Birmingham 2004

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UACES 34th Annual Conference and 9th Research Conference
The European Union: New Neighbours, New Challenges

The University of Birmingham, Monday 6th – Wednesday 8th September 2004

Research Paper Abstracts A-F

Abstracts for the research papers to be presented at the conference can be found below. The conference also includes Plenary sessions with invited speakers. The abstracts on this page are in alphabetical order by surname.

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Akman, Sait (Marmara University, Turkey, saitakman@marmara.edu.tr)

Turkey-EU Relations in the Enlargement Process: Public Choice Approach to Interests and Participation in Turkey
This paper emphasises a conceptual confusion of the relationship between democratisation and the EU membership process. The paper argues that what determined the pace of democratisation in Turkey has not, as fallaciously taken, been the EU conditionality alone. It is the balance of interests of prominent actors that guided the policy makers to take steps for democratisation within the context of Copenhagen criteria. For better or worse, the EU has been a motivator for the process but its effects could be instrumental if it is accompanied by the robust pressure of domestic actors. A societal interest-orientation for upgrading the level of democratisation “from below” is essential to sustain the process, whereas a state-oriented reform process under the direction of the EU “from above” had only rudimentary effects. The article, as a part of an ongoing project, has a novel approach in applying the public choice methodology into Turkey-EU relations by taking individual agents as fundamental building block of analysis and by claiming that an aggregate outcome of democratisation in Turkey should be regarded as the consequence of the assumed behaviour of these individual agents.

Alanko (née Novack), Jennifer (jlnovack@hotmail.com)
Finland Post-Lipponen: Beyond European Union?
This paper examines changes to Finland’s approaches to its international environment since the departure of Paavo Lipponen as prime minister in 2003. The paper will build on and critique the model used in the author’s PhD thesis that history, institutions, culture and identity shape the formation of national EU policy, particularly by examining the role of individuals in the formation of national EU policies. To what extent did Finland’s EU policies under Lipponen bear his stamp, and how have the Centre-led governments under Anneli Jaatteenmaki and Matti Vanhanen altered Finland’s EU policies? In the post-Lipponen era Finland’s position in the EU has changed, partly due to the change in government and partly due to the evolution of the EU itself. Furthermore, Finland post-Lipponen is increasingly looking beyond Europe through, for instance, expanding its overseas development aid. The relative importance given by the Vanhanen government to the EU and other international groupings such as the UN is also considered. The paper’s central argument concentrates on the importance of individual input at the same time that HICI also continue to have relevance. Research materials include academic journals and books, news articles (e.g. newspapers), and primary sources (e.g., official documents, speeches, and interviews).

Ananiadis, Blanca (University of La Verne, Athens, banan@laverne.edu.gr)
Constitution-Making and the Politics of ‘Social Europe’
The war in Iraq and its aftermath provided the toughest test to both the federalist drive for constitution building in Europe and the enlargement schedule. At first sight, the failures of the IGC during the Italian presidency could be attributed to the predominance of domestic and foreign policy concerns in the intergovernmental negotiations. At the very least, the plausibility of both neo-realist and intergovernmentalist explanations of integration seems enhanced by these late developments. This paper attempts a different reading of the Constitution-to-be, focussing on the discussions regarding the ‘social Europe’ dimension of the project. Pointing at the convergence of common problems and expectations in the European populations and the persistence of a high politics reasoning in the procedures, it explores the interrelationship and tensions between the governance of social policy and that of other policy areas.
The analysis finds equivalences between theories of international politics (and EU integration), the ‘varieties of capitalism’ and the ‘welfare regimes’ literatures. It includes a critique of certain versions of institutionalism.
Other than reviewing Convention and treaty texts, the paper incorporates an analysis of select items of the social budget and Eurobarometer findings regarding social concerns.

