-shaping their countries’ foreign policy. This phenomenon, usually called ‘paradiplomacy’, means that cities and regions develop links with foreign actors, both state and non-state. In this way, they contribute to the ‘pluralisation’ of diplomacy and are changing the shape of contemporary relations on the global stage. This process is also happening with regard to the international activities undertaken by the European Union (EU); yet the paradiplomacy trend is also only partially realised at the EU level. In this context, this article aims to conceptualise the impact that the paradiplomacy of European sub-state actors has on EU foreign policy. So far, it has not been adequately recognised in the academic literature as a potential factor influencing EU foreign affairs. In addition, the article analyses how cities and regions can influence the development of EU foreign policy and how the Union can use this potential for international activity on the part of local actors. The article has two parts. In the first part, we present three ways cities and regions can influence EU foreign policy. By giving specific examples, we show that cities and regions are already using their authority to: i) lobby and create networking communities, ii) use formal powers, and iii) apply direct actions. In the second part, we set out the opportunities and challenges that arise from the paradiplomatic activities of sub-state actors. To elucidate the issues, we consider the case of contemporary relations between the EU and China, which are becoming more intense at local government level but which are not used by Brussels to pursue EU interests.

“Europeanization” of Think Tanks in the EU Interest Group Politics

The article reveals the characteristics of think tanks as actors of the interest group politics in the European Union (EU). In this policy, they inspire public debate, conduct research, encourage new legislation and more effective public administration. A large number of European think tanks is engaged in interest group politics both at the national and supranational level of the EU governance, encouraging integration processes among the EU countries and Europeanization, which is the subject of analysis of this study. The strengthening of the role and importance of interest groups in EU policy is largely due to the increased power of the Unions institutions, since the introduction of new legislation and regulation common to all EU countries leads to the feedback from various groups that represent both public and private interests. Obviously, these groups, when interacting with the power institutions of the EU, strive for the most effective protection of their interests. For this purpose their representatives hold meetings with officials of the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as other structures of the Union. This interaction, aiming at promoting their interests by means of lobbying and advocacy, has been regulated since 2011 by the Transparency Register, jointly created by the European Commission and the European Parliament. The purpose of this study is to analyze the quantitative performance of think tanks in the EU and to develop on its basis the Ranking of EU countries, according to the level of Europeanization of the think tanks representing them. From the research methods perspective, the study is based on the matching of statistical data from the Transparency Register and the Global Go To Think Tank Index, which serves the basis for this Ranking. The study of the ranking makes it possible to identify groups of countries with a high, medium and low level of Europeanization of think tanks in all EU countries as of January 31, 2019. The results revealed on the basis of the analysis demonstrate the heterogeneous nature of the Europeanization process of think tanks in different EU countries.

EU Trade Policy: Principles versus Pragmatism. The Cases of Vietnam and Cambodia

ABSTRACT European Union (EU) trade policy has appeared rather contradictory recently towards countries in which there are instances of human rights violations, such as Vietnam and Cambodia. Given that principled pragmatism, set down in the 2016 EU Global Strategy, entails the view that the EU approach must fit the reality of EU interests, it is a useful lens for explaining why the EU treats its trade partners differently. This is important in view of the EU’s evolving foreign and security policy in the Southeast Asian region and its distinctive economic, security and strategic interests in Vietnam and Cambodia.

European fuel economy policy for new passenger cars: a historical comparative analysis of discourses and change factors

In April 2019, the European Union (EU) revised its fuel economy policy for new passenger cars (PC). The new standard set an ambitious policy framework that featured high CO2 caps on these vehicles from 2025 and 2030 with limited flexibility for automobile industry to comply with the new standard, reflecting European decision-makers’ aspirations for zero-emission mobility. Most literature on EU policy-making and interest representation has pointed out the power of automobile industry and argued that these industry actors were able to influence the stringency of actual emission standards in the timeframe of 2012 and 2020. However, this conventional view of the dominance of automobile industry does not sufficiently explain why European policy-makers were able to change their fuel economy policy so significantly in 2019. To fill this research gap in the existing literature, this research focuses on discourses and coalitions of actors who deployed these discourses throughout three legislative processes that have shaped the EU’s fuel economy policy: Regulation 443/2009, Regulation 2014/333 and Regulation 2019/613. This research not only considers the interests and powers of relevant actors, which are the primary focus of much of the existing literature; but also a range of ideas and discourses that they have brought to policy discussions. Drawing on the theoretical literature of argumentative discourse analysis (ADA) and policy change, this article attempts to highlight discursive battles within key actors over the stringency of EU’s fuel economy policy on PCs.

