European Union Officials Research Articles

Confrontational Diplomacy: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Zimbabwe–EU Relationship

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the complex and often confrontational relationship between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU). It aims to contribute to the understanding of how confrontational diplomacy impacts international relations and offers insights into potential avenues for reconciliation. It focuses on key issues such as sanctions and the challenging visa regime between the two entities. By examining the historical context, the implementation of sanctions, and the visa regime, this article provides a comprehensive perspective on the Zimbabwe–EU relationship. This qualitative study applied content analysis to official documents, statements, and speeches from Zimbabwean and EU officials, as well as scholarly works, reports, and news articles to shed light on the intricate dynamics at play in their diplomatic interactions. This study is hinged on the realism theoretical framework. The study found that sanctions and visa restrictions imposed by the EU on Zimbabwe have exacerbated confrontation in their diplomatic relations. The study recommends that Zimbabwe and the EU should consider engaging in sincere diplomatic dialogue to address the underlying issues and concerns, including a more pragmatic approach to underlying sources of tension which include human rights issues and the easing of visa restrictions.

Energy consumption decomposition analysis using European official statistics: Methodology and input data

Deciphering energy efficiency is a critical component for the sustainability and energy policies of the European Union (EU) and its Member States. Decomposition analysis is a key method that helps distinguish real energy efficiency gains from other external factors. This article presents a decomposition analysis method using official EU statistics, its results, and associated limitations. Although separating structural changes and activity levels from energy efficiency poses a challenge, an adapted Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method was utilised to isolate and highlight energy efficiency. This article outlines this method and how the European official statistics were exploited. Firstly, it examines the factors affecting energy consumption in various sectors within EU-27. Secondly, it examines the factors affecting energy consumption in various sectors. In doing so, it also addresses potential obstacles in data collection, and presents improvements to the LMDI analysis. The findings in this study make a substantial contribution to the fields of national statistics, methodological applications, and energy data analysis in the context of the EU’s energy policies.

Revolving door benefits? The consequences of the revolving door for political access

Do policymakers grant greater access to organized interests employing their former colleagues? While a growing literature examines the “revolving door” between business and politics, we know little about whether organized interests can extract political favors by hiring revolvers. Combining novel data on the career trajectories of European Union officials and politicians with access data to the European Commission, we use a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate how hiring revolvers shapes access to meetings with policymakers. Surprisingly, we find limited evidence that employing politically connected staff shapes access overall. However, we uncover substantial heterogeneities in the effects, suggesting that revolvers do increase access to meetings about the broader legislative agenda when institutional friction is low. Moreover, contract lobbying firms, which arguably possess the weakest level of legitimacy, experience increased access. Our article sheds new light on the circumstances under which revolvers with political connections help private interests and have important implications for understanding the political effects of the revolving door.

Nanotechnology and knowledge relatedness: how to identify optimal regional partners in EU innovation networks?

Abstract Research & Innovation (R&I) policy initiatives employed by the European Union (EU) across its regional economies are important instruments to ensure the scientific and technological progress along with the associated benefits. One relevant aspect in this regard is to encourage and enable collaboration between regional partners to enhance potential learning opportunities and to ensure cohesive long-term development patterns. Furthermore, frequently these initiatives are also targeted at specific technology sectors, such as the EU R&I policy actions towards nanotechnology. Based on an advance theoretical framework and data from the official EU project databases as well as regionalized European Patent Office data, the present study develops a methodological tool through which it is possible to identify effective collaboration settings, while providing policymakers and evaluators with a practical tool that will enable them to predict the possible outcomes of such critical EU-funded R&I projects from the onset.

Inside the European Union's Trade Machinery: Institutional Changes in an Age of Geoeconomics

AbstractIn the context of increasingly assertive behaviour in international trade policy, various scholars seem to agree on the presence of a ‘geoeconomic turn’ in European Union (EU) trade policy. Whilst various aspects of this turn have been studied, the way in which the EU's trade institution might have adapted to this new context remains unclear. Therefore, this article addresses the following research question: how has the Directorate‐General for Trade (DG Trade) adapted to the geoeconomic turn in international trade policy? Using an innovative historical institutionalist framework and directed content analysis, the article analyses EU official documents and 14 interviews with EU officials. We find that, despite apparent continuity, under President von der Leyen, a gradual process of institutional adaptation through different forms of layering and conversion has taken place within DG Trade, increasing the EU's geoeconomic capacities and geoeconomic thinking inside the EU's trade machinery.

