"To nie my przekroczyliśmy granicę, to ona przecięła nas." Biopolityka europejskiego reżimu migracyjnego

Author(s): Lukasz Moll / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

This article reconceptualizes analytical tools suitable to theorizing the European migration regime by employing concepts developed by philosophers of biopolitics. By referring to border and migration studies, it diagnoses both the crisis of the traditional conceptualization of the border and the crisis of the post-Westphalian political order in Europe. Identifying the end of bordering practices as a result of the intertwining of sovereignty, territory, and population in the context of a neoliberal regime of capital accumulation, the article proposes to treat borders as productive apparatuses (dispositifs). While they support the desirable flows of people, they block the undesirable forms of circulation. In conclusion, the article argues that the co-existence of borderless spaces within the European Union with the arbitrary mechanisms of mobility control applied to non-EU migrants is impossible to maintain in the long run. Keeping the current status quo will result in the obliteration of the inside/outside division and a rupture in the strong link between borders and territory. In effect, the same apparatuses which aimed to make free mobility possible are becoming its main source of danger.

# V4 2015: neľahké hľadanie odpovedí na európske výzvy

Author(s): Tomáš Strážay / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

Vyšehradská skupina, tak ako napokon celá Európska únia, čelila aj v roku 2015 výzvam prichádzajúcim z vonkajšieho prostredia a v menšom meradle tiež takým, ktoré súviseli s jeho vnútorným fungovaním. Napriek pokračujúcemu rusko ukrajinskému konfliktu sa dominantnou témou vo vyšehradskom i európskom (nielen zahraničnopolitickom diskurze) stala migračná a utečenecká kríza. Postoj k nej ovplyvňoval tak vnútornú dynamiku Vyšehradu, ako aj jeho vnímanie v rámci EÚ. Vyšehradské krajiny čelili zhoršenej reputácii v očiach niektorých členských krajín Únie, ktoré kritizovali ich nesolidárny postoj v otázke redistribučných kvót. Prirodzene, značná časť vyšehradskej agendy sa niesla v znamení kontinuity, čo sa týka slovenského aj českého predsedníctva. Významnými oblasťami spolupráce tak boli naďalej napríklad energetika či bezpečnosť a obrana. Spolupráca s krajinami východného susedstva a západného Balkánu tvorili piliere formátu V4 plus, ktorý sa rozšíril o ďalších partnerov. Jedným z významných zadaní pre obe predsedníctva bolo vyvažovať spoluprácu s nevyšehradskými krajinami s vnútornou súdržnosťou V4. Potvrdilo sa, že vyšehradská spolupráca zostáva imúnna voči vnútropolitickému vývoju v jednotlivých krajinách. Hoci májové prezidentské i októbrové parlamentné voľby v Poľsku znamenali diametrálnu zmenu v oblasti poľskej vnútornej politiky, na vzťahoch v rámci V4 sa to neprejavilo.

(AVRUPA) ORTAK GÜVENLİK VE SAVUNMA POLİTİKASI

Author(s): Sait Yilmaz / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 27/2015

Lisbon Agreement on Dec 1st, 2009 has remarked the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) of EU instead of European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). European Union has suffered from vital incapabilities in her defense structure although took part in some military operations in World wide such as peace keeping in Africa and police missions in Afghanistan. Hard power gap between EU and USA has drastically widen in recent decades. EU countries provided modest contributions into NATO operation in Afghanistan. EU makes much more effort to develop her soft power and aims transformations in near geographies. However, it is fact that EU system is bulky as witnessed in Arab movements. NATO and EU have to reconsider their defense policies in common understanding.

(Sub)national leadership in the European Union – the case of Alex Salmond

Author(s): Tomasz Czapiewski / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2012

The aim of this article is to describe one exemplification of the phenomena of subnational leadership in the conditions of widely developed European integration, that created multi level political stratus. Alex Salmond for many years stands as charismatic leader of regional political party and succeeded in electoral competition. His method of political activities are stemming controversies, though, the summary of his overall political activities must point out his influence on the structure of modern United Kingdom – there is great possibility that we are 1-2 years ago from independence referendum.