Andreev, Svetlozar (University of Westminster, andreev@iue.it)
Path-Dependency and the Dynamics of EU Enlargement in South-Eastern Europe
The process of the EU enlargement eastwards has usually been analysed in a broad regional perspective. However, the main focus has been on the countries of East-Central Europe and much less so on those from the South-Eastern periphery. The analysis of the Eastern enlargement policies has so far been mostly technical if not schematic, leaving little space for political nuances. At the centre of scholarly attention have been the numerous conditions laid down by the Union, that the candidate countries have been expected to meet, and their progress (or lack of it) in achieving these. The implications of enlargement for the functioning of the European institutions have also been a frequent topic of debate.
This paper tries to take a different approach towards studying EU enlargement in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) by adopting a path dependence method. The Eastern Enlargement of the EU is conceptualized not as a linear process, with clearly defined beginning and end points, but, rather, as a randomly developing and difficult-to-predict venture, which can be described by means of different path dependence theories. Five SEE countries are selected: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. All of them are at different points of their progress of European integration. What is aimed by producing such an analysis of the enlargement process is not only to identify the relevant actors at the national, regional and supranational level, but also to study and explain the dynamics of EU integration in this part of the continent.

Antoniadis, Antonis (University of Durham, antonis.antoniadis@durham.ac.uk)
WTO Dispute Settlement and the European Union: Exploring the Outer Boundaries of the Common Commercial Policy
The main instrument for the participation of the EU in the WTO Dispute Settlement is the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) enshrined in Article 133 EC Treaty. This contribution explores the constraints imposed on the application of the CCP by the EU and WTO constitutional orders. The analysis focuses on the recent Council Regulation 2238/2003 (the Regulation) adopted on the basis of Article 133 EC Treaty in response to the United States’ unwillingness to conform with the WTO Panel and Appellate Body rulings in the US – 1916 Antidumping Act (the Act). The Regulation prohibits the recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered by US Courts against Community industries on the basis of the Act and grants the affected Community industries the right to claim damages and legal expenses from US companies involved in the US legal proceedings. In answering two questions, namely whether a measure taken in the course of an ongoing WTO dispute is a Commercial Policy measure and whether a Commercial Policy measure needs to conform to the relevant provisions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), this contribution explores the outer boundaries, internal and external, of the CCP. It argues that the Regulation exceeds both boundaries and constitutes an anomaly within the Community legal order while it could also be challenged under the WTO Dispute Settlement system.

Archer, Clive (Manchester Metropolitan University, c.archer@mmu.ac.uk)
Norway and the ESDP: Few Troops for Little Influence?
Norway has shown itself willing to contribute troops to the EU’s ‘headline goal’ as part of the European Security and Defence Policy, though it is not an EU member. This has been seen by some commentators (especially Nina Graeger) as part of a strategy of ‘troops for influence’ by the Norwegians. This paper examines the forces available for ESDP duty from Norway and the response from the EU, and it questions whether Norway would have much to place in the ESDP ‘kitty’ and whether their offer has brought any response, let alone influence. The Norwegian move is seen as a ‘near neighbour’ of the EU trying to adapt to its presence and it is placed in the spectrum of forms of adaptation (suggested by James Rosenau and Nikolaj Petersen) used by Norway in its dealings with the EU.

Aslan-Akman, Canan (Middle East Technical University, Turkey, aslanc@metu.edu.tr)
Enhancing the Membership Prospects: The Case of the Turkish Human Rights Organizations
This paper looks at the role of Turkey’s human rights organisations in the process of Turkey’s accession into the EU. The Turkish political system is currently facing the challenge of depeening its democracy in general and improving its human rights regime in particular to meet the political criteria set forth in the Accession Partnership Document. Meanwhile, the human rights discourse and practice of governments are changing, and human rights organizations have gained significant social and political visibility. This paper analyzes the institutional and political identities and strategies of the prominent human rights organizations by focusing on their relationship to the state. It argues that the mutual legitimization process between the state and these organizations facilitates democratization and integration with the EU. However, the sustainability of this new relationship between the state and human rights organizations depends on the strength of the other domestic and transnational factors. The paper will integrate the impact of international forces into the approach to understanding state-society relations in transitional regimes. Methodologically, it will rely on qualitative data including the interview data towards the analysis of the civil-society and the state relationship.

