This thesis assesses whether the EU is as a market power shaping third countries' legislation and policies as asserted by "Market Power Europe", a theoretical framework, which has been...Show moreThis thesis assesses whether the EU is as a market power shaping third countries' legislation and policies as asserted by "Market Power Europe", a theoretical framework, which has been insufficiently explored in the literature so far. More concretely it is scrutinised if electricity market liberalisation and emissions trading acquis has been externalised to Switzerland and Ukraine. First, it is shown that there is market power potential in the field of energy, as the European regulatory order was increasingly strengthened since the mid-1990s and gave birth to two significant markets for electricity and carbon emissions trade. Second, it is demonstrated that even though acquis externalization occurred to a certain extent in both cases, four intervening variables filtered the EU's market power. Indeed, market interconnectedness, political culture, the nature of the political system and the level of institutionalization of the EU's relations with a third country need to be taken into account when assessing the EU's market power in a given third country. These findings are not only theoretically relevant, they also suggest that the EU should concentrate on the development of its Single Market and regulatory order as well as on solid institutional framework conditions to cement its power towards third countries and enlarge its global influence.Show less
This thesis compares the EU’s discourse on its energy relations with Russia prior to the Ukraine crisis and after it. The discourse analysis is embedded in a Constructivist framework and focuses on...Show moreThis thesis compares the EU’s discourse on its energy relations with Russia prior to the Ukraine crisis and after it. The discourse analysis is embedded in a Constructivist framework and focuses on the question whether continuities and discontinuities in the discourse indicate a successful or deficient construction of EU-Russian energy relations by the EU. This analysis shows that even though there are discontinuities between the two periods, these do not indicate a major failure in developing a suitable energy strategy. This evaluation is based on the result that the discontinuities found only represent shifts in the emphases on different elements of the discourse. The early discourse therefore already included most of the strategic elements that became necessary to deal properly with Russia and to ensure the EU’s energy security once the Crisis broke out.Show less
This thesis argues that the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko have so far justified their territorial claims to Crimea in strikingly similar ways. Through a...Show moreThis thesis argues that the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko have so far justified their territorial claims to Crimea in strikingly similar ways. Through a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of each president's key speeches, this study finds that both presidents emphasise national-historical arguments when addressing a domestic audience and normative arguments when addressing an international audience, but that both presidents weave the two types of arguments together to create an overall narrative. When compared against each other, this study also finds that Putin uses the most national-historical arguments while Poroshenko uses the most normative arguments. Several conclusions are drawn from these findings, including that the plethora of possible legitimation strategies make positions in a conflict relatively easy to justify, that the Crimea conflict is likely to be intractable, and that more research should be conducted on legitimation strategies in territorial disputes.Show less
