Thèses sur le sujet « European Union – Social policy »

A culture of accommodation and tolerance is a necessary part of establishing and preserving a functional multi-national and multi-ethnic European Union. Civil society organizations and their associated social capital have been shown to foster civic capacity and achievement of public policy goals. However, social capital that is based on group identity can also contribute to a sense of intolerance towards out-groups, undermining the stated tolerance objectives of the social pillar of the European Union. States with a strong presence alongside civil society are expected to be curb the development of the exclusionary bonding form of social capital in favor of bridging social capital which will improve progress toward policy goals. This study tests the link between government capacity, social capital and tolerance using data from the 1990-2009 waves of the World Values Survey and European Values Study. Using path analysis and multi-level models of the relationships between political capacity, social capital and intolerance, the model establishes that government capacity enhances bridging social capital and which increases social tolerance. The study fills a gap in understanding how government capacity and policy can result in improved social capital even with greater diversity. A proposed relationship between political capacity and bonding forms of social capital was not supported.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the European Union has focused its attention on moving the Central and Eastern European Countries towards democracy and the market economy, which culminated in the accession of these countries to the European Union on May 2004. With the accession of the ten new members to the Union, the European Union has acquired new neighbors and come closer to the old ones, with whom it had only indirectly interested in. There is a conviction in EU circles that future widening towards these countries is not possible without risking the integration process which the European countries have developed in the last fifty years. In addition to this internal consideration, the new neighbors of the EU, some of which have already declared their membership ambitions, are the countries which the EU perceives it cannot integrate in the foreseeable future because of their social, economic and political underdevelopment. In response to these realities, the Union developed the European Neighborhood Policy. In this thesis, potential of the new neighborhood policy to fulfill its objectives of being second best alternative to membership and its promise in providing a meaningful framework that is satisfactory both for the EU and its neighbors will be analyzed. Additionally, its impact on the European Union&rsquo<br>s foreign policy in general will be elaborated. It will be argued in this thesis that the ENP has such serious limitations in terms of its formulation, institutions, and its incentives that it will fail to realize its original aspirations.

This thesis considers the development of the concept of citizenship, both historically and in its supranational guise. It addresses the traditional models of citizenship that have arisen in the national arena before turning its focus to supranational citizenship. The development of quasi-citizenship rights at the European level between 1957 and 1992 are discussed whilst asking whether, in fact, these principles amounted to a de facto creation of citizenship as would be formally understood in a national model. Thereafter, post-1992 developments are considered via the activities of the European courts. The courts’ particularly activist role in expanding our understanding of Union citizenship by using existing Union legislation in imaginative ways is highlighted and used as a key factor in determining Union citizenship’s capacity to adapt and develop in the face of new challenges. This thesis plays particular attention to the non-Member State nationals who reside in Union territory and find themselves ostensibly deprived of citizenship rights despite being actively involve in the Union’s activities. Supranational citizenship is viewed through the unusual lens of stateless persons and this thesis suggests that Union citizenship does not live up to its ideals by excluding them from its understanding of the citizenry. It formulates a novel conception of rights-based residence, as opposed to nationality-based, supranational citizenship that is predicated on the Union’s heritage of respect for rights and would include Member State nationals, alongside third-country nationals, the stateless and refugees (who would struggle to gain recognition under a conventional citizenship paradigm), with the aspiration of rendering Union citizenship a more inclusive and rounded conception.

This thesis concentrates on the development of human rights policy of the European Economic Communities(EEC) within its transformation process into a political organization. the assumption underlying this study is that the EEC was established following World War II as a regional solution that would enable the restructuring of Europe on the bases of power, stability, and peace. this thesis deals with enlargement as a security-oriented strategy, while, at the same time, it endeavors to analyze the EEC treatment of foreign policy, peace, security and respect for human rights issues as it completed its economic integration process.

In this thesis, it has been aimed to analyse the efforts undertaken by the European Union (EU) to stimulate and enhance Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in the European coastal zone, within the context of the EU Environmental Policy. ICZM was formally accepted in the international community during the 1990s as an alternative to traditional sectoral coastal zone management approaches. It aims to establish an integrated management mechanism among different sectors to minimise resource use conflicts in coastal zones. Sustainable development constitutes the underlying idea of ICZM, the overall goal of which is to achieve sustainable development in coastal zones. Therefore, ICZM is founded on the internationally accepted principles of sustainable development. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, which is a formal output of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, made an explicit statement of the need for integrated management of coastal and ocean areas to achieve their sustainability and called the participating nations to take the necessary steps. The EU, being at the forefront of such international developments and embraced sustainable development as a broader policy objective, is devoted to take concerted action in terms of protecting the European coastal zone and fostering ICZM action at the EU and the Member States (MSs) level. Since the early 1990s, the EU institutions began to put substantial effort to achieve this goal, and initiated dedicated actions. Those existing and the foreseen EU actions are elaborated within the context of this thesis. For the time being, the EU ICZM action is a flexible one without a regulatory binding instrument for ICZM. The ongoing EU ICZM action is based upon the existing EU policies and legislation. Within this framework, the central aim of the EU is laid down as to ensure the coordination and integration of these diversified policy objectives and legislative instruments to contribute to sustainable management of the European coastal zone. Since they constitute the backbone of the current EU ICZM efforts, those policies and legislation are also investigated within the scope of this study. This thesis accentuates the importance of concerted EU action in terms of stimulating ICZM action in Europe and the probability of a future EU level devotion towards a more regulatory approach in the longer term.

This thesis is a study of EU migrant citizens' substantive social rights. Much research has concerned itself with the expansion of freedom of movement and cross-border social rights in the EU. However, most of this research has analysed only formal rights, overlooking substantive rights. In the multilevel setting that is the EU, social rights are being adjudicated at a supra-national level, but realised at the national and sub-national level. Numerous different regulations, actors and practices thus shape the substantive social rights of EU migrant citizens, making their rights especially prone to distortion in the process of practical implementation. Examining how formal rights translate into substantive ones is important to understand how and where the lines of exclusion and inclusion of European social citizenship are drawn. Specifically, the thesis looks as how formal social rights translate into substantive rights with a focus on the local level. This is where any pressures from internal EU-migration on social provision are felt, where gaps in the social protection of EU migrant citizens make themselves evident, and where many social rights are exercised. The central research question of the thesis is thus: how are EU migrant citizens' social rights governed at the local level? The thesis adopts a qualitative and explorative method. More specifically, it examines barriers that EU migrant citizens face when trying to access social benefits and services. The study also takes a comparative approach, and contrasts localities across two member states that can be seen as critical cases: Germany and Sweden. In two cities in each country (Berlin and Hamburg, Gothenburg and Stockholm), interviews were conducted with local public administrators, welfare providers and advocacy organisations. The interviews were later related to relevant policy documents in a thematic analysis guided by the overarching research question. The main contribution of the thesis lies in identifying certain direct and indirect factors that shape EU migrant citizens' access to social benefits and services - and thus their substantive social rights. Specifically, the thesis argues that (1) certain structures of welfare systems (which become evident through a bottom-up study of supra-national social rights), and (2) the entrepreneurship of local actors, are crucial to understanding how formal rights of EU migrant citizens translate into substantive ones.

