Charting a new path for a reinforced and improved V4-France cooperation? Visegrad Fund

Charting a new path for a reinforced and improved V4-France cooperation, Visegrad Fund, 2018  

Vedúci projektu za UK: Prof. Jozef Bátora, M.Phil., PhD.

The election of Emmanuel Macron to the French presidency has created renewed expectations about the vitality of decision-making at the EU level, especially with the promise of a reinforced Franco-German engine that would assume the leadership of certain key policy areas. In this context, and given also the effects of the looming BREXIT on power dynamics and coalition-building within the EU, the V4 needs to find the ways to recalibrate its relationship with France in order to properly defend its interests. The potential of a multi-speed, or two speed Europe, on economic, social, or security issues, fundamentally changes the way the V4 functions and will be a challenge to its unity and interests. There is therefore a demonstrated need to address these challenges in a prospective manner.

The project intends to highlights policy issues on which cooperation between France and the V4 could be mutually beneficial, and build support at the civil society and most especially at the official level for these issues. It will also help to inform the agenda of the two upcoming V4 presidencies that span the duration of the project. The new political reality in France with new actors and a reinforced desire to ensure the future of European integration, coupled with the ongoing effects of the BREXIT process, makes addressing this topic not only important but also urgent. Think  tanks have the ability to identify long-term trends that will serve common interests the best, and directly feed into the policy discussions of the region, thanks to focused recommendations on specific issues.

The objective of the project will be to support policy-makers in charting a course for the engagement of V4 countries with the new French government, especially concerning EU policies where common priorities can be found. These priorities are mainly the development of CSDP, the digital agenda, energy security, justice and home affairs, and social Europe. The project will also look at other issues where positions may be opposed, such as migration, in order to create a mapping of the future of relations.

Úloha Slovenska v krízovom manažmente Európskej Únie v krajinách západného Balkánu – priestor na poučenie? VEGA, 1/0817/17

Úloha Slovenska v krízovom manažmente Európskej Únie v krajinách západného Balkánu – priestor na poučenie? VEGA, 1/0817/17

Vedúci projektu: Prof, Jozef Bátora, M.Phil., PhD.

Témou projektu je analýza úlohy Slovenskej republiky v krízovom manažmente Európskej Únie (ďalej len EÚ) v krajinách západného Balkánu. Ide totiž o špecifický prípad, keď národné priority a spolupráca v oblasti Spoločnej bezpečnostnej a zahraničnej politiky EÚ nie sú v úplnej zhode. Projekt zhodnotí úlohu Slovenska v manažmente konfliktu medzi Srbskom a Kosovom, predovšetkým s ohľadom na ciele a zámery zahraničnej politiky Slovenska, koordináciu s inštitúciami EÚ v Bruseli a priamo v Belehrade a Prištine. Tiež sa zameria na analýzu vnímania týchto aktivít na strane recipientov – Srbska a Kosova. Vďaka využitiu získaných empirických poznatkov projekt obohatí teoretickú debatu o procesoch europeizácie zahraničnej politiky členských štátov a tiež o lokálnych faktoroch ovplyvňujúcich dopad krízového manažmentu EÚ v krajinách európskeho susedstva. Projekt má taktiež za cieľ formulovanie politických odporúčaní vybraným inštitúciám zapojeným do infraštruktúry krízového manažmentu Slovenska.

V rámci projektu členovia riešitelského kolektívu pokračujú v spolupráci na  expertnej úrovni s Nórskym inštitútom pre medzinárodné vzťahy (NUPI) a ARENA – Centrom pre európske štúdiá (Univerzita v Oslo). Pri empirickom výskume sa tiež môžeme spoľahnúť na lokálnych partnerov- Belehradské centrum pre bezpečnostnú politiku (Srbsko) a Kosovské Centrum pre bezpečnostné štúdiá (Kosovo) a Centrum pre  urópske politické štúdiá (CEPS, Brusel).

EUNPACK - Good intentions, mixed results, Horizon 2020

EUNPACK - Good intentions, mixed results – A conflict sensitive unpacking of the EU comprehensive approach to conflict and crisis mechanisms, 2016 - 2019

Team leader za UK: Prof. Jozef Bátora

About the project- poster.

The EUNPACK project unpacks EU crisis response mechanisms, with the aim to increase their conflict sensitivity and efficiency. By combining bottom–up perspectives with an institutional approach, EUNPACK will increase our understanding of how EU crisis responses function and are received on the ground in crisis areas. This entails exploring local agencies and perceptions in target countries without losing sight of the EU’s institutions and their expectations and ambitions. It also entails examining the whole cycle of crisis, from pre-crisis, through crisis, and into post-crisis phase.

EUNPACK analyses two gaps in EU crisis response. First, the intentions–implementation gap, which relates to 1) the capacity to make decisions and respond with one voice and to deploy the necessary resources, 2) how these responses are implemented on the ground by various EU institutions and member states, and 3) how other actors – local and international – enhance or undermine the EU’s activities. Second, the project addresses the gap between the implementation of EU policies and approaches, and how these policies and approaches are received and perceived in target countries, what we refer to as the implementation¬–local reception/perceptions gap. Our main hypothesis is that the severity of the two gaps is a decisive factor for the EU’s impacts on crisis management and thereby its ability to contribute more effectively to problem-solving on the ground. We analyse these gaps through cases that reflect the variation of EU crisis responses in three concentric areas surrounding the EU: the enlargement area (Kosovo, Serbia), the neighbourhood area (Ukraine, Libya), and the extended neighbourhood (Mali, Iraq, Afghanistan). The results of our research will enable us to present policy recommendations fine-tuned to making the EU’s crisis response mechanisms more conflict and context sensitive, and thereby more efficient and sustainable.

Participujúce inštitúcie:

Koordinácia konzorcia: NORSK UTENRIKSPOLITISK INSTITUTT(NUPI), Norway 

2 THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER United Kingdom 

3 FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN Germany 

4 CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN POLICY STUDIES Belgium 

5 UNIVERZITA KOMENSKEHO V BRATISLAVE Slovakia 

6 SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO SANT'ANNA Italy

7 BEOGRADSKI CENTAR ZA BEZBEDNOSNU POLITIKU UDRUZENJE Serbia 

8 Kosovar Centre for Security Studies KCSS Kosovo * UN resolution 

9 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF KYIV-MOHYLA ACADEMY Ukraine 

10 Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain Tunisia 

11 Alliance pour Refonder la Gouvernance en Afrique Senegal 

12 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) Afghanistan 

13 Middle East Research Institute (MERI) Iraq