In the last few decades, Public Administration research has seen an increase of studies on relations at the centre of the executive in various systems. An important part of this is the question if,...Show moreIn the last few decades, Public Administration research has seen an increase of studies on relations at the centre of the executive in various systems. An important part of this is the question if, and in what way, Prime Ministers have seen an increase in their influence in government. This question also holds particular relevance in the context of European Union member states, as the European Council – the body consisting solely of heads of state and government – has seen an increase in relevance in European cooperation. Building on these ideas, this thesis discusses the influence of the Dutch Prime Minister on the Netherlands’s EU policy. Considering the Netherlands has a tradition of strongly decentralised government and strong departmental ministers, the question of increasing Prime Ministerial influence in EU affairs is of particular interest in this context. The thesis builds on the existing literature by examining how two individual Dutch Prime Ministers have shaped their roles in EU policy. To do so, it draws a comparison of the two most recent Prime Ministers – Jan Peter Balkenende and Mark Rutte. These Prime Ministers are compared using two sets of two case studies, in which they faced similar policy problems in EU policy. On one hand, both Balkenende and Rutte faced the rejection of proposed EU legislation in a national referendum (the European Constitution in 2005 and the Association Agreement with Ukraine in 2016, respectively), and on the other, both faced a significant financial crisis with a European component (the 2008 Banking Crisis and the Euro Crisis which started in 2010, respectively). This thesis finds that the two Prime Ministers took a very different approach regarding the Prime Minister’s role in EU policy. First of all, Balkenende was more reluctant to encroach on the policy areas of other ministers, while Rutte was involved in EU policy to a larger extent. Secondly, in terms of communication on EU policy, Balkenende often communicated broader visions on the EU, while Rutte clearly presented himself as a pragmatic problem-solver in EU policy. What this shows is that the role of the Dutch Prime Minister in EU is by no means developing in a linear way, but rather depends strongly on the actions and beliefs of the individual Prime Minister.Show less
This research investigates the factors that influence the collective action in the European Union, as it is an unique organisation. To do that it has determined the European Council as the most...Show moreThis research investigates the factors that influence the collective action in the European Union, as it is an unique organisation. To do that it has determined the European Council as the most influential body that can ensure collective action between the sovereign member states of the European Union. To assess how that is done the design principles of Elinor Ostrom (1992) are used as a measurement. Together with scapegoat theory, borrowed from social-psychology, the actions of the European Council are analysed in two cases. Where the first case, the EU-Turkey deal as a response to the refugee crisis of 2015, had successful collective action. The second case was less successful, as in the poisoning of Navalny a collective response failed. In both the cases there was the possibility to blame an equal scapegoat, however, the affected actors differed in their tangibility. The study shows that some of the design principles are easily discarded in the EU, which hampers the success of cooperation. Furthermore, it shows that a scapegoat can influence the working of Ostrom’s design principles, however, to increase the external validity of that a more diverse case study must be done.Show less
This thesis covers the College of Commissioners of the EU to shed light on empirical realities in the responsiveness of the EU’s political executive in terms of attention to policy issues in the...Show moreThis thesis covers the College of Commissioners of the EU to shed light on empirical realities in the responsiveness of the EU’s political executive in terms of attention to policy issues in the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory framework. The goal is to find when and to what extent the College is open to change or to inertia. Presidentialisation and parliamentarisation are suspected to have changed the dynamics in the EU policy-system. Previous work has assumed a reduced role of the Parliament and ignored institutional cycles in the College. The thesis innovates through a further development of the EU-Comparative Agendas Project by testing hypotheses by synthesising and operationalising the concepts of friction in International Organisations and the mandate effect, the latter of which is usually applied to democratic systems. By reformatting existing datasets of coded Council Conclusions and Commission Work Programmes to align to the irregular electoral cycle of the College, it is exposed that the assumption that the Council consistently sets the College agenda might be overstated. The results point out that the College is increasingly sticky due to a politicised environment affecting friction in responsiveness to signals for policy attention, and that the level of maturity of a College positively affects its openness to change.Show less
This thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in...Show moreThis thesis examines North Macedonia’s response to the European Council’s decision of rejecting the opening of accession negotiations, resulting from a veto by French President Emmanuel Macron in October 2019. North Macedonia is considered to be a pioneer in complying with the EU’s conditionality framework since 2001 and has received the European Commission’s positive recommendations to open the accession negotiations in 2009 and 2019. Although the EU’s incentive-based conditionality strategy is considered to be effective in academia, a scenario whereby a candidate country has adopted the EU conditions and was nevertheless rejected by the European Council has not been analysed yet. Consequently, this thesis is based on qualitative primary and secondary data, in which interviews played the essential sources of information. Rationalist and constructivist theories in EU conditionality studies play the fundamental basis as explanatory behavioural models in this research. The results of this research reveal that North Macedonia has not been discouraged by the French veto and eventually implemented final provisions of the EU integration process. On 24 March 2020, North Macedonia received the green light to the start of the accession talks.Show less
In 2018, the European Council proposed to establish regional disembarkation arrangements in the Mediterranean with a view to stem irregular migration and prevent loss of life of migrants bound for...Show moreIn 2018, the European Council proposed to establish regional disembarkation arrangements in the Mediterranean with a view to stem irregular migration and prevent loss of life of migrants bound for Europe. The proposal allows for the quick disembarkation of migrants saved in search and rescue missions and the extraterritorial assessment of their claims to international protection. This study employs a doctrinal research method in order to provide a legal analysis on the proposal's compatibility with EU Member States' international human rights obligations. In addition, the assessment puts focus on refugees’ options to obtain legal access to EU Member States’ territory in order to claim international protection as well as the proposal's implications on these options. The study concludes that the European Council's proposal is compatible with EU Member States’ international human rights obligations, but cannot create protected entry procedures for refugees.Show less
In 2009 the European Union introduced the Lisbon Treaty. One of the changes this brought about was the introduction of a permanent president of the European Council. With this transformation the...Show moreIn 2009 the European Union introduced the Lisbon Treaty. One of the changes this brought about was the introduction of a permanent president of the European Council. With this transformation the former EU presidency no longer exists and this thesis investigates the implications of this change. This is done by specifically looking at the national interests discussed in the European Council. Before the Lisbon Treaty Member States were able to influence the European Council by pushing their national interests, but based on the new institutional settings of the permanent presidency, this seemed after Lisbon more unlikely. An analysis of nine rotating presidencies of the Council of the European Union after Lisbon has been made and compared to the respective European Council conclusions of that period. The results show that in fact national interests have been discussed in the European Council. Nevertheless, only a third of all national interests has been discussed. On the other hand, the analyses also reveal that on average the discussed national interests in the European Council have significant similarity with the national interests of the Member States. Furthermore, the analysis brought also forward that certain national interests that seem not significant for the European Council have been discussed in the European Council, which could indicate that Member States can still push their national interests. In conclusion, national interests were discussed only to a low extent in the European Council, answering the research question of this thesis: to what extent are national interests of Member States presiding over the Council of the European Union discussed during European Council meetings?Show less