The underlying theme of this thesis is that to properly understand the process of European integration it is vital to understand the dynamics of the European policymaking process and the crucial role of the European institutions within this process. In this thesis the internal dynamics of the policy-making process within the European Commission in two directorates, DGV(Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs) and DGXIII (Telecommunications, Information Industries and Innovation), are explored. It is argued that a vital characteristic of the Commission's ability to influence any policy sector is its ability to respond rapidly to any 'windows of opportunity' ripe for EU intervention or, indeed, to facilitate the appearance of these windows. Yet, the means required to achieve this end, and the degree of success they meet, vary from sector to sector. It is argued that the Commission has an important role to play in EU policy-making, and ultimately in the integration process, thus it is vital to develop a detailed understanding of the functioning of its constituent parts, of the interrelationships between them, and of the influence of their activities upon the actions of the Commission as a whole.

Award date: 1 October 2019<br>Examining Board: Professor Claire Kilpatrick, European University Institute (Supervisor)<br>The Lisbon Treaty introduced in its Art. 3 new language into primary law that expresses the ambition to give the EU a stronger social dimension.1 In comparison to its predecessor provision of Art. 4 (1) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, which solely relied on the ‘principle of an open market economy with free competition’, the basic objectives of the EU were broadened. Art. 3 TEU now includes objectives that come across as a promise to rebalance market and non-market values through the foundational provisions of the European Union. In line with other wide-ranging objectives, like fighting social exclusion, this article includes the eye-catching sentence that the EU aims for ‘a highly competitive social market economy’ that seeks to achieve ‘full employment and social progress’

This thesis aims to examine the European Union (EU) as a normative power in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) through case studies of Morocco and Egypt. The uniqueness of the EU as a distinct actor in international politics has led many observers to claim that the EU is a normative power. The ENP, which emerged in 2004, has been one of the main instruments of the EU within this framework. This thesis studies the claim as to whether the EU is, in fact, a normative power in the context of the ENP with two cases studies. The selection of Morocco and Egypt originates from the existing similarities which render an opportunity to have a comparative study. The thesis will analyze this puzzle through an analysis of both primary documents published by the EU and the secondary literature. Through a close scrutiny of Morocco and Egypt, the normative power of the EU in its near abroad will be explored through the analysis of democratization process in these countries in terms of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Based on theoretical analysis and two case studies, this thesis argues that the EU faces several challenges in its claim to be a normative power within the context of the ENP.

This research examines European Union (EU) policy instruments affecting the urban domain throughout the lenses of the Europeanization approach. Instead of looking at EU instruments that are formally/legally consecrated to cities, we use theoretical public policy analysis to explore the arenas and the causal mechanisms that structure the encounter between the EU and urban systems of governance. We develop the argument that there are four different modes of Europeanization. In consequence, to grasp the essence of a single instrument or a given EU initiative, one has to establish which mode is prevailing in the policy logic of that instrument or initiative. The core variables that explain change concern the status of actors’ preferences (a) and the payoffs from Europeanization (b). The combination of (a) and (b) thus originates a four dimensional space. We can therefore develop a typology for the modes of Europeanization, which chimes with current theorisations on the EU modes of governance. The eventual Europeanization of urban systems depends on the nature of strategic interaction, not on the legal ‘tools’ explicitly designated for cities. Thus, policy instruments are initially associated with the four modes. We then used process-tracing to verify whether instruments actually perform according to the ‘mode’ to which they have been initially paired, or if they trigger contingencies that have not been theoretically/deductively foreseen. This is particularly convenient within a realm – urban policies – where the EU does not have a specific formal competence and where interactions between ‘cities’ and the EU are likely to take place within multiple policy areas and during different stages of the policy process. Mechanisms are explored by considering the city of Turin. The four ‘policy instruments’ selected as proxies for the assessment of modes of Europeanization are the Covenant of Mayors programme for energy saving, directive 1994/62 (then waste framework directive) for waste management, directive 1993/30 for air quality control and the URBAN II Community Initiative for urban regeneration and development. The analysis of the four instruments reveals less variation between modes than initially expected. In this connection, theoretical similarity between modes, as emerged from the typological exercise carried out at the outset of the research, was partially echoed by the empirical analysis of policy instruments. Within cities and urban areas, the Europeanization effect is likely to assume a more blurred fashion and the action of, and reaction to, Europe is greatly interwoven with other dynamics, which in turn shape the perception and the actual impact of European modes and instruments for regulation. In the conclusions we highlight the differences between this approach and the traditional analysis of EU urban policy, and suggest avenues for future empirical research based on typologies of policy instruments.

This thesis aims to analyze the development of the collective policies of the European Union towards the Middle East by focusing on the reasons behind the formulation of these policies, and the degree of success, failure and prospects of these policies. The general success of the European Community in the 1970s created a desire for European states to form a coordinated European foreign policy. Since the 1970s, the Community started to show willingness to shape international events and to strengthen its international role. The Middle East was one of the leading regions to which the Community turned in the early 1970s, an area, which, for historical and geographical reasons, is of vital interest to it. EU has been becoming a coherent and strategic actor in the Middle East since the 1990s. It has secured an important presence in the Middle East Peace Process and it has further strengthened its role in the Middle East through the adoption of a common, comprehensive regional strategy called the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and developed it with the initiation of the European Neighborhood Policy. However, the European Union&rsquo<br>s presence is still limited due to its institutional weaknesses, the lack of political unity among its member states, lack of political instruments and military capabilities.

The aim of the dissertation is to examine the European Union s climate policy in the nexus of domestic policy-making and international negotiations. I firstly test the EU s internal climate policy-making by applying the rational choice institutionalism on the model of institution and preference affect EU s policy outcomes and conclude that: as the EU has a convergent preference, the EU s unique decision-making procedure, the entrepreneurship and EU s membership had been driving EU s climate policies into preferable outcomes. As the EU s preference is divergent, for instance, in the case of adopting the EU emission trading scheme (EU ETS) after the signature of the Kyoto Protocol, external factors affected the EU s divergent preferences and unified it to approve the ETS in the EU-wide. Second, I examined the relations of the EU s internal climate policy-making and international negotiations by applying the two-level game approach. I conclude that the Kyoto Protocol has a crucial impact on the development of EU s climate change policy in terms of driving the EU s internal climate policy-making into a regulatory, centralised and market-based instruments direction. In return, the sophisticated EU instruments, such as the EU ETS, are becoming more influential at the international climate negotiations since the aviation industry was included into the emission trading.