Averre, Derek (University of Birmingham, d.l.averre@bham.ac.uk)
Russia and the EU’s ‘Wider Europe’ Framework
The Wider Europe – Neighbourhood Framework (WE) aims to link internal EU security with close cooperation with its eastern and southern neighbours post-enlargement. This paper argues that, while WE makes important political commitments and contains a substantive agenda - promoting regional relations, intensified cooperation against common security threats, greater EU political involvement in conflict prevention – it lacks conceptual clarity and contains several serious flaws with regard to relations with Russia. First, there is a gap between the concept of ‘strategic partnership’ with Russia as described in the European Security Strategy and the WE approach, which relegates Russia to a recipient of assistance which should align itself with EU ‘models’. Second, WE ignores the regional dynamic both between Russia and the Western Newly-Independent States and between these countries and the new members, especially Poland and the Baltic states. Third, despite the aim of creating a ‘clear vision’ for security in a wider Europe, WE appears to be simply a statement of EU external priorities rather than something which engages with the pressing political concerns of the eastern neighbours; its ability to allow the EU to shape the external environment is thus likely to be limited.

Barnes, Ian (University of Lincoln, ibarnes@lincoln.ac.uk)
From Proximity to New Neighbours: Confirming the Hierarchy of Border Relationships?
Prodi’s original idea for a Proximity Policy launched in 2002, suggested that there could be a uniformity of approach towards neighbours that would remove the constant need to be driven by membership considerations. The Commission’s New Neighbours Policy quickly abandoned this approach and confirmed a hierarchy of relationships based upon existing agreements. Whilst the imposition of the EU’s Schengen “hard border” has created a degree of consistency, there have been no radical changes in relationships. The EU’s institutions are only now able to fully grasp the complexity of relationships on its Eastern borders.
Whilst the varying speeds of economic and political development are driving forward the formal agenda, ethnic issues appear to be increasingly important. Demands for dual citizenship for ethnic groups cut adrift from their home state and calls for the creation of autonomous regions have become increasingly common. Calls for new kinds of EU relationships are also starting to emerge, for example the privileged partnership for Turkey, suggested by the German Christian Democrats. This paper argues that one of the driving forces behind this, is the end of the compliance truce which was in place during the lead up to enlargement. Now that enlargement is a reality, new demands can be made with the certainty that they will no longer harm the current enlargement process.

Barnes, Pamela (University of Lincoln, pbarnes@lincoln.ac.uk)
Europeanization in a Modernising World: Environmental Policy Making in the EU 25
In 1995 the European Union enlarged to include the three states of Austria, Sweden and Finland. As acknowledged leaders in the field of environmental protection policy these states had few problems in accepting the EU’s environmental ‘acquis’. As a result the period since 1995 has been one of creativity and environmental policy innovation within the EU. In global environmental developments the EU has been enabled to make an increasingly significant contribution. The main argument of this paper is that the enlargement of the European Union to Central and Eastern Europe will cause at the best a slowing of the current dynamism of EU Environmental Policy and at the worst lead to the development of a multi-speed Europe.
The CEE states have moved very rapidly to introduce appropriate mechanisms and to re-orientate national mechanisms which did exist to enable absorption of EU environmental policy to take place. However Europeanization in the Central and Eastern European States will occur at the same time as the CEE polities are undergoing modernization and continuing the processes of post-Communist reform. Are the current member states of the EU acting out a somewhat cynical and short-sighted strategy of ‘increasing your rival’s costs and burdens’ by expecting the CEE states to achieve in a short period of time what was the result of longer terms of incremental adaptation for them. There are a number of dangers from this approach of the EU 15 states. The CEE members will remain policy ‘takers’ for a significant period of time and examples of what is ‘best practice’ in environmental policy making currently being achieved in those states may be lost. Opportunities will be lost for increased levels of protection for the European environment and the commitment of the general public to the process of European integration as a whole will be undermined.