Norm diffusion as a tool to uphold and promote EU values and interests: A case study on the EU Japan Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement

The article takes the European Union (EU)-Japan Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Agreement as a case study to analyse the EU success in pursuing its art 3(5) TEU mandate of upholding and promoting its values and interests; and to what extent the EU effectively relied on norm diffusion to this aim. The EU has arguably been, at least partially, successful in exporting its legal standards on ‘improved judicial cooperation’ in the text of the Agreement, especially a legal basis for acquiring testimony via videoconference, whereby to uphold its interest into security; and in including clauses allowing it to uphold its values of respect of fundamental rights. In particular, in having clause allowing the EU to refuse assistance if death penalty is involved, the EU arguably not only acted as a norm exporter, but it also set a new international legal standard, through which it also hoped to promote its values by triggering a change in Japan’s retentionist policy. An analysis of 10 years of implementation of the Agreement shows, however, a more nuanced picture, highlighting the importance to look at both the norm emergence and the norm socialisation phase when assessing the success of the EU as a norm exporter. The institutionalisation of EU-Japan MLA cooperation through the conclusion of the agreement has triggered a stark increase in volume and speed of cases, contributing to higher security. However, legal, practical and cultural factors hinder the implementation in practice of EU legal standards on acquisition of evidence and the promotion of the EU abolitionist agenda.

United States and European Union Evolving Approaches in Southeast Asia: Moving Closer to Convergence or Divergence?

With the launch of Barack Obama’s strategic rebalance to Asia-Pacific, there has been a widening of the United States’ military, economic, and diplomatic presence in the Southeast Asian region. Likewise, it is clear that Southeast Asia is currently a region of relevant interest for both the United States and the European Union (EU). Surprisingly, however, up to the present, a systematic comparison of their approaches in the region has been largely lacking. To fill this void, this article compares US and EU interests, strategies, and main instruments of cooperation in Southeast Asia. Special attention is paid to the main developments that occurred in the United States, from Obama’s announcement of a strategic rebalance to Asia-Pacific to Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy, and in the EU, with the release there of the 2012 “Updated East Asia Policy Guidelines.” Examining whether the EU and the United States are moving towards a greater convergence of intent is of crucial importance for identifying opportunities for the further development of the transatlantic relationship in Southeast Asia. This article argues, though, that despite some apparent common traits in the US’s and the EU’s intentions, their strategies and instruments ultimately differ substantially – reflecting divergent paths. This creates crucial impediments to any further development of transatlantic cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Australia’s relationship with the European Union: from conflict to cooperation

ABSTRACTAfter decades of tension, Australia and the European Union (EU) now have a substantive relationship, interacting and cooperating with each other within a wide range of areas. The relationship is currently at a critical turning point. The Framework Agreement has, for the first time, elevated the relationship to a treaty level. It strengthens Australia–EU actions and interests on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. There is considerable potential for closer cooperation and more extensive pooling of the resources and capacities of both interlocutors on a range of policies and within the multilateral context. This article provides an assessment of the relationship, the current state of play and key challenges facing the relationship as the EU and Australia forge stronger ties through the conclusion of a Framework Agreement and the commencement of discussions on a Free Trade Agreement at the same time as the UK’s exit negotiations from the EU. It demonstrates that, although there are challenges facing the relationship, there are also significant opportunities to further develop and strengthen ties.