<p>In the course of this master thesis I will argue the following:</p><p> a) ESDP project is an interesting initiative and concern issues that stand at the core of the EU integration processes. It relates to the most significant and updated development of the EU institutional, conceptual and strategic design, but is yet relatively unexplored and underdeveloped. </p><p>b) The aim of this study is to evaluate the efforts to enhance cooperation among European countries in the provision and use of military force. To set the scene and illustrate constrains and complications that bear upon activities in this field. Indeed, the author intends to recommend a theoretical framework, as a fundamental prerequisite for the proper study of EU Defense and Security Policy. </p><p>c) Constructivism and neo- Realism and their theoretical tenets offer an unexplored avenue to investigate and account for the development of the European Security and Defense Policy. </p><p>d) The efficiency of such an account depends on a meticulous evaluation of proposed theoretical approaches versus the emerging security complex. This theoretical choice allows for a construction beyond that of the unit or system levels of analysis and may therefore grant a causal role to perceived interests in terms of non- traditional approach to research in social science. Also it may thereby provoke an interest in terms of security and threat. </p><p>e) The originality and validity of a combination between Realism and Constructivism as a starting point for inquiries in IR may not only be relevant to an understanding of how such a development can unfold, but mostly how a real social phenomena can be unfolded by such a non-traditional theoretical approach.</p>

In thesis, the way wended by European Union immigration policy is addressed under the light of historical background. Essentially, the arguments regarding immigration and free movement aroused and gained momentum in EU in 1980s. During 1990s, the justice and home affairs subjects obtained a central point among EU policies abruptly. However, despite all the efforts since then, it is still early to say that there emerges a uniform European immigration policy. In fact, it is quite hard to reach such a common policy, due to the unique structural requirements, different priorities and expectations of the Member States. It is examined in dissertation then why the Member States&rsquo<br>policymakers still insist on a common EU immigration policy in spite of this. The researcher asserts that some aspects of the common EU immigration policy serve as a new migration control mechanism in order to be able to take additional measures limiting third country nationals&rsquo<br>access to the rights of EU citizens by transferring restrictive national approaches and legislation into a supranational venue. It is also scrutinized in thesis in what ways Turkish citizens composing considerable population within Community borders and Turkey as a candidate state conducting negotiations on the membership process are affected from these efforts for a common EU immigration policy. It is examined whether this process generate any new breaking point in Turkish-EU relations or not.

ABSTRACT EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENSE DIMENSION AND ITS PROSPECTS Mengi, Sezen MS., Department of European Studies Supervisor: Associate Professor Dr. Sevilay Kahraman March 2007, 146 pages. This study has focused on analyzing the evolution of ESDP and developments that took place to this date concerning the European Security and Defense Dimension. Since the end of World War II and beginning of Cold War, the security and defense issue of Europe will be explored in this thesis. Later the developments that took place after the diminishment of Warsaw Pact and end of Cold War will be traced. Also the changing relationship between the US and EU with the changing global international environment will be explored in this thesis.