Bicknell, Helen (University of Birmingham, helen.bicknell@wiwi.fh-mainz.de)
The Influence of German Works Councils (Betriebsräte) on European Works Councils
This paper presents the results of quantitative and qualitative research undertaken in over 60 European multinational companies affected by the European Works Council (EWC) directive. The research aim was to investigate how the German dual system of workplace industrial relations interacts with other systems at the European level.
125 EWC representatives from nearly all EU member states replied to a questionnaire sent out in four languages in July and August 2003. The results were evaluated using SPSS statistical methods. Information and results obtained through the ETUI 2002 database (Kerckhofs & Pas, 2002) were also used. Further information was collected from 20 semi-structured interviews held with German, British, and other representatives between September 2003 and March 2004.
Employee influence is defined using the following three concepts: autonomy, legitimacy and efficacy. German EWC representatives can influence and affect four main areas; the EWCs themselves, national and European level trade union structures, the internationalisation policy of the company, and local employees. This investigation examines the degree of German influence in all these areas, in order to compare the theories of European integration with evidence taken from its practical application. These includes cultural, institutional and linguistic challenges faced by the participants, their successes and failures, and expectations for the future.

Billiet, Stijn (London School of Economics & Political Science, s.billiet@lse.ac.uk)
From GATT to WTO: The Internal Struggle for External Competences in the European Communities
The creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the impact this had on the European Communities (EC), has been studied extensively in the legal literature. However, political scientists studying the EC have largely ignored the effects of the institutionalisation of the world trade regime on the EC. This paper draws attention to this hiatus and analyses the impact on the EC from a more political angle. I argue that the creation of the WTO – and more particularly its new dispute settlement system –had important consequences for the EC that go beyond the issue of the position of WTO law in the EC legal order. This paper focuses on the ways in which this institutionalisation had an impact on the relationship between the European Commission and the EC member states by altering the incentive structure for the member states to be represented by the Commission, also with regard to issues that do not fall within the scope of the EC’s exclusive competence. This hypothesis is tested with statistics of the use of the WTO dispute settlement system, and with an in-depth study of the role of the Commission with regards to intellectual property rights-issues in the framework of the WTO.

Brewin, Christopher (Keele University, c.j.brewin@keele.ac.uk)
Turkish Membership: The Logic of Peace and the Logic of Unity
The starting point is the logic of peace vs the logic of unity. In Garton Ash's version, the logic of peace favours Turkey's application. However the logic of unity is to reject Turkey as so different, - in culture, size and economic development – that its membership would preclude the development of an economically integrated and politically decisive European Union. Moreover a negative answer would enable a united Europe to consolidate by precluding further applications from, say, Belarus, Maghreb countries, Israel, Abkhazia, etc. Against this, since 1999 many officials in the Commission and the member-states have come to accept that if Turkey meets the political criteria, then its application should be accepted as being sufficiently like other states for its European vocation to be taken seriously. Public opinion remains hostile to Turkey's application, but has begun to shift in Germany.
My proposal is to extend the logic of peace in two ways. a) The first is in making Graeco-Turkish reconciliation an objective on the model of Franco-German reconciliation. Historically, public opinion, the institutions and the Member States have understandably sought to avoid involvement in Graeco-Turkish disputes, and both Greece and especially Turkey for different reasons have wanted to exclude European mediation. b) The second is in developing a European concept for the Middle East intended to guide a pro- active Union role in securing long-term energy deals and in promoting a two-states solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Turkey's distinctly different relations with Israel and the Arab states on the one hand, and with Iraq and the Caspian states on the other, would have much to offer in implementing such a concept.

Buonanno, Laurie (State University of New York at Fredonia, laurie.buonanno@fredonia.edu)
[Joint paper with Neill Nugent, Manchester Metropolitan University]
EU Taxation Policy: ‘Not all that it seems’
EU taxation policy has featured increasingly on the EU’s policy agenda in recent years. In early 2004 the Commission floated ideas for a new EU-wide tax to finance the EU’s budget and promised to present detailed proposals in the summer of 2004.
This paper will place these latest attempts of the Commission to promote EU tax policy in the context of: 1) why taxation is seen by many EU policy practitioners as an area in need of further development; 2) why taxation has been such a problematic policy area. In so doing, the paper will show that the extent of the reluctance of the member states to develop EU tax policy and law is not as great as is commonly supposed, for there is much more of it in place than is generally recognised. It will further be shown that a central reason why EU tax policy has been able to be developed is that many decisions have been taken in ways that by-pass the requirement for unanimity in the Council that the Treaty species for all taxation matters.

