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Balancing the Good and the Bad of the EU-Led Liberalisation of the Public Sector
Sansom, Ruben ; Vukov, Visnja (vedoucí práce) ; Broad, Matthew (oponent)
Liberalisation is being implemented in an increasing number of formerly public sectors in European countries, often at the initiative of the European Union. The existing literature effectively highlights both the advantages and disadvantages of liberalisation for the development of these sectors, but stops short of weighing up these positive and negative impacts or analysing how different conditions - such as the level and form of liberalisation implemented and the level of development of the sector in which liberalisation is carried out - influence this balance. This paper constitutes the first step in this direction through its analysis of the case of cross-border passenger railway services. On one hand, one would expect liberalisation to positively impact the development of cross-border passenger railway services through its creation of cross-border markets. On the other hand, however, based on the perceived lowering of the quality of services provided by sectors which undergo liberalisation, one would expect it to result in their deterioration. The paper finds that overall, liberalisation's positive impact outweighs its negative impact in the case of cross-border passenger railway services, as in general it positively influences their development. This applies to all levels and forms of liberalisation....
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Democratization of the Western Balkans through EU's enlargement strategy: from success to failure?
Puljiz, Ana ; Vukov, Visnja (vedoucí práce) ; Kocián, Jiří (oponent)
Over time it became clear that the EU's most powerful foreign policy tool for democracy promotion in Europe is enlargement. Hence, through the top-down approach of a conditionality policy the EU decided to pursue democracy promotion in the Western Balkans. However, the democratization of the Western Balkans led by the EU produced very different results across the region. While Croatia managed to advance its democracy and join the Union; other Western Balkan countries fell behind. Considering that the enlargement process is a top-down process, in which domestic change is to some extent guided from the outside, the effects of the political climate inside of the EU on the democratization of the candidate country need to be researched. While attempting to democratize Western Balkans the EU suffered from more internal turmoil than ever before, which either drew attention away from the enlargement or reinforced negative sentiments about it. Thus, this thesis poses the question of how did enlargement resistance impacted the democratization process in the Western Balkans? The research looks into the problem through comparative case studies, using the most similar cases design. It focuses on Croatia - the country that managed to successfully democratize and join the Union and Montenegro - the country that in the...
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Geopolitical conditions and assumptions for establishing the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area as a premise for accelerated EU membership
Malidžan, Jelena ; Vukov, Visnja (vedoucí práce) ; Styczyńska, Natasza (oponent)
This paper primarily deals with the politics of regional integration, as a tool for war prevention, economic development and political cooperation. Acknowledging its imperfections and limitations, the European Union is the pioneer of such integration and de facto the most advanced and successful model of regionalism seen so far. It is also an actor that seeks to promote regional integration elsewhere, particularly in its neighbourhood. The paper thus analyzes the origins of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area and the EU's role in mentoring the initiative. The Western Balkans region is presumably the final piece of the puzzle for completing the so- called EU project. This neighbouring region is the most recent one to emulate the EU's model of integration. The establishment of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area at the Trieste summit in 2017 by the Western Balkans Six's prime ministers (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The North Macedonia, Kosovo* and Albania) under the EU auspices, is primarily the result of a common goal of the parties to join the European Union. Contrary to what many authors would say, the WBREA is not a consequence of an imposition coming from the EU. It is a domestically driven project created in order to increase the low intra-regional trade among the WB6...
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Neo-authoritarianism and Media Systems Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe
Tepliakova, Mariia ; Vukov, Visnja (vedoucí práce) ; Kołodziej, Jacek (oponent)
In several modern countries, media have to operate in "disabling environments" with limited journalistic freedom and judicial independence. Central and Eastern European states represent such settings to various extent, as the takeover of media regulatory organisations and decreasing media pluralism have become characteristic for this region, indicating a systemic shift. Nevertheless, the high- profile cases of Poland and Hungary could have contributed to overgeneralised conclusions regarding the nature of such transformations, attributing them to, inter alia, the rise of right-wing populism. Using the method of paired comparison, this thesis examines Poland and the Czech Republic to determine the exact mechanisms of change behind media capture in these countries. I contend that different manifestations of neo-authoritarianism in the region are responsible for manifold attacks on media independence, including sophisticated strategies of using SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, and increasing concentration of media ownership combined with potential conflicts of interest. I conclude by suggesting directions for further research and policy-making to address media freedom on both national and European levels.
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Geopolitical conditions and assumptions for establishing the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area as a premise for accelerated EU membership
Malidžan, Jelena ; Vukov, Visnja (vedoucí práce) ; Styczyńska, Natasza (oponent)
This paper primarily deals with the politics of regional integration, as a tool for war prevention, economic development and political cooperation. Acknowledging its imperfections and limitations, the European Union is the pioneer of such integration and de facto the most advanced and successful model of regionalism seen so far. It is also an actor that seeks to promote regional integration elsewhere, particularly in its neighbourhood. The paper thus analyzes the origins of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area and the EU's role in mentoring the initiative. The Western Balkans region is presumably the final piece of the puzzle for completing the so- called EU project. This neighbouring region is the most recent one to emulate the EU's model of integration. The establishment of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area at the Trieste summit in 2017 by the Western Balkans Six's prime ministers (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The North Macedonia, Kosovo* and Albania) under the EU auspices, is primarily the result of a common goal of the parties to join the European Union. Contrary to what many authors would say, the WBREA is not a consequence of an imposition coming from the EU. It is a domestically driven project created in order to increase the low intra-regional trade among the WB6...
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"We are all living on a big spaceship": A grounded theory study on the lived experience of newly elected MEPs
Killian, Megan ; Macaj, Gjovalin (vedoucí práce) ; Vukov, Visnja (oponent)
Using a grounded theory qualitative research approach the author constructs a theoretical framework around understanding the subjective experience of incoming (newly elected) Member European Parliament (MEPs) to the European Parliament and proposes a theory to explain the relationship between MEPs and the Parliament. A select group of MEPs were interviewed around their subjective experience of joining the European Parliament, and how they attempt to resolve their main concerns. The author used a grounded study framework proposed by Tie et al (2019) which is designed to assist the novice researcher. In an on-going iterative process of 'comparative analysis' which stayed close to the original data, the author 'reached down to fundamentals' and 'up to abstract understandings' (Charmaz 2012) while exploring the emerging concepts, to theorise that when transitioning into the EU Parliament, MEPs experience a changing identity, and in seeking to shape parliament, MEPs are themselves shaped by the parliament. The findings suggest that newly elected MEPs experience a changing identity on joining the Parliament, and in response attempt to change the Parliamentary structures and practices. The Parliament however resists change by a socialising process. The MEPs themselves are changed during their term in office, and...
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