La Unió Europea (UE) va presentar la Política Europea de Veïnatge (PEV) el 2004 per tal d'enfortir la cooperació en àrees como ara la immigració. La dimensió exterior de la política d'immigració de la UE a Europa Oriental (Associació Oriental i Rússia) ha estat molt activa i objecte de nombrosos treballs acadèmics, en gran part centrats en afirmar que la UE exporta les seves pròpies normes. Tanmateix, la teoria d'europeïtzació no té en compte els interessos i capacitats dels països d'Europa Oriental, així com les seves percepcions de legitimitat. Una dècada després de la posada en marxa de la PEV, la tesi respon a la qüestió sobre quines normes la UE i Europa Oriental adopten en la convergència normativa en matèria d'immigració. S'identifiquen tres models de convergència (envers normes de la UE, normes internacionals i normes acordades bilateralment), en funció fonamentalment de l'estructura de poder i de les percepcions de legitimitat a Europa Oriental. La convergència normativa en política d'immigració s'aplica als casos de (I) readmissió, (II) visats, (III) gestió de fronteres i (IV) immigració laboral. La tesi doctoral conclou que la cooperació en política d'immigració entre la UE i Europa Oriental no consisteix en l'adopció sistemàtica de normes de la UE. Argumenta que la UE ha promogut fonamentalment normes de la UE en l'àmbit de seguritat (acords de readmissió i Gestió Integrada de Fronteres). Malgrat tot, a causa de la manca de poder suficient de la UE i a baixes percepcions de legitimitat de la UE entre els veïns d’Europa Oriental, la UE ha ofert incentius en l'àmbit de la mobilitat (política de visats i associacions per a la mobilitat). L'evidència empírica mostra debilitats en la convergència normativa envers normes de la UE, que consisteixen en gran part en mesures de socialització (intercanvi d'informació i formació). Uns dels resultats més significatius de la tesi és que la UE promou activament, en el marc de la liberalizació de visats, la convergència normativa cap a normes internacionals en matèria d'estat de dret. Les normes que emanen del Consell d'Europa i de Nacions Unides són de fet percebudes com a més legítimes que les normes de la UE. No obstant, aquest rol de la UE como a transmissora de normes cal matitzar-lo pel fet que la UE ha jugat ara com ara un rol limitat en promoure normes internacionals de drets dels immigrants. Finalment, la convergència envers normes acordades bilateralment ha estat el model menys predominant. La comparativa entre els països d'Europa Oriental mostra que els instruments adoptats són similars per l'objectiu de la UE de ser coherent. Tanmateix, el poder de negociació de cada país amb la UE ha donat peu a condicions més o menys favorables pel país. A més a més, les percepcions de legitimitat i la voluntat de cada país d'apropament a la UE són elements clau. En conjunt, Ucraïna, Moldàvia i Geòrgia són països favorables a l'apropament a la UE mentre que Rússia ha construït una cooperació pragmàtica en matèria d'immigració amb la UE, influint en la institucionalització de l'agenda d'immigració amb Europa Oriental. Finalment, la tesi contribueix globalment al debat sobre el soft power de la UE al veïnatge, concluent que els instruments d'immigració adoptats estan molt més orientats a promoure la seguretat que la mobilitat.<br>La Unión Europea (UE) presentó la Política Europea de Vecindad (PEV) en 2004 para fortalecer la cooperación en áreas como la inmigración. La dimensión exterior de la política de inmigración de la UE hacia Europa Oriental (Asociación Oriental y Rusia) ha sido muy activa y objeto de numerosos trabajos académicos, en gran parte centrados en afirmar que la UE exporta sus propias normas. Sin embargo, la teoría de europeización no tiene en cuenta los intereses y capacidades de los países de Europa Oriental, así como sus percepciones de legitimidad. Una década después de la puesta en marcha de la PEV, la tesis responde a la cuestión sobre qué normas la UE y Europa Oriental adoptan en la convergencia normativa en materia de inmigración. Se identifican tres modelos de convergencia (hacia normas de la UE, normas internacionales y normas acordadas bilateralmente), en función fundamentalmente de la estructura de poder y de las percepciones de legitimidad en Europa Oriental. La convergencia normativa en política de inmigración se aplica a los casos de (I) readmisión, (II) visados, (III) gestión de fronteras e (IV) inmigración laboral. La tesis doctoral concluye que la cooperación en política de inmigración entre la UE y Europa Oriental no consiste en la adopción sistemática de normas de la UE. Argumenta que la UE ha promovido fundamentalmente normas de la UE en el ámbito de seguridad (acuerdos de readmisión y Gestión Integrada de Fronteras). Aun así, debido a la falta de poder suficiente de la Unión y a bajas percepciones de legitimidad de la Unión entre los vecinos de Europa Oriental, la UE ha ofrecido incentivos en el ámbito de la movilidad (política de visados y asociaciones para la movilidad). La evidencia empírica muestra debilidades en la convergencia normativa hacia normas de la UE, que consisten en gran parte en medidas de socialización (intercambio de información y formación). Uno de los resultados más significativos de la tesis es que la UE promueve activamente, en el marco de la liberalización de visados, la convergencia normativa hacia normas internacionales en materia de estado de derecho. Las normas que emanan del Consejo de Europa y de Naciones Unidas son de hecho percibidas como más legítimas que las normas de la UE. No obstante, este rol de la UE como transmisora de normas hay que matizarlo por el hecho de que la UE ha jugado hasta la fecha un rol limitado en promover normas internacionales de derechos de los inmigrantes. Finalmente, la convergencia hacia normas acordadas bilateralmente ha sido el modelo menos predominante. La comparativa entre los países de Europa Oriental muestra que los instrumentos adoptados son similares por el objetivo de la UE de ser coherente. Sin embargo, el poder de negociación de cada país con la UE ha dado pie a condiciones más o menos favorables para el país. Además, las percepciones de legitimidad y la voluntad de cada país de acercamiento a la UE son elementos clave. En conjunto, Ucrania, Moldavia y Georgia son países favorables al acercamiento a la UE mientras que Rusia ha construido una cooperación pragmática en materia de inmigración con la UE, influyendo en la institucionalización de la agenda de inmigración con Europa Oriental. Finalmente, la tesis contribuye globalmente al debate sobre el soft power de la UE en la vecindad, concluyendo que los instrumentos de inmigración adoptados están mucho más orientados a promover la seguridad que la movilidad.<br>In 2004, the European Union (EU) launched the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) to strengthen cooperation in areas such as migration. In particular, the external dimension of the EU migration policy in Eastern Europe (the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia) has been very active and under huge academic scrutiny, mostly with studies claiming that the EU exports its own norms. Yet, this Europeanisation approach does not take into account the interests and capacities of Eastern European countries, as well as their perceptions of legitimacy. A decade after the launch of the ENP, this thesis addresses the question of what norms are actually adopted in the EU-Eastern Europe migration policy convergence. Three models of policy convergence (towards EU norms, towards international norms and towards bilaterally-agreed norms) are identified, depending mainly on the structure of power and perceptions of legitimacy in Eastern Europe. Migration policy convergence is applied to the cases of (I) readmission, (II) visa, (III) border management and (IV) labour migration. The doctoral dissertation concludes that the EU-Eastern Europe migration cooperation has not consisted in the systematic adoption of EU norms. It argues that the EU primarily has promoted security-related EU norms (readmission agreements and Integrated Border Management). However, due to lack of enough EU leverage and low perceptions of EU legitimacy among the Eastern neighbours, the EU has offered incentives in the field of mobility (visa policy and mobility partnerships). Empirical evidence shows weaknesses in policy convergence to EU norms, consisting mainly in socialisation measures (information exchange and capacity-building). One of the main findings of the thesis is that the EU is actively promoting, in the framework of visa liberalisation, policy convergence towards international norms in the area of rule of law. In fact, norms emanating from the Council of Europe and the United Nations are perceived as more legitimate than EU norms. However, this EU role as norm-transmitter has to be nuanced by the fact that to date the EU has played a relatively limited role in promoting international norms in the area of migrants' rights. Finally, convergence to bilaterally-agreed norms has been the least predominant. A comparison across Eastern European countries shows that the policy instruments adopted are by and large similar for the sake of consistency. Nonetheless, the leverage of each country vis-à-vis the EU has usually shaped more or less favourable conditions for the country. In addition, the perceptions of legitimacy and willingness of each country to come closer with the EU are essential. Overall, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are willing countries whereas Russia has built a pragmatic cooperation on migration with the EU, playing a role in the institutionalisation of the migration agenda to Eastern Europe. Finally, the thesis contributes overall to debate on the EU soft power in the Neighbourhood, concluding that the adopted migration policy instruments are much more oriented at promoting security than mobility.

The thesis discusses Turkish energy sector by using examples, projections made by the European Union, and positions of the experts and scholars. The work discusses the process of reformation of Energy sector, and what the obstacles and difficulties are. It is important that Turkey needs progress in the process of reformation that can be satisfied by using a functioning model in the field. Turkey has to apply the legislation of the European Union as an applicant country. Turkey needs a strategy for achieving the application of the energy legislation. Different countries in the European Union have been examined in the work for finding the strategy for Turkish energy sector. The countries have been selected for their peculiarities (Greece) and their strategical approaches for shaping their markets (France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom &ndash<br>G8 countries in the European Union). The result of the study shows that the energy pool applied in England and Wales of the United Kingdom is a successful example, and it can be used for electricity policy along with some other developments in the field. The work tries to propose a model for the reform to be done, for the benefit of the society.

In this thesis it is aimed to explore the new social policy agenda, in which the role of local governments as policy makers has been increasing. In this respect, the contemporary Turkish local government system, and social policies of the municipalities are analyzed by drawing upon the European Union&rsquo<br>s approach on the social policy in the urban context. Within this framework, the social policies of the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality are studied.

This study seeks to examine the impact of the EU on Turkish counter-terrorism policies towards the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It analyses what impact it has had within three distinct periods: the pre-Helsinki European Council (1984-1999) period, the post-Helsinki European Council (1999-2004) period, and the post-Brussels European Council (2004-2013) period. It conceptualizes and empirically investigates the EU’s norm diffusion role by relying on the concept of “Rule Adoption”, and by utilising two norm diffusion mechanisms: the “Conditionality” and the “Socialization” mechanism, and their domestic and EU-level determinants. The thesis argues that when the EU has promoted democratisation in Turkey, it has also implicitly impacted on Turkey’s counter-terrorism policies. It argues for this thesis by generalizing from the following empirical findings: When the EU has provided a credible membership prospect to Turkey, and when the PKK attacks have been at a low-level, then the EU conditionality mechanism has been influential on Turkey’s adoption of EU promoted norms. However, when there has been no membership prospect and high levels of PKK violence, it has been the openness of Turkish political actors that has resulted in rule adoption, in which the social learning of the Turkish political actors has led to the adoption of EU promoted norms as an appropriate way to solve existing terrorism problems.