Canvas White Paper 2 Cybersecurity and Law

This White Paper explores the legal dimensions of the European Union (EU)’s value-driven cybersecurity by investigating the notions of ‘value-driven’ and ‘cybersecurity’ from the perspective of EU law. It starts with a general overview of legal issues in current value-driven cybersecurity debates (Chapter 2), showing how values embedded within the framework of EU governing treaties have evolved during the integration process, and the important role they play in the cybersecurity regulation at EU level. Chapter 3 of the White Paper is devoted to the main critical challenges in this area: 1) the varied and sometimes unclear uses of the term ‘cybersecurity’, 2) the roles of stakeholders and the cooperation between them, and the 3) securitization of EU values and interests through cybersecurity rules. Chapter 4 points out and describes specific controversies concerning cybersecurity regulation in the EU. Ten disputed issues are given particular attention: 1) the functioning of human rights as drivers for EU regulation, 2) the regulation of risks to society through individual risk identification and proactive action, 3) the attribution of roles to different stakeholders, 4) how individuals are being awarded with more rights, 5) controllership of data, 6) copyright protection, 7) regulation of online content, 8) the use of encryption, 9) permissibility of massive and generalised surveillance of individuals and 10) counterterrorism measures. Chapter 5 summarises the main findings of the literature review. The White Paper recognises that legislative and policy measures within the cybersecurity domain challenge EU fundamental rights and principles, stemming from EU values. The White Paper concludes that with the constantly growing number of EU measures governing the cybersecurity domain, the embedment of EU values enshrined in the EU Charter within these measures take place both on an ex ante and an ex post basis.

Exploring the European Union’s rationalities of governing: the case of cross-border mobility in the eastern partnership

ABSTRACTThis article examines the case of cross-border mobility between the European Union (EU) and the states of the Eastern Partnership (EaP). The issue of managing mobility exposes a wider series of continuities and disconnects in the EU’s attempts at extending its rationalities of governing into the neighbourhood. Using the case studies of Visa Liberalisation Actions Plans and the Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), this article argues that while the EU’s rationalities of governing remain largely disciplinary, the study of practices reveals emergent rationalities of ‘governing at a distance’, which increasingly draw on the interplay of both the EU interests and partners’ needs.

Is the EU different? Comparing the diversity of national and EU-level systems of interest organisations

The European Union interest group population is often characterised as being biased towards business and detached from its constituency base. Many scholars attribute this to institutional factors unique to the EU. Yet, assessing whether or not the EU is indeed unique in this regard requires a comparative research design. We compare the EU interest group population with those in four member states: France, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. We differentiate system, policy domain and organisational factors and examine their effects on interest group diversity. Our results show that the EU interest system is not more biased towards the representation of business interests than the other systems. Moreover, EU interest organisations are not more detached from their constituents than those in the studied countries. Everywhere, business interest associations seem to be better capable of representing their members’ interests than civil society groups. These findings suggest that the EU is less of a sui generis system than commonly assumed and imply the need for more fine-grained analyses of interest group diversity.

High Stakes of the Small EU Partnership Instrument on the Eve of the 2017 Mid-Term Review

The European Union (EU)’s so-called Partnership Instrument (PI) captures the changing psychology of EU relations with rising powers, and has been designed to give more room for manoeuvre for EU external action. Two years of practice leading up to the 2017 Mid-Term Review have shown that the PI is instrument-driven rather than objective-driven, and that its strategic potential is undermined by lengthy committee-based procedures and sector-based programming. In an arena of vested interests, the PI’s significance is tied up with what EU stakeholders want to make of the European External Action Service (EEAS). National foreign ministries struggle to connect national objectives with EU interests, apart from the wider debate not addressed here as to where European interests come from when they are not based on national objectives. This article argues that national foreign ministries should consider the potentially positive effect on EU external action of this relatively small initiative, notably as the instrument to connect one European entity to other global powerhouses. EU Member States have so far been unable to link fully with the PI, and – like the EEAS and the European Parliament – they have too little clout to exert influence on the European Commission. The EU Global Strategy offers a window of opportunity for making the PI more political, expedient and flexible.