(С)поделена природа? Природно наследство и местно развитие в един регион от българо-сръбското пограничие

Author(s): Ivaylo Markov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

The article is focused on a border region between Bulgaria and Serbia which is geographically dominated by Ruy Mountain (whose ridge is the boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia) and the valley of Erma river forming two huge defiles along its way in this mountainous region – the Lomnishko defile (in Bulgaria) and the Poganovsko defile (in Serbia). The micro region (from natural and geographical point of view) shared until 1919 several cultural, social and economic characteristics (from an anthropological point of view), thus forming a common historical and geographical entity. The demarcation of the boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly split the region between the two countries. The border regime, which was rigid and impermeable through the whole second half of the 20th century, made the zones on the both sides of the border well guarded, but industrially underdeveloped periphery. With the opening of the border in the period after 1989 and especially with the intensification of the European integration processes the character of the Bulgarian-Serbian border is undergoing changes and is gradually turning into a bridge for diverse trans-border initiatives. A great deal of these initiatives are connected with the well preserved ecology of the region, which is evaluated at present as a treasure by the local authorities and communities who believe it to be an important resource and instrument for the overcoming of the peripheral position of the region.

,,Дијалектичка равнотежа’’ институционалног система ЕУ у области спољног представљања: фикција или реалност?

Author(s): Dejana M. Vukcevic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 4/2012

Dans cet article, l’auteur s’efforce d’analyser l’identité institutionnelle de l’UE en matière de la représentation extérieure. Malgré la tentative proclamée d’une plus grande cohérence et de l’efficacité dans le domaine extérieur de l’UE, le traité de Lisbonne crée une image institutionnelle complexe dans laquelle une représentation extérieure unique de l’UE est difficile. Cela est dû au fait qu’il y a un grand nombre d’acteurs et une confusion quant à la compétence dans le domaine de l’action extérieure de l’Union. Le nouveau traité demeure prisonnier d’un mélange hybride des logiques intergouvernementale et supranationale qui se caractérise par un manque de clarité des rôles des institutions prévus par le traité. L’article est divisé en deux parties. Dans la première partie, l’auteur analyse la nouvelle identité institutionnelle de l’UE dans le domaine de l’action extérieure. Dans la deuxième partie, l’auteur traite l’application des dispositions istituionnelles, marquée des tensions permanentes pour le contrôle des positions de pouvoir. Cela est dû à des dispositions vagues et imprécises du traité de Lisbonne laissаnt aux Etats membres et aux institutions une grande marge de manœuvre quant à l’interprétation de leurs compétences. L’auteur conclut que la pluralité d’acteurs dans ce domaine témoigne d’un compromis du traité de Lisbonne quant à l’allocation du leadeship politique dans le cadre de l’UE. Pour cette raison, il est difficle d’établir un équilibre entre les intérêts des Etats membres et des institutions dans la consolidation postLisbonne en matière de représentation extérieure ce qui n’est pas sans répercussions quant à la visibilité de l’UE sur la scène internationale.

10 lat negocjacji akcesyjnych Turcji z Unią Europejską. Analiza postępów w obszarze kryteriów politycznych na podstawie raportów Komisji Europejskiej

Author(s): Przemyslaw Osiewicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 9/2015

October 2015 marked the tenth anniversary of the official onset of the accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union. The outcome of the talks, however, has so far been more than modest. The negotiations have encompassed fourteen out of 35 fields, leading to the closure, albeit only preliminary, of only one field. Croatia started negotiations in the same year and has been EU member state for two years now. In the Turkish case, the end of the talks is nowhere to be seen, and the more time goes by the less likely it seems for Turkey to become a legitimate participant of a European integration process. The EU Commission continues to present a number of reservations as concerns the progress of Turkey on its path to accession. The aim of this paper is to attempt to find an answer to the question whether the catalogue of reservations brought up by the EU Commission in terms of the political criteria to be met by Turkey has changed after the nine years of negotiations. By this token it will become possible to determine the progress Turkey has made as concerns those political criteria, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

2010: New challenges with new answers

Author(s): Mikuláš Dzurinda / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

At the beginning of the 2010–2014 term of the Government, we considered it inevitable to introduce and bring new quality and new dimension to our foreign policy; a valuebased approach to formulate our clear positions on particular issues.

