scholarly journals The Death of the European Agency for Reconstruction

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-706
Author(s):  
Islam Jusufi
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Rare Phenomenon ◽  
Institutional Model ◽  
European Agency ◽  
The Eu

Among many issues regarding the work and functioning of EU agencies, the termination of an agency is an important aspect to consider. The European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR), an EU agency that managed EU aid to the Western Balkans from 2001 to 2008, proved to be an efficient and effective agency in delivering aid. Although termination of any EU agency is a rare phenomenon, the EAR was terminated in 2008, despite its successful record. The termination of this highly successful agency stands as an example for the utility of putting termination theory into a larger framework of the existence of EU agencies, as scholarly literature has largely ignored the issue of termination in the work of the EU agencies. The EAR represented an institutional model of independence from politics and policy-making. The purpose of this paper is to assess the structure and operations of the EAR and reasons that led to its termination.

Stepping up the beat: the reinvigoration of dialogue between the EU and the Balkans

SEER ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-232
Author(s):  
Calvin Allen
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This article examines the European Commission’s 2020 Enlargement Package and the 2020 country reports for its partners in the western Balkans and Turkey. We focus on the social policy aspects of how the Commission assesses progress and what it regards as priority among the outstanding issues. The Commission is once again talking about ‘enlargement’ rather than the western Balkans’ ‘EU perspective’, but the reports indicate that the gap not only remains sizable, but growing; and the longer that this has continued, the less credible the process has become. It continues to be true that the region could do more to help itself - even allowing for the impact on policy-making of the Covid-19 pandemic - and the level of regional co-operation currently exists at a rather low level. Furthermore, that parts of the region talk openly of alternative avenues for their future remains a source of worry. However, the documentation lays down - at least on the surface - a worthwhile challenge, as well as a test for all parties, regarding aspirations and the extent of political goodwill which is key to the whole enlargement/accession process.

The visual international politics of the European refugee crisis: Tragedy, humanitarianism, borders

2021 ◽  
pp. 001083672198936
Author(s):  
Lene Hansen ◽  
Rebecca Adler-Nissen ◽  
Katrine Emilie Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Visual Content ◽  
Visual Discourse ◽  
News Photography ◽  
European Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Eu

The European refugee crisis has been communicated visually through images such as those of Alan Kurdi lying dead on the beach, by body bags on the harbor front of Lampedusa, by people walking through Europe and by border guards and fences. This article examines the broader visual environment within which EU policy-making took place from October 2013 to October 2015. It identifies ‘tragedy’ as the key term used by the EU to explain its actions and decisions and points out that discourses of humanitarianism and border control were both in place. The article provides a theoretical account of how humanitarianism and border control might be visualized by news photography. Adopting a multi-method design and analyzing a dataset of more than 1000 photos, the article presents a visual discourse analysis of five generic iconic motifs and a quantitative visual content analysis of shifts and continuity across four moments in time. The article connects these visual analyses to the policies and discourses of the EU holding that the ambiguity of the EU’s discourse was mirrored by the wider visual environment.

scholarly journals Can Indicators Bridge the Gap between Science and Policy? An Exploration into the (Non)Use and (Non)Influence of Indicators in EU and UK Policy Making

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léa Sébastien ◽  
Tom Bauler ◽  
Markku Lehtonen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Energy Indicators ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Evidence For Policy ◽  
The Eu

This article examines the various roles that indicators, as boundary objects, can play as a science-based evidence for policy processes. It presents two case studies from the EU-funded POINT project that analyzed the use and influence of two highly different types of indicators: composite indicators of sustainable development at the EU level and energy indicators in the UK. In both cases indicators failed as direct input to policy making, yet they generated various types of conceptual and political use and influence. The composite sustainable development indicators served as “framework indicators”, helping to advocate a specific vision of sustainable development, whereas the energy indicators produced various types of indirect influence, including through the process of indicator elaboration. Our case studies demonstrate the relatively limited importance of the characteristics and quality of indicators in determining the role of indicators, as compared with the crucial importance of “user factors” (characteristics of policy actors) and “policy factors” (policy context).

scholarly journals Unia Europejska wobec Bałkanów Zachodnich w kontekście kryzysu migracyjnego w latach 2015‑2019

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Wawrzyniec Banach
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
Research Goal ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Eu