Capeta | Carpus-Carcea | Corbett | Crowley

Capeta, Tamara (University of Zagreb, Croatia, tamara@irmo.hr)
Preparing New European Judges: The Case of Croatia
National judges capable of applying Community law principles and rules are indispensable for the functioning of the Communtiy legal system. Although what was termed «raising judicial capacity» was part of the pre-accession strategies in all states which shall join the EU in 2004, academic articles evidence that judges in those states are not prepared (eg Kühn, Emmert). The main reason for that is different perception of the role of the judges (either as seen by the judges themselves or from outside the judiciary) in Western and Eastern Europe. Namely, while Western Europe underwent the processes which led to the politization of judging (Stone Sweet, 2000.), in Eastern Europe the judges are still considered to be mechanical applicators of legal rules. While there is no time for the change in legal culture to happen before 2004 enlargment, something still might be done in countries waiting for the next wave, as is Croatia. The paper will explore how can different theories explaining the incentives for participation of national judges in the European integration process (Alter, Mattli, Slaughter), be used in framing the new pre-accession strategies for raising judicial capacity, which would bring to the change in the perception of the role of judges in Croatia in the period before accession to the EU.

Carpus-Carcea, Mihaela (University of Birmingham, mxc296@bham.ac.uk)
Term Regulation of EU Consumer Contracts: How Referable will the Common Frame of Reference be?
The paper tries to identify whether there is scope in the prospective Common Frame of Reference (CFR) announced in the Commission’s Action Plan on European Contract Law for consumer contract regulations and analyses the various possible scenarios proposed by different stakeholders in the consultation process and elsewhere. It argues for a comprehensive CFR to provide common terminology and rules on both commercial and consumer, general and specific issues. The reasons advanced for this view are, first, the non-mandatory and versatile character of the CFR, as envisaged by the Commission, and secondly the various concerns related to what should be an effective EU consumer protection policy.
By looking at the most important techniques used to control the terms of consumer contracts in EU law (e.g. information duties, rights of withdrawal, unfair terms), the paper also suggests that the main chapters of uniformization to be addressed by the CFR in this respect are those already dealt with in the existing regulations. Furthermore, the paper also seeks to advance the view that the CFR should be so conceived as to allow progressive adding, since the essence and the ultimate power of the European Union law lies in its being a living organism, capable of adaptation and innovation.

Corbett, Anne (London School of Economics & Political Science, a.corbett@lse.ac.uk)
The Europe of Knowledge: A Turning Point in EU Higher Education Policies?
The universities of Europe are recognised as key actors in achieving a cohesive knowledge economy by the EU Lisbon process and by the inter-governmental Bologna Process, both targeted on 2010. Bologna is designed to create new opportunities for collaboration and competition within Europe and on a global scale by establishing a European Higher Education Area of uniform qualifications and similar codes of conduct (eg respect for quality assessment). It operates within an already enlarged Europe of nearly 40.
This paper aims to contribute to the theoretical and methodological debate as to how to understand the evolution of these two processes. Challenging a literature heavily influenced by concepts of Community competence, it suggests we may gain a better understanding of policy making in higher education in enlarged Europe, by combining a multiple streams analysis of the experience with a historical institutionalist analysis of the interlocking of ideas, institutions, and the opportunities for appropriately placed individuals to influence the higher education agenda. Based on primary documentation and interviews, two sets of questions are addressed. How and why were the two processes created and modified? How did position and procedures create resources for individuals who want to influence issues careers and EU policy choices on higher education.

