scholarly journals A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Feminist Reflections on the EU’s Crisis Responses

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-200
Author(s):  
Heather MacRae ◽  
Roberta Guerrina ◽  
Annick Masselot
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Gender Regime ◽  
Current State ◽  
Rapid Responses ◽  
Gender Regimes ◽  
Terrible Thing ◽  
Crisis Responses

As critics are quick to point out, the European Union (EU) has entered the crisis phase of its evolution. It could be argued that crisis management is now the EU’s new normal. Dealing with both endogenous (e.g., economic crisis and Brexit) and exogenous crises (e.g., the migrant crisis and COVID-19), the EU is facing a whole new set of challenges that has the potential to destabilize the complex institutional balance that has maintained the process of European integration over the last 70 years. In this environment of rapid responses, gender+ equality has frequently been compromised. As we argue in this article, the implications of this backsliding are grave not only for equality but also for the European Union as a whole. Drawing on Walby’s concept of gender regimes and social transformation, we consider current crises and the EU’s responses to those crises to highlight potentially dangerous shifts in the European gender regime. With crisis response increasingly supporting a neo-liberal gender regime, the current state of perpetual crisis in the European institutions does not bode well for the future of equality.

scholarly journals Assessing the Level of Renewable Energy Development in the European Union Member States. A 10-Year Perspective

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3765
Author(s):  
Jarosław Brodny ◽  
Magdalena Tutak ◽  
Peter Bindzár
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
The State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Current State ◽  
Renewable Energy Development ◽  
European Union Countries

The global economic development is, to a great extent, dependent on access to large amounts of cheap energy sources. The growing social awareness of ecology and the enormous damage to the Earth’s ecosystem due to the production of energy from conventional sources have forced fundamental changes in the energy sector. Renewable energy is considered to be an opportunity for such changes. The current state of the art allows such changes to be made without restricting economic development. Therefore, activities related to the energy transition are being taken all over the world. The European Union has definitely managed to achieve the most tangible effects in this regard. This article presents the findings of the research aimed at presenting the current state of renewable energy in the European Union and analyzing the changes reported in this sector in the last decade. The research was carried out using a selected set of 11 indicators characterizing renewable energy in individual countries. These indicators were selected on the basis of literature review and own studies of the state of renewable energy and its development prospects. Based on these indicators, changes in the energy structure of individual European Union countries between 2008–2018 were determined. The study is divided into two main stages. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used for the first analysis. In turn, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was adopted to assess the level of renewable energy development in the European Union countries. Both these methods and the extended statistical analysis were applied to determine the state of renewable energy development in the European Union countries in the studied period and to divide the Member States into classes with different levels of development. The results of the study showed that the EU countries are characterized by significant differences in the development of RES during the period in question. The unquestionable leaders in this respect are Sweden, Austria, Finland, and Latvia. Based on the findings, it is possible to evaluate the effects of activities related to renewable energy development and to prepare assumptions for future activities. Additionally, both the research and its findings broaden the knowledge of the directions of renewable energy development in individual European Union countries. This is particularly important in the context of changes related to the need to reduce harmful substance emissions and the implementation of the European Green Deal idea.

scholarly journals FOREIGN POLICY OF UKRAINE UNDER CURRENT CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL AND REGIONAL SECURITY

2018 ◽  
pp. 61-67
Author(s):  
Anna Taranenko
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Current State ◽  
Current Stage

Foreign policy as one of the key areas for the functioning of sovereign states is designed to protect their national interests and promote maintenance of the welfare of the population. For Ukraine, such vectors of foreign policy as European, Euro-Atlantic, Eurasian, Middle Eastern, and Asian are traditionally important. One of the main vectors of Ukraine's foreign policy at the current stage is integration into the European Union. At the same time, an extremely important task for Ukrainian diplomacy is countering Russian aggression, protection of the population in the East of the state and in the Crimea and the soonest possible resolution of the conflict in the Donbas region. Consequently, this topic is of considerable interest, and it is worth examining in detail the current state of Ukraine's foreign policy, in particular, in view of the current challenges of global and regional security. Analysis of foreign and Ukrainian sources on this topic indicates the interest of researchers in matters of foreign policy of Ukraine, as well as international conflicts and their settlement. The purpose of this article is to study the current state of Ukraine's foreign policy in the context of the current challenges of global and regional security. Based on the analysis, it was determined that at the current stage there is sufficient potential for further development of Ukraine's foreign policy, in particular in view of the current challenges of global and regional security. On the basis of the analysis, one can arrive at conclusions that among the successes of Ukraine's foreign policy in recent years one can mention withstanding Russian aggression, introduction of a visa-free regime with the European Union, further deepening of cooperation within the framework of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and deepening of Euro-Atlantic integration. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the effective use of the foreign policy resource to efficiently respond to the challenges of global and regional security. There are further prospects for research related to the effective resolution of international conflicts at the current stage.

