A central problem for the European Union is said to be that of the "politics of identity." Within this, the concept of the EU s international identity requires exploration in terms of how it is both constructed and represented globally.

To address this issue, this book identifies measures and compares public awareness and perceptions of the EU within the Asia-Pacific region. It deals with the under-researched issue of the public perception of the EU outside the Union and the role of the media in shaping such perceptions. It builds on what has been described as the EU s communication deficit, a phenomenon which has typically been explored as an internal EU dynamic but has yet to be applied to the EU s external relations.

The volume presents findings from a systematic research project designed to measure the EU s external communication deficit and to raise the level of its awareness in other regions through three perception levels:

• The study of EU images in news mass media production
• A survey of general public perceptions and attitudes on the EU
• A survey of the elite perceptions of the EU.

Drawing on research from New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Thailand, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of politics, communication studies, European studies and Asian studies.

This book radically re-conceptualises the origins of the European Union as a trans- and supranational polity as it emerged between the Schuman Plan of May 1950 and the first enlargement of the European Communities at the start of 1973.

Drawing upon social science theories and debates as well as recent historical research, Wolfram Kaiser and Morten Rasmussen in their introductory chapters discuss innovative ways of narrating the history of the EU as the emergence of a transnational political society and supranational political system. Building on these insights, eight chapters based on multilateral and multi-archival research follow each with case studies of transnational networks, public sphere and institutional cultures and policy-making which illustrate systematically related aspects of the early history of the EU. In the concluding chapter, leading political scientist Alex Warleigh-Lack demonstrates how greater interdisciplinary cooperation, especially between contemporary history and political studies, can significantly advance our knowledge of the EU as a complex polity.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Politics, European Studies and History.

The European Union is a leading actor in international development, providing more than half of the world s foreign aid, but also a unique case, combining the characteristics of a bilateral and a multilateral donor. Despite the general acknowledgment that policy coordination substantially improves both the effectiveness of foreign aid and the visibility of the EU in the international arena, Member States have consistently resisted any intrusion into what they consider a key area of their national sovereignty. The increases in volume of aid, the ambitious agenda on aid effectiveness, and the adoption of the European Consensus on Development indicate a change of direction.

Using development policy as a starting point, this book provides a systematic analysis of the interaction between the European Commission and Member States. It explores the conditions in which the European Commission influences outcomes in the EU decision making process. It ultimately argues that the European Commission plays a leadership role, but this leadership is contingent upon the presence of an institutional entrepreneur, its internal cohesiveness, and the astute use of a repertoire of tactics.

Demonstrating that development policy may provide fresh insights into EU integration theory, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics and International Development.

This book offers a legal understanding regarding the core elements of SGEI (Services of General Interest), and of how the post-Lisbon constitutional framework on SGEI affects the application of the EU market rules by the EU Court of Justice, including procurement rules, to public services. It is built up of three parts, namely Part I: No Exit from EU Market Law for Public Services, Part II: SGEI as a Constitutional Voice for Public Services in EU Law, and Part III: The cost of loyalty, the relationship between EU procurement and state aid legislation on social services and the Treaty rules on SGEI, ending with a case study of Swedish systems of choice. Analyses are also provided on how the EU legislator engages in the Europeanisation of social services through EU procurement and state aid rules that have an ambiguous relationship to the Treaty framework on SGEI. Some explanation to this ambiguity is proposed by studying how the application of EU state aid rules could hinder the development of Swedish systems of choice liberalizing publicly-funded elderly care and school education. Included are propositions on crucial but yet unsettled legal questions, in particular what the legal meaning and relevance of the notion of economic activity in EU market law are and which core elements characterize SGEI. This book is therefore mainly aimed at legal academics and practitioners but may also be of interest to political scientists. Caroline Wehlander studied at Umea University and holds the title of Doctor of Laws. She lives and works in Sweden.