Kraj hegemonije i dominacije u Jugoistočnoj Europi

At the end of the 20th century the SE European region was surviving one of the most difficult periods of changing hegemony and dominance circumstances. The disintegration of the communist world and the collapse of former Yugoslavia, as part of the process, could be considered as the result of the new relations among big powers’ hegemonic systems. The NATO spreads to the European east (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland etc.), which has direct influence on SE Europe. After new countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia) had been internationally recognised in 1992, and the loyal Slovenian and Croatian partnership with NATO in the Kosovo action in 1999 was proved, it is obvious that regional hegemony of the Serbia core region does not exist any more. Also Russian (former Soviet) attempts to play the role of the dominant leader in this region have been suppressed to a minimum. The author discusses European Union interests in this zone, and the way European countries include themselves in the process of pacifying and developing the region. After Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia are expected to satisfy the conditions for entering EU in next 3 to five years. In the same time Serbia and Montenegro enters a new, more democratic phase of its development.

Background of standardization and regulation of training and use of pharmaceutical regular resource potential in XI–XVI centuries

Since the beginning of creation the system of training and retraining, determining the specific role and significance of the pharmaceutical manpower from the XVI century to the present day, the discussions about their state-public organizing and permanent improvements scheme, including the system of pharmaceutical postgraduate education in accordance with the requirements of the European Union (EU) are held. The purpose of the work lies in the fact that noopharmaceutical modern (non-pharmaceutical) opinion and assessment of historical events, traditions, their survival, national ethical mindset in the pharmaceutical business are extrapolated for the future reform of the sector in line with EU requirements. And on the stage of review of the conceptual characteristics of primary, medium and distant prospects, the positive experience is taken into account, rejecting the already proven negative position in reforming the pharmaceutical sector in the health sector according to European modern requirements. Materials and methods. Historical literary and official sources, archival materials have been used. Modern Pharmacy memories of veterans “Figures in pharmacy” have been used. Results. Personnel policy contributes to fight against corruption and mafia in pharmacy. This way legal and regulatory policy will accelerate the destruction of pharmaceutical, pseudo productive and alcohol-drug mafia. Regulatory policy in the pharmaceutical sector will normalize events, which will provide state control quality of drugs - implementation of EU rules, attractiveness and interest of foreign manufacturers to the pharmaceutical sector of Ukraine [20-30], including the preparation of qualified pharmacists (bachelors, masters), other professionals of pharmacy and industrial pharmacy. Conclusions. The main stages of development of the property (material) and human resources to provide medical treatment and patients have been detected. The basic steps of transformation and delimitation of professional functions pharmacist-physician have been set.

International Institutions and Interest Mobilization: The WTO and Lobbying in EU and US Trade Policy

What affects lobbying patterns in trade policymaking? Existing explanations focus mainly on economic determinants, like the rise of intra-industry trade. We argue that the international trade institutions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) themselves are also key for understanding which type of interest mobilization is likely to arise. We contend that the institutional setting of issue-linkage based trade negotiations creates incentives for firms to work through broad sector-wide lobbying organizations, while judicial adjudication and enforcement in WTO dispute settlement stimulates de-linkage, leading to product-specific interest mobilization. We illustrate how these two arguments can explain the coexistence of both sector-wide and product-specific lobbying in the contemporary international trade regime. We provide evidence on interest mobilization for United States (US) and European Union (EU) initiated WTO disputes, and on EU and US domestic interest organizations that mobilize during multilateral trade rounds or are present at WTO ministerial conferences.

Butterfly bait traps versus zigzag walks: What is the better way to monitor common and threatened butterflies in non-tropical regions?

Trapping live butterflies using bait traps is a traditional monitoring method used in tropical regions. We compared the utility of bait traps with zigzag walks in temperate Central Europe where butterfly bait traps have not been systematically tested yet. We focused on butterfly communities in steppes, forest steppes and open woodlands. We carried out the research in seven localities during 2–4 consecutive days in summer 2013. We observed far fewer specimens using zigzag walks (538) than bait traps (2115), but more species (34 vs. 23), genera (27 vs. 18), as well as families (8 vs. 5). However, overall species composition was not influenced by monitoring method but only by locality. For 8 of 37 detected diurnal species bait traps were more efficient than zigzag walks. Most of the trapped species and individuals were sampled from the Nymphalidae and were attracted to both types of bait in various ratios. Pieridae and Papilionidae were not attracted to the traps. Also, some of both common and rare species of the Nymphalidae were detected only using zigzag walks. We recorded eight species from the Czech Red list of threatened species as well as one priority species of European Union interest by combining both methods. We are convinced that using a combination of the standard monitoring procedure and butterfly bait traps would lead to an improvement in species detectability and provide a more accurate estimation of actual species abundance.