European Union towards Western Balkans in the Context of Migration Crisis 2015‑2019 The aim of the article is to analyse the actions taken by the European Union towards the Western Balkans in the context of the migration crisis. The study assumes that the migration crisis was an important factor accelerating the accession process of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. In order to fulfil the research goal, an analysis of sources (European Union documents) was conducted. The paper uses elements of the theory of the regional security complex as a theoretical framework. Firstly, the activities of the European Union before the migration crisis are discussed. Next, the paper focuses on presenting the course of the crisis on the Western Balkan route. The further part of the study discusses the actions taken by the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans in response to the migration crisis.

scholarly journals Challenges and prospects of German foreign policy

2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-424
Author(s):  
Ognjen Pribicevic ◽  
Brano Miljus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
German Foreign Policy ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Long Time ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
The Eu

For the last few years, the German foreign policy has been under constant temptations and substantial reconsideration. The key role in resolving the difficult economic and financial crises in the EU, the development of close economic ties with the Russian and other rising world economic powers, the decision to sustain in the UN Security Council in deciding to authorise the use of force in Libya, as well as the dominant attitude towards the crises in Greece and Kosovo clearly shows the wish of Germany to pursue a more independent foreign policy. In spite of all these efforts and its huge economic power, Germany has failed to become a global political power. Moreover, in order to protect and develop its trade interests Germany must remain within the frameworks of the EU and the NATO. For a long time, Germany has been one of Serbia?s most important economic and political partners. Since it is realistic to expect that Germany will be more oriented towards developing its economic ties with the new world economic powers, the Western Balkans and Serbia will not be in the focus of its foreign and economic policies. Therefore, for Serbia, it will be useful to concentrate on the cooperation with the mighty German provinces that have their interests in developing this cooperation. In the future, the Kosovo issues will remain the main obstacle to it.

scholarly journals The exports from the western Balkans countries to the EU: The main problems and recommendations

2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (168) ◽  
pp. 49-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Besim Culahovic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Serbia And Montenegro ◽  
Integration Strategy ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Trade Measures ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) trade policy towards Western Balkan's countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia) is one of the important tools of EU's integration strategy. The exports from the Western Balkan?s countries to the European Union(15) are preferred within special autonomous trade measures for the Western Balkan?s countries which were introduced by the EU in September 2000 (the 2000TM). The 2000TM are a far-ranging set of preferences which provide the Western Balkan?s countries with unparalleled market access to the EU, and hence with the potential both to develop the existing exports and to generate new exports. However, the Western Balkan?s countries exports to the EU are far below the level which could reasonably be expected. In all Western Balkan?s countries a number of supply-side and domestic policy reasons are identified for this under-performance, which suggests that the 2000TM are likely in part to rectify the situation. The economic regeneration of the Western Balkan?s countries will depend on the success of internal economic reform and on the adoption of economic and trade policies which specifically identify and address some serious supply-side constraints.

scholarly journals Climate Change in the Western Balkans and Eu Green Deal – Coherence, Challenges, and Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandi Knez ◽  
Snežana Štrbac ◽  
Iztok Podbregar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Average Annual Temperature ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Background: The European Commission (EC), based on the European Green Deal (2019) and the Recovery plan for Europe (2021) envisages investing 30% of the budget in climate-related programs, projects, and initiatives, which clearly shows Europe's commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral region by 2050. Activities are also planned for countries that are not members of the European Union (EU), which requires complex changes in the field of legislation, strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring. To successfully plan short-term and long-term activities on these grounds, it is necessary to have a realistic picture of the state of climate change in each country - as they spill over into the entire region of Europe. The main objective of this paper is to present the state of climate change in six Western Balkans countries, of which only Croatia is a member of the EU, for the needs of planning activities and initial harmonization with the EU plan to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050. Results: The main results of the research show that in all countries of the region, the average annual temperature increased by 1.2 °C compared to 1970, with stabilization and the beginning of the decline which can be expected around 2040. The main reasons for climate change in the region are: industry, energy, and heating sector based on coal exploitation, low energy efficiency, etc. Conclusions: It can be concluded that all countries of the Western Balkans have adopted (or are in the process of adopting) the necessary regulations and strategies towards climate change mitigation, but the implementation of specific activities is at a low level. The reasons for this most often lies in the insufficient commitment of decision-makers to make significant changes in the field of climate change transition (lower level of economic development, lack of investment, preservation of social peace). Finally, the paper provides an overview of climate change by country, scenario analysis, and policy recommendations.

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