ABSTRACT THE EUROPEAN UNION FACTOR IN THE UNITED STATES-TURKEY RELATIONS: 1995-1999 &Ccedil<br>ankaya, Mine M.Sc., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Dr. Fulya Kip Barnard September 2003, 188 pages This study seeks to analyze the imperatives underlying the United States policy of supporting Turkey&amp<br>#8217<br>s full membership to the European Union from 1995 to 1999. It is basically composed of four parts. The first part discusses the US security policy in the regions surrounding Turkey following the demise of the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the US security policies towards Russia, the Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, the Central Asia and the Caucasus are examined. The second part is devoted to the examination of American-Turkish relations in the post-Cold War era. The third part deals with the role of the EU in Turkish domestic politics in the post- Cold War era. The last chapter serves as the essence of the study. It aims to focus on the implications of Turkey&amp<br>#8217<br>s relations with the EU for the US security policy. Within this framework thedomestic changes in Turkish politics especially the rise of Islam and nationalism in the mid 90s and their implications for the US security policy are explained. Second, Turkey&amp<br>#8217<br>s role in the emerging European security framework and its implications for the US security policy are scrutnized. Having elaborated these factors, this study concludes with a brief analysis of the basic points of the study. Keywords: The US security policy, American-Turkish relations, Turkey-EU relations.

<p>Issue of immigration was for a long time controversial concern throughout the Europe. Because of its demand for labor, Europe needs certain level of qualified immigration. However, in late decades a big amount of refugee immigration flow created serious challenges as well. Perceived ‘threat’ of immigration resulted in restrictive policies at both national and EU level. EU level policies in this respect are very interesting to research on. Because of great sensitivity of immigration issues to state sovereignty, formulation of EU level policy also faces challenges in terms of balancing intergovernmentalist and supranationalist logic of integration. Therefore, we have studied those policy and decision-making processes in immigration policy focusing on two issues: first, the motives behind the cooperation at EU level and the role of supranational institutions in shaping these EU level policies, second, the scope and capabilities of those policies. </p><p>Immigrant integration policy have been chosen as a case to comprehend issue more closely and detailed. Immigrant integration policy is very important for the social cohesion of European societies and is inseparable part of immigration policies. Immigrant integration debate is very new in EU agenda; it is just getting its way to Brussels. Although EU has no competence on this issue, we found out that there are quite real opportunities for EU to have its own way of helping with member states’ policies. The paper identifies and discusses important aspects of immigration and immigrant integration policies at EU level, the reasons why EU level policies are not pro-active and not suprantionalised yet. It further explores the available EU level instruments and sources for constructing strategy of integrating immigrants. All these study is done in the light of theoretical framework which is the combination of several theories, due to the complexity of the immigration matters. Every theory explains either some stage in the development of EU level policies (liberal intergovernmentalism and new institutionalism) or the possible EU level policy-making framework (intensive transgovernmentalism and policy coordination/benchmarking) for the studied issues.</p>

Twenty five years since the introduction of the European Union (EU) environmental impact assessment (EIA) Directive in 1985 this thesis reflects on how environmental assessment (EA) legislation in the EU has evolved, how it has responded to changing policy contexts (paradigms) and whether the experience of implementing EIA and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in the EU provides useful insights into the nature and role of environmental assessment (EA) instruments. Paralleling this development of EU legislation has been the continuing and slowly maturing debates around EA theory. Surprisingly ‐ in the context of legal mandates for EA ‐ there is little reference in the EA literature explicitly to the literature on accountability and the role EA may play in this increasingly important aspect of governance. This thesis examines how the legislation has changed over the 25 year period in response to the changing policy context, and – through drawing on empirical action and policy‐oriented research reported in the selected papers – seeks to answer the core research question “To what extent have EA processes, over the course of their evolution in the EU, provided a platform for enhancing accountability and sustainability?”. The thesis examines EA implementation principally from an environmentalist perspective and particularly the way in which NGOs and other advocates for the environment in the UK and EU have used the EA legislation as a lever for increasing democratic, corporate and professional accountability of proponents and decision‐makers alike. Accountability is implicit as a theme underlying the selected papers, but it is the collecting together and synthesis that provides a new lens through which to view EA. The thesis seeks to fill a significant policy and practice gap between the theoretical discussion in the EA community – the role and purpose of EA – and the practical and legal discussions around implementation. From this historical analysis it is clear that EA has had an important role to play – at the legislative level in providing the requirements for accountability, and at the implementation level as the lever that can be used to hold individuals, organisations and authorities to account for their actions. The relationship with the shift to sustainability is shown to be a close one, since sustainable development demands greater public involvement in decision‐making and greater accountability of executive decisions to the public. The lessons from the body of work presented here allow the development of a nascent policy‐oriented theory and research agenda regarding EA’s role in accountability, which provides a framework for a distinctive new area of EA research and policy analysis. Moreover, an accountability perspective on EA could help re‐frame EA for policy makers from being purely an informational and procedural instrument to one which promotes better accountability and sustainability simultaneously.

Master of Science<br>Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology<br>Justin Kastner<br>Food production is changing in response to an expanding global population. The ability to distribute and process ingredients amongst many individuals and countries has brought economic benefits while also creating new problems. By increasing the complexity of the supply chain, the food industry has birthed new dynamics, thus creating new opportunities for contamination, fraud, and other threats. One threat dynamic is the varying levels of food safety and quality control at different nodes along a supply chain. Contaminations pinpoint weaknesses of a supply chain, and such weaknesses could be exploited for harm. One way foods are intentionally contaminated is through food fraud. Food fraud involves substitution, mislabeling, dilution, and other means of criminal deception. Routine testing by an independent science-based group led to the discovery of one the largest scales of substitution and mislabeling in history—the 2013 adulteration of beef products with horsemeat. Commonly referred to as the horsemeat scandal of 2013, this important event in the history of the global food system affected several regions, hundreds of products, and thousands of retailers and consumers. To date, this scandal was one of the largest incidents of food fraud. Mostly based in the European Union, the horsemeat scandal prompted the European Commission to take regulatory action. The European Union’s policy response included the creation of a five-point plan that addresses the different facets associated with the scandal. The five-point plan sought to strengthen food fraud prevention; testing programs; horse passports; official control, implementation, penalties; and origin labelling. The five-point plan is intended to decrease the fraud opportunity for the adulteration of beef with horsemeat. According to the crime triangle, a concept frequently cited in the field of criminology, fraud opportunity has three main elements: the victims, the fraudsters, and the guardian and hurdle gaps. When any of these elements change, the opportunity for a fraudster to commit a crime also changes. The research question of this thesis explores the policy responses of the European Commission. The Commission’s five-point plan targets the three elements of fraud opportunity; therefore, future fraud opportunity for the adulteration of beef products with horsemeat will theoretically decrease.