Humanitarian Practices of Regional Organizations in the Russia-Ukraine War: Taking the European Union as an Example

The Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, with countless individuals affected by the conflict. In response, regional organizations have played a crucial role in providing humanitarian assistance and promoting peace in the region. This paper focuses on the European Union (EU) as an exemplary regional organization and examines its humanitarian practices during the Russia-Ukraine war. By analysing the EU’s policies, initiatives, and interventions, this study aims to shed light on the effectiveness of regional organizations in addressing humanitarian challenges in conflict zones. The research draws on a combination of primary and secondary sources, including official EU documents, reports, and scholarly articles. The findings highlight the EU’s multifaceted approach, encompassing humanitarian aid, diplomatic efforts, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Furthermore, the paper explores the strengths and limitations of the EU’s humanitarian practices, providing insights into potential areas for improvement. Ultimately, this research contributes to the understanding of regional organizations’ role in mitigating the humanitarian consequences of conflicts and offers valuable lessons for future humanitarian interventions in similar contexts.

The Arctic potential: cutting the Gordian knot of EU–Russia relations?

ABSTRACT The relationship between the European Union (EU) and Russia in the past 30 years has been complex, encompassing periods of hope, optimism and cooperation but also elements of competition, conflict and complicated geopolitical tensions. There is an omnipresent pattern of intertwined conflict and cooperation that has run through the core of the relationship, until reaching a stalemate following the 2022 Russian aggression in Ukraine. We identify the current state of EU–Russia relations to resemble a Gordian knot or a deeply entrenched and unsolvable problem. Nevertheless, a site where the EU and Russia meet face to face to pursue interests on a plethora of issues is the Arctic. We examine whether the EU–Russia relations have been qualitatively different there, and whether it might hold lessons for cutting the identified Gordian knot. We employ discourse analysis to the official EU documents on the Arctic from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, and examine how Russia has been presented in these documents – as a competitor or a cooperation partner. We discover more cooperation rather than conflict language, indicating the Arctic might hold some lessons about the future EU–Russia relations after a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

EU Sanctions Policy Vis-à-Vis Russia

This research piece investigates the role of norms in European Union (EU) sanctions policy towards Russia in the context of the Russia Ukraine War. It aims to answer the research question of the extent to which the EU’s foreign policy in this particular case can be interpreted as having normative power. As an analytical lens, the Normative Power Europe (NPE) framework is used. In order to tackle the question, this study deploys an interdisciplinary approach drawing from EU law and social sciences. It combines EU legislation and case law of the European Court of Justice on the one hand, with a qualitative content analysis of official EU press releases on the other. The first part of the analysis focuses on the doctrinal legal analysis of the relevant EU law in order to account for the normative-legal basis and legitimacy of EU autonomous sanctions. The second part investigates if the EU in this particular case is guided by international norms (milieu goals) or economic interests (possession goals) and which foreign policy instruments it uses to pursue its objectives. The study finds that the EU is committed to its normative identity.

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S POLICIES TO PROTECT THE RULE OF LAW IN THE CASE OF DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING IN HUNGARY

Hungary is one of the European Union (EU) members challenging the EU from within. The recent legal and constitutional changes under Viktor Orban’s governments question the EU’s capacity and political will to prevent the violations by its members of its rules, norms and values pertaining to democracy. In conjunction with the definition of the current democratic decline in the country as “illiberal” democracy, “defective” democracy or “elected autocracy”, this study addresses the process as democratic backsliding. This study aims to analyse how the EU manages democratic backsliding in Hungary. For this purpose, the research is based on the content analysis of official EU documents and publications, democracy indexes of various international institutions as well as secondary literature. Considering the EU’s approach to democratic decline in Hungary as a rule of law crisis, the study explores the EU’s institutional mechanisms and policy tools to protect the rule of law in its member states. This study aims to make a contemporary contribution to the literature by discussing the EU’s political will and mechanisms to protect the rule of law in the case of Hungary’s democratic backsliding.

Assessing the Readability of Online Health Information for Colonoscopy - Analysis of Articles in 22 European Languages.