The European Union is still emerging as a fully fledged foreign policy actor. The vagaries of this process are clearly visible, yet insufficiently explained in the EU policies towards the post-Soviet space. EU Foreign Policy and Post-Soviet Conflicts examines EU intervention and non-intervention in conflict resolution, with a specific focus on the EU's role in the post-soviet conflicts in the South Caucasus and Moldova: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria. It explains how EU foreign policy affected these conflicts, but more importantly what EU intervention in these conflicts reveal about the EU itself. Based on extensive field research, the author argues that the reluctant EU intervention in post-Soviet conflicts results from a dichotomous relationship between EU institutions and some EU member states. Popescu argues this demonstrates that EU institutions use policies of 'stealth intervention' where they seek to play a greater role in the post-Soviet space, but they do so through relatively low-profile, uncontroversial and depoliticised actions in order to avoid visible Russian opposition. Exploring an array of questions related to the EU as a foreign policy actor, this book traces the politics of conflict intervention by EU institutions using original empirical data related to the EU decision making process and will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, conflict resolution, foreign policy and Post-Soviet politics.

Policy instruments are techniques used to implement policy goals. Subject to political conflict, they address the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed. Why do political actors choose certain policy instruments to implement policy goals? Systematically comparing policy instruments employed in the European Union's environmental and social policy, Holger BAhr develops a general theoretical framework to illustrate how policy-makers prefer different types of policy instruments depending on the respective effect they wish to have on member state governments, citizens, consumers, and producers. He argues that institutions, the politicisation of policy problems and external events constrain political actors and provide them with the opportunity to transfer their preferred policy instruments into policy outputs at the end of decision-making.

From bans on religious symbols in public spaces, to the provision of abortion by doctors, recent cases across Europe have highlighted acute dilemmas about how best to respond to the claims of individuals or groups feeling that their values or beliefs are not treated fairly by the law. Diversity in Europe uses the resources of political theory alongside comparative analysis of contemporary practices in different countries (Germany, Italy, Turkey, Spain and the UK) to explore the challenges diversity poses for European democracies. Crucial throughout is whether the democratic commitment to equality entails uniformity in the law, or is compatible with saying 'yes' to some requests from citizens that they be treated differently, to accommodate their ethical, cultural and religious particularity. Such differential treatment may take several forms, e.g. group or individual rights, either to legal exemptions or to conscientious objection. Exploring these from various angles, the book gives a sense of the tools democracies need to address the challenges of diversity more generally. Making an important contribution to our understanding of the political implications of ethical, cultural and religious diversity, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political and social philosophy, European studies, political science, social policy, applied ethics, law, and socio-legal studies.

Negotiations are central to the ethos and functioning of the European Union, yet the dynamics of EU negotiations have received far too little systematic scholarly attention. This volume offers a thematic and forward-looking survey of cutting-edge research on EU negotiation dynamics, identifying findings to date and setting an empirical and methodological agenda for future research. The chapters by leading international experts address a wide range of critical questions in this area, including: What factors influence negotiation behaviour and outcomes in the EU? How can we explain variation in the choice of negotiation styles? When do actors engage in arguing or bargaining? What are the determinants of bargaining power? What are the institutional foundations of EU negotiations? And what role does the presidency play in EU negotiations? The volume also discusses how the findings of the multi-disciplinary field of negotiation studies' can inform research on negotiation dynamics in the EU. The volume will be of great interest to established scholars and advanced students of international relations, European integration and governance, and negotiation analysis. This book was based on a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

The United Nations and the European Union: An Ever Stronger Partnership provides a comprehensive overview of EU-UN cooperation, identifying the role of the various actors involved in the decision-making process and its influence in areas stretching from environmental protection to human rights, crisis management, public health and the protection of refugees. By collecting contributions by renowned EU and UN experts, diplomats and scholars, the book will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including academics, students, policy makers as well as civil society actors. Specific to this book:* Allows readers to get a better insight into the way EU coordination is realized in practice in the various organs and whether this has proven successful* Allows readers to gain a better understanding of the rapid evolution of EU-UN cooperation in security matters; illustrates how this newly emerged partnership has been tested in the field* Illustrates how EU-UN cooperation has been/will be affected by the processes of EU enlargement and UN reform; makes up the balance of the present strengths and weaknesses of the partnership