Transnational policy networks and the European Union's energy policy

The goal of this article is to critically examine the engagement between the European Union (EU) and a transnational policy network (TPN) that deals with an issue that has grown in importance in the architecture of the EU's energy policy: fracking. The author argues that successful engagement between the EU and networks on shale gas was facilitated by the fact that the TPN or the members of the TPN were in possession of technical and scientific information that is highly needed by institutions in Brussels. Also, the article reveals that the fact that EU energy insecurity has been high on the EU agenda increased EU's interest in actors that could provide vital insights into potential panaceas and palliatives to energy insecurity.

Interest Groups in International Intellectual Property Negotiations

This paper parts with the assumption that a perspective that takes interest group dynamics into account has great explanatory power for the interpretation of international intellectual property (IP) negotiation outcomes like TRIPS and ACTA. The research questions will consequently revolve around contextual conditions that affect the generation of different interest group systems, which in turn heavily influence the negotiation outcomes: Who exactly are today’s relevant interest groups in comparison to the TRIPS era and what are their stakes and interests? Why did they gain influence in the area of international IP policymaking and what are their strategies to exercise their influence? What implications does the changed interest group system have for international IP policy-making? What insights can be gained from the analysis of the TRIPS and ACTA negotiations about the role of interest groups in international IP negotiations?In order to allow a profound analysis of these research questions, the scope of this paper will be narrowed down to the case study of the European Union (EU) concerning two international IP negotiations: The TRIPS agreement, currently providing the status quo on minimum standards of IP rights and the ACTA negotiations. The EU has been chosen as the object of analysis, because the recent rejection of the ACTA agreement by the European Parliament seems contradictory to the pro-TRIPS standpoint and support for high international IPR standards that usually constituted the EU interest in international IP negotiations since the TRIPS negotiations 18 years ago. The hypothesis that will be tested with this paper is that certain contextual factors altered the EU interest group system concerning international IP politics in the time period between TRIPS and ACTA, which in turn considerably contributed to the transformation of the EU standpoint in international IP negotiations.

Creative Little Scientists: exploring pedagogical synergies between inquiry-based and creative approaches in Early Years science

In the light of the European Union's interest in creativity and innovation, this paper, drawing on data from the EU project Creative Little Scientists (2011–2014), explores the teaching and learning of science and creativity in Early Years education. The project's conceptual framework, developed from detailed analysis of relevant literatures, highlighted the potential existence of a number of pedagogical synergies between inquiry-based science and creativity-based approaches in Early Years education. The science and creativity literature reviews were thus re-examined to identify synergistic features of teaching and learning in the Early Years. These were seen to include: play and exploration, motivation and affect, dialogue and collaboration, problem-solving and agency, questioning and curiosity, reflection and reasoning, and teacher scaffolding and involvement. Field work undertaken over a 4-month-period in 48 sites across the 9 partner countries provided the opportunity to examine the existence of these synergies in Early Years settings and primary classrooms with learners aged 3–8 years. Qualitative in nature, the fieldwork was framed by a case study strategy encompassing multiple methods of data collection: sequential digital images capturing interactions; observations supplemented by audio recording; timelines; and interviews with teachers and groups of children. The data set comprised 71 cases in early science (and mathematics), with 3 episodes of activity per case encapsulating creativity in these domains, resulting in 218 episodes for analysis. A deductive–inductive analytical approach was undertaken in two phases with cross-case analysis both within and between countries. The paper exemplifies the pedagogical synergies innovatively identified in the conceptual framework and documented in the fieldwork, and highlights the potential for creativity in exploratory science contexts. Additionally, it highlights differences between practice observed in preschool and primary settings and advances a new conceptual definition of creativity within Early Years science education.