Patients often search on the Internet information about different medical conditions and procedures. This study aimed to evaluate online health information on colonoscopy, focusing on quantity and comprehensibility of internet resources dedicated to the colonoscopy. This information could be used by European Union (EU) colorectal cancer (CRC) screening providers to address patient's unfilled educational needs, fear of colonoscopy, and other barriers that deter from CRC screening. The term "colonoscopy" translated into 22 official EU languages was searched using the Google search engine. For each translation, generated list of websites was assessed with Google Translate. The first 50 websites in each language were assessed for suitability. Records in other languages were excluded. Included websites were free, focused on patient education, and did not have password. Readability assessments were performed with Lix score. A total of 588 websites in Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish were evaluated. The overall mean Lix score was 56 ± 8 and was classified as very hard to comprehend. There were significant differences in mean Lix scores across the included languages (P<.001). There was not significant correlation (R2 = 0.1, P = 0.142) between Lix score and number of search hits. Although there was a wealth of online patient information on colonoscopy, the comprehensibility of the available information is low. Physician guidance to reliable resources could increase patient's willingness to undergo a screening colonoscopy.

Disinformation and the Brussels bubble: EU correspondents’ concerns and competences in a digital age

European Union (EU) political actors have been heavily affected by the so-called disinformation crisis, leading to intense worries about how EU citizens may be guaranteed access to trustworthy information in the years to come. While there is increasing research on how EU officials, platforms, and political parties react to the threat of disinformation, less attention has been paid to how another crucial group of actors in Brussels copes with this threat: EU correspondents. This paper presents one of the first empirical observations of EU correspondents’ perceptions of the disinformation crisis. We conducted a survey with Brussels-based correspondents ahead of a politicized 2019 European Parliament election campaign, and asked: What are (a) the concerns and (b) self-perceived competences these correspondents have in dealing with disinformation? Our study offers two main take-aways: First, we recommend further studying EU journalism as a complex organism whose concerns and competences are influenced by intra-European differences in press freedom and journalistic professionalisation. Second, disinformation studies in the EU context must no longer neglect the challenges professional journalism faces when aiming to stop false content.

Interpretation of the European legal framework for the microbiological classification of bivalve mollusc production areas

Water quality, in terms of the bacteria and viruses present, affects the incidence of microbial contamination in bivalve molluscs. The European Union Official Control Regulations manage these potential human health risks, requiring all Member States to routinely monitor the level of faecal contamination in production and relaying areas, and to classify these production areas accordingly. How a site is classified can affect business flexibility, operating costs, and even the ability to trade. The protection of public health is the primary remit of the national competent authorities implementing the regulations, while businesses are keen to achieve and maintain a classification indicative of good water quality, and to minimise the likelihood of a site being downgraded or closed. Equally, they do not want to make their customers sick. Balancing protection of public health and the viability of bivalve shellfish production is most easily achieved with a regulatory system that is responsive, adaptive and ultimately risk-based. Despite the standard legislation and supplementary guidance to ensure consistency of approach, interpretation and implementation varies across countries. Some take a risk based and more permissive approach, whilst others are much more restrictive. This indicates the ability of Member States to exert some independence within the overarching legal framework, reflecting regional variation in environmental conditions, historical approaches to shellfish hygiene controls as well as the range of relationships between producers and regulators.

European artificial intelligence policy as digital single market making

Rapid innovation in digital services relying on artificial intelligence (AI) challenges existing regulations across a wide array of policy fields. The European Union (EU) has pursued a position as global leader on ethical AI regulation in explicit contrast to US laissez-faire and Chinese state surveillance approaches. This article asks how the seemingly heterogeneous approaches of market making and ethical AI are woven together at a deeper level in EU regulation. Combining quantitative analysis of all official EU documents on AI with in-depth reading of key reports, communications, and legislative corpora, we demonstrate that single market integration constitutes a fundamental but overlooked engine and structuring principle of new AI regulation. Under the influence of this principle, removing barriers to competition and the free flow of data, on the one hand, and securing ethical and responsible AI, on the other hand, are seen as compatible and even mutually reinforcing.

Strategic Observatory for Europe 2030: Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence SOE2030 and Its Impact

Abstract The main goal of Agenda 2030, the third and current strategic document of the European Union (EU), is to steer its development in pursuit of its Sustainable Development Goals. However, both policy research and policy practice have revealed a relatively poor implementation record of the EU grand strategy. The implementation of Agenda 2030 may be even more challenging, since it is not only an official EU grand strategy, but, more pervasively, a document accepted by the United Nations and whose implementation has global ambitions and also encounters many obstacles deriving their origin from beyond the borders of the EU. This promises that implementation and factors contributing to successes and failures of the EU grand strategies will remain an interesting research topic. In this article we present the possible application of Cultural Political Economy (CPE) approach in this research and present its application in the framework of Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence titled Strategic Observatory for Europe 2030 (SOE2030).

