Guilt, Sympathy, and Cooperation: EU—Baltic Relations in the Early 1990s

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainius Lasas
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Community ◽  
Economic Convergence ◽  
Collective Guilt ◽  
Critical Window ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The Road ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

The period between March 1990 and June 1993 represents the critical window for European Union (EU)—Baltic relations. During this time Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania laid the foundation for future EU membership. For its part, the European community made a commitment to include the three republics in the process of enlargement. This paper traces the beginnings of EU—Baltic cooperation and examines factors that led to growing political and economic convergence. Nordic membership in the EU, ex-Soviet troop withdrawal, and Russian parliamentary elections were instrumental in bringing both sides together on the road to enlargement, but collective guilt provided the underlying rationale. In this paper, the author argues that it is impossible to understand fully this process of convergence without taking into account the connotations and consequences of the “black trinity”: the Munich pact, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and the Yalta agreement.

scholarly journals The Limits of Agencification in the European Union

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1223-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslava Scholten ◽  
Marloes van Rijsbergen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Court ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

Although not explicitly regulated by the EU treaties, EU agencies not only exist but also have increased in number and power. In addition, while EU agencies may exercise very similar functions to those of the Commission, Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) do not list agencies among the possible authors of non-legislative acts. The existing situation raises the questions of the extent to which the ongoing agencification in the EU is legitimate and what its limits are. This article addresses these questions in the light of the old and new Treaties and case law, including the just releasedESMA-shortsellingcase. It shows that while the Lisbon Treaty made a few steps forward on the road of legitimizing EU agencies and delegating important powers to them, the scope of powers that EU agencies can have remains unclear. In this respect, the European Court of Justice's lenient approach in theESMA-shortsellingcase is unfortunate because it neither clarifies the issue nor pushes the Union Legislator and the Member States to address it. Consequently, in the absence of clear limits, further agencification is likely to persist at the risk of increasing the democratic legitimacy deficit and remaining accountability gaps.

scholarly journals 1918 barrier on the road to the membership of the European Union

2007 ◽  
pp. 11-34
Author(s):  
Miroslav Jovanovic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern Enlargement ◽  
Distant Future ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Government ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
Eu Eastern Enlargement ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) and Serbia?s accession to this international organization in a relatively distant future are linked, in the eyes of the Serbian public, with numerous expectations, dilemmas, misunderstanding fears, joys and periodical manipulations. The topic is important, broad and complex, so there is a need for the basic and understandable explanations. While in Serbia this topic is one of the most important and high on the government?s agenda. In the EU and its member countries, it attracts almost no attention and is not a priority issue. Simply, the EU is concerned with much more important issues, such as its future constitutional system security, energy, globalization, unemployment, immigration, demographic problem (population ageing), monetary union, preservation of the single market and adjustment to the EU eastern enlargement of 2004 and 2007. After introduction to the advantages and problems relating to Serbia?s potential accession to the EU, the attention is turned to the issues that include geopolitical conditions for accession to the EU, legislation and functioning of the EU, as well as its budget. Effects of integration, the EU?s interest in Serbia and Serbia?s interest in the EU are presented before conclusions.

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of public agencies in Croatia and Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-128
Author(s):  
Milica Škorić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

Although public agencies have existed for several decades, in Serbia, they are new forms of government bodies. The aspiration to modernize the public administration and harmonize it with modern trends can be an opportunity to see the stages of development and models of control and autonomy of the agency from the decades-long development of Swedish public agencies. The example of Croatia will show the potential of the former socialist state for such reforms and how important reforms are on the road to the European Union in the XXI century. Through the analysis of relevant literature and a comparative method, there are presented the reforms of public agencies being implemented in selected countries since their first appearance till nowadays. This paper focuses on the process of creation and development of public agencies in Sweden and Croatia, as members of the European Union, whose development of a public administration differs significantly, all in order to answer the questions: How much do public agencies contribute to decentralization? Are these bodies necessary for the approach and accession to the EU?