Climate change poses one of the biggest challenges facing humankind. The European Union (EU) has developed into a leader in international climate change politics although it was originally set up as a 'leaderless Europe' in which decision-making powers are spread amongst EU institutional, member state and societal actors. The central aim of this book, which is written by leading experts in the field, is to explain what kind of leadership has been offered by EU institutional, member state and societal actors. Although leadership is the overarching theme of the book, all chapters also address ecological modernisation, policy instruments, and multi-level governance as additional main themes. The book chapters focus on the Commission, European Parliament, European Council and Council of Ministers as well as member states (Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain) and societal actors (businesses and environmental NGOs). Additional chapters analyse the EU as a global actor and the climate change policies of America and China and how they have responded to the EU's ambitions. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, EU politics, comparative politics and international relations as well as to practitioners who deal with EU and/or climate change issues.

This title presents complementary analyses of the current features, issues and trends of multilateral security and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) peace operations. The analyses offers the reader a sound interpretation of the attributes of ESDP operations in the context of the diffusion of peace operations practice in the present time. Founded on the detailed examination of different peace operations and the analysis of relevant data, the book chapters give to the reader the chance of assessing the near-term future of peace operations.

First published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Turkey's accession to the European Union is undoubtedly one of the Union's most contested potential enlargements. The narrative that dominates the debate surrounding this issue primarily relates to problems such as a lack of respect for fundamental human rights in Turkey, the Kurdish question and the continuing stalemate concerning northern Cyprus. This book looks at these issues, but also proposes that a review of Turkey's experience with the EU in its numerous incarnations suggests that these concerns may mask a deeper disquiet. Whilst there are several questions that Turkey must address, particularly in the area of human rights guarantees, the concerns which raise debates regarding Turkish membership are not issues that are unique to Turkey. Turkey's EU experience also raises fundamental questions about religion and the EU project that have greater implication than simply Turkish accession. Through the lens of the Turkish example, this book addresses these broader questions, such as the nature of European 'identity', Europe's Christian past, the limits of pluralism and the fundamental question of religion in the European public sphere. This book will be of great interest to those engaged in research on European law and politics at undergraduate or postgraduate level. It is also aimed at academics with an interest in human rights and the European Union and with a regional interest in Turkey.

This study provides a comprehensive discussion of all aspects of the European Union presence in International Organisations (IOs). The editors seek to explore both the political and institutional implications of the EU's interaction with IOs and the effect of the EU's presence on the functioning of the respective IOs.

The result of an international workshop with an outstanding line up of experts, the book discusses a range of issues, including:

• The Impact of the EU security contributions to IO's such as the OSCE, NATO and the UN, and the EU's role in decision making.
• The role of EU ? US relations in the development of major International Organisations
• Participation in the Doha Development agenda and the EU's relationship with the WTO
• The issues of leadership and coherence within and outside the EU
• The growing international relationship with the African Union and the more troubled supporting role of the Commonwealth.

Approaching the EU's international interactions from different theoretical and analytical angles, this work clearly discusses the broad spectrum of issues that surround the evolution and future of the European Union in an international context

This book confronts and discusses different conceptions of political representation with respect to their application to the system of multi-level governance in the European Union. Political representation is an essentially contested concept. Its meaning has evolved with the development of representative democracy at the level of the nation state, and normative theories of political representation often evolved as a reflection on developing practices rather than the other way around.

Since the EU is not a conventional nation state, and since the effectiveness and legitimacy of classic notions of political representation at the level of the national state has also become a matter of dispute, the EU has become a playground for the development of alternative or additional conceptions of democracy. The contributions to this volume evaluate these alternative conceptions with regard to both their effectiveness and their legitimacy, and combine both conceptual and empirical analyses.