Crowley, Patrick (Bank of Finland, patrick.crowley@bof.fi)
The Stability and Growth Pact: Brief Intermission, Tragedy or Comedy?
Since the December 2003 decision not to apply the penalties embodied in the Stability and Growth Pact, considerable doubts have emerged as to the meaning, purpose and effectiveness of the pact. The European Commission has decide to challenge the transgressors of the pact, France and Germany, by pursuing the case to the European Court of Justice, but even so, there is some doubt as to whether the fines and penalties in the pact can be properly enforced. This paper takes both a backwards and forwards look at the Stability and Growth Pact, and provides some important insights into the purpose, pitfalls, and future of the pact. The paper takes an economic, psychological, and political economy approach to the pact, and makes evaluations and predictions about future options for the form of the pact.

Dangerfield, Martin (University of Wolverhampton, m.dangerfield@wlv.ac.uk)
Subregional Cooperation and the Expanded European Union
This paper will present some preliminary findings of a British Academy funded research project . The project is investigating the impact of the looming EU enlargement proper on certain key subregional cooperation initiatives in Central Europe which are variously faced with fundamental recasting of their functions and configurations and perhaps even termination. The research is covering the Visegrad Group (V4), the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and the Central European Initiative (CEI) and will investigate unfolding change and development of these organisations through the landmark year of 2004. The V4 are already in the process of establishing guidelines on the group’s future and have a "common desire to have a relevant document prepared for the next V4 summit closing the Czech Presidency in 2004"(www.visegradgroup.org/summit.php). For CEFTA inevitable loss of core members in May 2004 always meant that ideas that it might somehow continue as a political entity or loosely defined “trade and investment bridge between EU and non-EU states” (Financial Times, 17/9/02) were fanciful. New member Croatia, however, has expressed hope that CEFTA might develop as a multilateral integration instrument for South East Europe. The CEI is least directly connected to the EU accession process and the act of enlargement may well be neutral, though new opportunities and threats to a profile that has hitherto been low even by subregional cooperation standards may arise.

Davidescu, Simona (Queen’s University Belfast, e.s.davidescu@qub.ac.uk)
Environmental Policy-Making in Hungary and Romania: Theoretical Framework
In a period when the environment is low on the agenda of Central and East European (CEE) governments for economic and social reasons and domestic civil societies are still weak, external influences, mostly from the European Union through conditionality and aid, are giving shape and direction to CEE environmental policy. Although this is not a new hypothesis in the literature, it has rarely been theorized in order to cover both top-down and bottom-up aspects of policy-making and to account for the specificities of CEE countries. In order to understand the policy-making process I use a combination of historical institutionalism and policy networks approaches, which integrate structures and actors, showing how institutions and norms influence the behavior of actors, shape their resources and explain their presence in a particular network. I propose a mixed theoretical framework for understanding the process of environmental policy-making in CEE, which takes into account both external and domestic influences, by including theories of Europeanisation and democratisation in the analysis. I use the Europeanisation approach to explore the top-down process of adoption and implementation of EU’s environmental acquis and to identify the mechanisms used by the EU to transfer its environmental agenda to CEE. But this approach cannot fully explain the diversity within CEE in terms of pace, institutional arrangements and networks of actors involved in environmental policy-making. I use insights from democratisation studies to explore how path dependency, institutional and civil society legacies and the personalization of politics account for the uneven development of environmental policies in the region and the strength of bottom-up pressures on policy-making.

Diez, Thomas (University of Birmingham, t.diez@bham.ac.uk)
[Joint paper with Stephan Stetter and Mathias Albert, both University of Bielefeld]
The European Union and the Transformation of Border Conflicts: Theorising the Impact of Integration and Association
It is conventional wisdom that the European Union (EU) has contributed to lasting peace in Western Europe, in part through the transformation of long-standing border conflicts into border co-operations. But how and under what conditions can the EU influence such transformations? This paper discusses the different routes of influence, including the EU’s compulsory power (carrot and stick strategies, especially through offering membership), enabling power (making it possible to legitimise conciliatory policies that would otherwise not be considered legitimate), connective power (providing a platform for cross-border groups and those with an alternative political vision) and constructive power (contributing to a change in identity constructions). It does so on the basis of a general theorisation of borders and their transformation as well as an historical overview of border transformations in the EU, and it includes reflections on possible conditions of border transformation. It conceptualises the EU (or, more specifically, integration and association) as a perturbator of conflict communication systems, which would continue to reproduce themselves without such perturbation.