Sozialpolitik ist eine nationalstaatliche Angelegenheit. Das senkt die Chancen auf eine harmonisierte oder gar einheitliche europäische Sozialpolitik. Aus diesem Grund hat sich EU-Kommission darauf verlegt, soziale und soziostrukturelle Zielzustände zu definieren und zu erreichen (Ergebniskonvergenz), die Wahl der sozialpolitischen Wege dorthin aber den Mitgliedstaaten zu überlassen. Unter Rückgriff auf interessentheoretische Überlegungen lässt sich jedoch zeigen, dass unabhängig von den Bemühungen der Kommission innerhalb der EU auch die sozialpolitischen Strukturen, Institutionen und Verfahren inklusive der ihnen zugrundeliegenden Leitideen konvergieren (Verfahrenskonvergenz). Für eine Sozialunion ist dies eine wesentliche Voraussetzung. Dass trotz der verfahrenskonvergenten Entwicklung die Realisierungschancen für eine solche Sozialunion oder zumindest die Wahrscheinlichkeit supranational harmonisierter nationaler Sozialpolitiken in absehbarer Zeit nicht steigen werden, liegt einerseits an den Divergenzen der wirtschaftlichen Leistungsfähigkeit der EU-Mitgliedstaaten. Andererseits bleibt auch zu prüfen, inwieweit die sozialpolitischen Vorstellungen der EU mit den sich annähernden sozialpolitischen Verfahren in den EU-Mitgliedsstaaten in Übereinstimmung zu bringen sind<br>Social policy is a nation-state matter. This reduces the prospects of a harmonized or even unified European social policy. For this reason, the EU Commission has resorted to defining the social target states to achieve (outcome convergence). The choice of the political way there is left to the Member countries. Relying on theoretical considerations concerning organized interests and power resources it can be shown, however, that irrespective of the efforts of the Commission the social political structures, institutions and procedures, including the underlying guidelines converge within the EU (process convergence). This is an essential precondition for a social union. Nevertheless, the opportunities to this social union or to supranationally harmonized national social policies will not increase in foreseeable future. This is partly due to the divergence of economic performance of EU Member States. On the other hand, it is to consider how the EU commission’s social-political ideas and the converging social policy processes in the EU Member states are to be reconciled

ABSTRACT The trend of expansion of democracy around the globe has been largely increased in the post-Cold War era due to the domestic struggles and dynamics of international system. Not only international conditions, but also democracy promotion activities of international community have influenced this trend. These activities include assistance, guidance and advice provided by the international players. In this regard, this thesis aims to highlight international dimension of democratization. This thesis analyzes the role of the European Union (EU) in the democratization process of Georgia. The EU has become an international actor, promoting democracy and human rights since the 1990s. The EU&rsquo<br>s contribution to the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe through enlargement policy has been regarded valuable in the literature of democratization. In this context, this thesis chooses Georgia as a case study since Georgia<br>an ex-Soviet country has successfully managed to consolidate its regime change with the Rose Revolution. Besides, the Revolution has trigged the inclusion of the country and South Caucasus to the new Neighborhood Policy of the EU (ENP). This policy has welcomed in Georgia and has overlapped with the EU&rsquo<br>s increasing interest in the region and European orientation of Georgia. This study seeks to find out the extent to which EU can contribute democratic consolidation in Georgia within the ENP. The basic conclusion of this thesis is that the success of the ENP will depend on the limitations and deficiencies of the ENP together with the peculiarities of the region and the ability of the EU.

La política exterior y de seguridad de la Unión Europea (UE) varía sustancialmente dependiendo de las circunstancias específicas de cada caso. Esto es particularmente evidente en el ámbito de la no proliferación de armas de destrucción masiva (ADM). Por ejemplo, en el caso de la crisis nuclear iraní la UE se muestra un actor propio con un papel bastante coherente y enérgico, mientras que durante la disputa con Irak del 2003, la UE se porta más bien como una organización internacional profundamente dividida e incapaz de realizar acciones independientes. En la presente tesis se asume que las principales variables independientes que pueden explicar este fenómeno no son los 'intereses nacionales' sino las ideas en forma de creencias normativas y causales que sustentan la construcción de intereses, la elección de los instrumentos y, en última instancia, la política exterior colectiva. Por lo tanto, la cuestión central de esta investigación es: ¿Cómo afectan las ideas a la política exterior colectiva, en particular de la UE en el ámbito de la no proliferación?<br/>En la primera parte de la tesis, se desarrolla el marco teórico para comprender mejor la relación entre las ideas y los diferentes grados de acción colectiva por grupos de estados en materia de 'alta política.' Basado en un modelo concreto sobre el papel de las ideas en la cooperación internacional, se examina cómo funcionan estas ideas en el caso específico de la política exterior y de seguridad europea. En este sentido, se identifican cuatro grupos dominantes de ideas ('complejos de ideas') que influyen en la política europea común: 'Europa nacional,' 'Europa integracionista,' 'Europa cosmopolita' y 'Europa multilateral.' En estos complejos de ideas son particularmente importantes las creencias causales y normativas sobre seguridad, el uso de los medios y relaciones estatales. El argumento fundamental es que un número limitado de complejos de ideas hace probable el consenso en una política relativamente fuerte. Esto es particularmente cierto si se toma en consideración la maleabilidad de las ideas y el alto grado de institucionalización de grupos de estados como la UE. La competencia entre los complejos de ideas, sin embargo, deja un margen considerable para el desacuerdo. Por tanto, los complejos de ideas pueden explicar la fuerte variación de la política de la UE entre los diferentes campos de actividad.<br/>La segunda parte de la tesis analiza empíricamente la política europea en el ámbito de la no proliferación de ADM. Se han elegido tres casos de estudio: (a) una comparación entre las políticas de la UE durante la crisis nuclear iraní y la invasión estadounidense de Iraq; (b) los esfuerzos desiguales de la UE contra la proliferación en el sur y este de la vecindad europea, y (c) las políticas de la UE hacia las instituciones internacionales de no proliferación a la luz del concepto de 'multilateralismo eficaz.' El objetivo es demostrar cómo las ideas influyen en la práctica la política exterior desigual de la UE bajo situaciones diferentes. Del análisis de los estudios de caso se pueden extraer tres conclusiones principales: en primer lugar, el consenso en la UE para la acción colectiva sólo es posible si ciertos límites relativos a la percepción de seguridad, la utilización de medios y las relaciones con otros estados no se cruzan; en segundo lugar, la necesidad de un equilibrio entre los complejos de ideas opuestos explican la política frecuentemente moderada de la UE ('equilibrio de ideas'); y, por último, las ideas como 'multilateralismo eficaz' se pueden utilizar de manera limitada como un foco para fomentar la cohesión, coherencia y legitimidad de la UE en los asuntos internacionales.<br>The foreign and security policy outputs of the European Union (EU) vary substantially depending on the issue at stake. This has been particularly clear in the field of non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). For example, in the case of the Iranian nuclear crisis, the EU shows the characteristics of a fairly coherent and forceful actor in its own right, whereas during the 2003 Iraq standoff the EU is merely a deeply divided international organization incapable of independent action. The dissertation argues that the principal independent variables that can explain this phenomenon are not 'national interests' but ideas in the form of normative and causal beliefs, which underpin the construction of interests, the choice of instruments and, ultimately, collective foreign policy outputs. Hence, the central research question is: How do ideas affect collective foreign policy output, in particular by the EU in the field of non-proliferation?<br/>In the first part, the dissertation develops a theoretical framework to understand better the relation between ideas and the different degrees of collective action by groups of states in matters of 'high politics.' Based on a concrete model outlining the role of ideas in international cooperation, it continues examining theoretically how ideas work in the specific case of the European foreign and security policy. In this regard, it identifies four dominant sets of ideas ('idea complexes') that influence common European policy output: 'national Europe,' 'integrationist Europe,' 'cosmopolitan Europe' and 'multilateral Europe.' In these idea complexes, causal and normative beliefs about security, the use of means and state relations are particularly important. The key argument is that the limited number of relatively malleable foreign policy idea complexes makes consensus for relatively forceful policy output likely, in particular taking into consideration the high degree of institutionalization of groups of states such as the EU. The competition between idea complexes leaves, however, substantial room for disagreement. Therefore, idea complexes can explain the EU's strong output variation between different fields of activity.<br/>The second part of the dissertation analyzes empirically the EU's policy in the field of non-proliferation of WMD. Three specific case studies have been chosen: (a) a comparison between the EU policies during the Iranian nuclear crisis and the US led invasion of Iraq; (b) the EU's uneven non-proliferation efforts in the Southern and Eastern neighbourhood; and (c) EU policies towards international non-proliferation institutions in light of the concept of 'effective multilateralism.' The aim is to demonstrate how ideas influence in practice the uneven EU foreign policy output in different situations. Three major conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the case studies: First, consensus in the EU on collective action is only possible, if certain limits regarding security perception, use of means and relations with other states are not crossed; secondly, the need for striking a balance between competing idea complexes explains the frequently moderate policy output by the EU ('ideational balancing'); and, finally, ideas such as 'effective multilateralism' can be used to a limited extent as focal points to foster cohesion, coherence and legitimacy of the EU in international affairs.