Assessing the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A litmus test for the European Union

Human Affairs ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bedrudin Brljavac
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Litmus Test ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe concept of Europeanization has become very popular in studies of European integration and particularly in analyses on the post-communist countries undergoing extensive transformation on the road to European Union membership. Although the Europeanization process has been quite successful in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the same scenario has not played out in the western Balkans region. With the purpose of analysing the effectiveness and impact of the Europeanization process in the western Balkans, the main subject of the paper is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU-related reform processes. Although Bosnia has been undergoing thorough Europeanizing reforms since the late 1990s, when the country entered the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), it is still an unstable and dysfunctional country. That makes it the perfect case for assessing the possible shortcomings of the Europeanization process. Thus far, most scholars have concluded that domestic political elites in Bosnia are the only party responsible for Bosnia’s political deadlock. However, this paper analyses the continued Bosnian deadlock from a different perspective, trying to figure out the degree of responsibility the European Union shares in the country’s Europeanization process. Although uncooperative Bosnian political elites are to a great extent responsible for the continued political and social status quo, EU leaders are not faultless either. In fact, so far European leaders have often appeared to be deeply divided, incoherent, and short-sighted in terms of Europeanization policies in Bosnia, thus further deepening the political deadlock in the country. Therefore, we can ask whether Bosnia represents a litmus test which the EU has failed.

10. Romania–Uneven Europeanization

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitris Papadimitriou ◽  
David Phinnemore
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Road ◽  
Administrative Capacity ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the Europeanization effects associated with Romania’s effort to begin and, later, complete its accession negotiations with the European Union. The road to EU membership in 2007 was a long and hard one for Romania. While public and political opinion remained solidly in favour of integration, and ultimately membership, institutional fluidity, poor administrative capacity, political factionalism, and corruption posed significant challenges to processes of domestic adaptation. The chapter first provides an overview of the changing pattern of Romania’s relationship with the EU before discussing some of the early evidence of the impact of EU membership on Romanian public opinion, party politics, and public policy. It also looks at important factors that have affected both the ‘production’ and ‘reception’ of the Europeanization pressures associated with the EU’s most recent enlargement. Finally, it compares Romania’s EU membership experience with those of other member states, particularly Poland and Bulgaria.

scholarly journals Unia Europejska a zapomniany konflikt o Naddniestrze

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6(69)) ◽  
pp. 161-181
Author(s):  
Bogdan Koszel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Community ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Armed Struggle ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Frozen Conflict ◽  
The Eu

The European Union and the Forgotten Conflict over Transnistria The European Community/European Union was not formally involved in the resolution of the Transnistria conflict. It was believed that success would be possible with the help of an OSCE mission with active Russian participation. The EU considers the rebellious Transnistria as an integral part of Moldova. It sought to support its pro-Western course through the PCA and the Association Agreement. Moldova’s lack of prospects for EU membership and strong Russian influence in the country perpetuate existing divisions. In Europe, hardly anyone remembers the frozen conflict over Transnistria. After a brief period of armed struggle in the early 1990s, it did not accumulate any more international tension and attracted no more attention from the international public opinion.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander Lust
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Reform ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Economic Expectations ◽  
The Eu

In referenda held in 2003, over 90% of Lithuanians supported joining the European Union (EU), while only two-thirds of Estonians did. Why? This article shows that Lithuanians and Estonians had different economic expectations about the EU. Most Lithuanians hoped that EU membership would help Lithuania overcome its economic backwardness and isolation. By contrast, many Estonians worried that the accession would reinforce Estonia's underdevelopment and dependency on the West. I argue that these expectations reflected the two countries' strategies of economic reform. Lithuania sold state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to their managers and continued to trade heavily with Russia, which slowed down the modernization of its economy. Estonia sold SOEs to foreigners and reoriented its trade rapidly from Russia to the West, which hurt its traditional sectors (particularly agriculture) and infrastructure.

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