2014 ALTERNATIVE PROGRESS REPORT: POLITICAL CRITERIA

Author(s): / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

This is the second Alternative Progress Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path towards the EU membership. The report is a joint effort of dozens of individuals and organizations whose common goal was to show the current state of integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the perspective of civil society organizations. Having in mind that the official Progress Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina is a political report of the European Commission, we believe that the publication of the Alternative report can affect its content. Because of this, we are publishing this Alternative Progress Report nearly three months before the publication of the official one, hoping that it will have an impact on the formulation of the formal report. The report completely relies on the so-called political criteria, focusing on the following questions: - Democracy and the functionality of the State, - Rule of law and corruption, - Human rights, especially the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups, and - Transitional Justice During the 2013 and 2014, we have witnessed that no relevant progress has been achieved. The process of implementation of the Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina ruling is completely displaced from the Parliament. Performance of the democratic parliaments and governments on state, entity and cantonal levels is extremely low. The work of the institutions is characterized as unstable, inefficient and with notable lack of transparency. The decisions of the constitutional courts are still not implemented. No significant and systematic policies to combat human rights violations have been adopted. Judicial reform has been stopped and Structured Dialogue on Justice between B&H and the EU does not show any progress. Not a single significant case of corruption has been processed. Minority and vulnerable groups still live in difficult conditions. Discrimination and violence are all-present, and the law on prohibition of discrimination did not show the expected results, having in mind that five years after the enactment of the law, only two final judgments were passed. Comprehensive anti-discrimination policies for social integration either do not exist, or are almost never applied. Floods additionally hit the most vulnerable groups in society. Furthermore, the most vulnerable groups in society have been affected by the recent floods. The prosecution of war crimes and dealing with the past, as prerequisites for creating a healthy environment and building a common state, represent an additional problem. Political support for war criminals by the leaders of political parties only further divide the already highly fragmented society. We hope that the general elections in October of 2014 (although held by discriminatory rules) will bring more stable political structure, ready to face different problems. Initiative for the Monitoring of the European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina will certainly advocate change, in terms of adopting new laws and policies, and the implementation thereof. We also hope that the BiH authorities and the EU institutions will support a stronger representation of civil society within the various forums within the EU integration. Civil society must become the third actor in this process along with the State and EU institutions.

25 години промени. Сборник статии. Съставител Михаил Груев. С., 2014. 340 с.

Author(s): Vladimir Migev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1-2/2015

Book review

25-eri požiūrio į Lietuvos narystę Europos Sąjungoje tyrimų metai: 1991–2016

Author(s): Vladas Gaidys / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2016

Examination of the attitudes towards Lithuania’s membership in the European Community (hereinafter the European Union) has been started in the first representative public opinion surveys. The Public Opinion Research Center at the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law (Lithuanian Academy of Sciences) began to study this issue in 1991. Since then, many representative surveys have been conducted, and attitudes towards the membership have been changing. Also, motives of supporting or not supporting the membership, a thematic discourse and actuality of this issue in the society have been altering. The dynamics of different aspects of the attitudes is analyses in the paper. The empirical results show that after a strong support of the membership 25 years ago, a period of skepticism followed, and later on the period of optimism appeared again. The latest surveys indicate a high support for Lithuania’s membership in the European Union as well. A high support for the membership before the Euro referendum was not defined by believes in quick personal benefits, but rather by believes in benefits for children in the future and for Lithuania in general. This is one of the reasons why later a disappointment in the membership was not fixed. The support for Lithuania’s membership in the EU has been and remains higher among younger, better qualified people and, inhabitants of big cities.

3rd Network Conference Adaptation and Implementation of the EU -Acquis: an Exchange of Experiences

Author(s): / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2009

A breakthrough year in relations between Turkey and the European Union – an attempt to take stock

Author(s): Mateusz R. Chudziak,Krzysztof Strachota / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2016

September 2016 marks the passing of one year has passed since the outbreak of the EU migration crisis which became the basis of unprecedented co-operation between Turkey and the EU. Paradoxically, although this co-operation in containing the crisis has proven surprisingly effective, the climate of Turkish-EU relations has significantly deteriorated. This situation comes in part as a result of internal tensions in Turkey (and within the EU). However, genuine changes in the power relations between Turkey and the EU have occurred and Turkey feels that issues it attaches importance to are not being appropriately addressed by the EU—the frustration this causes has been even more instrumental in the deterioration of relations. This shift in relations between Turkey and the EU also stems from Turkey’s aspirations to emancipate itself in its relations with the West; there has been an upward trend in this regard for years. The instruments the EU has so far been employing in order to put Turkey under pressure (above all the EU integration process) are losing their effectiveness, which is in stark contrast with Turkey’s emancipation and assertiveness. However, irrespective of the present and future inevitable tensions in Turkish-EU relations, Turkey’s aim is not to break off with the EU but to develop a new model of strategic relations which better serves its own interests. Despite the recent rapprochement with Russia, Ankara seems to be aware of a lack of alternatives to strategic co-operation with the EU and, more broadly, with the West.