This thesis analyzes the anti-corruption policy in the European Union. Within this framework corruption as a global phenomenon and actions taken by other international organisations is studied as well. Furthermore, this thesis seeks to answer whether the accession process to the European Union has influenced the anti-corruption strategy in Turkey or not. Finally, it identifies shortcomings in the current reform process in Turkey and tries to develop recommendations accordingly.

The subject of inquiry of my research is the socio-economic restructuring of the European Union (EU). The project provides an innovative interdisciplinary intervention that uses the canonical texts of Karl Polanyi and the insights from the burgeoning Polanyian scholarship in an attempt to explain the morphology of the contradictions that underpin the EU integration project. The starting point of analysis lies in the recent debates instigated by the critical turn in the EU studies scholarship that tries to shift the focus from the causes of the EU integration to its consequences. My original contribution to the scholarship consists of providing a Polanyian critique of the EU political economy. The ever-growing Polanyian scholarship proves a formidable alternative to the already established Gramscian and Marxist routes of critical inquiry. Based on a close reading of Polanyi and the wider Polanyian scholarship the thesis proposes a new take on the established practice of using Polanyi’s concept of dis/embeddedness as an all-or-nothing phenomenon and instead suggests conceptualising the social reality in terms of tendencies. The lenses through which I evaluate the EU predicament consist of the following conceptual vocabulary: a) dis/embedding tendencies b) habitation and improvement, and c) the rate of change. The main puzzle that the project endeavours to explain is the interplay between the disembedding and the embedding tendencies in the EU. The examination of the disembedding tendency consists of excavating the self-regulating market logic inscribed into the EU edifice by analysing the development across three policy fields: competition, finance and education. The findings suggest that the disembedding tendency is manifested not only in the monetary orthodoxy inscribed in the Economic and Monetary Union since the Maastricht Treaty and further reified during the Great Recession, but also in the privatisation, depoliticisation and commodification dynamics evident in the three policy domains discussed in the thesis. Given Polanyi’s observation that the embedding tendency is immanent to the disembedding one, the second empirical endeavour consists of investigating the surge of socio-environmental measures. Notwithstanding the institutional divergences between the social and environmental policy domains, the appraisal of the policy output demonstrates that the embedding tendency is characterised by the same marketisation dynamic that we see in the disembedding one. This thesis recuperates a critical Polanyian reading that highlights the disruptive dialectics between the disembedding tendency and the seemingly protective measures predicated on fictitious commodification. In addition to unearthing the structural bias towards the market form that constitutes the two tendencies, this project develops a normative critique of the market society, based on Polanyi’s ferocious appraisal of neoclassical economics’ formal understanding of the economy, by problematising the extension of the economising rationality within previously unaffected spheres.

This thesis aims to analyze the inner dynamics as well as the outcomes of the health sector restructuring process in Turkey, by focusing on Neo-Liberal transformation, New Public Management practices and European Integration process. The thesis argues that health reform process along with other public sector reforms have been initiated by Neo-Liberalism as the new face of institutional and structural arrangements during 1980s. Within that process, it is underlined that New Public Management approach with its commitment to private sector methodology and techniques reflected the underlying philosophy and basic premises of Neo-Liberalism which dominated the health sector restructuring process in Turkey, as well as in Eastern Europe since 1990s. Often characterized with the notion of &ldquo<br>efficiency&rdquo<br>, the New Public Management techniques and methodologies claimed to bring a more efficiently working health system. In order to refute this claim, the health sector reforms that have been exercised in the past two decades in Turkey as well as in Eastern Europe are analyzed within a historical context. It is also argued that while the Neo-Liberal policies and policy initiatives proposed by International Monetary Fund and World Bank had a direct effect on health sector restructuring process, the role of the European Union has been indirect with regard to organization and service provision. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to analyze the outcomes of the health reforms carried out in Turkey in a multidisciplinary manner in order to reveal its political, economic,social and administrative implications in terms of service providers and service takers.

