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| 1 |
ID:
128987
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
On 1 May 2014, the European Union (EU) celebrated the tenth anniversary of the accession of ten member states-Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Of these ten new members, eight were Central and East European (CEE) countries that had, for most of the twentieth century, been governed by communist regimes either as republics of the Soviet Union (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), satellite states of the Soviet Union (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) or as a constituent republic of Yugoslavia (Slovenia). In the subsequent ten years three additional post-communist countries have acceded to the EU (Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and Croatia in 2013). Commenting on the 2004 EU accession of the first eight former communist countries, the then Irish Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Bertie Ahern, wrote that there was
a particular historical resonance as eight of the former communist countries in the east have emerged from the shadows of the Iron Curtain to join us in working for common goals and for mutual benefit. The artificial divisions, which have blighted our continent's history for so long, are finally being laid to rest.1
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| 2 |
ID:
128993
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article analyses the influence and status of the Central and Eastern European states within an enlarged European Union. It analyses two European Union policy negotiations: the Services Directive and the European Union's Financial Crisis Rescue Plan. Central to understanding the influence of a member state within negotiations are its economic size and knowledge of the Brussels policy-making apparatus. Nevertheless, as the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe have gained experience of the European Union policy negotiation process, they remain limited in their ability to influence outcomes. Therefore it can be concluded that while knowledge during negotiations is a necessary condition for successfully influencing outcome, alone it is insufficient because economic weight is particularly pertinent to those outcomes. As a result, the status of the new member states within the European Union is best described as being that of a junior partner, despite the assumed parity of Union membership.
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| 3 |
ID:
128994
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The proclamation of the Charter for Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in December 2000 at Nice, France, followed by its inclusion within the failed Constitutional Treaty and its current status as a legally binding document under the Treaty of Lisbon, charts the changing fortunes of European Union politics dealing with fundamental rights protection. This article outlines the main rationales and hopes behind the enactment of the Charter and notes that through the process of political conditionality it may have been devalued from its very conception. The article suggests that, following their accession, Poland, and later the Czech Republic, used the Charter and Lisbon Treaty negotiations, including their opt-outs from the Charter, to engage in a game of power politics that had both domestic and European undertones. This politics of power game-play reflected a need by both states, and Poland in particular, to respond to both the political conditionality that they had been required to sign up to as part of the accession process and to emphasise how membership had improved their negotiating power. The article suggests that the consequence of this action by both states has not only further devalued the Charter but potentially undermined the rights of Polish and Czech citizens.
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| 4 |
ID:
128988
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
2014 can be considered a year of anniversaries. These include five key events that have shaped the historical and contemporary face of modern Europe: 100 years since the start of the First World War; 70 years since the Holocaust; 25 years since the collapse of Communism in Central Europe; 15 years since the accession of the first Central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) to NATO; and, most recently, ten years since the accession of eight former communist bloc states to the European Union. 2014 offers many opportunities to reflect on how far Europe, and in particular Central Europe, has come during these years. Writing from the position of Hungary, but also acknowledging the wider Central European region, this commentary pays particular attention to the tenth anniversary of the EU's eastern enlargement and reflects on both the positive developments and the challenges for the European integration project that were raised during this time and which still lie ahead.
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| 5 |
ID:
128991
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article seeks to examine and assess the role of Poland in the early stages of the making of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union. First, it briefly reviews Poland's aims and ambitions with regard to the European Union's policy towards its eastern neighbours, both before and since it joined the European Union in 2004. Second, it describes and analyses the Eastern Partnership, including its added value for the European Neighbourhood Policy. Third, it draws on a range of interviews carried out by the authors in Brussels and Warsaw on Poland's role in the initial formation of the Eastern Partnership, as seen by its partners in the other member states and European institutions. In addition, it seeks to unpack some of the early stage lessons learnt by the Polish government about how best to achieve its ambitions in the European Union, and notes the remaining weaknesses of the Polish administration, particularly in the area of administrative capacity.
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| 6 |
ID:
128990
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2014.
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This article examines the role of Poland in the European Union, where the traditional Franco-German leadership axis has been replaced by a new 'variable geometry' of leadership constellations across a variety of policy areas. In this setting Poland has the potential to move from maintaining an initially passive role as a policy-taker towards becoming an agenda-setter alongside other larger and more traditionally dominant member states, especially Germany. However, Poland's success in this matter and subsequent influence on a variety of European Union policy areas, particularly the single market and the European Union's external relations, will substantially depend on the extent of its economic recovery from the effects of the global economic recession and wider developments in the European Union's debt crisis as well as its willingness to engage in constellations of member states that go beyond its traditional partners.
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| 7 |
ID:
128992
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Poland's European Union accession afforded Polish trade unions membership of European-wide, umbrella trade union organisations. This essay evaluates the strategies Polish trade unions adopted to represent their interests following Poland's accession to the European Union. It draws on a series of interviews and document analysis. In addition the essay seeks to gauge the extent to which Polish trade unions were 'Europeanised', understood in both the context of their adoption of European policy models and their ability to win support for their causes at the European level.
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| 8 |
ID:
128989
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Multilateral, subregional partnerships are one of the defining features of contemporary European politics. The 2004 enlargement of the European Union introduced a new partnership entity to the mix-the Visegrád Group of states, comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia-which offers its members a useful model to discuss and represent common interests in a collective manner within the regional and international political landscape. The article provides a reflection on the evolution of the Visegrád Group of states since 2004. It examines four key policy areas (institutional candidacy, energy policy, eastern neighbourhood and defence policy) where the group has either learned some difficult lessons or is seeking to apply those lessons. The article suggests that the Visegrád Group's greatest strength lies in its flexibility to become more responsive to the challenges it faces and it is likely therefore to remain appealing to its member states and to be a permanent feature within the wider cohort of European Union subregional partnerships.
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