This book was based on a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

This book examines the relationship between the Czech Republic and the European Union (EU). The authors examine the Czech Republic's road to EU membership in 2004 and assess how EU accession has affected or changed the Czech Republic, including its domestic politics, governing institutions and public policies. It also examines how the Czech Republic has behaved as an EU member state, addressing the questions:

• What are the Czech Republic's interests in the EU and how has it sought to influence EU policymaking?
• How have Czech interests and behaviour been shaped by the country's position as: a new member state; a small member state; a relatively poor member state; and a post-communist member state?

The book also addresses the Czech Republic's preparations for assuming the EU presidency in January 2009, and evaluates the actual conduct of the presidency. Although a case study of a single member state, this book sheds light on a number of broader points or issues pertaining to the EU and its member states. It contributes to academic debate and knowledge about the EU and European integration, including the debates on Europeanization and the role of small states in the EU.

This book will of interest to students and scholars of the European Union, European politics and Post-Communist politics.

What kind of Europe do social democratic parties prefer? What is the origin of their preferences? Are they shaped by interests, institutions or ideas? If so, how? Why do social democratic political parties respond differently to the crucial question of the future of the European Union? While many social democratic parties initially opposed European integration either in principle or because of the form it took, gradually they came to lend their full, though often critical, support to it. Despite this evolution, important differences between them have remained.

This book examines the preferences of social democratic parties in Germany, France, the UK, Sweden and Greece towards European integration, in comparative perspective. Using a variety of sources, including interviews with key party officials, the contributors explore what kind of Europe these parties want, and seek to explain the formation and evolution of these preferences over time. They examine the interplay of national peculiarities and cross-national factors and their impact on preferences on European integration. In addition to highlighting the role of party leaders, they reveal that, far from being united on European integration, these parties disagree with each other in part because they have retreated ? to varying degrees ? from key social democratic principles.

Making an important contribution to the scholarship on preference formation and the research that links the European Union with the nation state, it will be of interest to students and scholars of the EU, comparative politics and political parties.

Just as feminist scholars began to develop an analysis of "the state" and women in Europe gained access to its political, legal and bureaucratic arenas, increased attention and reliance on European institutions have begun to take precedence over the more parochial concerns of the nation state. With the creation of the European super-state, feminist scholars will have to enhance their understanding of the European Union while activists will increasingly focus their efforts upon its institutions. This volume provides a comprehensive examination of EU policy implications for some of the most burning issues concerning women. This is the first book to transcend the emphasis on economics, the conventional basis for EU public policy discussions, thus providing a basis upon which one can begin to assess the politics of European integration from a feminist perspective.

Debates on EU foreign policy have been dominated by two opposing schools of argument. One includes a broad range of work that extols the virtues of a European liberal concept of power and the other sees the EU's commitment to cosmopolitan liberalism and soft power as a sign of weakness rather than strength. This book judges the EU on its own terms as a liberal power, examining its policy record, rather than simply asserting that the EU's liberal commitments in themselves denote either a superior or inferior foreign policy approach. Youngs argues that the challenges facing Europe's role in the world appear to be in its retreat from liberal internationalism through a series of case studies on policy areas: trade, multilateral diplomacy, security, development cooperation, democracy and human rights, and energy security. Presenting detailed evidence that show the EU is moving away from cosmopolitan strategy, Youngs asserts that Europe needs to reassess its foreign policies if it is to defend the kind of liberal world order necessary for its own and other countries' long term interests. This book will be of strong interest to students and scholars of European politics, Foreign Policy and International Relations.

Written by leading experts in the field, this volume identifies European collective preferences and analyzes to what extent these preferences inform and shape EU foreign policy and are shared by other actors in the international system. While studies of the EU's foreign policy are not new, this book takes a very different tack from previous research. Specifically it leaves aside the institutional and bureaucratic dimensions of the European Union's behaviour as an international actor in order to concentrate on the meanings and outcomes of its foreign policy taken in the broadest sense. Two outcomes are possible: Either Europe succeeds in imposing a norms-based international system and thus, in this case, its soft power capacity will not only have been demonstrated but will be enhanced Or, on the contrary, it does not succeed and the global system will become one where realpolitik reigns; especially once China, India and Russia attain a preponderant influence on the international scene. EU Foreign Policy in a Globalized World will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, foreign policy and politics and international relations in general.