Dover, Robert (University of Bristol, r.dover@bristol.ac.uk)
European Security and Defence Policy: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Revival?
The aims of this paper are to examine the application of Liberal Intergovernmentalism to one aspect of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), the negotiations of the Nice Treaty between 26 February and 7 December 2000. This paper argues that ESDP negotiations were, as LI suggests, a rational process of governments bargaining to maximise their issue specific preferences. The majority of ESDP negotiations were conducted in informal bi-lateral meetings between government negotiating teams; a crucial dynamic missed by LI. The negotiated ESDP outcomes were more than a lowest common denominator agreement as suggested by LI. This paper argues that negotiating governments divide into those with high levels of competencies and solid policy preferences and those with issue specific influence who are able to add provisions to the negotiated outcomes, taking them beyond the lowest common denominator. LI’s explanation for why government’s seek to transfer sovereignty to the EU is found to be broadly validated by the ESDP case study although it will be argued that the retention of governmental autonomy within ESDP made transfer of national sovereignty easily achievable. This paper argues that LI is effective in explaining this extension of European integration but with several key the theoretical correctives.

Dryburgh, Lynne (University of Wales, Aberystwyth, lld02@aber.ac.uk)
Domestic Adaptation to the Common Foreign and Security Policy: The Discursive Aspect in Britain
The focus of this paper is on the process of domestic adaptation to the CFSP in the larger EU member states. The aim is to clarify the confusion surrounding the attitude and actions of the large member states towards this policy area, through an examination of the impact CFSP has had on national foreign policies, and looking particularly at the case of Britain. In order to do this, an original analytical framework has been developed in which domestic adaptation is divided into two aspects: discursive, and operational adaptation. This paper will concentrate on the discursive aspect of adaptation, with the intention of offering a fuller picture as to the extent of domestic adaptation to CFSP among the larger member states, focusing particularly on Britain, and examining the assertion that this process is far less prominent than in the smaller EU member states. The approach taken examines the rationalistic and constructivist strands in the literature regarding the Member States and the CFSP, and offers the hypothesis that the true picture of domestic adaptation, following March and Olsen, is a combination of the two.

Duclaud-Williams, Roger (University of Warwick, r.h.duclaud-williams@warwick.ac.uk)
The Bologna Process and Europeanisation
Through the Bologna process, it is intended to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010. An examination of this process and its implications for higher education in the UK and France, allows us to answer a number of important questions.
1. What is the role of EU institutions in a process whose membership goes well beyond the EU?
2. How far can the changes envisaged reasonably be expected to contribute to the creation of a ‘knowledge based economy’ in Europe?
3. To what extent are national systems of higher education, each with it distinctive history and form, likely to be modified through a process of europeanisation?
With respect to each of these questions the paper will argue that:
1. Although EU institutions, and more particularly the Commission, are seeking to expand there role, this process remains very much under the control of the National Ministries of Education.
2. The attempt to link these changes with the changing labour market and to justify them by reference to an economic rationale is largely bogus.
3. Change is driven by distinct national agendas, not a shared European agenda, and therefore the national character of systems of higher education is likely to endure.
In short, Bologna represents a case of the pursuit of distinctive national objectives through superficially European means.