A comparative analysis of research – development and innovation activities in Romania

Author(s): Laura Asandului,Livia Baciu / Language(s): English / Issue: Spec/2010

When adopting the recommendations of the Lisbon Agenda or Strategy, the European states have decided that in order to make the European Union a space of competitiveness and greater social cohesion and a model of sustainable economic growth, research-development and innovation (RDI) must become the main pillar of the member states common policies. Consequently, the European Council recommended more investment in research and development, setting the collective EU target of raising research investment to 3% of the GDP, namely 1% from public funds and 2% from private sector. The current economic and financial crisis and the pressure it poses on resources, public or private, ]has limited to some extent the achievement of these objectives. The investments might not increase as anticipated or they might even decrease. However, several states have understood that, in times of crisis, the investment in research and innovation might bring tremendous gains in terms of new technologies, human capital and knowledge or, in other words, gains in economic competitiveness. This paper aims at providing a comparative analysis of the Romanian situation using the statistical indicators of the knowledge economy, those related to RDI financing and also to RDI results for the short period of time when financing has increased as a result of applying the objectives set out by the Lisbon Strategy. We underline the fact that without financing there is no research and innovation and without policies to support RDI the delays in development cannot be recovered. The final part of the paper provides several recommendations aiming at improving the RDI policies in Romania in accordance with post-2010 Lisbon Strategy.

A comparative analysis of the public deficits run by the old and new EU member states in the context of the global financial crisis

Author(s): Marius Sorin Dinca,Gheorghita Dinca,Ileana Tache / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

The issues of government debt and deficits became a current component of the public finances of virtually all the countries in the world since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The EU countries do not diverge from this picture and most of them display complex financial problems, in which consistent budgetary deficits have combined with negative net exports, with the ageing and pension system challenges and recently with the global financial crisis. In our paper we analyze the evolution of the public deficits run by the old and new EU member states, trying to identify their main causes and to propose several courses of action in order to control the deficits. We started with a structural analysis of the income side of the budget, especially for direct and indirect taxes, followed by a quantitative analysis of the growing deficits in the EU countries. We identified some widespread causes of the public deficits, such as the growing share of the public social expenditures and of the public wages, or the increase in public investments. Finally we presented some solutions for fiscal consolidation, which we think is essential in order to ensure the survival of the Euro and of the European Union.

A comparison on the working poor population in some European countries

Author(s): Emese Bruder,Csilla Obádovics,Valentinas Navickas / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2012

The working poor population had not been gained any emphasis in Europe until the European Union adopted the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 with a special focus on employment, economy and social policies. In the framework of the Lisbon Strategy, the EU has started to develop a list of statistical indicators on poverty and social exclusion. These indicators aimed to control country level development on the agreed common goals, and they were adopted in 2001 at Laeken Council meeting in Belgium. In 2003, a new indicator, the in-work poverty risk has been added to the Laeken indicators. Since then, the existence of working poor population has took a more prominent place in the European debate. The objective of this paper is to give an insight of the situation of the working poor population in Visegrad countries, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary and compare the results with the Benelux states. These groups of countries both have shared history, and common path in European integration. We analyze the extent of working poverty, the gender asymmetry and the full-time, part-time proportions over working poor population. Based on the 2007 wave of EU-SILC database, we individualize various income sources received by the household in order to obtain total individual incomes. With this approach, we would like to show how each individual would perform, if he/she could only rely on his/her own income.

A Competitive Two-speed Policy: The Eastern Partnership beyond 2013

Author(s): Elzbieta Kaca,Kinga Dudzinska,Karolina Zubel / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2013

A redefinition of the Eastern Partnership beyond 2013 is urgently needed in order to make the EU a more competitive player vis-à-vis Russia and China in the region. Eastern partners which choose deeper economic integration with the EU must therefore be supported by enhanced cooperation, which would require further differentiation in approaches towards neighbours. It should also be supported by certain horizontal policies, strengthening the EU’s multilateral cooperation and the fledgling European Union diplomacy in this region, assisted by better targeting policies at EaP societies.

A Crisis in Europe’s Identity

Author(s): Adam Reichardt / Language(s): English / Issue: 3-4/2015

A conversation with Larry Wolff, professor of history at New York University. Interviewer: Adam Reichardt