Parental leave policies have been shown to play a significant role in enhancing gender equality. The European Union has recognised this and has issued a Directive to its Member States, in order to instigate parental leave policy reform. However, not all Member States have sought to implement this. This thesis addresses this problem and seeks to answer the following research question: Why have progressive parental leave policies failed to transfer across the European Union? In doing so, this study also aims to explore the limits of Europeanisation. The research question has been addressed through a qualitative comparative case study of four European Union Member States: Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Greece. These states have been chosen on the basis of Most Different System Design. The thesis deploys a theoretical framework based upon concepts of Europeanisation and policy mobility and draws particularly on the work of Stone’s four core concepts of policy mobility: Diffusion, Transfer, Convergence, Translation (Stone, 2012). The key factors that have been identified in this study as restricting the potential of a policy to transfer are: institutional surroundings, shared beliefs and norms, internal political dynamics and a lack of force/action from the European Union. These differences have acted to constrain the transferability of progressive parental leave policy across the European Union and therefore the process of Europeanisation in this area.

Стратегічним напрямком зовнішньої політики України є інтеграція до ЄС, що дозволить країні поліпшити свої позиції у світовій економічній системі, забезпечити стійкий економічний розвиток, підвищити національну конкурентоспроможність, зайняти місце у світовому політичному та культурному просторі та досягти високі соціальні стандарти.<br>Стратегическим направлением внешней политики Украины является интеграция в ЕС, что позволит стране улучшить свои позиции в мировой экономической системе, обеспечить устойчивое экономическое развитие, повысить национальную конкурентоспособность, занять место в мировом политическом и культурном пространстве и достичь высоких социальных стандартов.<br>The strategic direction of Ukraine's foreign policy is integration into the EU, which will allow the country to improve its position in the global economic system, ensure sustainable economic development, increase national competitiveness, take a place in the world political and cultural space, and achieve high social standards.

The aim of this essay is to explain how IR theory relates to the European Union. Thisis motivated by the extensive use of empirical and descriptive studies on the EU. Togenerate knowledge on how theory relates to the EU, two seemingly differenttheories are compared. Neorealism and social constructivism are used to generatehypotheses, which are then tested on a quantitive study on the EU’s Common Foreignand Security Policy. The study covers the years of 2003-2005 and uses a statisticalmethod to present to empirical findings, which is supplemented by previous studieson EU’s foreign policy. The theoretical framework enables comparison of the twoemployed theories’ explanatory powers. The essay concludes that none of the theoriesprovides satisfactory explanations of in regard to EU’s global power and/or influence.Nevertheless, they are able to explain different aspects of the developments of EU’sforeign policy. Further theoretical studies should be undertaken in order to highlightthe issues of theory vis-à-vis the European Union.

This thesis aims to analyze the evolution of the security policies of Finland and Sweden within the European Union (EU) with a comparative perspective. The main argument of this thesis is that increasing European integration in the field of security and defense may lead to adaptations and modifications in the security policy formulations of two militarily non-allied EU member states, Finland and Sweden. However, the nature and extent of these adaptations will depend on each state&rsquo<br>s own security policy perspective and own perception of the ongoing European security integration. This thesis seeks answers to questions such as &ldquo<br>How does the policy of non-participation in military alliances affect these countries&rsquo<br>standpoints and their participation in general in the EU&rsquo<br>s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and in the Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP)?,&rdquo<br>&ldquo<br>How do Finland and Sweden interpret and apply this policy perspective within the CFSP, and in the CESDP?&rdquo<br>and &ldquo<br>What does membership of the EU imply for the policies of the militarily non-allied countries?.&rdquo<br>This thesis consists of nine chapters. The second chapter gives the conceptual framework of this thesis. The third chapter focuses on the evolution of their neutrality policies until the Second World War while the fourth one presents the evolution of their security policies from the Second World War until the end of the Cold War. The fifth chapter covers the transition period from their neutrality policy to their EU membership, while the sixth chapter focuses on the evolution of their security policies especially within the CESDP. The seventh chapter draws attention to their new security policy agenda and the eighth chapter presents the comparative analysis of their security policies in the EU. The ninth, and concluding chapter, offers an overall comparative perspective about the respective security policy profiles of the two countries within the EU. This thesis has reached the conclusion that owing to their different histories, geopolitical positions and security policy concerns during the Cold War, their ways of adapting to the changes within the EU were inclined to be different too. Even though their entry to the EU in 1995 may be accepted as the starting-point for the potential future convergence of their security policies, the similarities in their security policy considerations do not outweigh the differences for the time being.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the adaptation of Turkey to EU research and innovation policies in the light of developments in within their own dynamics, and within the framework of obligations of the accession period. A comparative analysis of Turkish and EU policies is made by pointing out the weaknesses of Turkey, which are supported by related indicators specifying the gap between EU in research and innovation capabilities. In accordance with the findings of the comparison of Turkey and EU, this study attempts to develop recommendations for the reassessment of existing policy tools, and to propose new policy instruments within organizational and institutional infrastructure, implementation and further integration with EU in research and innovation. The evaluations highlight that Turkey is experiencing problems in structuring and implementing its policy instruments, rather than developing policy formulations.

The European Union (EU) is the world’s leading development donor, playing a pivotal role in shaping development norms. This paper aims to investigate the extent to which the EU has been effective in its external aid actorness towards global poverty eradication during the post-Cotonou negotiation period (2000-2020). The theoretical framework of Sjöstedt’s (1977) Actorness Theory  is constructed upon the premises of Social Constructivism. To operationalize “actorness”, Brattberg and Rhinard’s (2012) criteria of context, coherence, consistency, and  capability are utilized. The research triangulates the methods of Discourse Historical Analysis and Thematic Content Analysis to assess the EU’s nom-setting policy discourse. The analysis suggests that the Union scores highly in the context and capability criteria, as it is recognized as a legitimate development actor and possesses mechanisms to reach aid agreements, while lacks  coherence  and  consistency  due to inadequate policy implementation and commitment to McKee et al.’s (2020) Aid Quality Index. The thesis concludes that the EU’s aid effectiveness has decreased due to its actorness being increasingly linked to foreign policy considerations in response to emerging challenges in development cooperation. The research underlines the significance of analysing the empirical linkage between EU’s actorness and effectiveness for the field of International Relations.

Spain, after successfully joining EC and NATO and consolidating itself as a respected member of the Western bloc, has been seeking to improve its status in the international political arena in the last two decades. However, during its quest to become a major European power like Germany, France and UK, Spain lost the momentum it caught in the early years of its EC membership, after Felipe Gonzalez left the Presidency of Government in 1996. The discord between the two major Parties, the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) on the broad lines of the Spanish foreign policy - that yielded to discontinuity - has been one of the reasons for this development. The main aim of this dissertation is to elaborate this discontinuity as a case study, in a middle range European power. For this purpose, the foreign policies followed by the Conservative PP Governments headed by J&oacute<br>se Mar&iacute<br>a Aznar during 1996-2004 term is compared with the policies followed by the Socialist PSOE Governments headed by J&oacute<br>se Luis Rodr&iacute<br>guez Zapatero since 2004. Given that these policies are associated with the decisions, acts and speeches of the Party leaders, the level of analysis in this dissertation is the individual policy makers.