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The impact of crises on differentiation and integration in the EU: COVID-19 and Ukraine
Běhunčík, Radek ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Jeřábek, Martin (referee)
The European Union has had to deal with an increasing number of crises over the past 15 years. The future of its integration is thus increasingly dependent on concrete crisis responses. At the same time, the increasing heterogeneity of its members makes it more difficult to find compromise solutions, and integration often takes a differentiated path. This paper has attempted to answer the question of what is the impact of crises on the integration and differentiation of the European Union. It did so through an explanatory two-case study of the most recent emergencies - the COVID-19 crisis and the high energy price crisis linked to the war in Ukraine. To find the answer, a congruence analysis of the Union's crisis responses was conducted based on the models of Riddervold et al. The supply and demand theory of differentiation then explained the absence or presence of differentiation. The central data source was the European secondary legislation, frequently neglected by integration theorists. The analysis results find the crises' effects to be pro-integration in the given cases, here primarily in a uniform pattern. However, in the case of COVID-19, the thesis reveals shortcomings of the crisis response models used, pointing to the need for their conceptual reformulation. For a more comprehensive understanding...
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Enhanced Cooperation in the EU
Flašíková, Martina ; Svobodová, Magdaléna (advisor) ; Říha, Michal (referee)
Enhanced Cooperation in the EU Abstract The subject of the master's thesis is the concept of enhanced cooperation in the EU. It is one of the key tools for achieving differentiated integration, which is often perceived as the future of the European Union. The thesis is aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the rules governing enhanced cooperation and its current use in practice. The evaluation of the enhanced cooperation mechanism is carried out mainly by comparison with the intergovernmental cooperation, which is often used as a replacement for enhanced cooperation. The master thesis offers a picture of enhanced cooperation as a mechanism that is imperfect but still provides a better alternative to intergovernmental cooperation. Recommendations for specific steps to improve the current legislation state and therefore to increase the use of enhanced cooperation have been formulated in the conclusion of this thesis.
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Differentiated integration in the EU : the British approach to EMU fiscal rules
Šimunská, Petra ; Rovná, Lenka (advisor) ; Šlosarčík, Ivo (referee)
The thesis focuses on the British approach to EMU fiscal rules. Theoretical and conceptual framework is based on the theory of differentiated integration dealing with a various forms of closer cooperation among EU Member States. The research is built on the theoretical approach as described by Frank Schimmelfennig, Dirk Leuffen and Berthold Rittberger. Authors provide an analysis of conditions of differentiated integration within the EU. The aim of this thesis is to answer the question of why the United Kingdom decided not to participate in the fiscal compact and, consequently, did not allow further differentiated integration within the treaties (which led to an arrangement outside the EU legal framework) while accepting the initial fiscal rules agreed in the 1990s as well as other crisis reforms of EU fiscal governance. The first part describes Maastricht and SGP fiscal rules and analyses both the UK's position within EMU and the SGP provisions applied to the UK. The next chapter examines the British approach towards both the SGP revisions and the Euro Plus Pact. The third part analyses the new fiscal compact and explains why the UK decided to use the veto. In conclusion, the thesis provides an answer to the research question as set down in the introduction.
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