Abstract
«THE POLICIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TOWARDS CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE»
The thesis attempts to explore the dynamics of the policies of the European Union (EU) towards Central and Eastern Europe(CEE). The main argument of the thesis asserts that the development of the EU's policies towards the CEE was primarily determined by three variables: The first one is the instability threats in Europe. The second is the institutional-functional dynamic of European integration i.e. spill-over, cultivated spillover and Commission initiative. Thirdly, the convergence of preferences of main European governments. The latter is suggested as the most important one. The second argument which is closely connected to the former is that the EU encountered a dilemma in its CEE policies.
Due to the characteristics of the hypotheses, an eclectic approach was chosen. The theories of international relations and integration theories, namely neofunctionalism and intergovernmental approach, constructed this eclectic approach. The employment of the eclectic framework allowed us to recognise different actors.
Inspired by Kelstrup, the primary hypothesis of the thesis asserts that development of the EU's policies towards the CEE was primarily based upon three dynamics: The external dynamic, institutional-functional dynamic of EU's own integration and the internal power balance dynamic. The first dynamic corresponds to the instability threats in Europe. The second one points to the spill-over, cultivated spill-over and the Commission initiative. The third dynamic is operationalised as the convergence of preferences of main European governments.
A three-level analysis was used to explore the dynamics of CEE policies and to determine the Union's dilemma in these policies. The three levels consist of the international, the Community and the member states' levels. These levels are hinted by Kelstrup in his analysis of EU's political system.
The research confirmed the hypotheses. The development of the CEE policies of the EU was primarily based upon the three variables and the EU encountered a dilemma in its CEE policies. The dilemma appeared as a gap between the expectations raised in the CEEC by EU's political commitment and the limited capability of the EU to offer economic support. This is due to the different sector interests taken over by the member states and the lack of organised export interest.
The three levels of analysis, from a theoretical point of view, facilitated to catch the activities at different levels. The international relations theories guided us through the analysis of external motives of the CEE policies and the responses of the EU at the international level. The integration theories provided us with the concepts to approach the EU and its policy making process. The neo-functionalist approach made it possible to theorise about the Commission and the institutional-functional dynamic of the European integration. The Commission's influence in the policy making processes in certain sectors is significant. Therefore, although the intergovernmentalist decision making mechanism is dominating within the EU, there is a need to take the Commission initiative into consideration. Hence, the choice for an eclectic approach was an appropriate one.
The analysis of the CEE policies of the EU not only oriented us to the anticipated role of the EU in Europe but also provided us with some hints about the EU's own integration as well as CEE's integration to the EU.