Egan | Esanov

Egan, Michelle (American University, megan@american.edu)
Single Markets: Economic Integration in America and Europe
This paper examines how different territorial entities (states) create a common market. The paper compares the creation of the US domestic market during the 19th century and the Single Market of the EU in the second half of the 20th century. The central hypothesis is that the political economy of single market formation has followed remarkably similar paths. In both cases theoretical debates about how the single market came about in Europe, and the wide array of influences that shaped the dynamics of market integration can be used to understand similar developments in the United States. In both cases we see the interplay between different levels of government in determining distributive outcomes, the evolution of a legal framework for the market and the development of new regulatory strategies to deal with changing economic realities. Although the forthcoming book with Oxford examines these issues through a detailed comparison of the so-called four freedoms: the removal of border controls, and the largely unrestricted transfer of goods, services and capital across different jurisdictions, this paper will draw upon some of this empirical and theoretical material.

Fairbrass | Fallon | Frennhoff Larsén

Fairbrass, Jenny (University of Bradford, j.fairbrass@bradford.ac.uk)
Europeanization, Devolution and Governance: Changing Dynamics of Sustainable Development Policy Making in the UK
Over the past fifty years, public policy making in the UK has arguably shifted from the control of central government departments upwards to supranational institutions at the European Union level (and beyond), outwards to national quasi-government and non-governmental organizations, and most recently, downwards to devolved bodies in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the English Regions as part of the Labour Government's constitutional reform programme. In the context of these putative changes, this paper has two focal points. The first is delineated in terms of policy actors: that is, devolved bodies in Wales and the English Regions. The second is defined in terms of a single policy area: namely, sustainable development. In empirical terms this paper explores the objectives and perceptions of the highlighted policy actors. In addition, the networks that they have created or in which they participate are mapped out in order to ascertain the character of the relationships that exist. Finally, the paper reports on the role the actors play in sustainable development policy making and implementation. This review is undertaken with the aim of assessing the impact of the twin forces of Europeanization and devolution on sustainable policy in the UK. It is also designed to provide the basis for an evaluation of the merits (or shortcomings) of 'multi-level governance' as an analytical framework.

Fallon, Grahame (University College Northampton, grahame.fallon@northampton.ac.uk)
[Joint paper with Alan Jones, University College Northampton]
The Changing Context of FDI in Russia and its Implications for the EU Political Objective of a Common Economic Space
Recent evidence (UNCTAD 2004) demonstrates a slowing of FDI into accession countries in favour of Russia and other CIS countries, FDI into Russia in 2002 jumped from $2.4bn to $5.2bn in 2003. This looks set to meet the EIU(2001) prediction that Russia will average $6.6bn in the period 2001-2005 and may mean a change in status for the Russian economy as its low wages attract an increasing proportion of cost conscious FDI from western companies.
The paper examines the extent to which the growth of FDI into Russia reflects its changing economic status vis à vis the EU. The paper explores the basis for the change and raises the question of whether the increase in FDI represents a stronger inclination to see Russia as a potential area for development in the context of its common border with the EU. It examines the degree to which changes in the context of trade relations, the impact of EBRD and other EU institutions are positively affecting Russia’s economic development and the extent to which a potential exists for the realisation of a Common Economic Space. It also examines the prospects for change in the legislative, institutional and trade sector that might favour further development in FDI.

Frennhoff Larsén, Magdalena (University of Westminster, larsen@gunnarla.charitydays.co.uk)
Power and Pressure in EU Agenda-Setting: A Case Study of Negotiations Between the EU and South Africa
This paper outlines the agenda-setting process in the negotiations between the EU and South Africa that lead to the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement in 1999. A theoretical framework, based on Robert Putnam’s two- (extended to three-) level game model (Evans et. Al. 1993; Putnam 1988) and Mark Pollack’s theory of delegation, agency and agenda-setting (Pollack 2003), is used to analyse the dynamics between the EU, its Member States, and South Africa, and to highlight the political actors that were able to put pressure on the Commission as the main agenda-setter in the EU. The framework also helps to explore the extent to which the Commission had the power to push through its agenda during the negotiations.
The anticipated conclusions of the paper are that the Commission was able to push through a considerable amount of its agenda despite certain resistance from some of the Member States, and that its agenda was influenced by South African actors in particular. The analysis of this particular set of negotiations contributes to the study of negotiations between the EU and third parties in general, and to the on-going debate about the ability of the Commission to act as a political entrepreneur, independently of the Member States.