Dialogue in and as European heritage

In this article, we scrutinize the use and institutionalization of the concept of ‘dialogue’ in the cultural politics of the European Union. Our focus is on how dialogue is understood in the context of the European Union’s flagship heritage action, the European Heritage Label, that aims to strengthen citizens’ sense of belonging to the Union. Since heritage has gained increasing prominence in the European Union international relations, we also discuss how ‘dialogue’ is institutionalized in the European Heritage Label as part of the European Union’s heritage diplomacy. We approach dialogue in the context of the European Heritage Label as a floating signifier; an ideal seldom explicitly defined and never fully achieved but actively used to organize society and power relations. The empirical data consist of official European Heritage Label reports and interviews conducted with European Union officials and members of the European Heritage Label panel in charge of the selection and awarding of European Heritage Label sites.

EU language policy under review

The challenges caused by the dominance of English in many domains across the European Union (EU), the lack of a viable programme to promote plurilingualism, as well as the problematic nature of having three procedural languages, are scrutinised against the call for Europe to come to terms with its language policy. Issues such as official EU standards for documentation, as well as school guidelines for language education, are investigated from the perspective of envisioning a sanctioned second-language variety of European English. The increased use of English in higher education as a result of Erasmus+ is brought forward as an example of the EU providing funds to support English at the expense of all other indigenous European languages. Moreover, the current order of allowing standard British English special status is criticised as a position which acts as an obstacle to European identity building. It is argued that recognising the importance of the ongoing nativisation processes currently taking place in the use of L2 English in the EU can pave the way for the citizens of the EU to take responsibility for the forms and functions which English will have for mainland Europe. Here, the goal of language learning to facilitate European and global cross-cultural communication is explored, as is the claim that a rendition of a European variety of English bolsters the prospects of identity formation in the EU.

The Green Backlash against Economic Globalization

AbstractDespite the steady increase in environmental provisions being included in trade agreements to address potential environmental risks associated with increased trade, growing public concern about environmental issues has given rise to major public protests against various trade agreements. However, facing the widespread backlash against the liberal international economic order, pro-trade leaders have yet to respond adequately to the public's concern over the potential implications of trade on the environment. A review of European Union (EU) officials’ public communication on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership shows that trade advocates narrowly focus on the economic benefits of trade in their trade-related communication while paying little attention to the environmental impacts of the trade deal. This ignores an important aspect of the public discontent with economic globalization. This article argues that the pro-trade camp's failure to engage the public in an inclusive and transparent debate about the environmental effects of trade presents a missed opportunity that has triggered widespread resistance to trade liberalization. By studying the communication channel, this essay highlights the important role of information and dialogue as a potential response to the current public backlash against economic globalization.

Necessary Trade-Offs or Two-Faced Hypocrisy: Normative Conflicts in EU Policies

The European Union (EU) often tries to present itself as a normative leader in both human rights protection and climate change prevention. However, since emission reductions sometimes require investments in solar panels that are produced using forced labor, these two norms can conflict with each other. Based on two case studies of EU policies on Israel-Palestine and North Africa, this article shows how conflicts between different norms are nothing new to the EU. In its policies on Israel-Palestine, the EU has had to balance its historical responsibility to Israel with its commitment to international law. In its policies on North Africa, the EU has had to balance its push for good governance with respect for other countries’ sovereignty. Drawing on the academic literature, EU policies, and statements by EU officials, this article therefore argues that normative conflicts are an essential part of what makes the EU a normative actor.

Discourse, Antagonisms, and Identities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study utilizes theory from the Essex School of Ideology and Discourse Analysis (IDA) and investigates speeches and statements made by high-ranking European Union officials from the European Commission as well as policy documents. The inquiry reveals that antagonistic language was used to justify the tracking and tracing of civilians through the articulation of an empty “track and trace” signifier and the articulation of new identities premised on the vaccinated and non-vaccinated. Policy makers articulated new ideas surrounding a regime of truth and a common “people” while simultaneously negating opponents to pandemic policies by articulating floating signifiers, including xenophobia, disinformation, and populism. The exercise of power in health policies during the pandemic functioned according to logics similar to those employed in traditional political domains.

Regulation of the Big Data Use in the European Union Official Statistics

Regulation of the Big Data Use in the European Union Official Statistics