scholarly journals Cooperation in the Face of Transboundary Crisis: A Framework for Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Blondin ◽  
Arjen Boin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
The Face ◽  
Crisis Responses

Abstract The nation state is discovering the limits of its crisis management capacities. The Ebola and Zika outbreaks, the financial crisis, the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine, sinking ships overfilled with refugees, cyber-attacks, urban terrorism and existential environmental threats serve as strong reminders of the complex origins and transboundary dimensions of many contemporary crises and disasters. As these transboundary aspects of modern crises become increasingly manifest, the need for international, collaborative responses appears ever clearer. But that collaboration does not always emerge in time (or at all). Even in the European Union, which has various transboundary crisis management mechanisms in place, the willingness to initiate joint crisis responses varies. This observation prompted our research question: Why do states collaborate in response to some transboundary crises but not others? We bring together the crisis and collective action literatures to formulate a theoretical framework that can help answer this question. This article identifies crucial factors that facilitate a possible pathway toward a joint response.

scholarly journals A New Crisis Manager at the Horizon – The Case of the European Union

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-263
Author(s):  
Steven Blockmans
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Management Capability ◽  
Concrete Form ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
The Common

The 1999 Kosovo crisis has forced the European Union to finally give concrete form to its ambitions in the sphere of the common foreign and security policy. At a time when agreement on defence issues seems out of reach, the member states' focus is on the development of a crisis management capability. It is argued that when the Union's diplomatic structures are complemented with military and civilian crisis response tools, much needed balance will be given to the Union's persona as an economic giant and a political dwarf. The article includes a number of measures which should be taken with a view to reinforcing and extending the Union's external role in this field.

Europa 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winfried Böttcher
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
The Past ◽  
Current State

In retrospect, the decade from 2010 to 2020 has provoked a crisis in human progress. In this book, the author proves this thesis using six occurrences, while also paying particular atten-tion to Europe’s role in relation to them: the refugee crisis the conflict in Ukraine Brexit the environment as a political issue nationalism the new coronavirus These six examples, which have had a staggering influence on the past decade, will also de-termine the political agenda in the coming decade. In view of this, the European Union has no future in its current state and thus needs to be reconceived.

scholarly journals Economic relations between Bulgaria and Serbia: Current state and opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Antoaneta Vassileva ◽  
Mirjana Stevanović ◽  
Milica Simić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Current State ◽  
European Projects ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
Desk Research

The main goal of this paper is to make a survey of the current state of the economic relations between Bulgaria and Serbia and to outline some recommendations for their future development. The analytical framework is based on a desk research of the economic cooperation between both countries and a study of several European projects in which they participate. Statistical data and information from official documents of the governments of Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as documents of the European Union have been used. The author does not aim to make just a comparative analysis but rather to look for the points of intersection of the mutual interests of both countries. The findings of the research enable the evaluation of the depth of economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Serbia and give grounds for conclusions about the prospects for expanding of their economic ties.

scholarly journals EU INTEGRATED POLITICAL CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEM WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE EU COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY: THE ROLE OF NEGOTIATION AS INSTRUMENT TO MANAGE CRISIS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasa VEGIENĖ ◽  
Edita LEONAVIČIENĖ
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Response System ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Common Security

Purpose – examine the European Union (EU) integrated political crisis response system, within the scope of the EU common security and defence policy and the present value of negotiations as a tool. Research methodology – a systematic analysis of the scientific literature and descriptive methods were applied to analyse actual and recent theoretical scientific work on integrating the European Union security and defence policy. We were discussing the concept of security from the theoretical perspective of constructivism, presenting the essential features. The empirical part of the work proves how discourse theory may help develop both negotiations and constructivism methodology. Findings – Negotiation theory play an important role in crisis management, developed proposals for the theory and methodology of negotiations. Research limitations – research does not cover negotiations in the context of military actions; the research examines the only civil empirical case of COVID-19 crises. Practical implications – presented conclusions show how the development of negotiations theory may substantially increase responsiveness to any EU crisis. Originality/Value – this study as interdisciplinary combined mixed methodologies: constructivism methodology of threat identification was compared with discourse theory (Austin’s) speech act.

scholarly journals Between Differentiation and (Dis)Integration – Theoretical Explanations of a Post-Brexit European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Carl Philipp Gierlich ◽  
◽  
Rafał J. Wilhelm Riedel ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Holy Grail ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Current State ◽  
Differentiated Integration

The authors of this paper provide a critical analysis of the most prominent theoretical vehicles employed in studying differentiated integration in contemporary, post-Brexit Europe. They discuss the descriptive, explanatory, and interpretative potential of the selected theoretical approaches that are applied at the intersection of disintegration and European differentiation discourse. “The holy grail” of the theorising of the dynamic (and accelerating) processes of (dis)integration and differentiation remains undiscovered. Nevertheless, a constant search for theoretical explanation is needed in the in-depth analyses of the current state of the European Union.

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