What impact has EU membership had on party politics in Central and Eastern Europe? Although there is an emerging body of literature on the Europeanization of political parties, most of these accounts focus exclusively on Western Europe. Drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches including detailed studies of party programmes and manifestos, analysis of the media, semi-structured interviews and expert surveys, this collection provides not just conceptually informed, but also empirically rooted analyses of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe during the first four years of EU membership. In particular, the contributions assess the impact of EU membership on parties' internal balance of power, the use of European issues in inter-party competition, the role of transnational party federations and the broader role the EU plays in party politics. The findings not only shed light on the impact of EU membership on party organization and programmes, they also inform broader debates concerning the dynamics, fluidity and motors of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe. This book was based on a special issue of Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.

Winner of the THESEUS promising award for Research on European Integration 2011.

Sanctions are an important tool within the foreign policy of the European Union, which have until now remained obscure to both scholars and the general public. This book examines sanctions as a political tool of influence and evaluates the efficacy of sanctions imposed by the EU against third countries and their ability to bring about the desired outcome.

While the principal sanctions activity of the EU takes place under the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the author also considers the suspension of development aid under the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, the withdrawal of trade privileges under the Generalized System of Preferences and other sanctions outside these frameworks. Reviewing the sanctions practice of the EU in its virtual entirety, Portela assesses the relevance of classical sanctions theory by testing a series of hypotheses with empirical case-studies attempting to identify the determinants of success of EU sanctions.

Enhancing our understanding of the EU's international role, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, security studies, EU studies, human rights and democracy, conflict management, IPE and development studies.

This book examines just what the European Union is, in the context of the ongoing structural transformation of the global system. The author develops an integrated approach to global transformations, drawing on geopolitics, political geography, international relations, economics, economic and political history, political economy and macro-sociology to discuss how this supra-state organisation, that shares and pools the sovereignty of some of the wealthiest states of the modern world, makes sense. The book:

• Interprets the ongoing transformation of west European public authority in the context of the global geopolitical economy of competition, cooperation and conflict
• Examines the consequences of west European integration for the global system in a longue-dur e perspective, developing a new, geopolitical dialect within world-systems analysis, sharpening some of the conceptual tools developed by its paradigm-setters.
• Develops a new conceptualization for the EU s global geopolitical strategy, which the author describes this strategy as the elasticity of size

Developing a deeper understanding of global social change and west European strategies of global advantage-maintenance and power-management, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, International Politics, International Relations Theory and Globalization Studies.

Slovenia's Transition: From Medieval Roots to the European Union details and analyzes the history of the process of Slovenia's transformation from a socialist, self managed, political-economic system to that of a capitalist, democratically regulated, market system. The book reveals the economic development of Slovenia as it transformed. Bogomil Ferfila explores the transformation of institutions through the development of corporatism. It also delves into the political and economic integration of Slovenia with the European Union. The book evaluates the 'gradualist' policy measures taken to transform the economy and the supporting economic transition of the post communist states. This successful transition led to its accession to the E.U. among the first tier of applicant countries. Followed by Slovenia becoming the first of the new members to assume the Presidency of the E.U. Through its careful historical analysis, this book illustrates the incredible changes that have taken place in Slovenia through politics, finances, and international relations.

Is Turkey on the way to meet the economic Copenhagen criteria? The enlargement process that the European Union faced the last decade stirred the debate again about the role Turkey has to play and whether or not Turkey should be part of the European Union. While the enlargement with the Central and East European countries of the former Soviet Union was a logical process, given the strong trade relationships and the political and historical context of these countries, the potential enlargement with Turkey is much more complex and controversial. The main innovation of the present study is that it unravels the complexity of the Turkish case by approaching the problem from different angles in a comprehensive way. In particular, by tuning in on the historic, political and economic processes, new insights are obtained about the feasibility of Turkish accession to the EU. By combining lessons from the existing literature, the use of new data and the analysis of the political economic processes, a new perspective on the enlargement question - with the key Copenhagen criteria used as a corner stone - is offered.